Amsterdam: Otherworldly Windows
Jane and Margot, the Parisian woman Jane befriended during her November stay in Paris, arrange to meet in Amsterdam for tulip season. This episode is narrated through an exchange of emails.
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22 April 2026
SUBJECT: 2 Stalwart Widows Go to Amsterdam!
FROM: margotdubois@dubois-law.com
TO: JDfoodwriter@kwikmail.com
Salut, Jane, and Happy Earth Day.
I just boarded the train from Haarlem into Amsterdam for a 13:05 arrival at Centraal.
I could not resist attaching this photograph from St. Bavo’s Cathedral in Haarlem. I am awash, encore, in the stained-glass glow and echoes of the magnificent organ sonata that seemed to buttress the very walls. I imagined it was Mozart himself playing.
I confess to a preview of tulips from the train between Rotterdam and Haarlem—and a bit of melancholy because Amsterdam’s Tulip Festival was one of the destinations Pierre and I had had on our list. Since November, however, talking to you about Pierre and hearing stories of your Michael, I find myself smiling more than weeping when I think of him these days.
How fluttery I feel to be meeting up with you after these five months! I am sure I will spot you right away. How many smiling, chic, American women in off-the-rack black could there be? Fair warning, in addition to talking more since we met, I have been eating more. We might now be called two zaftig, stalwart widows!
Affecteuesement,
Margot
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22 April 2026
SUBJECT: re: 2 Stalwart Widows Go to Amsterdam!
FROM: JDfoodwriter@kwikmail.com
TO: margotdubois@dubois-law.com
Dearest Margot,
I’m not certain that moving up to size six qualifies one as zaftig, so please make yourself otherwise conspicuous. (My daughters would add “LOL” here, but I refuse.)
I am already waiting at platform 2B, alternately sitting and pacing! I have been scouting out the best vendors for Flemish fries and herring, and the most authentic Rijsttafel restaurants (photo attached). We have much serious eating to do over the next two days. Central station is a five-minute walk from Stubbe’s Haring so I trust you will arrive with an appetite. I can already taste the fresh, creamy herring, the crisp onions and pickles, the soft roll. HURRY!
We will then stroll along the canals to Museumplein to see its brilliant tulip gardens. If we can pull ourselves inside, there is the Van Gogh museum. Our Rijksmuseum tickets are for tomorrow morning. We will have several hours before the bus leaves for our Keukenhof gardens tour where we will see another tumult of tulips.
With the horrors that tyranny is wreaking on the planet at present, it is hard for me to reconcile that two of my absolute favorite things about The Netherlands come out of colonialism: tulips and Rijsttafel. Herring, at least, is a true local treasure.
I made reservations for a Those Dam Boat Guys tour later today. Jacob and I enjoyed one of their canal tours last week—our guide was funny and informative, and spoke better English than most native speakers. He dispensed right away with the elephant in the room (America abroad in general these days) by observing how “beside themselves” his American passengers seem to be of late—how you would say, hors d’eux-mêmes.
And to keep with our wonted, wanton ways, we will go to the fantastic Cafe de Knoop immediately after we get off the boat and toast to tulips, herring, rice tables, Pierre and Michael, and many happy Earth Day returns.
It is 13:00! I hope you have time to read this before your train gets in, but you know me. I will tell you all over again anyway.
Fondly,
Jane
Previous “Otherworldy Windows” episodes:
January 2026 (Paris)
February 2026 (Bruges)
March 2026 (Campania)
April 2026 (Florence)
Tulips are the most beautiful flowers in the world. Herring, less beautiful. Keep up the good work.
I have lovely tulip photos from a wet, gray, cold trip to a tulip field in New Egypt. My daughter-in-law took so many beautiful pictures, I can’t regret it. Sue, your story actually makes the herring sound appealing! Wonderful!