Hello from Amsterdam!
That is right – at this very moment, I am in the Netherlands for the Reputation Institute Conference. The conference doesn’t officially get started until tomorrow, but I arrived in Amsterdam pretty early this morning (7 am their time, but Tennessee is six hours behind). I have a feeling that I may be a little jetlagged for a couple of days, but that is okay! 🙂 I flew out to Tennessee Monday from San Francisco after a successful presentation at APS, and made the quick turnaround the next day to fly out to Amsterdam. I went out of Washington D.C., and the flight was pretty nice.
I arrived at the airport in Amsterdam, and I already knew that I was really going to have a wonderful time. I got very excited about seeing windmills when we were touching down – I was like, that is so cool! 🙂 After collecting my bags and poster (which I am VERY happy that it made it safe and sound!) I took the train to my hotel. That is one thing that I thought that was really neat about Amsterdam – the public transportation system in the country and city is absolutely amazing! You can go basically anywhere you want and it is really affordable! The conference is being held at the NH Barbizon Hotel in Amsterdam – and it is absolutely amazing! I was like, wow! I am staying here! 🙂 After checking in and getting my wireless internet set up – I wanted to go out and check out a few things.
First things first – I had to get some sugar (the flight was definitely hitting me pretty hard at that time). So, I went and got some chocolate – and let’s just say that it was beyond divine! 🙂 I think that Jenny Craig will have to understand. 🙂 I also tried out something today at one of the bakeries – it is called an Appleflap – which is a pastry that is made up of phillo dough and has an apple pie filling, and it also has sugar sprinkled on top. It was absolutely divine!!! YUM! I think that Dad should make that for his next foodie adventure – YUM! 🙂
What I love about Amsterdam is the building and overall architecture. It is so pretty and historical – and what is also neat is that it does remind me a lot of the time that I spent in Stellenbosch in South Africa. In many ways, I feel like I am going full circle because the Afrikaaners came from the Netherlands, and even though I have only been in Amsterdam for a day, I definitely see the historical background.
Tomorrow, the conference begins and I am very excited! I think that it is going to be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to present! Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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