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December 17th, 2008:

Hot Shoppes – New York State Thruway – 1958

Willy at Hot Shoppes - 1958

Willy at Hot Shoppes - 1958

Amsterdam Rondvaart – Cruising the Canals with Oma

Rondvaart with Oma circa 1964

Rondvaart with Oma circa 1964

Oma with the cigarettes that killed her.

Oma with the cigarettes that killed her.

Another Annual Summer Rondvaart circa 1966

Another Annual Summer Rondvaart with my mom Willy – circa 1965

The first pleasure cruise in the history of the Amsterdam canals took place in 1621 when Queen Elisabeth Stuart of Bohemia was welcomed into the city in a parade of festively decorated admiralty sloops, with thousands of Amsterdammers cheering on bridges and canal-sides. Treating visiting royals and other VIP’s to a cruise on our canals became a tradition that lives on till today. From Winston Churchill to the Beatles and Nelson Mandela, almost all our famous guests have made their acquaintance with the city from the deck of a canal cruise boat. Rondvaart – Canal Cruises

Johanna Fokkens – Maternal Grandmother

Johanna Fokkens Broekveldt (middle) - circa 1920s

Johanna Fokkens Broekveldt (middle) - circa 1930s