The sun is out. After 10 or so days of rain and cloud from Cormatin to Amsterdam, the sun is out. I instantly feel lighter and happier, and Amsterdam looks completely different. The brown is still there, but the sun glints off the murky canal water, it makes the flowers on the house boats brighter, and for the first time in any city we’ve been to, I feel a little hint of Auckland.
We sit by a window overlooking the canal. We drink beer and juice and we watch paddle boats explore. Friends lay in the sun as they power down the canals on small boats, wine and pillows and picnics filling the space in between.
We watch and the trees sway in the breeze and if we squint or blur our minds we could be sitting in Auckland city watching over the viaduct, and our friends could be on their way to meet us or we could be off to a barbeque later on in the day. Toby could be with us, although unlike here he wouldn’t be allowed inside almost anywhere he wanted.
After our drinks we venture over to the biggest of Amsterdam’s parks and we lie in the sun and eat our picnic lunch and watch people cycle past and dogs run by and people drinking because of course alcohol is allowed anywhere.
Sunshine makes everything better.
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