Happy May!
When I returned to Amsterdam after 48 years, I was not prepared for the massive number of bicycles on the roads! The last time I saw such sheer numbers of bikes was in China, but this was a different kind of bike-riding population. It was a good thing my Dutch friends warned me about the bikes in Amsterdam, because as they told me, the bikes are fast and they do not stop for pedestrians! Add to that equation that my first full day there was a national holiday with a lot of Heineken consumption….I had to be on my toes when crossing a street or bridge.
However it is truly a bicycle utopia once you get used to the majority of city traffic being bikes. I was told that most residents have 2 bikes – a city bike and a country bike. I met an American textile artist who had lived there for 25 years, and she rode her bike 40 minutes into the city to meet up for dinner. Between the excellent tram system and the bicycle culture, and the lack of plastic bottles and bags, it was clear that Amsterdam is serious about a sustainable future.
Because my brief stay in the Netherlands was focused on art museums and a day at a textile production warehouse, I didn’t make it out to the tulip fields. In France I got to experience Peak-Wisteria-Bloom, and the tulips were just starting to bloom in the city when I arrived in Amsterdam. I arrived home just as our crabapples and lilacs are starting to blossom here in Boulder Colorado. It is a joyful time of year for those of us who live for Spring blossoms.
I’ve uploaded my first batch of photos from my trip – these are from Amsterdam Netherlands.
Many thanks to my quilter friends in France and the Netherlands who hosted, chaperoned, and guided me on this trip!
Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul
Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.
See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, review our blog, or follow us on Facebook.
Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.
Travel/Quilt Calendar:
May 27 – Dairy Barn, Athens OH – Quilt National – Art & Activism Lecture
June 8-10 – Quilt Canada – Halifax, Nova Scotia
August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska
