***A year or so ago, I attended these seminars at the Aspen Institute: 'Great Decisions' and 'From Athens to Aspen'. Here are my Doodles.
A note on my hotels: In the past, I have stayed in European hotels in which Le Guide Michelin considers 'very comfortable' with today's daily single rates approaching or over 200 Euros but in recent years, I have discovered there are very satisfactory, full service accomodations from 60 euros. My finds in this category are booked full very early on, in fact, a single at my favorite has been fully booked the two to three months ahead of my last two visits but, fortunately, the owner has allowed me stay in his very modern apartment two blocks away.
10.23-11.17.2014 This was a most enjoyable trip with five nights in Amsterdam with day trips to The Hague and Delft, then, four nights in London, a week in Paris and over a week with Dominique and her family near Aramon in Provence before returning to Aspen. In the following trip reports, I will discuss meeting new friends, going to remodeled and new museums, seeing a couple of gallery shows, reading an author's memoir, walking in the Provence country side and reflecting....Two quick photos: Phil with friend at Hoppe below and detail of Rubens' Portrait of Clara Fourment(?) at the Mauritshuis in The Hague.
Amsterdam: On arrival at Schiphol and with only carry-ons (a note on my bags of travel later), I made a beeline to purchase a train ticket for Central Station. Across the tram tracks from CS, I bought an extended-day tram pass. After check-in at my hotel, I headed to the Rijksmuseum.