D143 -- Ciao to Italia

Today was a travel day as we flew from Rome to Amsterdam, where Sarah is due to catch a flight home in 2 days. We hadn't chosen Amsterdam so much as it chose us. When we booked Sarah's frequent flier ticket, we had a hard time finding availability for her return flight. We tried airports in Italy and Germany with no luck, but we were able to get her a seat on a flight out of Amsterdam. So we figured we would spend 2 days there before she had to leave. It turned out to be a good choice, because I really love it here. Although the city is famous for its seedier side (legalized prostitution and marijuana), the area where we stayed was very pleasant. The B&B we picked is a very cool old house, and we love our little attic apartment, even the cute but body contorting staircases. Vlad, our host, told us that space was at such a premium the Dutch didn't want to waste any on stairs so the staircases were built very steep and winding. The city is really beautiful . . . lovely homes surrounding a multitude of canals.

We did have time to visit the Anne Frank museum, which was one of the best historical museums we've visited on our trip. It was not large, but everything was well done, even down to the smallest details. Best of all, there was an excellent film on the tension between civil liberties like freedom of speech and racial and religious intolerance. The film posed questions about what limits, if any, should be placed on freedoms like speech and religion. The questions were posed as part of concrete examples. Examples include: Should flag burning be an acceptable form of protest? Should a rap song that promotes violence against homosexuals be banned? Can a police officer who is a Sikh wear his turban on the job? Can Protestant marchers walk through Catholic neighborhoods in Northern Ireland?

-Tom