Amsterdam - a different dream

Since I was about 2 years old, I have been on figure skates of all sizes, skated ponds and outdoor rinks, especially one that existed then in Branch Brook Park in Newark designed by Olmstead who designed NYC's Central Park. I grew up further as a regular rink rat at South Mountain Arena, spending hours there on and off the ice, as a second home. Since having children whenever I skate I make sure to help children on the ice with my kids, their friends, foster kids and anyone else who wanted help as skating is a simple form of fun. A top ten item on my bucket list has always been to skate the canals in Amsterdam one winter when it is cold enough, perhaps next year when S. is in college and our time is more free. We've enjoyed Amsterdam in prior trips. The last time was several years ago for a family bat mitzvah at a synagogue that exists for about 200 years in the Hague. We then spent several days in Amsterdam at the Hotel Pulitzer which is a series of old homes where walls have been joined into a lovely maze of rooms, surprisingly good food, and right on the major canals. Although we did not always find the best food outside the hotel (ethnic foods were the better bet), we could walk outside and get on a canal boat to the Anne Frank House in one direction or the Ryjks Museum in the other. Each time I have visited the Anne Frank House it is an experience that gives me the chills, imagining the family living in that tiny space, and dreaming of freedom to do the things we all take for granted. Another must visit is always the Van Gogh Museum containing one fascinating and colorful painting after another, a truly misunderstood artist of his era. When S. was with us on one trip as we toured the Van Gogh museum he was clearly looking for one painting in particular. At the end of the tour he sadly advised me that it was not there. Which one, I asked? Starry night, he replied, a painting he had studies several years earlier in Kindergarten. I was surprised he even remembered it. But I assured him that the painting was in New York at the Modern Museum and we could go see it. A few weeks later we did just that, making time to see other exhibits on display including a Matisse/Cezanne which was touring through major museums. Another favorite of his was the painting with the yellow room and a narrow bed which reminded us of his room at home. The poster we purchased of that painting was framed and still hangs in his room, now over his much larger bed, so at night he can always dream of Van Gogh and Amsterdam, and be assured that Starry Night will be close by in New York. He still has very fond memories of that Museum and Amsterdam. At that time we had just begun to explore spending more time and Provence. Perhaps the connection with Van Gogh lead us to the beauty he so appreciated even when he was ill and suffering, he could still see Provence well enough to capture its flavor in his works.