Going Dutch

Last week (err a few weeks ago…errr a few months ago, sorry!!) I got back from a solo trip I took to the Netherlands that I have had planned since our mini-getaway in July. A scene friend planned a small house party to celebrate her 30th birthday and I accidentally invited myself. Whoops. Hey, she was amenable! I tacked on a few days at the beginning and end, for my first ever European solo travel. I spent the first 3 days in Amsterdam, the weekend in a small town to the north of Amsterdam, and the last 2 days in Haarlem. It was cup filling and fun and full of spanking! Note: there are lots of photos after the jump – both vanilla and kink.

Day 1: I arrived on Wednesday, very early, after a red-eye flight and headed to my hotel where I was able to check in a little early after a short wait. I immediately crashed for a much needed nap. I then got up and ventured out for some exploring. I went to nearly all the smaller places I had wanted to (mostly walking!) – the Albert Cuyp Market, a cute little shop called Sostrene Grene, Hema, a massive well known antique store called the Antiekcentrum, and finished off the night with a cider and steak dinner at a brasserie. I had found a jeweler in advance of my trip and ordered a necklace and bracelet. I love buying jewelry local to a place when I travel and I started this during my solo (meaning without my husband & kiddo – I went with a friend that time) cruise up the eastern Canadian coast last year. I got a necklace made in the shape of PEI from a local jewelry store I found. This time, I got a house boat necklace and a bracelet with a tiny silver Rembrandt House from Gemagenta. Her work is exquisite and her husband dropped my parcel off at the front desk so it was waiting for me when I got back to the hotel that evening.

Of course, I simply had to take a hotel photo that first night before I fell asleep!

Day 2: I woke up very late on this day, with the jet lag, and a rough night of sleep, but still managed to fit in THREE museums! All the ones I wanted. I had planned to do a fourth – the Rijksmuseum – and even had a ticket for it, but I slept through my time slot and decided since I had been before, I wasn’t going to worry about it on this trip. I headed out to the Verzetsmuseum first, which is the Dutch Resistance Museum and focuses specifically on Dutch resistance during WWII. I had read Three Ordinary Girls earlier in the year, along with Code Name Butterfly which is about a young undercover journalist and the real-life story of Josephine Baker, who was a performer during WWII engaging in espionage for the French resistance under cover of her job. During my visit, the Versetzmuseum had an exhibit on Josephine Baker and had references in its permanent collection to the young women mentioned in Tom Brady’s book, Hannie Schaft, and sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen. All teenagers at the time. Anyway, it was an amazing museum since there is so little dedicated to the resistance fighters that worked from inside occupied countries in a lot of WWII history resources.

The next museum was the Rembrandthuis, which was the home where Rembrandt actually lived and worked and taught. There was a ton of his art, collections, and furniture depicting what it might have looked like. It was very cool and a bit of a quick stop, when solo. I spent about an hour here – you enter through the kitchen and go a very narrow curved staircase and come out into a more modern museum before exiting. One of the pieces of jewelry I got on this trip was a tiny silver cast of the Rembrandthuis on a delicate silk bracelet.

My final stop of the evening, was the Anne Frank house museum. Luckily, because Amsterdam is so walkable, this was a nice walk over to end the evening. The tickets for the Anne Frank museum sell out months in advance and this evening slot was the only one I could get. I am glad I planned in advance, it was worth it! Interestingly, as someone who has read a lot about Anne Frank and a lot about WWII, I was surprised and fascinated by what the actual, real Anne Frank house looked like. When we think of Jews being hidden during this time period, we often think of small spaces where people accommodated this goal within their existing apartments – and to be sure, a LOT of that happened. But that wasn’t the case for Anne’s family and those hiding with her. Her father owned a small business located in a traditional canal house and there was an annex in a courtyard behind that house. It wasn’t a huge building, but it was a small row-house styled home connected via the infamous bookcase-covered passage. The Frank’s and those hiding with her, were not in a closet or even a small apartment, but rather a multi-level apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, etc. There were many of them, so the space was very full, isolated, and hidden, but it wasn’t at all what I envisioned originally.

That was the end of Day 2 – I allowed myself the leisurely walk back towards my hotel and made a “quick” stop at a Primark for some browsing – I found cute Miffy pajamas, some gifts, and then had to find some dinner before heading back. A lot of things were closed but I managed a Ramen place which was perfect.

Day 3: city transfer day! I got up at a decent hour finally and took myself out for a lovely breakfast before swinging into the Louis Vuitton store to see if they would heat stamp the strap of my bag. They would not and were also rude about it, so I didn’t bother to browse as planned. I needed to catch a train in the afternoon to head a bit north of the city to an airbnb for a girls kinky birthday weekend for a friend, but I had a lot of time. I checked out of the hotel, put my luggage in a locker, and walked around central Amsterdam. I visited the Tony’s Chocolonely factory store, went in the Miffy shop, grabbed a toastie, and then collected my luggage to catch my train.

Days 3.5 – 6: were spent holed up in a cozy house with some lovely kinky folks. I spanked a lot of girls, got spanked once myself, and generally enjoyed simple social company with other kinky people. A lot of spankos, several Americans (living outside the US), and a few existing UK/EU friends.

Before we left, we took some final photos with this AMAZING sofa. A Chesterfield is truly the best piece of spanking furniture and this green velvet one was no exception.

Day 6-8: After check out, I headed to my next hotel, in Haarlem – the original! I was spending two nights here before flying out and it was a lovely space. I had my own huge bathtub, sauna, and separate shower. After checking in and getting settled, I headed back into Amsterdam to spend some time with two girls who were flying out in the evening. We did a canal cruise and had a wander before they headed to their flights. I went back to my hotel, changed, and then took myself out for a nice solo dinner at the vibey-named MARKD.

Of course, I took another lovely solo hotel photo before turning in for the evening!

The next day, I got a simple breakfast and latte and spent the day walking all over Haarlem and visiting the Teyler’s Museum – the oldest museum in the Netherlands. Most of the museum was/is currently dedicated to a Michelangelo exhibit which I must admit, wasn’t ideal for me, but it was still cool. I had been in Rome a few years ago and saw plenty of original Michaelangelo’s that were on display in this, which filled me with delight. Teyler’s is an art, history, and science museum that has been operating since 1784 in the original historic building.

Not quite a miniature Amsterdam, Haarlem felt more like the small German city my husband’s family is from, despite it being a well-known place. I took the time to walk as much as possible, grab some kibbling for lunch, and ended my day at the Kenau Park, to see the monument to Hannie Schaft. This is what I wrote on Facebook when sharing the photo from the park, as it was Election Day at home (I early voted before I left).

Last year, I read a book about Truus & Freddie Oversteegan and Hannie Schaft (Three Ordinary Girls by Tim Brady). These three young women (still teens when they started!) were fierce resistance fighters during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in Haarlem and Amsterdam. They distributed resistance papers and information, spied, and Hannie especially – assassinated Nazi officers – from her *bicycle*!

Hannie was arrested right before the end of the war (her fiery red hair often gave her away and she dyed it dark & went into hiding). Although a treaty had been signed and no prisoners were to be killed, Hannie was taken to the dunes in Overveen, near Bloemendaal and executed by a pair of Dutch Nazi officials named Mattheus Schmitz and Maarten Kuiper. Her execution was ordered by Willy Leges, the SS chief in Amsterdam.

Today, she is honored with a memorial in Kenaupark in Haarlem, which was her home and where she was born.

Unless we look fascism in the face and fight it, it will continue to spread. Remember that, especially, on this Election Day and don’t forget to vote.

I returned to my hotel to meet up with a good friend (the one whose birthday I traveled to NL to celebrate!) and we went out for a lovely dinner and then returned to my hotel to play, have a bath, and generally just enjoy each others company.

And then my trip was over. I packed up and the next day she drove me to the airport where I was grateful I had upgraded my return flight to first class. It was a lovely getaway and deeply restorative. A part of me wished it included more spanking, but I think the solo time, social time, and space to be totally alone most of it, was what I really needed.

-M