The Big Apple

We are moored just beyond the edge of the historic city centre of Gouda in a pleasant spot to stay a while. The inner core of the city is outstanding with its historic buildings, famous stained glass windows and a wonderful museum. The city is as cultural as Erasmus, the thinker who was born here. What is so obvious and dominant in these old cities is the Christian Reformation, with the confiscation and selling of Catholic churches to the Protestants.

Sitting at the Gouda Coffee Factory drinking my espresso and trying to post my blog using their wifi, my computer quit. The spinning rainbow appeared and stayed. I finally rebooted the computer and lost the hard drive. My computer no longer recognized itself. After some inquiries into where the closest Apple Store was, I was told that there is only one in the entire Netherlands, in Amsterdam, the city of the big Apple.

After an hour's train ride to Amsterdam and a brisk walk to the Leidse Plein, I found it. It cannot be overlooked, with its gigantic glass spiral stairwell leading from the sales floor to the upper floor were G.O.D. is located. The Genius On Duty did manage to revive my computer but I had to let go of all my worldly documents, photos and several draft blog posts. 

I wandered through the city of Amsterdam, so filled with tourists. It was chaos with many tourists trying to cycle among actual cyclists. I made my way back through the bustling old city to its heart, Centraal Station and caught the next train back to Gouda, where Zonder Zorg, my home awaited.