That city on the Amstel River
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Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Sunday, January 2, 1972
I lived in the Southern part of Holland (Brunssum and Hoensbroek and Maastricht, where my father's family including Mamke my grandmother, my dad's brother, sister and their families lived as well), a stone's throw from Germany and Belgium, allowing for quick over the border trips for groceries and clothes. In 1966 we moved to Sloterplas (lake), a suburb of Amsterdam, and it was here that my formative years were spent and the home base for our many European forages. During the 60's and 70's not only did most families not have 2 or 3 cars in the household, you were lucky if you had one, but since busses, trams (electric trolleys) and trains were cheap and more importantly on time, these were modes of transportation used by every class for local and long distance travel. In subsequent years, as my husband and I travelled throug Europe during the 80's and 90's we preferred busses and trains especially from Holland to France (City Train) and beyond. He can tell you even now, getting on the train at Amsterdam's "Centraal Station", was always a fun adventure, but I can still not decipher whether it was the actual trip or the sheer enjoyment of a thermos of hot strong European coffee paired with a simple ham and cheese "broodje" purchased from the train's food cart, that got his blood going. Watching the scenery change from one town to the next and country to country, the train's rhythm became a lullaby we longed for, and a reminder that we were a few miles closer to our destination.
