Mona and Cats

My new Mona Lisa Piggy Bank, a hand-made ceramic from Peru,
purchased at Peaceable Kingdom in downtown Ann Arbor.

I'm so delighted with my beautiful new Mona Lisa piggybank that I am interrupting my series of pictures from my trip to Holland to include her.

However, I'm now going to continue this post with several photos of cats that I took while walking around the picturesque streets of Amsterdam and other Dutch cities.

Amsterdam, a beautiful day, many people were
sitting on the stoops of their houses.

Cat on a canal barge. 

Another cat. 

Window cats.

Cat about to cross a street in The Hague.

These cats are dedicated to my blogger friend and cat lover, Jeanie of the Marmelade Gypsy.

A Few Windmills

The Dutch countryside is splendid; it looks like a series of painting from the Dutch Golden Age. We loved windmills, sheep and cows, canals and other waterways, and a sky that varies all the time.

We are back in Ann Arbor but still have vast numbers of photos to enjoy and post.

A Walk in Leiden

There's water everywhere: canals, little ditches, the Rhine River...

Kayaks on a canal

Sailing ships docked on the Rhine River --
which is not actually the mouth of the river that goes through Germany,
as the river changed course centuries ago.

Would you be disappointed if I didn't include a windmill? 

Amsterdam in the Evening

During the interval of our concert at the Amsterdam Concert-Gebouw tonight.
We heard one piece by Ravel and several by Beethoven,
including Creatures of Prometheus with an interesting explanation. 

Exterior of the Concert Gebouw building at night. It's a great concert hall.

Vitrine in lobby celebrating the
125th anniversary of the Concert Gebouw. 

Across from the Concert Gebouw: the Rijksmuseum where we spent several hours yesterday.

We had an eventful day, lots of photos to come in the future!

Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam yesterday morning. With great luck, our hotel room was ready at 9 AM, and we had a lovely day. Getting ready to go to the Van Gogh museum today. Here's a shot of a canal as we strolled around after dinner: it's pretty cloudy so the light isn't brilliant. More to come!