I Kinda Wanna Live on a Houseboat

I get to see a lot of cities, but mostly it's the immediate surrounding of a club and only for a couple hours. Since first visiting Amsterdam a couple years ago, I've been yearning to spend a little more time in town. There HAD to be more to the city than hot-boxed coffee shops and a million tourists.

After 2.5 days there, I can verify that there really is no short supply of either, but it's also a really beautiful city full of good food, great shows - and great friends that could get us into shows. We planned our trip around the Woven Hand and Andrew Bird shows at Paradiso - one of the lovelier concert halls I've entered on the continent. Roger swung it for us to get on Woven Hand's guestlist, but Andrew Bird was sold solid and it didn't look hopeful. That is(!), until we got a call a few hours before the show and by the most amazing fluke 2 tickets were available. Roger, you made my week! (The last time A.B. swung through Toronto I had a terrible flu...)


By further fluke (or, earlier fluke if you're able to follow my chronology), once the Woven Hand show let out, the Paradiso's smaller venue was hosting MEN - remember JD Samson? - and I had some pent up dance energy that needed release.



I was pretty curious to check out the cat refuge on the water, but it was closed to the public the day we went to investigate. I gotta say, I was a little relieved -- it seemed a little bit small and lacking in outdoor space (or even just windows). I have a small dream of having a cat sanctuary some day when I can afford a nice tract of land (or, rooftop) made ideal for feline frolic. I've developed this idea pretty far in my head, but I'll spare you of it for now.

We were a little concerned with blowing too much dough so we did as much free, on foot, exploration as possible in the windy and cold drizzle.



And yes, the idea of dropping anchor on a canal was very enticing.



& here's a pretty great statue of Spinoza -- the sometimes poster child for Dutch tolerance.