Guus Bosman

Monday morning Jaap, Mieke and I visited Amsterdam. We left Middenmeer at 10.00 am and in the morning we visited The Complete Rembrandt, a very original exhibition consisting of reproductions of all known paintings by Rembrandt.

So, no original paintings in this event in the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, only life size digital copies made from the archives of the Rembrandt Foundation, an organization that researches works by Rembrandt to assess authenticity for museums.

It was extremely interesting to see all these reproductions next to each other. For example, there was a chronological list of 7 self portraits of Rembrandt, from early age until his last known self portrait. It would be absolutely impossible to get these works, which are in collections all over the world, together for an exhibition. This is the great added value of this exhibition: to see these works together and next to each other.

Two reproductions of works that were stolen from a museum in Boston in 1990 were also on display. The Foundation had high resolution photographs made before the theft.

Saturday afternoon I took the Q-line bus, the quick service to Leeuwarden. It was a beautiful trip across the Afsluitdijk and through Friesland. Ettie & Gerben met me at the bus station. It was sunny and although not as warm as Friday the weather was great to sit outdoors. We had lunch with coffee at 'Bagels & Beans', a US inspired place. It was great to see Ettie & Gerben and to be together.

We walked through downtown Leeuwarden. I had never really been there before and it's a great place. Lots of people, lots of stores, lots of outdoor seating. It reminded me of Haarlem. Bikes everywhere of course, and at 5.30 pm most shops started to close. We visited the Gruttersmuseum, an old-fashioned store, and then spend an hour in the Boomsma museum next doors which is dedicated to this liquor that is produced in Leeuwarden.

Ettie and Gerben's new house is beautiful. It's very light inside and everything is very new. For those of you who know Ettie it's no surprise the house has a great garden. In the evening we had dinner together, hutspot andijvie with bacon bits and fresh onions. We made a gorgeous walk through the country side -- about 5 minutes from the front-door you're in the Frisian country side. We did a great walk, 5 kilometers through the fields.

Friday evening Ettie & Gerben came to Middenmeer, and we had a nice family dinner. Jaap baked delicious home-made pizza and it was as great as I remembered.

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to sleep well. The first night in Middenmeer I was exhausted after the traveling; it's the second night that's usually the hardest due to the time difference. However, I slept great. I woke up at 4:45 am, and it took my a good hour to fall back to sleep but I woke up at 8.45 am, a little groggy but with 8 hours of rest. Yesterday's morning run and the long walks later in the day surely helped.

In the morning a fun project was waiting for me -- going up in the attic at my parent's place. Five years ago we stored our belongings there and every time I've been back it's been fun to dive into the boxes and pick up things to bring to the States. I picked up some goodies and selected some boxes to empty out. We also prepared the audio equipment for Jaap's birthday party next week.

After a 7,5 hour flight I arrived at London Heathrow early in the morning. The plane landed at 7.00 am, and I managed to get a couple of hours sleep on the plane. The plane wasn't full and the stewardess pointed me to a row with three empty seats in the back ('oh you're so tall'). It's not exactly comfortable but some sleep is a lot better than none at all.

I had breakfast on the airport and took the train to Paddington station. There I took the circle line to Liverpool street, which is where our UK office is. I spent the morning with them and we had lunch together. It's small office with great atmosphere. Talked about the product I work on and some other initiatives we're doing.

At 4.00 pm I was in the air again, on my way to Amsterdam. I sat next to a British couple with a young baby on their lap. It liked me and was interested in the sound of my newspaper and water bottle. I learned that, in British, a rhino says: "mud, mud, mud". It was nice to have some distraction because even with the grande coffee in the morning (Starbucks is everywhere) followed by a dopio at Heathrow, I was getting very tired.