Papa don't preach

In my weekly phone call home, my dad mentioned he might come over for a visit while I was in Amsterdam – great. A “visit” for my dad usually means 1-3 hours so I figured at most he would stay for 2 days – oh no he decided to spend 5 days in Amsterdam. What in the world was I going to do with my father for FIVE days???

For starters, the man works 24/7 which meant coming to Amsterdam was going to be a change of pace…more like trying to stop an Indy car while going top speed. He claimed he was going to “relax” during his visit. Now I found this hard to believe but as someone pretty smart once told me “people will surprise you.” Shocked is more appropriate.

I met Dad at the airport on Father’s Day – a holiday not wildly celebrated hence the need to make my own “Happy Father’s Day” sign. The layover was a quick “visit.” I handed him a map, pointed out where I lived, where the train station was, where the bar was, etc. Then I handed over keys to my apartment and was on my way to work out (ugh!). The day he was due to arrive I received an email from his secretary (aka my mom) saying he would delayed one day – joy down to four days.

I walked home from work the day I knew Dad was there to find he had already made friends (he and Johnnie always seem to get along) during happy hour. His schedule for the next few days went a little something like this:

7am-9am: wake up, have breakfast but DO NOT talk to Julie (as she is not a morning person), and do a bit of work
9am-11am: walk to boat tour, take boat tour (yes, he did this all 4 days, same boat tour)
11am-1pm: find something to eat, usually involved seeking out a cookie or 2
1pm-3pm: nap time
3pm-7pm: happy hour with friend (Johnnie) and light snacks
7pm – dinner with Julie

Some days nap time took a little bit longer and happy hour started later but he was ok with that.

On Friday, Dad was willing to shake the schedule up a bit and head to the Heineken Experience, not the brewery but the experience, for happy hour. During the tour we got to “experience” what it is like to be a bottle of Heineken beer and what it is like to drive a cart of horses through Amsterdam. Of course you also have the opportunity to enjoy a few Heinekens as well as snap a few photos. Back on schedule, we headed to dinner after the brewery.

While at dinner the rain poured in and we opted out of watching fellow co-workers run. Easily convinced or 3 sheets to the wind, Ingmar talked us into meeting the team at the finish. So we did what anyone would do… downed 2 Irish coffees, sent a few text messages, and hailed a cab. One of the great things about Amsterdam is the lack of the open container law which in this case meant roadies!

Standing at the finish line (beer in one hand, umbrella in the other) we cheered Ingmar, Patrick, and Suzuko to the finish. After the race, we all headed to the bar… Dad and I might not have run the 10k race but we were certainly running, or rather drinking in another kind of race! Therefore, I don’t remember much but I do remember leaving the bar and Dad specifically asking me “do you know where we are?” I replied “Of course, I do… now if I could just read that street sign we will be ok.”