Amsterdam (finally)

After a couple of cancelled flights, I did make it to Amsterdam in the end. I used airbnb to book a place—I stayed in Martijn's apartment (he wasn't there, so I had the whole place to myself). It was a lovely building from ~1644: low ceilings, wood floors, some exposed brick, and right on one of the canals.

Martijn was at the beach surfing (!) when I arrived, so he arranged for me to pick up the keys from a coffee shop down the street. I felt a little bit like an international spy: walk off the plane in a new country, walk into a coffee bar, and say "Excuse me, I believe Martijn left some keys for me." I was worried there might be a password but luckily it wasn't needed.

The conference is one of the smaller that I know about, with around 35-40 attendees each year. This is a very different feel than most conferences, which have at least a couple of hundred people, up through nearly 30,000 at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting. The small size means that we can meet in interesting buildings: two days of our conference were spent in the Cafe Sluyswacht (we set up chairs on the second floor; when it's not rented to groups, it just becomes part of the cafe). From 1695 the cafe had a charming lean, uncomfortable wooden chairs, but ample coffee (and beer).

We had a full day outing, which included a tour or a church. My favorite part were the amazing staircases (all wood) that took you from the floor up to the ceiling.

My last day I went to the Rijksmuseum, which houses an amazing collection of Dutch art. It was very cool to see Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and others in real life. A wonderful collection.

Epilogue: On my way back through Chicago (ORD) I had 2 flights cancelled due to bad weather, and my ticket on a third was cancelled by the airline (they thought I had gotten on a plane flying standby...but I hadn't). I stayed over at a hotel and took a train the next day. What a pain! I was not enamored with United. The weather is out of their control, of course, but customer service is not.

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Upside down

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Better luck next time Poland

To finish the story on Jonathan's previous post, he ended up being rebooked on a Thursday flight that was ALSO cancelled (repair work). Back home from the airport to regroup and skip the Poland talk altogether!! Flight was changed to Friday and going straight to Amsterdam for the other conference. This flight was 3 hours delayed and he ended up making his connection by minutes!! He finally arrived Saturday and other than being without luggage for 2 days has been enjoying Amsterdam and his amazing Airbnb flat overlooking a picturesque city canal. But, I for one will be relieved when he's home safe and sound.

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A sort of fun postponement

Very soon I will be off to Poland and Amsterdam to give a couple of talks (more on this later). I was supposed to go tonight, but due to bad weather my flight was cancelled. I'm now going tomorrow (hopefully!).

The bad news is that I wasted 4 hours of my life at the airport and am tired out before going. My flight is now scheduled to arrive in Krakow 2 hours after my scheduled talk time! Hopefully this will all work out.

The good news is that this evening felt like "found time". Jill is working so I went down the street to our friends' Abram and Kristin's house for a glass of wine on the back porch. I'm really grateful to have neighbors! That we like! And who are ok with last minute dropping by! So although I am a little worried about getting to Krakow in time, I had a really nice night (once I got the heck out of the airport!).

Tomorrow: Krakow, take 2.

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