Our first school today was De Scholekster in Amsterdam.
The children waited for us at their big schoolyard.
They liked our presentation!
This is the little sister of Leila, one of our Peace Runners, reading out a poem.
Thank you for a wonderful reception!
After the school we visited Abhinabha's restaurant Heart-Garden for some hearty waffle breakfast.
Yummy!
Then it was off to the second school of the day, the Bataviaschool also in Amsterdam.
The Bataviaschool provides education to children of refugee families who have moved to The Netherlands from all over the world.
We loved doing our presentation for them, including the skits.
Sometimes we have to blow out the peace flame when we go indoors.
On through the Dutch countryside.
After the schools we ran to Nigtevecht, a beautiful little village southeast of Amsterdam.
This beautiful castle is divided into several appartments. In one of them lives the famous Dutch concert pianist Michiel Borstlap, who is our next stopover!
Here is Michiel with his partner Wendy. In 1996 Michiel won the prestigious Thelonious Monk Award for his composition "Memory of Enchantment", which was recorded by Herbie Hancock.
Michiel graciously offered to host us in his home and play a private piano concert for us. What a treat!
One of our Peace Runners, Vapushtara, is Michiel's personal piano tuner and good friend. He arranged the meeting.
Michiel Borstlap's private little concert hall, right inside his own house.
We sat on comfortable chairs around his grand piano.
He played for half an hour and we soared on his beautiful music to a land of peace and bliss. It was an unforgettable experience for all of us and we are deeply grateful to Michiel Borstlap's generosity and musical genius.
With hearts filled with music we ran on to Amersfoort, our final destination of the day.
In AMersfoort we were received by running club Altis at their beautiful track.
Of course we posed for a group photo.
And then we joined the children in their warm-up run.
Thank you for hosting us Altis!
