Go to Holland and escape that brutal July heat that typifies life in Kansas City, I thought.  It’s always nice in the Netherlands.  That’s why its people are so happy.

Ahem, not this week– although the people here are still just as friendly as ever.  The typically bright and sunny Dutch personality hasn’t waned this week, despite the hottest day EVER in the Netherlands (102.5 Fahrenheit yesterday)* and the fuel system fiasco at Schiphol (Amsterdam) Airport, which I landed smack in the middle of on Wednesday.**

The beauty of this place is striking, especially as I enjoy the house Pale Ale at Instock, right next to the Prison Gate and across Buitenhof from Parliament.  This is a very neat idea, and I stumbled across the place after finding, to my horror, that Hometown Coffee & More, where I first launched this blog three years ago, is under renovation (not closing, mercifully).  Instock’s mission is to reduce food waste by using only remaindered food from one of the country’s largest supermarket chains.  The Pale Ale is outstanding, even though it took me a moment to wrap my head around the fact that it’s brewed from potatoes that nobody wants.  My new mantra: ugly potatoes make outstanding beer.  There.  Your lesson for the day.

I can happily report that The Hague is still a nice place to be, and it’s still carrying a critical mandate: harmonize the world’s legal systems so they can work together, and make the world a better place in general.

* Climate change deniers are idiots– it’s that damned simple.  And their idiocy should be called out at every turn, especially if they hold public office and control policy decisions.  Spare me the moronic snowball arguments (oh, it’s snowing, so climate change is bunk!).  If it’s almost as hot in Amsterdam as in Phoenix, there’s a whole lot more going on than just a freak weather pattern.  The truth, though, is that it’s been very nice, despite the thermometer reading.  Low humidity and ocean breezes tend to mitigate the suffering.

** As of this writing on Friday afternoon, I still don’t have my luggage.  I really want to blame Icelandair, who doesn’t have a digital tracking system (it’s 2019, guys), but there’s no way to know whose problem it is.  I’ve become very zen in the past 48 hours!