A big portion of our time revolves around family dinners. Emily is a great cook and has allowed me to help her in the kitchen to make her life a little easier. On our first night in Amsterdam Jim picked us up from the airport and Emily made us Tacos in the slow cooker which were some of the best I have ever had! I ended up making a burrito bowl (think Chipotle but better).
We get a lot of our groceries at the market where everything is on sale for much cheaper than the actual store. They also have fresh stroopwaffles. If you don't know I love Stroopwaffles (a coaster shaped cookie with caramel in the middle of it).
Nate (who also came to Spain) had never been to the Heineken Factory so while Jim was at work one day we all went on the tour. I think it was the 10th time I have done it in my life but first time in five years.
With the tour you get three beers (one in the taste testing room) and then two after with buttons that they give you on your wrist band. Luckily people drop their buttons and we were able to pick them up and get extra drinks. The tour is quite funny and includes a ride which shows you how to make beer that includes spraying water on you and heating you up and shaking you around (like disneyland but lower budget).
The canals are so pretty. They look dirty but our Dutch friends insist you can swim in them and that the water is clean and is washed through twice a day. It's so clean that even Queen Maxima (from Argentina) has swam in them.
Drew and I on the I Amsterdam sign. Luckily the letters D and A are near each other. If you haven't noticed we always have the same clothes on because we each brought one jacket and who would have thought that in June it would still be freezing cold.
This is the view from Jim and Emily's balcony and anytime it is nice we sit out on the balcony and play cards. Emily has a nice garden going on with all the flowers and herbs you could imagine. They also have a unique apartment which has the same size balcony on both sides of the apartment but the sun shines on this side more.
We decided one night to go to a coffee shop (not to be confused with a cafe which serves coffee). Of course it was raining but we had a good time and got this lovely picture.
I have two Dutch friends (Bram and Rien) that are twins that I have known for years and live in Amsterdam. I introduced Emily to them and she became part of their circle of friends. Where I am going with this is that what goes around comes around and this is a friend of Bram and Rien's named Jarno on the left that has been a great tour guide and friend to hang out with that Emily introduced us to.
Such a great tour guide that we spent my favorite day in Amsterdam on his boat touring the canals with prosecco and cheese. It was such a nice day and so much fun. I had been on tours of the canals but never on a boat for 8 hours with friends. By far my favorite day!
Us going through a tunnel on the boat.
Beautiful views in the background.
Drew and I.
Sometimes the tunnels get so low that you have to lay down. Including the person driving the boat. What I should mention here is that Emily is wearing my extra clothes and a towel which is because on the way home from the canals we have to briefly go into water with big ships. A wave hit us and she was too slow to react and was covered in water and freezing cold because the sun was going down and the temperatures dropping. We sadly didn't get a picture of the event but it will forever be ingrained in my mind.
Us at Vondell Park on another nice day! Music cards and food!
One of Emily's last nights. Jarno and Robert hosted a going away party and this was us leaving to go to it!
One of her goals before leaving was to ride bikes through the city. We only had two bikes and had to ride to Emily's friends house from Dutch class named Inga to pick up the third. It was quite hilarious because the Dutch make riding someone on the back look so easy since they have been doing it their entire lives but we made it look hard! If you haven't seen the video footage, just ask. We almost wrecked several times.
It is much easier to have three bikes! Canal photos.
The I Amsterdam sign in Museumplein is always filled with tourists but on our bike ride home at about 930 PM (yes its still this light out at this time) we decided to go by it since it was on the way home and literally there was nearly no one there so we were able to get a much better panoramic. We are off to Italy soon for a few weeks. Venice, Florence, Cinque Terra and Rome!!! Until then....Tot Ziens!
You are having a such a great time and doing it totally European! Live it up!
ReplyDelete