Big Surprise Gastronomically :)

Expected a quaint picnic type of atmosphere and found elegance, bright & beautiful surroundings, great service and delicious food and drink. The Jonge Dikkert (translated to English is ' the young fatty!) in Amstelveen. Double thumbs up!

The World's Best Macaroons

In Paris, of course! Thx Thais!

http://www.laduree.fr/index_en.htm

THE Train: Another GREAT Thing About Europe

Alex and I left Schiphol train station in The Netherlands at 2:30 and were at our hotel in Paris at 6:30! A taxi then took us to a secret door on Avenue George V, behind which we wound our way down the secret stair case to the old horse stables. There, underground, was a tasting of 12 wines- all or many from Maison Louis Jadot. Delicious and interesting. Dinner at 11:3opm - you have to love that! J'aime Paris! A bien tot!

(Now, I hope we can get public transport advanced in the U.S.!)

Sight from the Durgendam to Marken 10K

Since this race last spring, we've been windsurfing in these waters....what a great (windy) country!

ZuiderZee Museum- Double Thumbs Up!

Really get the feeling of living life 'the way it was'.

L&K

L & S Sightseeing

5 day visit to Amsterdam

For friends who come visit we are forever grateful!

Things we did:

• Hoped for good weather and got it! Something to be so thankful for! (ps, it's raining today!)
• Biking-hop on your bike and explore any chance you get, this is THE most fun!
• Zuiderzee Museum-what a great surprise, so much learning and SOOO fun for kids! Make your clog boat, eat candy, play old fashioned games, see old fashioned knickers drying in the breeze
• Efteling- go early, go off season and get ready to have fun! Definitely just a classic amusement park.
• Anne Frank- get the kids program and buy tickets online first.

Things we missed but will do next time:

• Van Gogh Museum
• Schoorl and Bergen aan Zee for dunes, beaches, aquarium and restaurants, mtn biking if you have one...
• Rembrandt's House
• Fun Forest: rope courses through the trees by age group with secret forts along the way
• Madurodam
• Bike to a pancake house
• Canal tour
• Arnhem Park- white bikes and animal hunt for kids
• Amsterdamse Bos (the forest)- ride bikes to goat animal farms, have more pancakes, rent canoes, see a concert...

How Can I Help Our Netherlands' Town Start to Recycle Plastic?

Tuesday 07 April 2009

Amsterdam city council is refusing to cooperate with government plans to collect plastic waste separately, the Parool reported on Monday afternoon.

Environment minister Jacqueline Cramer wants to introduce separate plastics collection from January 1, 2010. But Amsterdam says it plans to continue incinerating plastic waste because that is better for the environment.

The city council will present a report on the environmental effect of separating plastic waste later this year, the paper says.

In addition, the city council says that experiments in smaller local authority areas show few people are actually prepared to separate their waste.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2009/04/amsterdam_wont_separate_plasti.php

Dad's New Toy!

Alex is keeping himself busy in the evenings with his new beverage device! Nice marketing, Grolsch! :-)

Learning from my 9 year old who tells me that 'birthday presents just mean more clutter in your room"! How mature!

School Starts 2009-2010

Off to school....bye bye summer!

Where it all began....For us, traveling in Europe is a chance to experience and learn about real history, old history.  Most recently, thanks to our trip to Greece, I became excited about the idea that gods from myths and religions, new and old, were real people. They had parents, were kids once, traveled around (that alone was probably very difficult and dangerous) and even died.  Gives us renewed interest in all the stories and the evolution of beliefs and cultures. (Pic is the gate of the Temple of Apollo at the entrance to Naxos harbor, built in 523 BC and still standing with no reconstruction.)

Paris!!

What you don't see here is our 'wonderful' trip through the Paris 'egouts'..... hee hee!

No Bugs!!

...May: No bugs!!......June: No bugs!! This place is awesome! :-) (If you are from Maine you will know how I feel!)

Kid Stuff

Erika scores a goal in her first hockey match!!
Sophie sings in a sextet for the talent show. Erika floats for Swim Diploma A.

Amstel River

A classic scene from an early morning bike ride- the ferry crossing for a car or few bikes.

Great Family Camping in Holland

We stayed at Camping de Strandloper in Scharendijke for the Himelvaart long weekend. Fun camping and the big girls took windsurf lessons! HIghlights as always included- tent sleeping, pancakes by Dad, playground fun, biking, and lots of smiles.

Great Running Route 1

Just north of Amsterdam Central is the fishing village of Durgendam. Park just past the village and run along the dike to Marken. 13K So gorgeous, you will forget what you are doing!! :-) Don't forget to pack your windsurfing gear, too.

Wind Fever

....checked out 'the spot' in Zaanfort...kites and windsurfers and outrageous winds until sunset at 9:45!! What a life! Photo courtesy of the spot. Alex and I have been bitten bad by the wind bug!

Best Day Ever #1

Ran 8 miles in the Amsterdamse Bos, windsurfed in Aalsmeer with my sweetie and biked to and from school to get the kids...YAHOOOOO!

Windsurf and Beach Weekend Dutch Style

Went to the southern Netherlands' coast with the Slater's. A great multifamily weekend! Lots of beaching, two big family meals, rugby, dig-dig-digging, soccer and more. We all recommend the Hotel ZilverMeeux. http://www.hoteldezilvermeeuw.nl/Arrangementen.html

Ended the weekend with windsurfing on the Grevelingenmeer. FUN!!! My kind of sailing.

Queen's Day 2009

On this day, it's ok to sell without a permit so every front stoop becomes a store front. It's a nation-wide garage sale where everyone wears orange- the color of the royal family. Notable- children bring out their musical instruments and play & sing for money. It's very exciting and warm.

Flower Power!

FloraHolland in Aalsmeer is like the Wall Street of flowers....a great place to see many types of flowers, watch the distribution chain in action and, best of all, breathe in the most amazingly fresh and sweet air!!

100 % Fun: Tarifa Spain

A multifaceted vacation destination--located in a national park and relatively undeveloped, Tarifa offers windsurfing and kiteboarding to die for (that's what we heard anyway- no wind for us, I am afraid!), mountain biking, historic whitewashed towns fanning down hillsides, good food, good beer and great mojitos, a real vacation schedule (late nights, late mornings), and -best of all- it's only a 35 minute boat ride to Morroco (ok, well, that must be the ol' bait and switch' because it took us over an hour. We went with our friends John and Annie and that was the most awesome of all- just chillin' out with friends.

Romantic Getaway

Texel Island- thumbs up! http://www.opduin.nl/index.php?page=Home&lang=uk

Qualifications for being Dutch

how many tasks can you perform while riding a bike....I am working on riding with one child on the bike, in front a basket with groceries while chewing gum, talking on the phone, holding a 6 pack....here's C in training:

Wanna learn about monkeys (or people)?

Visit the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam. Between the chimps, orangutans, gorrillas and more you see almost all aspects of their lives in action. Most striking is the way they take care of each other...rubbing, liking, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. And loads of tumbling and snuggling. I'm going to try it! http://www.artis.nl/main.php?pagina=paginas/t/dierentuin/apen

Other highlights: lions (wow! so cool!), crocs, cali sea lions, giraffes, pythons... :-)

People Come and Go- Getting Used to the Expat Life

One of SSM's little 2nd grade girlfriends moved to Paris today and 3 more of her friends are leaving either in the next month or two or at the end of the year. It puts a pit in my stomach- I feel so sad. But I guess it's a good experience for the children. I am not sure I would be able to get used to this lifestyle permanently. I know some of my friends will leave this year too and that will be very hard to handle!

Highest Dunes in the Netherlands!

Today we went to Schoorl in Noord-Holland where there is a trail network that explores the tallest dunes in the netherlands -and- you are allowed to climb them and slide or run or roll down. We tried all three! At the top of the trail there are some funky gnome carvings which became the site for the girls' fairy palace. Later we found the top of the highest dune and tumbled down...After hiking in the dunes, we went to my current favorite town, Bergen, and visited the aquarium and went out to dinner. An adventurous and decadent day!!

Bergen Aan Zee

S and I went to a new beach destination today in Nord Holland- 45 mins from home-which featured not only the beach but a beachside aquarium. We touched rays that were peeking their noses out of the water, saw clown fish darting in and out of orange sea anenome and resisted putting our fingers in the piranha tank. I was particularly taken with the amazing shells collections from all over the world- amazing patterns of shape and color. After the aquarium we walked down the beach and had a fun stop at a cafe- Zilte Zoen (Salty Kiss) which was packed and happenin'!

My favorite exhibit:

Skating Again!

The canals melted, so thx to our neighbors, we all went to a skating 'track'....our youngest made it around once but SSM made it 14 times!! :-)

Off to Het Loo.....

Today I went to the Palais Het Loo, the hunting lodge for the house of Orange, or the Dutch royal family, including William and Mary. Highlights: gardens, the overall warmth of the inside, very colorful sitting, eating and sleeping rooms, chandeliers, the shell grotto and a few really spectacular paintings. We missed the car collection.

For more info, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Het_Loo

Snow Lovers

do not move to Amsterdam!!

Living Abroad

Most of the time, living here in the outskirts of Amsterdam is fantastic. I have bought 2 tanks of gas for my car since last September!! We ride our bikes everywhere or take public transport. My Dutch is coming along very slowly- but the children are developing a large vocabulary quickly. The winter is mild in general, which makes the biking possible- usually we are hot by the time we get where we are going!

One of the things that is hard to get used to is the coming and going of people you meet. All of my close friends are planning to leave this summer, for instance, which threatens to put me back to square one socially. Even my early morning running partner, boo hoo. And the girls have had several new students join their classes throughout the year and one is leaving next week. It's definitely unsettling and you try to strike a balance between insulating yourself against the constant sadness of losing friend and becoming so insulated that you have no friends at all...more on this later....it's an ever evolving thought process.

More importantly, GO OBAMA! Make up for lost time....!!

Bright Outlook for a New Year!

Weather's warm, we've met some fun neighbors, we can read the Cape Courier online (go BIKE PATH!) and I've got my application in to teach at the International School!

The Big Thaw

Today- High 30s-boats out on the water!

Yesterday- High 20s-hundreds of people out on their skates





The weather changes more quickly here than any other place I know. It's amazing to experience. But, since we biked to school, we were thankful for the return of warmer weather.

Jan 4, 2008- Going North to Skate

The big news in the Netherlands is that it's been cold enough for the canals to freeze- if we have about a week of cold weather, there is a race or a tour on skates through canals that connect 11 Cities in Friesland, north of our house. Check out the photo album slideshow for some pix- at the end- of our skating on canals near by. Bye!!

New Year's Eve Update!!

The big news was that after 24 hours of firecrackers and fireworks, at midnight all the stops are pulled!! Fireworks everywhere, every second for at least, I am not kidding, an hour and a half- the air smells like gunpowder this morning. As far as the eye could see there were explosions in all colors and sizzles and swirls. The highlight for me was the sky lantern that floated by my bedroom window at 1am....see the link for how to make sky lanterns.  Happy New Year 2009! See http://blog.skylighter.com/fireworks/2008/11/how-to-make-chinese-sky-lanterns.html