Adventure of the month

I've got to be honest. Fairbanks is not my favorite city.  On more than one occasion,  I have been excited to learn I'm going to Alaska only to be subsequently disappointed when I hear it is that part of Alaska.  Why, you ask.  I'll tell you. 1.  The hotel we stay at is a menagerie of death.  They have every creature, big and small, all with one thing in common: they are dead and stuffed on the walls.  I know this is what passes for decor in that part of the world but it is still disgusting and walking in that lobby pisses me off every time. 2.  When I think of Alaska, I think of Anchorage, Ketchikan, Seward...places with beautiful expansive water views. Fairbanks is smack in the middle of the state and other than a river or two, has no water view to speak of. You will see no whales in Fairbanks. 3.  Years back, a group of us rented a car at the Fairbanks airport.  I asked the guy at the agency if there was a chance that we woul...

Last Tuesday, I was relaxing at home.  I had just popped in a yoga dvd and was about to go into downward facing dog, when suddenly the phone rang.  It was work.  They wanted to know if I could be at the airport in an hour and the only info they could provide was that I was going somewhere with the airport code KTN.  It was google that told me I was going to Ketchikan, Alaska. Out went the dvd as I quickly tossed a couple of sweaters into my bag. By early evening, I was on the ferry that connects the Ketchikan airport to the mainland.  It was dark so I could not fully appreciate the vista before me, but having been here once before, over a decade ago, I knew it was going to be good.

Man, what a difference a month makes. At this moment, I am settled in and cozy in my summer home of Amsterdam, a place I totally adore. I love that I am never lost for more than 5 minutes, as there is always a recognizable landmark right around the corner. I love the fact that it is a world class destination yet still very much a small city. I love the gezelligheid -ness of it all. If I wanted to look for the polar (no pun intended) opposite, I would have to, say, finally download the photos from my camera and check out some pictures I snapped in early June during a four day stay in Anchorage, Alaska. Sure, Anchorage proper is a tiny city, certainly smaller than Amsterdam but just try to put together a descriptive sentence about any city in Alaska without resorting to the adjective "vast" and see how well you do. It's just not possible. The spaces are so open, the mountains so present, the sky so...vast.