Rotterdam, Holland

I only managed a couple hours sleep last night so it was early in the gym, breakfast at Bredero's, the owner now greeting me as a regular and in a cab on the way to the Van Gogh Museum all by 10 in the morning. The museum houses the largest single collection of Van Gogh's work from the earliest portraits and still lifes done in Holland, typical of the old style, dark canvases, muted colors, little light---through his reinvention of style in Paris and the effect that impressionism and color had on him and finally his most renowned works toward the end of his life when he struggled with epilepsy, breakdowns, bouts of delusion and the mad house. He was very close to his brother Theo who was an art dealer in Paris and relied on him for emotional and financial support throughout his life, dying in his arms two days after a self inflicted bullet to the chest. While virtually unknown in his life, through Theo's efforts and later that of his widow's, Vincent Van Gogh's reputation slowly began to grow. All of Van Gogh's paintings went to Theo during and after his death, and much of it remained together finally having a permanent home with the building and dedication of this museum in the early 1970's. It is worth a trip to Amsterdam if only to see this collection.

Packed the suitcases and checked out of the Grand Hotel in Amsterdam for the drive to the Ahoy gig in Rotterdam. An accident on the road as well as rush hour traffic turned the journey into a 2 hour plus crawl. Soundcheck, a light dinner, meet and greet and on stage in front of 10,000 enthusiastic fans. A couple of song changes in tonight's set list and a well played show by a bunch of guys who really know what they're doing and I'm proud to be with them.

It was a dash to the airport from the stage, on the Legacy and in to Paris at midnight with Eiffel's tower lit up like a Christmas tree. Exhausted. Bed.

So long,

Richard