Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Posts from the “Dutch Views” Category

Welcome to Amsterdam

Posted on March 16, 2011

It was a warm and sunny day. A spring day, if you wish. Not the type that you immediately start rummaging through your closet for shorts and skirts, but a pleasant 15 degrees. Just enough to open your window, lean out and catch a ray or two, while watching tourists saunter by. Tourists? Yep. And with them hunting season has opened. One major player in the hunting game is the city’s parking management. When the sun shows and the tourists start pouring in, they hop in their nifty white vans. Like true bounty-hunters they roam the streets and canals, routing meter infringers, time offenders and the general parking knave. Today they made their first catch. A sweet little Opel left by its inconsiderate owner…

Dutch View: A Wedding in IJmuiden

Posted on July 12, 2010

The venue was unusual: beach pavilion Zeezicht (Sea View) in IJmuiden. A wooden pavilion, built on high poles with magnificent views on one of the widest beaches in the Netherlands, on the IJmuiden jetties and the sea. The day was perfect for a wedding: bright blue skies, a glorious sun, lots of flowers and the air filled with happiness. It was perfect as it was, but it got even better. In the Netherlands we have an expression that says that your Prince Charming will arrive on a white horse. This groom arrived on a white horse and swept away his foxy lady in her golden gown to live happily ever after. So much happiness is good, but I am always on the look-out for…