Amsterdam with Americans

After England, Tabatha, Karla, and Boyd caught a flight to Amsterdam where I picked them up after work and we got to experience Holland. We all went out and about in Haarlem and grabbed a bite to eat at Wilma & Albert’s because they wanted an amazing meal and I had to delivery. Nobody was disappointed. We also got to experience the wine bar at the market as well as the local pubs around here. On Friday, while I worked, Tabatha, Karla and Boyd went to Amsterdam. They did the Heineken experience which is just a blast as well as looking around. We met back up in Haarlem and prepared to experience the nightlife the city has to offer. We ended up at a club around 1am and danced the morning away. Karla looked so much more natural in her original dance atmosphere rather than college night at Goobers. I am glad I got to finally experience that side of the city. I couldn’t live here for 6 months and not go out. We caught the 6am train home and slept a large portion of Saturday away but still managed to go out in the afternoon and enjoy another great meal at Wilma & Albert’s.

On Sunday we drove to Friesland to see where Karla came from. The drive North was very neat and interesting to see how the population gets thinner the farther North we went. We also travelled over the bridge that connects North Holland to Friesland. We met up with some of Karla’s friends from her days before America and went go-kart racing. Mark has always told us about these Dutch go-karts so we had to finally experience them. Karla’s cousin Johann also met up with us. We all met him from back in the day when we drug him to the rodeo in Lovington so it was good to see him again. Him and Karla had a show-down over who was the best driver. I clearly wasn’t, and it also explained a lot about how Karla drives to this day. We left Karla there so she could spend a week with her friends and Tabatha and Boyd had to prepare to fly home the next day. I was so happy to spend time with all of them and to see Karla in her original habitat. We also decided that we will have to make big trips every so often, but hopefully there will be no luggage issues, ash clouds, or airline strikes.

Club Paradisio in Amsterdam

Me and Karla at 6 am on the bus ride home

Karla and I out to dinner

Me and Karla at the club

I have no idea where pictures of Tabatha and Boyd are.....

I See The Sun!!!!

Oh the weather outside is….AMAZING!!! Yesterday after work Kelly and I decided to go out for dinner. Since she is headed back to Houston soon (we still don’t know exactly when) we figured she needs to go out to all of our favorite places for “one last meal.” This was the first time that I have been excited to walk around after work. Usually, it’s a necessity for food, but yesterday it was quite enjoyable. The people were out in masses. The ice cream shops were filled with customers. A few weeks ago we didn’t even know those buildings were ice cream shops then one day POOF! Apparently, the one by our house is quite delicious because there are always a ton of people there.

On our walk to dinner we had to walk through the Grote Markt and it was full of people and tables and chairs and beer. Everyone was just sitting around having a great time enjoying the warmer weather and sunshine. By warm weather, I mean mid to upper 50’s. I never thought I’d be so happy to see such low temperatures but it really does feel like a day in the summer. I mean, we only wore 1 layer of clothes. I am wearing the lightest jacket I brought. It’s just so enjoyable!! Today’s high is supposed to be 59F it was 55 when we woke up this morning! I slept with my window open last night! Spring time really is a happy time. The buds are popping out on the trees and the birds are singing. I just can’t get over the great weather.
Last night’s dinner choice was tapas. Their bread with aioli is just amazing along with their empanadas. What’s best about the place…the quick service! We were in and out in less than an hour which is just unheard of here. We usually don’t get out in less than an hour if not an hour and a half. It was only our second time to visit so it hasn’t big such a big “repeater” but I have no idea why! It might have to become a more frequented establishment. After dinner we went to the other ice cream man, he isn’t as nice but the ice cream is still great and got a little treat. I got a scoop of apple tart and it tasted just like apple pie with little chunks of crust and a nice cinnamon flavor. Kelly got a waffle with sugar. We sat on the bench and enjoyed people watching. A man asked us for directions, we had no idea according to the map (we would have if he would have said the name of the restaurant!) but we felt special because that means we didn’t look like tourists ourselves.

This morning Kelly and I talked about weather again so I looked it up online about what it is supposed to be like this weekend. Light rain, highs in the upper 40s. Dang. Back to the cooler wet weather that I was so happy was gone. One of the guys told us a Dutch saying about weather and it basically translates to “April will do what it wants.” That is pretty true for a lot of places around the world. I know April can offer some crazy weather back home as well. I guess CO is getting hit from what I hear……

My mom will be arriving tomorrow morning, first thing. I can’t wait to see her. It will be so nice to have her here and spend some time with her. It is also a great birthday present!!! We have a busy schedule planned with lots of things to do and see. I hope this warm weather means more things will be in bloom at Keukenhof! I also have planned to go down and tour a bit of Belgium and see a few cities I’ve wanted to see. After reading and hearing about Kelly’s trip to Brussels, we might have to see how to fit some of this in. I can’t run Mom too ragged since she is still recovering from Africa. I’m just excited to have her here!

Utrecht

On Sunday, besides playing fantasy in my future castle, we visited Utrecht. It was such a quaint little town, that was closed for the most part. We wern't able to do a lot of shopping but we had fun walking around and seeing different things.

Utrecht is the religious capital of the Netherlands dating back to the 8th century. Until the Golden Age, Utrecht was the most important city in Northern Netherlands until Amsterdam became the cultural and populous capital. Utrecht is also home to Utrecht University, the largest university in the Netherlands along with many other higher education establishments.

There is some evidence of habitation of Utrecht dating back until 2200 BC although the founding date is generally considered 50 AD. As far as I’m concerned though, the town has been around a LONG time! In Medieval times Utrecht was a popular area for transport because the Rhine river used to run through the town. Since it was a religious place, it was previously a walled, fortified town. After the mid 1800s the walls came down and the town was allowed to expand. Since the Rhine had moved (oddly, but apparently it did) the arm that was left as well as the moat became more canal like which made moving goods via water ways still possible. To support this tradition people began building wharf like basements at water left. This basically created a 2 level street system. You can still see them today!

Since Utrecht is considered such an important religious place, many churchs are still intact. Dom tower (in the photo below) is one of the highest buildings in Utrecht. It used to be connected to the church, but the nave collapsed in 1674. There is now a tree and a pleasant court yard type area seperating the two.

Below is the rest of Dom Church. It was a beautiful church. Online, it said it wasn't opened but when Kelly and I showed up, people were going in so we followed. We wern't the only visitors, but I do believe most people going in where there for church related activities. There were clearly people enjoying coffee after mass but we poked around and took some discrete pictures then went on our way.

Below is a picture of the inside and the organs. I cannot wait till it is summer and there are organ concerts at our local church in Haarlem. I still haven't seen the inside of it, but I did learn that it is Protestant so that is interesting. Usually, the big pretty ones are Catholic.

More pretty, stained glass windows!!! I love all of the art work and time put into these creations so that we can all enjoy their beauty.

Here is a courtyard behind the church. It was so neat. Its uses have transformed over the years originating as a place for meditation. It is now an herb garden. Between the times of meditation and today's herb garden it was used as a gather spot popular for beer and poker, a place to store crops, then later wagons, then later ammunition powder and supplies. At least they don't waste space!

A picture of the outside. So many church's follow the gothic/neo gothic architecture. I still enjoy each and every single one of them though! It still amazes me how people with such "limited resources" built such amazing, beautiful structures.

After walking around town, and before the castle, we got hungry so we stopped for lunch. This place as busy, so we figured it had to be tasty and it was! Kelly's dad reccomended the mustard soup, which sounds a bit scary. They served it and it seemed like a soup day so I sprung for it and a tuna fish sandwhich. The soup was great!!!! Probably one of my new favorites. It was also served in a great little bread bowl which probably didn't help any. The sandwhich was fantastic too. We won again. During lunch we got a bit of entertainment, the resident cat. Can you imagine a restaurant in the US having a pet cat roaming around?? It would never fly. I had to take a picture of the cat sitting on one of the tables, welcoming visitors. This was the 2nd table we saw it sit on, not including the chairs it used as scratching posts and napping spots.

MMM Tasty cat infested tables. I have a pretty high tolerance for "unsanitary" things, but I'm just not a fan of cats on the inside. Private or professional, I think they are dirty. There was also an article I read that supported the argument that cats were dirty indoor creatures. Either way, we found this public restaurant issue interesting compared to standards back home.

Kelly's mom and her friend Leona are headed to Amsterdam today. We filled them full of advice and knowledge to make the most of their trip so I hope they wern't too confused and have a good time! It appears to be sunny outside so that is 1/2 of the battle right there. I guess spring really is rolling in because it seems to only be getting warmer around here. And by warmer, in case you were wondering, I mean 39-45 F. Not exactly a day at the beach. Tomorrow they are headed off to Antwerp to look around and browse the diamond district. How could you not??

Rotterdam

Saturday was a bit rough. I was looking forward to my tour of Rotterdam, but I had a small headache. In America, I think all college students have some form of aspirin/Advil on hand. In Holland, they apparently rough it. So I roughed it. Erik showed me the local ropes. He also helped me get my OV Chip Card so that I can use all forms of public transportation so we walked around down town to the local Albert Heijn (the grocery store). Their Albert Heijn is A LOT bigger than ours! It was so nice and wide open. They also had a great deli/bakery area where we bought fresh croissants filled with ham and cheese and a bottle of fresh juice and had breakfast watching the birds in the little plaza. After nourishing our bodies, we headed off on our day trek around the city.

***A brief history on Rotterdam: It is Europe’s largest port and it is the worlds 2nd busiest port after Shanghai which surpassed it in 2004. Rotterdam is the Netherlands second largest city behind Amsterdam followed by The Hague. On May 14, 1940 Rotterdam was blitzed by the Germans flattening the entire city. The only remaining structure which was reminiscent of the city’s medieval architecture was the Laurenskerk (Lauren’s Church). Up until this point in the war, the UK only bombed military targets. While they recognized that civilian lives would be lost, they tried what they could to keep them to a minimum. The day after the Rotterdam blitz, where a suspected 30,000 people died under the rubble, the Royal Air Force gave permission for their bombers to bomb any target that aided in the Germany’s survival regardless if they were civilian or not. These targets included oil plants and blast furnaces. ***

Erik took me by the local market that was selling everything from fresh fish to furniture to bike locks and razors. Anything you could possibly need, you could find on the market. It was fun to see, but I’m not a fan of big, pushy crowds so we just buzzed our way through there. There was a local church (the Laruenskerk) in Rotterdam that was the only building standing after the city was bombed in WWII. It was an impressive church and had that much more meaning knowing it survived being flattened by the war. After the market we came upon the famous cube houses that helped make Rotterdam’s modern architecture so prominent. I’m not sure how I would like to live in one of these. They were pretty mind-boggling staring up at them. It sort of made me dizzy. Here is a picture.



The next part of the tour included some of the old harbors. I don’t think these boats leave. Erik was saying that they have been converted into houses or restaurants and enjoy their lives in the safety of the harbor. The big white building in the back ground was Europe’s first sky scraper. Pretty small in today’s comparisons.


The below picture is part of Rotterdam’s sky line as well as their novel train stop. The roof looks like a flying saucer. There are also lots of cranes in the sky line. There is a ton of building being done on Rotterdam; new metro/train stations, sky scrapers, and apartments. I guess they are expecting big things out of the city.

The next picture is another old harbor. Around all of these old harbors are restaurants and cafes where one can sit out and enjoy the old pirate looking ships and good weather. I didn’t really want to sit outside; it was still quite chilly out. I can see the beauty of it though; I could have looked and dreamed about those ships too. I think one of them really used to be Captain Hooks!

The next picture is of Rotterdam’s statue De Verwoeste Stad (The Destroyed City). It was donated to the city from a private warehouse in the 1950’s I believe. It is supposed to represent the heart of the city being bombed, just as the heart of the statue is gone. A very interesting piece of art work-so many sculptures in cities nowadays don’t seem to portray the emotion or recognition that the artist says they do. This one, there isn’t too much to debate about.

After walking through the city we made our way towards the water way. There was an old maritime museum we passed as well as an old harbor museum we didn’t go into. The harbor museum looked neat though, and if I happen to go back, I might try to visit it. There was an old steam engine outside though that represented how freight used to be moved along the harbor ways from one ship to the next. I thought it was a cute train so I had to take a picture!

As we continued our walk, we came across the Walk of Fame. It is a knock off of Hollywood’s star studded walk but it was cute none the less. There were all sorts of famous people including the Tour de France star Jan Janssen. I was unaware that the Tour de France started in Rotterdam, but it does. All of the squares were different colors of pastel reds, yellows, greens, and blues. Jan’s square was yellow, just like his jersey color. Shrek’s square is green, like him. Evidence is in the below photo!

I had to take a picture of Johnny Cash’s square! It was the most American square I saw. Now, I didn’t exactly scour the path to find some, but his happened to be pretty prominent and therefore deserved a photo.

All of this walking had taken a toll on Erik and I so we decided it was time for a break. We stopped at the old Holland America cruise line office for a drink. The building is now called Hotel New York because that was where the cruise line ended, in New York. It was a fun café, and a very happening place. There was a nice pier/port area with grass and wide walk ways. Pictures of the rejuvenation efforts made this area look quite enjoyable during the warm summer months.

The below photo has several things I want to point out. First is the Erasmus bridge, nicknamed the Swan because of its bend in the pylon. It was built in 1996 and is a 2,600 ft cable bridge that connects the north and south sides of Rotterdam. The pylon is 453ft tall making it one of the tallest structures in Holland. Another interesting fact about the spot where this picture is taken is how the sidewalk/pier just ends. There are no signs, no fences, or armed guards, just the end of land and beginning of water. I don’t even know if there are ladders to get out if you fall in. Apparently, the Dutch are much smarter than the American’s in the fact they don’t need all sorts of signage to tell someone something so obvious. Their legal system is probably less busy with frivolous law suits also. I didn’t fall in. I used my brain to stop walking and realized the potential danger of swimming in the world’s 2nd largest harbor.

Some other tall buildings in Rotterdam:
• Rotterdam has the tallest residential building in the Netherlands: the Montevideo Tower (160 m (524 ft)).
• Rotterdam is also home to the tallest office building 'Delftse Poort' (160 m (520 ft)) which houses Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company, part of ING Group[13][14]
• The city also houses the 186 meters (610 ft) tall Euromast, which has long been a major tourist attraction. It was built in 1960, initially reaching a height of 101 meters (331 ft); in 1970, the Euromast was extended by 85 meters (279 ft) to its current height.


After our break and looking at the pretty harbor and watching taxi boats go back and forth as well as a tug boat pulling a crane, we headed back to Erik’s apartment so I could grab my things then catch the train back to Haarlem. I didn’t think it would be too difficult since there is a direct train. Well, the Netherlands are revamping several of the country’s main train stations and Delft happens to be one of them. So not only do these people have to worry about road construction, track construction is also pretty inconvenient. The lady told me I needed to catch a train to Gouda, and then switch direction of The Hague, then switch direction Haarlem. That seemed like a lot of work and a lot of switching. So we asked about a train to Amsterdam. Sure enough, there was one that left a few minutes later, a sprinter. Now when I think of a sprinter I think fast. I forgot to think short distances. This is exactly what the train does, goes fast between EVERY LITTLE STOP between Rotterdam and Amsterdam. It took longer than normal, but I didn’t have to change trains 3 times. So in Amsterdam I just jumped onto the next sprinter headed to Haarlem. Usually the train we take stops 3 times, once in Haarlem, Amsterdam Sloderdijk, and Amsterdam Centraal. This one stopped many more times, including the stop where Kelly and Stu got lost at. If they would have ridden one more stop they would have made it to the Central station. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I eventually made it home around 6:30 that evening, in time for dinner with Kelly and the girls at XO on the square. We all split a wonderful bottle of champagne celebrating their arrival and their week of excursions. On Monday they went to Brussels, Tuesday and Wednesday they are in Paris (returning tonight) and I believe they are headed to Germany tomorrow and Amsterdam on Friday. Their flight home is on Saturday where they will have one day of rest before school starts up again. They are going to need it with the schedule they are keeping!

Sunday was filled with an exciting trip to The Hague. Check in tomorrow for those adventures, big and small!

Patience

Today is ticking by, slowly. I've been asked to create a presentation for one of the guys at work. Powerpoint demands patience. Perfection demands patience. Patience isn't one of my strongest qualities. I like to do things to the highest level of my ability and make them as perfect as possible, but it goes against my lack of patience. It seems to be a continuous battle for myself. I don't like I like to do things the easy way.

I just recieved an email from a friend about something to do, if I get bored over here. The link is attached HERE. I can't believe people actually do this sort of stuff for fun! Women too. Who would subject themselves to the possiblity of such torture for 8lbs of cheese? Apparently, the English would.

I am lonely since Kelly is gone. I hope her and Stu are having a good time! I'm sure they are. I think today is when they visit Neuschwanstein Castle (the one Cinderella's castle was molded after). Yesterday, I believe they went to the Hofbrauhaus. I'm sure they had a great time. No word though so I'm taking that to mean they are too busy to worry about little ol' me slaving away. Hehe. Maybe I'll get a sympthay vote.

I try to find raw almonds to keep on my desk for a healthy snack. So far, I have 2 tubs of cooked/smoked almonds and a deal of pistashios. No luck with the raw nuts. One of the guys' mom works at a place where they sell nuts and he brought me some once. I was trying to be independent and not ask, but I think I might cave. I miss those raw almonds. And to think, not so long ago I detested the nut. How our tastes change!

My parents and aunt and uncle are headed of for a very exciting trip half way around the world to Africa. My mom is a bit nervous about surviving it and she informed me she updated the will and is leaving everything to the dogs. She is so kind. I assured her people travel to and from there all of the time with no major mishaps. I hope they have fun though, I'm very jealous I can't stow away in one of their bags for the ride.

I'm already thinking about dinner and I believe we are out of left overs and there are only 2 pieces of bread left, which need to be for my lunch tomorrow. I think I might have to go to the grocery store alone. I've only done it twice and I leave a nervous wreck each time with my groceries bagged completly wrong and smushed bread. Least I have a cute pink canvas groceries bag to help do my part and not waste plastic bags! Wish me luck!

KELLY'S ENGAGED!!!!

I now have permission to finish my blog. You will soon read what happened, but the involved parties wanted to blog about it first, together, so I had to wait till today before I could spill the beans.

Thinking nothing of the random event Kelly wanted me to meet her at the bar and celebrate; I kept on reading, watching the clock, thinking how I needed to get ready for dinner. I hear the keys in the door and Kelly and Stu ended up coming home. Kelly comes down our little hallway and asks if she can come in…she hands me a Stroopwaffle McFlurry (My new favorite) and I thought that was so sweet! I have been trying to get one for a few days now and McDonald’s Holland has been against me because every time we go look for one, their ice cream machine is broken. I thought that was so nice of Kelly and then I catch a glimpse of her left hand…I proceed to squeal! I can’t believe it!! I let her out of my sight for one afternoon and she gets engaged!!!! I also got to sneak in an “I told you so!” because Kelly and I had a few debates if he was going to bring the ring or not. She said “No” since he kept giving her excuses of how he didn’t want to travel with it and things like that. I went with “Yes” because he was actively ring shopping with his female family members and any man that I’ve ever known doesn’t ring shop….and if he does, he is not going to hang on to it for a few months until the timing is just perfect. I was right. He brought it and I’m so happy he did!!! I get to be the only member on the sidelines for their perfect Dutch fairytale!

After they tell me the story of how Stu romantically proposed under our windmill and I squeal some more I figured I better hurry up and get ready. They had to call all of the family members so I let them be as I worked on my beautification process. I figured since Kelly got engaged, I better look cute; maybe I can hook myself a cute Dutch boy. I hear Kelly and Stu talking to their family. It was super cute though because most of the Houston family knew what he was coming over to do so they were just waiting for the call. I loved being able to over hear their conversations because everyone was so supportive of the event. The little nieces have been practicing how to say “Aunt Kelly” and all of the brothers and sisters were so welcoming to the both of them. I don’t know how many times I heard “Welcome to the family! We’re so happy for you two! Congratulations!” It was just the way everything should be. I think this is my first experience with an engagement that has gone by the fairytale books. I also informed Stu he owes my man (whenever I find him) an apology because he is now going to be held to very high standards. I know this stuff happens in real life, not just in the movies. I am so happy for them and so happy I get to be a default part of this. I like living my “relationship life” through Kelly, it’s a good one!!!

***This story can be read from firsthand experience at Kelly’s blog site HERE***

So as you can see this was a major event that filled up most of our weekend. Our dinner at Wilma & Albert’s was fantastic, as expected. We each got something different and we shared so we could get a taste of everything. I got the spicy ribs again, Kelly got salmon, and Stu got a great steak with garlic butter. The steak and ribs are now my 2 favorite things there.

One of our co-workers is in a band. The guys always give him a hard time and call him the “Rock Star.” We decided we had to go find out for ourselves how “rock star” he really is. His band was playing in Beverwijk Saturday evening so we decided to drag Stu along (and have him be our man protection, if needed) and head out to the bar. We got a bit lost, but we ended up finding alright and we were about 20 minutes late. Well, sticking true to “Rock Star” standards they didn’t start till an hour late so we didn’t miss anything. Their first song is an original and called “Love Me (a.k.a. The Stalker).” Now, we couldn’t hear the words (it sounded if their acoustics were off) but I really liked the title. It still makes me laugh….I wonder if I could get the lyrics from him? Anyways! We stayed for about an hour and a half, which covered the first and part of the 2nd set. Kelly and I were asking him what type of songs they play so he printed us off the set list and I told him I was going to bring it with me and make sure they didn’t mess up. I did bring it, but we really used it more for reference. The most important fact though, was that there was a “costume change” between the two sets. Now, this was not included in the set list, we were taken by surprise!

They have a cute little drummer, and by cute I mean short, kind of mean looking, a picturesque beer belly, and a blue tooth in his ear. Well this stud changed from a black shirt to white. I know crazy rock stars. Well the lead singer (our co-worker) changed from jeans and a dark t-shirt to SHINEY BLACK LEATHER PANTS and a T-shirt that has scrolling letters that said “Welcome to Q.E.D. Have fun” I couldn’t help but to laugh my head off. Really? Black leather shiny pants! When we first saw them I thought they were covered in sequins. I had to get some pictures!

These pictures don't do the pants justice, but you can see the shine! This is "Sally" (we can never remember his real, full name)

I had to take a picture with him and his scrolly shirt. They were taking a short pause and I grabbed him on my way out. Oh, the clothes!!!

At one point they were singing the old American classic “Sing-a-long” “Brown Eyed Girl” and when he was doing the “Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da” part he came over and let me and Kelly sing. Yup, we have now sang with/in a Dutch band. Cross that off my life’s list of things to do! It was a lot of fun but we had a busy day in Amsterdam planned so we had to get home. After a short drive home we were all in bed, ready for our exciting day touring the Anne Frank house and the Heineken Experience. Be ready for that recount. It was a fun time!

What a Weekend!

I’m not sure really where to start, but as you are aware, I will drag this weekend out into several posts. It keeps my excited throughout the week.

For Friday dinner, Kelly had made chili the previous night with some chili seasoning her mom sent. It was quite tasty for chili made in Holland! I was very impressed and had a great dinner. She also made some guacamole to go with it. We had tortilla chips and decided nachos would be a great dinner. It was a lot of fun to sit and eat our nachos watching the Olympics. I’m sure the store doesn’t know what is going on with their inventory because I’m sure they don’t sell as much Mexican food ingredients normally. We take a small delight in messing up their inventory forecasts and buying them out of salsa (a very mild version of Pace Picante).

Bright and early Saturday morning Kelly and I head to the airport for the 2nd time since our time here. We went to pick up her lovely boyfriend, Stu. We also learned a very important lesson; there are 4 main areas of Schipol. Areas 1 and 2 are not by 3 and 4. After only a minor incident and Stu having to wait 10 minutes for Kelly (I waited in the car so it wouldn’t get towed), they came walking out. It was great to finally meet him. I’ve obviously heard so much about him, and have mentioned him once or twice in my blog. He is a really nice guy and pretty laid back. He also brought with him some sun shine. Saturday was the first sunny day we have had in a while. It was also decently warm! Stu thought it was normal, his judgment would later be changed. We took him home where we had some birthday cake Kelly made for him. His birthday was last week and Kelly was sad she didn’t get to celebrate with him and his family so she made him her own cake, a sopapilla cheesecake. She baked it Friday night and I really wanted to eat it then, but she made me wait so it could chill. It was delicious!!!! The bottom crust is croissants then the cheese cake goes in the middle, with more croissants on top sprinkled with cinnamon and butter. It was amazing! Kelly didn’t think it baked right, but I enjoyed it immensely none the less. Happy belated birthday Stu!

The rest of Saturday was pretty lazy. I watched re-runs of the Olympics and ready my book. I ended up getting completely absorbed in it and couldn’t put it down. I finished it by the end of the night. Kelly and Stu kept to themselves as Kelly came into the kitchen once a bit teary-eyed she was so happy he is here. They got ready and head out into the city for an afternoon walk around town. I was still reading my book and wanted to take a nap so I figured they could enjoy the alone time. Kelly later BBM’d (BlackBerry Messaged) me and told me to come meet them for a drink at the wine bar for a celebratory glass of wine. I figured we already celebrate Stu’s arrival with sopapilla cheesecake (and I was still in my PJs reading my book) so I told her to have a glass for me and I’ll be ready for dinner at 7 (we had reservations for Wilma & Albert’s, the great rib place). If only I had known……

Where To Go?

I’m sorry my blog post has been a bit late today. I try to have it posted before America gets up and going, but today, I just didn’t know what to post about. After reading many articles for the day in the news, I found a few that are interesting.

First, I like the ease that the Euro has to offer while travelling. I don’t like that it is stronger than the dollar, but I guess we can’t all get what we want in life. I never thought, though, what implications a currency that spreads across many different countries has. I read this article the other day explaining the issues at hand. You can find the article HERE. The biggest point in my mind is that countries don’t have the ability to adjust the valuation of the currency to affect the prices and attract investments. This one currency floats across many different economies that are very different in many ways as well as the power and stability that they offer. I guess we are seeing the implications what unified money can do to many countries. I just hope the dollar gains some strength.

Another article Kelly sent me about things to do in Amsterdam. The article can be read HERE. Rest assured visitors, we will save the article for you to help you have a more successful and enjoyable visit. We want you all to have a unique experience from the “local” perspective and we will do our best to educate ourselves so that we may offer it to you.

And for those of you who have trouble imagining where to take the next vacation to, HERE is the article from NY Times about the 31 places to go in 2010. Granted, I don’t have the money or time to get them all, but there were a few on there that caught my eye. Copenhagen, Leipzig, Istanbul, Breckenridge, Kitzbühel, and Norway really caught my eye (I would like to point out my umlaut usage, I’m proud of myself for figuring that one out). I have a trip in the works to Copenhagen, I’ve been to Leipzig numerous times, Istanbul I might have to wait on for a few years, and the last 3 just really make me want to go skiing. I had a great time in Breckenridge several years ago with a fun group of people. Below are 2 of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

We went hat shopping! I don't have a better picture with Josh's eyes open, but you all get the idea. We also went for sushi right after so it was a pretty awesome night.

This little room is where we all (all 20 of us) kept our skis, boots, poles, snowboards, and random bicycle. To say the least it was a bit full and the littlest movment had the opportunity to cause a dominoe affect. Karla and Kayla wanted to test it out. I miss you two!

Someday I’ll have my dream ski vacation in the Alps at some fabulous resort. Whether it be St. Moritz, Kitzbühel, Zermatt, or anywhere else I can come up, it’s going to be fantastic. It didn’t work out this year so I guess it wasn’t meant for me to have the ski trip of my life, yet. Can you tell I have high expectations for this trip? I can wait for perfection (and hopefully a slightly larger budget to have it on).


Input from my daily life: sushi was great last night. They also gave us a web site that has a TON of different restaurants that deliver. I think delivery is Holland’s drive through. We don’t even have to say our street name (which is Waganmakerslaan) we just type it in. Another point for technology. For those of you worrying about Kelly and I gaining weight since all you hear about is food, I wanted to give you a rundown of our daily meals:

Breakfast: Muesli with yogurt (I try to find a fruit to put in there with it)
Lunch: Sandwich (or leftovers) with 2 small oranges.
Afternoon snack: Pineapple or another fruit
Dinner: a frozen pizza with fresh basil, vegetable fajitas, Sheppard’s pie, chicken breasts, fish, pasta

We go out to eat 2-3 times a week and generally always take our lunch. To put this in perspective I ate out lunch every day in Houston and most dinners as well. We also have to walk to any food destination we choose (this delivery discovery might be bad) as well as the grocery store, post office, and to get any kitchen utensil that we need (we always forget the can opener. I’m glad I brought my Leatherman).

Don't worry, we're not rolling around Holland just yet.

It's Light Outside!

Finally! There was a beautiful sunrise this morning. The sky was pink and blue with clouds in between. I wanted to take a picture of it but I was driving and my camera was in the “trunk”. Granted, it was probably not much better than your normal New Mexico sunrise, but considering we haven’t seen one in a few weeks because the sky has been so grey with clouds, it was beautiful to finally see sunlight.

I realized yesterday that I never posted about my dinner on Saturday night. I don’t have pictures to commemorate it, but it was great. We went to another new restaurant that was recommended to us. I had made reservations the day before by simply emailing them (I really like technology some days) and I am glad I did. The place was full when we arrived and only got fuller! We opted for the 4 course meal. Apparently, it is quite popular here. There are always advertisements for 4 courses for 25 Euros so we thought we would give one a try. We had read the menu while sitting there though and found a few things that we really wanted to try. Lucky for us, they ended up coming as part of our meal. They were so tasty too! It was prawns/shrimp rolled in a tortilla and fried with amazing sweet chili sauce. The food here is just different enough to never really know what you’re getting without being fearful of wondering what will show up on your plate. It’s always an adventure!

Saturday Stu (Kelly’s boyfriend) comes and I’m sure we will have a decently easy day giving him some time to rest. On Sunday we want to head to Amsterdam and at the train station Kelly and I need to buy some train tickets. The high speed train website won’t take credit cards that have a billing address outside Europe. I’m trying to figure out how to go visit Uwe and Andrea (my German host parents) in a few weeks and I think by train will be just as easy (and about 100 Euros cheaper) than flying. I just have to get my tickets plenty in advance for them to be economical. I also have some friends who will be in Frankfurt for a day next Saturday and I’m trying to figure out how to meet them. It is a 4 hr drive, but I have to be home to get Kelly Saturday night from the airport, or at least have the car at the apartment for her so that she can take Stu to the airport on Sunday. I don’t know what to do, but I’m sure after a phone call to my mother, I’ll have a better idea. Be prepared Mom.

Kelly’s Mom sent a care package and we received it yesterday. It had taco and chili seasoning in it as well as some of her grandma’s homemade pecan pralines. They are AMAZING! Just like little balls of sugar, butter, and nuts. It can’t get much better, or unhealthier, but they are sweet little treats. The office also loved them, asking if we could hire her grandma to send more. The package also had ranch dressing in it! Well, the little packs for us to make our own, but still. We are excited, a little taste of home.

Tonight is Sushi for dinner. We found a cute place on the square and want to try it out. If you don’t hear from me tomorrow, I got food poisoning and will be contemplating my death. Otherwise, expect a full report! I better get off to harass the guys and get my Dutch lesson in for the day. I’m not as far with my Dutch skills as I’d like to be so I better pick it up!

Half Broke Horses

This weekend was uneventful but I did manage to eat some great food. Friday evening Kelly, C, and I all went out for dinner but we wanted something light since we were still full from our amazing lunch. Richard had taken us to a CUTE place on the harbor that served amazing chicken sate. Kelly had a burger that looked great as well. The best part was sitting by the windows looking at the ice filled dock area and icy lake. It is a sight you definitely don’t see in the Southwest.

The building at the end of the road on the left is the restaurant. Super tasty foods!

There is the icy harbor/docking area. Some boats didn't get rescued before the ice it, but that seems to be semi normal. Ice can be beautiful.

This restaurant had some candy to grab on your way out. Richard made his way in search of a particular sucker and urged us all to try one. So Kelly and I both grabbed one, C did not. I opened mine, liked it and it tasted alright. Richard opened his and had Kelly taste the powder that was in the middle of it and she started yelling and practically gagging. She was not happy with Richard. Apparently, it’s no tootsie pop…it’s a black/white. Kelly’s said the sucker tasted like licking the bottom of the ocean floor. Heading that warning, I proceeded with caution. I made me way through the sweet exterior of the sucker and once I started getting the salty, yucky taste I stopped. On the car ride back, Richard told me to ask another one of our American coworkers about this sucker. I took the liberty and asked, apparently, it got the best of him too. He is not a fan, to put it lightly. Lesson learned: the Dutch have an odd taste for sweets.

After all of the lunch adventure, none of us were very hungry for dinner so we decided to go somewhere light. We went back to XO (or first repeat dinner) for their wraps and quiches. It was just as good the second time around. C has a sweet tooth so she talked us into desert and man oh man does this country have some fantastic ice cream! Since I have a special spot for ice cream anyways, it’s just a little slice of heaven in a bowl.

On Saturday, Kelly and I enjoyed sleeping in and we planned on meeting C for lunch. She had a lazy morning and went shopping but we weren’t that motivated. We started walking along the shopping street and there are so many cute deli-like places but they are always closed for dinner so we just picked one for lunch. It was great! It was called Pluk and they had a bunch of organic things and their bread was big thick soft pieces of dark, almost black, goodness. They also served fresh smoothies so that was a nice way to spice things up a bit. Apparently, Americans are not the only ones to have credit card trouble. After C had been shopping all morning and didn’t have any problems with her card she tried to pay for lunch. They don’t accept credit cards. She explained it was a chip card, it still wouldn’t work because it was a credit card, not a debit. We then all had a big discussion because many of these vendors tell us that “Holland doesn’t accept….” when the store right down the street didn’t have a problem with it. I think this country needs to get on the ball and choose a story and stick to it. Either way, Kelly and I are used to it and always carry cash on us now. We then headed back to get C’s luggage and headed off to the airport. She was our first victim of the airport routine, so all future visitors, we are now experienced.

On Saturday I had finished my book “The Friday Night Knitting Club” and it was such a good book! It made me cry! I then started another book “Half Broke Horses” and managed to finish it in one day. It was an easy, enjoyable read. The book was set in New Mexico, West Texas, and Arizona and talked about ranching, the weather, and how hard life was then. It was so fun to read, though, because I knew places like the Hondo River Valley and Lincoln and Capitan. The book was written by the main character’s granddaughter based upon stories she had heard from her grandmother and mother through the days. It also made me realize how little I know about my grandmother’s upbringing. I need to call her more often anyways so I guess now I will have questions for her. I better learn this part of my family history before the opportunity is lost. The book took up most of my Sunday while I read and watched some of the Olympics. Nothing like a lazy day reading, watching the snow outside, and wishing you were off skiing with all of the Olympians at Whistler. Maybe next year……

American Spicy or Dutch Spicy?

Last night Kelly, Richard, myself and another woman from work all met for a drink and then headed to dinner. This was enlightening because we always walk by this sign for the Whiskey Bar on a side door. Glancing through the beveled glass in the door it looked nice, but the outside looks a bit shady so we were always too skeptical to go in. Well, we met Richard and C. in the hotel bar before dinner, and guess what? It’s the same bar as the side entrance and it is very cute and nice! It's decorated in the Scottish plaids, has a long list of whiskey offerings, and some very tasty beers on tap. It was probably a bad thing we discovered this place so close to our apartment. I also now know where I'll be sending my mother if she starts to act up.

So after our drinks we headed to Wilma and Albert's, a cute steak house located near the Grote Markt. We have been told about it and have seen it but we haven't been because it was expensive and we figured we would wait till we could find someone to take us. That lucky day finally came. C told us how tasty the ribs were so I had to listen. They offer sweet or spicy so being the south westerner that I am, had to go with spicy. Kelly got a great steak so that we could split our plates and have the best of both worlds. I'm glad we did. Those ribs were AMAZING and SPICY. Not Dutch spicy which really just equals flavorful but American spicy. My lips were burning, my mouth was very, very warm and I was a happy, happy camper. They were so great. We are definitely putting that restaurant on our repeat list, whenever we start repeating restaurants.

It is also finally Friday, which means we get beer this afternoon. I thoroughly enjoy this tradition. We missed last week because we left a bit early so we could get a start on Paris. I really like the tradition and it is fun to have something to look forward to. I also enjoy how normal it is to drink beer at work. I guess everyone realizes that they can survive with just one or two and behave so they don't ruin it for everyone. The Dutch do have the moments of ingenuity. This would be one of them.

Sunday Funday.....in Paris!

On Sunday, Kelly and I headed to Notre Dame. Again, we didn't get a terribly early start so we got there in time for 11:30 mass. Kelly went to mass and I started taking a tour of the church.


It was really neat, though, because they had a choir singing and the organ playing. It was beautiful. The other neat thing about taking a tour during mass, the fact that I could walk behind the alter area and see what was going on. They were swinging the incense and preparing things just like you see in the movies. I was entertained, until the incense started making my allergies act up. That was the end of my snoopyness. So I continued on my tour of the church, taking picutres (without flash, of course). I was able to see their beautifully famous windows...

...as well as all of the side alters. It was crowded though. I can't imagine it on a day in the summer. I am not a big fan of crowds or lines so I usually avoid them. I probably should have spent more time in the church, reading about all of the history, submerging myself in the ambiance, but I just wanted out. I was sneezing and being pushed by strangers, I needed air so I head outside. Kelly and I had seen some people up on the roof of the church when we arrived, via metro, and I wanted to go up there. I love climbing bell towers and church spires so I found the door.....and then the huge line. Kelly was still in mass and I had planned on just sitting on a bench waiting for her. When I saw the line, I figured "why not just wait in line?" So I did. It was a pretty dull experience. The girls in front of me were drinking hot wine which happens to be my all time favorite winter, cold weather drink. I was jealous, but alone in line so I took a drink from the water in my purse and tried to imagine. I also watched people buying crepes from the cafe selling the hot wine. I went with a piece of gum. Finally, after about 45 minutes this man starts dancing around and causing a commotion. Turns out he was our in-line entertainment. This is a picture of him (on the left) posing with a man and his luggage.

There was also a cute old couple walking down the street arm in arm wearing georgous long coats (hers in fur) and the starts yelling "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE PRESIDENT!" Everyone laughs, he catches on and starts waving. It was fun. He also tried to kung fu chop any asian person that walked by. Very un-PC but still entertaining. Kelly finally came around the corner with several other people and then he started acting like their tour guide. Kelly started to break away from the group to join me and he kept trying to direct her back to the other people. I got a good chuckle!

So after an hour plus we got to head up the stairs towards the bell tower, home of Quasimoto, of Notre Dame. I love gargoyles. I don't know why, but I think they're cute. Here is one of my favorite...a bored flying monkey-ish type creature. Kelly counted 368 stairs, I counted 384 stairs and google said 317. We're not sure what the answer is and what was or wasn't counted by google but either way, it was a lot of stairs. This picture is on the first stop.

This next picture is from the second level up. We were level with the roofs on the top of the church. There was an amazing view of the city and we were able to enjoy all 360 degrees of it. I just loved the Eiffel tower sticking up out of the busy city. Such a pretty sight.

We also go to go up into the bell tower. This is the home of Quasimoto. We read a little history about him, and let's just say it was a bit different than Disney's version. We also now know why he was huntched over: little doors!

Kelly and I had to take a picture with the Notre Dame roof as our back drop. There is proof we were at the very top!

By the time we were done climbing stairs and taking pictures, it was 2 o'clock and we were hungry. There were plenty of crepe places around so we took a cute looking one and went in. Restaurant Roulette French style was success again. Kelly had a great chicken, mushroom, and cheese crepe (below). I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwhich, excpet the cheese was on top of the bread. Kelly's won the taste award.

There was also mayonaise on the table, presumably for the Dutch tourists. We thought it was funny so we had to take a picture.

Yup, all the way from "California" in Paris, mayonaise for the Dutch. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, via metro, rescued poor Opel from her dungeon of parking, took her on the elevator back up to civilization. It only took us 5 hours to get home and we luckily didn't have any traffic issues...or gas. It did rain a bit, but that isn't anything to new to us in the wet world.

Paris was a great experience and there is still stuff for me to do when I go back....whenever that day may be!

The Historical Side of Paris

Update: It took Mom 3 days, several hours, and lots of strong urging before she read my blog close enough to find the "challenge." Thank you Mom.

Disclosure: This is going to be a rather lenghty post and I don't believe I will use the copy and past function from Word becuase I don't have enough pateience today so therefore, please forgive any misspellings.


To start off our Saturday, Kelly and I took advantage of the snooze button on the alarm and didn't leave the hotel until about 11. I know, we are bad tourists, but our Eiffel tower excursion didn't get us home until midnight. We came up with a game plan and headed off to conquer the city. First stop, the Arc de Triomphe. We didn't want to pay 5 Euros to go inside it, so we took pictures from the safe side of the roundabout.

While we were standing there we hear a loud crash, see a hub cap roll across the street and there is a car skidding to a stop and a bumper with a license plate in the middle of the road. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but it was funny to see and made me happy our Opel was parked safely in her little spot. Kelly and I had to get a picture together to mark the occassion!

The street, Champs-Elysees is laid out with the Arc on one end and the Louvre on the other. It was built as a memorial Arc so that Napolean could ride his horses through it back to his palace at the other end (the Louvre). Champs-Elysees is one of the most famous, prestigious streets in the world with some rents at 1.1 million Euro per 1,000 sq ft. They also have stores such as the largest Adidas store, Europes' largest Gap store, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Zara, and Disney. It is just a beautiful street with a long history dating back to 1616.

Another store on this street is Swaroski. So of course Kelly and I had to pop in! We found an AMAZING stair case that we will both someday have in our houses. It was crystals in the glass and with all of the bright lights, it just sparkled! I love all things shiny and this was no exception!

After Swaroski it started to rain, and rain, and Kelly and I are not a big fan of getting wet so we ducked into the Gap. I was able to find a few nice sweaters, all 75% off, so I invested further into warm clothes attire. It has already proven useful! After the Gap it was still raining so we hurried to the next metro station to jump on it to take us to the Louvre. I started reading the history of the Louvre and got so involved with it I couldn't pick out any history to include in the blog. Instead, here is a link to the site. I will say though, that it has nearly 35,000 objects dating back to Pre History until the 19th century that are displayed over 653,300 sq. ft. To say the least, you could spend an entire weekend in that place and still not see all of it.

Kelly and I have both previously been to the Louvre so we did not go in this time. We did take pictures of the outside though.

This above picture has a story, one that ends in black and blue marks on one of us and the other practically rolling on the wet ground laughing. I will give you a moment to guess. Ready for the answer? Here is the story: Kelly took a very similar picture and I got jealous and decided I wanted one too. So I climb up on the wet, slick stone to pose for my picture with the Louvre in the background. So classic right? Well in addittion to the fountains in the courtyard area there are also two larger-than-life pyramids (so I thought anyways). The larger pyramid can be seen in my picture and the smaller one is behind and a bit to the left of from where this picture was taken. Kelly didn't like the prespective of my picture so she started backing up to get a better picture and I thought she would have noticed the gian 10 ft pyramid behind her when we walked in, but apparently she missed it. She was stepping backwards, I don't really grasp what is happening until Kelly is leaning over, trying to regain her balance slowly rolling down the pyramid landing on the wet ground silently. She tried to break her fall with her arm but it just caught the edge of the glass pyramid and she had a bruise forming by dinner. It all happened in such slow motion. I wanted to run to her, but I was on a wet stone and hear of falling into the fountain on my right, so as a bad friend, I was blamed for not warning her that a giant, stationary pyramid was behind her. I am laughing so hard as I write this, I am tearing up. Kelly isn't happy that I still get such a chuckle out of it, but it was too funny.

Now, back on to serious tour business: This is another picture of the Louvre. The skies are nasty grey, just waiting to keep raining on us. We see a man selling umbrellas for 5 Euro each, we end up walking away with 2 for 7 Euro. I consider that a decent deal. Happy to report though, we did not need those umbrellas because it didn't rain anymore. Murphey's law I guess.

The below picture is a view from the "courtyard" of the Louvre to the Eiffle Tower. It is such a beautiful city!

The below picture is a view down the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. A beautiful (and expensive) district.

After walking around the Louvre, we headed to Tiffany & Co. I was given a charm bracelet from there for my college graduation gift from my grandparents. I admit, I sometimes browse their website and discovered they sell Eiffel Tower charms. I informed my loving, patient mother that if I make it to Paris, I would be investing in one of those. She nodded so I took that as approval. On our adventure there, we walked by so many beautiful stores. DeBeers, Cartier, Chanel, Mikimoto Pearls and many, many more. Their window displays were amazing. The jewelry looked like something that you might see a princess wear...or at the Oscars. There were people actually in these stores as well. We continue past all of the amazing jewelry until we see the tale-tale blue sign. We head to the door, try to open it and it's locked. They had to buzz us in (unlike the gas station). Well, actually they had the scary looking door man open the door for us. This would be my second trip into the depths of this amazing store. The first time was when I was 17 and in DC for a field trip. I also found my $97,000 engagment ring that I'm holding out for...but I won't hold my breath. Anyways, he head downstairs to "cheap" sterling sliver charms and I find my Eiffle Tower, buy it and we head out. Our curiosity gets the best of us though because we decide to look around. We wander upstairs where they have the "bridal" collection. There were several couples up there as well. Oh the beauty of all that sparkles! Kelly and I head out before we bankrupt ourselves and go back to the direction of wisdom and museums. We grab a dessert at a cute bakery and map out our afternoon plans. I have a hankering to do a museum so we decide on the Musee d'Orsay (picture below).

On our we walk over a bridge that has all sorts of locks attached to it. It is a lock of love, as google informed us. Couples put a lock on the bridge signifying their unbreakable love. Very cute. If I ever succomb to this, I will be sure to engrave my lock ahead of time. Those look so much classier.

Now, back to the museum. It is housed in an old train station built between 1898 and 1900. It holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography, and is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces (the largest in the world) by such painters such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, Gauguin and Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986.

That was plagerized from Wikipedia. Here is a picture we took of one of Van Gogh's work, The Church at Auvers .

And one of his self portraits:

The museum was a big, wide open space, very much like a train station. It was an enjoyable experience compared to a cramped museum with painting after painting. Of course the museum was also undergoing renovations so things were a bit different than normal but it was still a great experience. They also have 86 paintings by Monet which we enjoyed looking at as well. In addition to the traditional paintings and sculptures they had antique furniture and a beautiful hall that overlooked the river. Once again, in my fascination with lighting fixtures, I had to take a picture of what the Europeans do so well, elegance.

It was getting late and the museum would be closing soon, as told by the giant clock, so we headed out. It was a quick trip around, but suitable enough for me and Kelly.

When Kelly was here a few years ago a friend, who used to be a tour guide in the city, recommended a fun restaurant to her and her family. We decided to set out in search of it again. It is in the Montmarte district so we hopped on the metro and headed that way. Well, we were 30 minutes early and walked in on them eating dinner. Whoops. So we knew Moulin Rouge wasn't too far away and headed that way. We also found a cute gallery displaying original works of art by various local painters. I would have loved to spend money there, but I have to draw the line somehwere. We kept walking downhill until we found it and took some pictures:

We didn't want to look desperate by showing back up at the restaurant at exactly 7 so we tried to play it cool and went to an Australian bar for a beer. At about 7:30 we decided we were too tired to walk uphill so we hopped on the metro again and rode the one stop. That public transportation and sure be handy! By the time we got there the place was PACKED. We luckily squeezed in becuase there were only two of us. You have to hang your jacket in a certain area because there isn't room at the table for personal belongings. Kelly then decides she has to go to the restroom before we sit down. I don't want to stand in the jacket hallway like a wierdo so I head to the table. To sit down at this table, one side is against a wall on a bench and the other has chairs and you have to stand on the chair and step over the table to get to the bench. Kelly warned me about this and we decided she would step over. I think she did the bathroom stunt on purpose although she won't admit it. I head to the table, alone, and the waiter moves the chair, offers me his hand, and that is how I got pressued into stepping over a table in a really crowded restaurant in Paris. I was mad at Kelly. After I'm squeezed back into place between the table and the wall, they ask if we want red or white and cheese or meat. Those are the menu choices. Red or white wine and cheese or meat fondue. The wine is served in baby bottles because, from what I've read, you have to pay at tax for all wine served in glasses. We get our baby bottles and the fondue and enjoy our dinner.

We were seated between a French group of 3 and a very loud, singing group from Spain? The rest of the restaurant was filled with American girls. They looked young, and drunk. I have no idea what they were doing in the city in February, but they were having a good time and I guess that is what is important. We didn't loiter for too long and then we headed back to the hotel for bed. It had been a long day and we were exhausted!

That finishes up our Saturday in Paris. Congratulations on making through the entire posting! I appreciate the patience!