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On our first night in Amsterdam, we were a jet-lagged mess. At about 4 or so, we fell into our (squallid-ish) hotel room to get a few hours of sleep before dinner. At about 7:30 we woke up and discovered that while we were sleeping, somebody had replaced our limbs with sandbags and our heads with packing peanuts. But we rallied and managed to go out in search of dinner. We wandered around Vondelpark which is a lovely park. in the evening (which is at 8:30 given that sunset is well after 9:30) it is filled with young people kicking around a soc– football, playing guitars, and smoking lots of pot.

We came out the other side and decided to see about something on a nearby street. Ann looked across and saw a restaurant that was semi-crowded, warmly lit and looked promising. I long-ago learned to trust her instincts and agreed to give it a shot. What she found was an authentic Italian Trattoria (Trattoria Toto) run by actual Italians with a mostly Italian clientele. In short, we found what we truly needed and wanted: Italy. You see, I was worried that this trip would break Italy’s hold on us and keep us from returning there for many years. But as we walk around, throroughly enjoying Amsterdam, we both admit that we will love Italy best. So, this place was a natural fit. And the food was incredible.

Today we walked about and enjoyed Sunday markets (art, trinkets, cannabis products) and then took a boat tour.

Here are today’s pictures.

Tonight? Who knows. Maybe we’ll have Italian food again…

I somehow started thinking about people I have not thought about for years. Some were ex-girlfriends, some were old friends from long ago, some were people I’d not gotten along with at all and I was curious what became of them and some go back even further: people I went to grade school with, girls I had crushes on back in 4th grade, places I’d been ages ago…

It made me wonder if anyone from the deep dark past was ever curious what happened to me and was ever trying to look me up. It occurred to me that the fact that I’ve changed my name might cause some issues. (For those of you just tuning in, I took my wife’s name when we got married. Well, I took it in daily usage. My driver’s license still has the old name. I promise I’ll take care of that soon. Really.) Then again, maybe no one is looking for me. Maybe I’m the only one who does this.

But, just in case, here’s some stuff to make me findable in google, should anyone actually be trying:

Andy J. Williams Affleck Scarsdale Bronxville Yonkers Manhattan Brooklyn Woodstock Hanover Cambridge Waltham New Rochelle Academy Fordham Prep Buck’s Rock The Loft Dartmouth College Harvard Graduate School of Education The ACK! xyz xcaliber Kiewit CRC HMI WebCT Phi Tau Cashie’s Greenville Greenvale Bronson Kensington Terrace Fleetwood Acres London Terrace Towers Rhode Island New Hampshire New York Massachusetts and Spooger.

No, I will not explain that last item. It was college. We were young.

I feel better now. I expect the emails to come flooding in from past acquaintances any moment now.