Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 12February1971: Amsterdam, Holland: Hippies at Heineken

Dear Barb:

Last night was Ex Lax night so today I stay fairly close to the hotel. They don’t serve many vegetables here. I have been eating too many starches. Although so tasty they are hard to refuse. The most incredible pastry. The boys would go wild.

I have been to the symphony. The concert hall is one of the most famous ones in the world. Incredible acoustics. I hope to attend again on Saturday. Last night I went to see “Hair” in English but I’ll reserve my remarks until later. But evidently it was an excellent performance. The man sitting beside me said it was better than the London production. I only paid $4.50 for my seat. The finale was something and I cried. People jammed the stage. It was wild. Old people. Young people. There are hundreds and hundreds of hippies here. They wear the weirdest clothes I have ever seen. Fur coats to their boots. Hair frizzed out. Big hats. Anything that looks like garbage.

I went on a tour of Heineken Brewery yesterday. It was an hour long and very interesting. I met four Canadian hippies all nice boys from Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto. After the tour we headed to a higher floor and the beer flowed like water. The kids told me it was their third time there. One of them said he knew a Canadian that had been there 37 times before they asked him to leave.

The Dutch will do just about anything for Canadians. A Dutch couple has invited me out for coffee. They are 49 years old and have three children a boy 14 and two girls 17 and 19. I think it will be fun to have coffee over at their house. I hope they are not shy. I hope I will hear from you soon. Every time I think about you and the boys and I get homesick.

I am proficient riding the trams. I am finding my way around Amsterdam. I can’t walk here like I could walk in Spain because it is cold and damp here and my back won’t let me. I am walking but not as much as in Spain.

Back from my sortie to bookland. What a place with hundreds of books. I paid 42 cents for two paperbacks. I saw beautiful pewter mugs and will get one for us, sorry meant stainless steel. I have always wanted a stainless-steel thermos. It costs $16 here but a fortune in Montreal. I can make coffee and put it in the thermos and it will stay hot all day. I guess this is what I will buy in Holland.

The longer I stay here the more I learn about Amsterdam. It is so damp and cold and I wish it were spring and tulips were out. There are huge flower stalls on just about every corner mostly tulips, daffodils and roses. Today on the streets there were ice cream wagons selling so many colours of ice cream and ice cream sandwiches. I was nearly frozen but had one to see what it tasted like and it was delicious. I can’t explain the flavour but it was covered with nuts. One can get very fat here.

Home from symphony and there were a lot of kids there under 12 and they sat like quiet mice. It is no wonder the Dutch appreciate music so much when they start so early.

Barb, I just can’t quit eating. I bought two different types of chocolate and I have a pimple. I have put on plenty of weight. I’m nuts. I should never had stopped at that store that sells al those gorgeous things to eat. Around the corner from the hotel you can have half a chicken, French fries, salad and milk for $1.30. They eat too many potatoes here.

“Hello Dolly” the movie is playing nearby so I may go tonight to see it.

I had breakfast yesterday with a Japanese stewardess who is with KLM and flies back and forth from Tokyo. There was a nice note from her today with her address in Tokyo. She is married and so sweet. She asked me to get in touch with her should I ever be in Tokyo. She is very young and beautiful. There is a Japanese waiter in the hotel room and he nearly knocked himself out waiting on her. He brought us a huge dish of ham from the kitchen.

I will say goodnight to you. I’m going to have a hot bath and an aspirin, get into bed and read. When I get hungry I have all that crap outside of my window. I sure don’t want to get pneumonia here.

Love Mum