Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Posts tagged “Boating”

Amsterdam view: raised from the dead

Posted on September 18, 2010

Remember the frat boat I told you about a couple of posts ago? The one that went down in Herengracht? I was sure that its owners would leave it where it was, after rescuing some essentials, but I was wrong. Dead wrong, as it turned out. Yesterday they returned, the frat boys, and they didn’t come unprepared. They had hired the Klusjesboot – which is Dutch for The Handyman Boat, I guess – and with that I owe them an apology, as I was convinced they would leave the barge where it went down, floating below the water surface and making it a hazard for everyone cruising by. The Klusjesboot-man went to work with zeal, attaching bands and ropes and scaffolding-poles and I watched, intrigued…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Amsterdam Views, The Views

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Amsterdam View: Where’s my boat?

Posted on September 13, 2010

Sometimes nature plays ugly tricks on you. One day you have a boat, the next day… you don’t. A week or so ago a boat moored right opposite my writer’s residence after what must have been a jolly day on the Amsterdam canals. The boat – more like a giant raft – resembled an open air fraternity house, with comfortable sofa’s, rowdy boys, downy cushions, silly girls, a hefty stereo and beer on tap to boot. They were a happy bunch those boys, but they were clearly in need of some solid ground after a day’s sailing and drinking. So they threw out the fenders, cabled the boat to the railing, neatly covered up the sofa’s, courteously helped the squealing girls out and left.…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Amsterdam Views, The Views

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Amsterdam view: sunset transformation of a church

Posted on August 23, 2010

My little writer’s boat did a good job during the 2010 Sail celebration. Small but sturdy it took me to every nook and cranny of the Amsterdam water systems. Together we cruised the canals from Herengracht to Reguliersgracht, from Keizersgracht to Lauriergracht and on to Prinsengracht. We crossed the Amstel river. We even sailed the Amsterdam-Rijn canal and the IJ to dock at the Verbindingsdam between Java Island and the main land. At the Lloyd I enjoyed a gig of my favorite funkadelic hiphop band PLeaSe. You will most definitely hear more of them as they are without doubt The Next Best Band and they will feature in my new YA novel! After an outstanding, energetic and energizing PLeaSe performance – they twice played my…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Amsterdam Views, The Views

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Amsterdam View: A Writer on the IJ

Posted on July 9, 2010

Yesterday, I took my writer’s residence out biking to Amsterdam-Noord, that part of Amsterdam that usually gets treated as if it is parted from the main city by an ocean rather than by that former bay that is now known as Amsterdam’s bustling waterfront. I was on my way to my friend Martin, trainer – advisor – actor, who promised to help me out finding a new presentation formula for my school visits. I missed the ferry by seconds and had some time to kill waiting for the next one, when I spotted Amsterdam’s finest on the quay. My writer’s mind revved right up. What was Amsterdam’s finest doing on the waterfront? Were they on the look-out? On the look-out for what? Pickpockets? It…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Amsterdam Views, The Views, YA books

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Amsterdam View: A Summer’s Day

Posted on June 28, 2010

What would you do if you found yourself in Amsterdam on a beautiful summer’s day? You could go biking. Yes, by all means. Biking along the canals would be fun, navigate your way around herds of out-of-towners, run red lights on your way to the red lights, slalom the ‘Amsterdammertjes’ on the sidewalks to let those skillful but ever hasty taxi drivers pass by. Yes, you could go biking. Or you could go for a stroll in Vondelpark, find yourself a teeny-weeny spot in between what the dogs and the ducks left the park, stretch out and take a nap, let your thoughts trail away on thick clouds of weed smoke that drift through Vondelpark on a summer’s day like this. But if the…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Amsterdam Views, The Views

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