A WEEK TO RECOUP

After  our eventful week in Paris we decided to take it easy this week and stay home and do some planning for the next few months.  We leave Amsterdam in October and we wanted to get our housing lined up for a few months after we leave .  We also wanted to get to the Scandinavian Countries and decided we'd work on that. Sharon had found a website of a Scandinavian Company that would individualize your itineray.  We contacted them,told them we wanted ,and Voila, trip was born!

This is our litte work area.  

This is right next to it but we haven't figured out how to use it and we don't want to break it so we just pretend it's playing.

We had initially thought we might live in Northern Italy but after checking out a few places we found that the days are short and not much sun during November and December so we revised our plans and after looking at various locations we zero'd in on Avignon, France.  We started looking at rentals, mainly on VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owners) and found a few which we thought would do just fine.  Rents were pretty expensive but after thinking it through we decided that given the time of year and that we were going to be renting for 2 months we would offer them a rate which worked better for our budget.  We shot off three emails and we got two  responses with  lowered prices and the third offered us another property altogether with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths for less than the othes wanted for 2 bedrooms and 1 bath.  The old saying, nothing is easy, was repeated a few times here as we worked out thefinancials   but we finally got everything worked out and we have found our new home right in the center of the old city.  Avignon is much smaller than Amsterdam but it is serviced by rail so we can get places.  Language is going to be more of an issue there than here in Amsterdam.  We are just there two months so we will manage and then onto another local.  

We leave here on the 20th of October and we're not going to Avignon until the 1 November.  That break will allow us to see some places in this area before heading south.

All work and no play is not good so on Friday night we set out for an early dinner and attended one of the events, the Drag Queen Olympics, that is part of the celebration of Gay Pride Week here in Amsterdam. This is a big celebration and everyone looks forward to it. 

 We walked along the Heregraacht canal and found a nice little restaurant close to the Homomonument.

The view. The restaurant was a real find.  Good Italian food in a nice location. 

This was the down side. Those are my feet coming down the stairs that led to the bathroom.  We have found that the staircases are generally very steep and the stairs themselves very narrow.  We are very careful going up and coming down!

After dinner we headed over to the monument.  One could not see the monument for all the people in attendance but it is made of pink granite in the shape of a triangle.  The pink triangle refers to the badge that the Nazi's made the homosexuals wear during WWII and it is a tribute to those gay people who were killed during WWII and to all those who are persecuted or demoralized due to their sexuality. The monument is not far from the Anne Frank House. It is a tribute in a city that has a very progressive understanding for the differences in people.

The turn out was tremendous, but Sharon and I managed to get all the way to the front of the stage.  

There were three Olympic events, the purse toss, the bitch volleyball, and the hula hoop contest.  

The purse throw. Ready

Set

Throw

B... volleyball . Audience participation.

And the demure winner of the hula hoop contest recieving the sash of victory from one of the MC's dressed in an outfit to die for. 

When the winner for each event was selected the theme song from the Olympics was played and the winner was given a sash.  In the end an overalll  winner was selected.  Very dramatic!

This drag queen was the interpreter for the deaf.  Beautiful and extremely good.

Another of the "hostess" of the event.

These were some of the entertainers.  Entertaining!

I think big hair might be coming back!

This is what I loved the most.  Look at the shoes these men wore.  When we were on the walking tour in Paris we learned that King Louis XIV of France was extremely vain about his legs and imparticular his calves.  He worked at developing his calves.  In those days horseback riding boots with heels were used.  When King Louis dismounted one day and happened to look in a mirror while still wearing the boots he found that his legs looked "great" and so wearing heels was born.  Now men got smart and left that style behind and only women decided to carry it forth.  Well not all men left it behind. Look at the shoes I saw on the stage:

The music was great, the entertainment fun, and everyone just enjoyed the night.  

A week of parties and events leads up to a blowout weekend of festivities including the world-famous canal parade on Saturday, 2 August 2014 (13:30-18:00). Amsterdam's famous liberal-mindedness over the years has encouraged a welcoming and safe environment for gays, lesbians and transgenders to both visit and live in. The city's gay rights history, from early-day tolerance to modern Mayoral celebrants has meant Amsterdam has always been at the world forefront in striving for equality for the gay community.​

The parade started at 1:30 but people were all ready gathering around our street at 9:00 am.  They came with chairs, food, drink, and flowers.  By noon the area was packed.

A couple of early arrivals.

Gathering on the bridge

and on the water

About one hour before the actual parade began a boat floated down the canals in memory of those killed in the Malaysia Aircraft accident and honoring the victims of the aids virus.

After the solomn note the "fun" began.  Again, music filled the air and people were dancing and cheering and throwing flowers,  Friends were made.We sat down next to some delightful people from a small town near Belgium and behind us was a lovely couple who informed us a little about the various floats.  

The parade started with some religious floats.  The Islamic community participated, which was very brave of them given their religious stand on homosexuality.  They were followed by the Jewish community.

The mayor was also present .  He may have been on ths float but of course I was talking to my new friends and possibly missed the float he was on so I'm just saying he could have been on this one.

More fun followed.  I want to do this!

This float won the prize.  It was spectacular.

The two gentlemen in the pink shorts are famous Dutch entertainers.  One is from the US, came over to Amsterdam, made it big and stayed.

Professional organizations, firemen, policemen and military all had floats in the parade.  One of the policemen had a sign in his hand - Proud to be your friend.  Participants on the floats were not all gay.  

The community is supportive, understanding, and accepting.  

The day started out beautiful but as the parade was nearing the end on our canal it started to rain but that did not deter the festivities or the crowd.  

The big crowds left when the parade was over but the music continued and people were still partying.  In fact our little bar and cafe across the street on Sunday was deserted.  Too much partying on Saturday.

Kind of sad to look at the street after the big event.  A few hanger oners and a lot of garbage.

"Love" floated in the air and landed.

There were more partys and events scheduled for the rest of the week.  Disco's, Jazz, street party's.  It goes on and on.