an account of July that passed (II)...

basak's visit

It was simply great to have someone from the family visiting. It was awfully exhausting, too... Other than the usual museamania we made two short visits to Rotterdam and Leiden (which is, for some, the most beautiful city in the world) and of course did much more (see the next few posts). But the best bit was having my earliest playmate on the playground again. I had my best time in Amsterdam.
Literally.

Rotterdam:
Visiting Yildiz and Sheyla and a dinner with them after over 15 years was hmm... full of surprises, and a lot of fun. I figured the "cold-side" of the family, and learned ways of appreciating Rotterdam.

Leiden:
Under Sander's lovely guidance we managed to cover;
- the hortus (which is, for some, the most beautiful hortus in the world -and cetainly more so than Amsterdam's-click to see my post on hortus A'dam),
- the city,
- and even a part of the National Museum of Antiquities.
Due to pre-mature exposure in early years of life, I am not able to appreciate antiquities or often also other non-art museums, yet. But nonetheless, to see a real Isis-Temple was rather impressive.
So was the Victorian lotus, which would blossom once, white as moonlight, and attract insects, who would then be forced to go on a dive. A day or two later this flower-turned-submarine floats again, this time pink in colour, having devoured its guests onboard.
We ignored the metaphor with Basak, and Sander was sensible enough not to suggest any touristic activity that would include submerging.

Then we had sessions of cooking, walking, drinking beer etc. as tourists do in Amsterdam. So I managed to forget my two bikes that were stolen in one week, and have a bit of fun time in my global village. To be honest, I found Amsterdam a rather beautiful and fun city.