changes
Friday was yet another relaxing day in Amsterdam. I wandered a different direction and headed to the Dutch Resistance Museum. I found it to be a fascinating depiction of life in Holland before, during, and after the war, full of anecdotes from people who lived it, with personal accounts of how they reacted - or didn't - to various phases of German occupation of Holland and liberation by Canada and other allies. The list above is of names of streets that were renamed by Germans after being deemed too Jewish (including Jonathanstraat. Who knew?!) Later, I headed to what may be my favorite restaurant in the world. Lieve is a Belgian restaurant tucked into a canalhouse on a quiet residential canal. I happened upon it accidentally during my first trip, and dinner there was a life changing experience because it forced me to rethink and replan that trip to Europe, taking advantage of the fact that I had no time or budget commitments forcing me to be back in the US at any particular time then. I was worried that a second visit might not carry the same pleasure, but I wasn't disappointed. The owners of the guest house I stayed in mentioned that they didn't find the food to be particularly Belgian, so I can't vouch for its authenticity, but the food and the almost tapas-like experience of sampling multiple dishes is still one of my favorites anywhere. My only disappointment in Amsterdam was not getting a chance to see my friend Hans who I met last year. I guess I'll just have to come back again.