“My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage at all pedestrians while ringing their bell loudly, the concept of avoiding people being foreign to them.” ~ Terry Pratchett “

After a good night’s sleep, we felt refreshed and ready to take on Amsterdam. Our first order of business was breakfast of course as my grandson would say! So fueled with coffee and food we self toured with our friends Harry and Joanne. The weather was perfect and we were in no hurry, which to me is the key to a lovely day. Our first stop was the “Oude Kerk” or Old Church which is the city’s oldest building. It was empty of most tourists when we self-guided toured it which was peaceful.

Since all of that walking was quite tiring, and it was such a beautiful day, we sat for a bit at the Dam Square, which is the center of Amsterdam, at a cafe and had some cappuccino and tea and a Stroopwafel and watched the “tourists” pass by. It was exactly what was needed on a picture-perfect day.

We walked some more and just meandered, took some photos of each other, and found a place to eat lunch.

Peggy had arranged a canal cruise with wine and cheese for twelve of us, so when in Amsterdam on a beautiful day, you tour the canals by boat.

“What’s special about Amsterdam is that the city is able to connect worlds that are not otherwise connected.”

~ Marcel Wanders

There is a beauty in the new and the old and how they co-exist. I shared with my friend Rebecca how my grandson Carter seems to find such joy in everything he sees and does. When he tells me about his day, his happiness feels contagious. I told her I would try to find and sprinkle joy whereever I could. Last evening, over drinks, my friend Peggy told me that she saw me with a big smile on my face when we were on the canal cruise and I was taking photos, and that made her happy. To me, this is finding joy.

Sunshine and, good food, good friends, good drink. The saying is true – “It doesn’t matter where you are going, it’s who you have beside you.” ~Anonymous.