Amsterdam

Arrived in Amsterdam for a three-week honeymoon, so to say. We will visit my mother in Menorca, Spain, where my sister, who lives in the USA, and my brother will also be present. This will be the moment I can present my wife to my family. But first we have some time to spend in Amsterdam, my beautiful hometown.
We are staying at my apartment in the museum quarter, which I had rented out for the past three years. My tenants have kept the place in perfect condition, tidy and clean, so I was very happy to be back home again. I will find a new tenant for the coming year (or maybe two), as we will return to China in early October.
Amsterdam is really lovely. The weather was a bit chilly on arrival, but we had some very nice sunny days, with occasional rain and wind. It's Holland after all.
We visited the Rijksmuseum, which has been closed for 13 years for renovations. The new Rijks is incredibly beautiful and a pleasure to walk through. The bicycle lane passing through under the main building has been reopened too, and it feels really good to take this nice route to the center of town with my wife on the backseat.
We also visited the Hermitage Amsterdam, a subsidiary of the famous gallery in St. Petersburg. I was never there before, but this weekend an exhibition opened showing paintings and other works from French symbolists and impressionist from the Fin de Siecle, collected by wealthy Russians around the beginning of the 20th century. Confiscated by the state after the October Revolution in 1917, these splendid works are now part of the Hermitage collection.
Another art event took place at Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, where friend and artist James Beckett did a performance re-enacting an event from 1994 by British art collective Art & Language, involving live painting, live music, and a ceremonial closure. A truly interesting and well-executed piece.
Cycling along the canals of Amsterdam, walks in the Vondelpark, a boat ride with highschool friend Marc Paping, and visiting several other lovely people made this week unforgettable.
We also visited Delft, the city where I studied Industrial Design in the 80's, and lived for 15 years. Delft is like a miniature version of Amsterdam, with petite little canals, lots of monumental houses and pleasantly small for a walking tour. We passed by the places where I lived in the 80's and 90's. visited several old friends who are still there, and have teenage kids now. My previous employer Anton Montagne still runs his electronic design studio, and Chefren is slowly expanding his business in online tools for planning, organization and news gathering. On the way home we stopped in Aalsmeer for a visit to ex fellow student Jeroen and his wife Henriette, who presented us a culinary evening of the highest standard, including a performance on his Bösendorfer grand piano.
Back in Amsterdam, we also met Ineke Gudmundsson, founder of the Chinese European Art Center in Xiamen, who happened to be in Amsterdam at the same time as us, and lives right around the corner on the van Baerlestraat, less than 200m away. It was her birthday, coincidentally, and we met some friends we met in Xiamen earlier this year, who have been resident artists at CEAC. Another wonderful evening!
This weekend we will fly to Menorca, to visit my mother, and on the way back we will also spend a day in the beautiful city Barcelona, where I can guide Ling Ling on a tour of the fantastic architecture of Gaudí and other highlights. Looking forward to a great trip!