The first time I traveled overseas was for a study-abroad semester in Amsterdam. We arrived in January of 1980, and as we walked along narrow cobbled streets, wind from the North Sea blew frigid air in our faces. Thirty-two years later, I can still conjure up memories of the excitement I felt for the big […]
Netherlands
Thick as pea soup
Gray fog and clouds as dense as mid-winter lambs’ wool filled the sky, while rain poured down in buckets, helping Seattle live up to its reputation as the ‘rain city.’ During the dark, dank days that seem to stretch on forever, I start dreaming about soup. And this past weekend, one soup in particular: pea […]
Wooden shoes and hearts of stone
Miep Gies died yesterday. She was 100 years old. Miep and her husband, Jan, are the Dutch couple who hid Anne Frank and her family for more than two years in an Amsterdam attic. When the Franks were discovered and sent to concentration camps, Miep found Anne’s diary. She kept it until the war ended […]