Well, we didn't get to Alan's home place of Kloosterburen in North Holland after all. We got to the archives in Groningen (like the county seat of North Holland) by train on Tuesday morning from Amsterdam. It took about two hours. We got info from the very well organized archive, housed in a great library and facility. Then we walked around the small City of Groningen. Going further to Kloosterburen (KB) would have required an hour or so bus ride and we had GPS pictures to suggest that KB is really just a wide spot in the road. I've done that in villages in Ireland and it's not good, sometimes it's 4-5 houses and a pub that's generally closed.

I would have gone on and maybe if I pressed it, we could have taken a taxi there and back, but I figured it was Alan's history. Also, if truth be known, I was pretty annoyed that he was able to just scratch the surface and get a lineage to the 1600's. I've always thought of myself as the only one in this relationship who had a long knowledge of family history. Ah, it's always this way. When we went on our honeymoon bike trip so long ago, he lost 11 pounds and I gained 5! It's so annoying.
He's not really that charmed though, because his knee continues to bother him. I feel bad about that, he's really laid up.

We are really tying up our Amsterdam experience. The landlord will come on Sunday to 'check us out.' By this time I realize that there is no way on earth that the landlord could have been 'surprised' by the impending renovation, even if the government dictated the timing. They knew it would be 'June,' just not what date in June, but they weren't really surprised at all. Still, she did offer to let us go, it is an amazing location and place, it was not too expensive and we continued to have fun, so...

We got another visit to the Rijks Museum in today. I was able to see Vermeer's letter and milkmaid up close with the hoards. Of course we got there and Alan didn't hazard the crowds around the two paintings hung together in a great juxtaposition. People really hogged close up, so I can't say any more then I got really, really close to them. It was fun though. We now finished 1600 to 1650, the height of the Dutch period. We might get to that museum one more time. If so, I think I'll skip far ahead, so that my coverage of the museum in the four visits will be more balanced. I only have two days to meet that goal.

This might be my final post from Amsterdam. Right now, the month here has felt like a week, at most. I just can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. I'm dreading my return to Dublin where I feel our last three months, we fly by as quickly. Oh, I am sad...