January 24, 2012
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
Many years ago I went to the swimming pool quite a lot. My favourite pool was Zuiderbad, just behind Rijksmuseum, but I would go to Marnixbad as well. I did that for a couple of years, once or twice a week... but somehow that tradition stopped. I would still go occasionally but with my work days seemingly getting longer and me being home at 7pm quite often, the will to have a quick dinner and then head out to the pool again ebbed away. Those times that I did go, it was always tremendously enjoyable, but those times became more and more sporadic.
Things need to change though. My new commute bike ride is shorter than what it was before I moved house and before the office moved... well, office, so I need some more exercise. What's more, Zuiderbad is now situated exactly between office and work, so I cycle or walk past it on the way home every day. There are three days a week that Zuiderbad is open till 10 in the evening, and one of those evenings was tonight. So, this morning I had put some swim stuff if my bag and on the way home I dropped by Zuiderbad and had an hour of swimming. I did 50 laps (it's a 25 meters pool) plus some additional laps under water. It was absolutely super. I love swimming and always have, even when I was a kid and we went on holiday to Spain or France. I walked home after the swim and felt elated, so happy that I had finally made the jump again - almost literally. I'm determined to turn this into a habit once more.
The picture is of Herengracht, Amsterdam's most exclusive canal, and it shows the section that's nicknamed The Golden Curve, because many of the buildings here are very expensive, and home to important financial or legal businesses. When I took this picture, for example, I was standing in front of the offices of Mr Moszkowicz, arguably the country's most prominent and best known lawyer, who happened to walk towards me on the pavement, one minute after I had taken this picture. Maybe I should have sold him this picture. I'm sure he has the means to buy it, if he can afford a building in this section of Herengracht.
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