German friend of mine who lives in Amsterdam, complained about this blog. Since he is German he didn’t really complain, but he made it known for me that he would like to read some more positive stuff about his Heimat land. And while walking the streets of Amsterdam, within the chaotic extremes of bundles of shoppers and the laid back stoners, making sure not to be run down by bikes, vespas, street cars and the hordes, I reminded myself about the last time I drove in Berlin and how beautiful it was for me to see a bike rider in front of me signaling with her hand that she is turning left and not even bothering to look back. It really touched me, this kind of trust.

So after I finished my due, I can get back to my usual self. We were having a lot of god conversations in Amsterdam. One of them was about how shocked we were of the last election results, and how sad it is that even the Dutch lost their tolerance. The locals were trying to convince me that the right party got most of its votes in parts of Holland where there are no Muslims, but I didn’t see the difference.

Then we talked about soccer. We agreed that it was quite sad to see the Dutch team playing so violently and out of character. It might have worth it if they won it all, but Holland already reached second place twice before and it done so with inspiring football. It might be just a coincidence, but this Dutch team had a Dutch roster–almost no minorities or immigrants, and even those were completely integrated into the spirit of the team. No one of them brought his own individuality to spice up the local roster.

On the way back to the hotel I realized that these two topic are quite related and it made me really sad. Amsterdam, despite the great changes in it since the first time I visited it 25 years ago, is still my favorite city. The only city where upon exiting the Centraal Station I must drop my bags and stand there for a few minutes and let it hug me like two lovers that didn’t see each for a long time and continued with their lives. It really depressed that me it got old and wrinkle and weary of strangers.

And then I run into this poster.