Tulips and Bicycles

Those are two very Dutch things: tulips and bicycles.  Combine them together into a one day adventure and you're basically a Dutchie...minus the fact that most Dutch people don't make the trip to see the tulips, but that's besides the point.   That's how I spent my Saturday-- biking through Holland admiring the tulip fields which are in perfect bloom right now-- and it was so much fun.

 We started off by taking the train from Utrecht to Haarlem.  We then biked from Haarlem to Leiden, stopping for lunch in a tulip field near Lisse.  The actual bike route was only about 45km, but add in the trip to and from Zeist, and the extra kilometers we covered while we were temporarily off route (we weren't lost, really, we weren't), and we biked about 80km in total.  Needless to say, my legs were pretty darn tired by the time I got home.

All in all, it was a fantastic day!  The weather was absolutely perfect: not too warm, not too cold, no rain, and not too windy.  We were in good company and good spirits.  I don't have much else to say because simply saying we went and saw some tulip fields doesn't cover it.  Actually, it sounds pretty darn boring when I say it like that, but I assure you, it wasn't.  It was a fantastic day and only pictures can demonstrate. It's a shame I forgot my camera (I'm such a bad photographer), but luckily I have this nifty new smartphone that actually has a decent camera on it.  I managed to get a few nice shots and borrowed a couple pics from Karen to give you all a taste of my flowery day. Enjoy! 

From left to right: Karen, Me, Jorine, Laura. 

This was taken in Leiden.  Apparently there's this "thing" called Wild Knitting and people make stuff to decorate cities.  Basically it's a nicer version of graffiti, and I think it's pretty darn cool.

A weekend in Copenhagen

First off, Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you all enjoyed some family time.

I spent this Easter in Copenhagen with my dear friend Laura.  It was.....well....a bit snowy at first.

However, soon after that, the skies cleared and the sun shone the rest of the day.  We did a beautiful walking tour and got to see many highlights of the city.  One of my favorite spots was Nyhavn.  For me, it's the view that pops in my head when someone says Copenhagen.  Originally, it was a slummy area, and they decided it was time to clean it up and attract a better crowd.  So one really really hot summer day,  the drawbridge lifted and some boats docked for people to go visit.  They were only supposed to be there for 3 days, but the hot weather warped the drawbridge to the point that it wouldn't open again, so to this day, the boats still remain docked there.  

On Saturday night, we went on a pubcrawl with some of the people we met on the walking tour.  It was a wonderful group of people, and we all seemed to just click right off the bat.  We had an absolute blast and got to enjoy the nightlife of Copenhagen and some traditional alcohol like Fisk.  It means fish, and funnily enough, it tastes a lot like Fisherman's Friends throat lozenges.  It wasn't my favorite as I felt like I just did a shot of Listerine, but it was still fun to try it out!  

Another highlight of Copenhagen we visited was Christiania.  I was absolutely intrigued by the concept of it.  Basically, there were a bunch of hippies that took over this old military area of Copenhagen.  They have their own currency, their own laws, the own schools, and a very unique way of life for the modern world.  This is their mission statement: 

"The objective of Christiania is to create a self-governing society whereby each and every individual holds themselves responsible over the well-being of the entire community.  Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and physical destitution can be averted." 

I urge you to check out their website, and to check out pictures on google.  I didn't get any pictures of the community because I felt a bit awkward and like I was imposing on their privacy.  Sadly, it reminded me a lot of what a ghetto would be like, as it was very run down in general.  Overall though, it was really neat.  I'm not sure I fully grasp the entire concept yet, but I have to say, it was worth the trip over there, and I'm very curious to learn more about the community.

Another touristy spot we visited was The Little Mermaid Statue.  I'd be lying if I said it was cool.  To be honest, it was a really ugly statue that barely resembled a mermaid and it was created in honor of Hans Christian Andersen-- the writer of the original fairy tale before Disney stole it and warped it into their own more popular version.  I was really hoping that the story was more along the lines that he was inspired to write the story based on the statue, but that's not the case, and that's why it was so uncool that I didn't even take a picture.

I did however, get a ton of random snapshots of the city.  In general, I found Copenhagen to be very picturesque.  It's a large city without the hustle and bustle of one.  It felt like no one was in a real hurry and everyone was so happy to help out the dumb tourists that were lost.  Overall, I'd say Denmark really did fulfill the stereotype of them being one of the happiest countries in the world.  

Making Baba Proud

Hey Baba, this post is for you!

Today, we baked Paska!  For my first time making it on my own, I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself.  Not only did the dough turn out alright, I managed to whip up some gluten free dough so Pippa could have Paska too.  

The really white one is gluten free bread.  It looks horrible, but surprisingly, it tastes like normal bread!  The dough is a bit tough to work with cause it's really sticky and not really the texture of dough at all, but we managed and made a braid and a bird too!  And with the leftovers we made a bread duck to match the ones Kristel bought for Cleo and Pilou.

Swinging Through Spring

The kids had no school this afternoon so we ventured out to the local farm/petting zoo/park to check out all the adorable new born animals.  And while they played, I picture adventured......a lot.....and I couldn't decide which pictures to post, so here are all of them!  Starting with my favorite: the swings!!!

If this isn't the look of pure glee, I'm not sure what is.

My future little photographer.  =)

And the misplaced duck hanging out with the lil sheep and goats.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

Enlarge images to view in much better quality.  =)

Een paard heet Sterk

The title translates to: A horse named Sterk (which actually means strong in English).

A couple weekends ago, Sander and I joined a few of his housemates for a weekend adventure with Anne's horse Sterk.  We were having gorgeous +20 weather at the time, and it was a wonderful kick off to spring!  We had a nice BBQ after and even ate outside! Unfortunately, the weather has gone downhill a bit since then, but based on the facebook status' I've been seeing lately, I think the weather here is still better! 

That's Enny.  She's one of Sander's housemates, who also happens to make the most amazing Indonesian food I've ever tasted.  This past Saturday she made a dish called Gado Gado.  It's rice with green beans, tofu, rice, egg, cabbage and peanut sauce.  It was soooooo delicious!

Mom for a week

My conclusion of the week: children are tiring.

Kristel and Jerry have been in New York this week, so I've been the fill in Mom and Dad, and my gosh, what a week!  

First up, broken bike, on the way to swimming lessons.  The plan was that I would drive the bakfiets (click here to see a picture) with one kid, and the other would be on the bike.  They would then take turns riding the bike because it's an 8km bike ride one way, which is a bit far for little 5 year old legs.  But because I'm by myself and we were running late, the bike decided to break down about 1km into the journey.  So in goes the other child and the bike.  Doesn't sound too bad until I tell you the bakfiets is stuck in one gear and the tires are low.  All I can say is what a workout.  

Other than that, the week has been fantastic.  It was a great chance for me to bond with the kids more.  We have done lot's of fun things like painting and biking (we've had amazing +20 weather the last few days) and making fun desserts.

I was so nervous about this week, but in the end, it's been a lot of fun, and it has just made me love these kids so much more!  It was when Pilou came to my room in the middle of the night and asked if she could sleep with me that I realized they view me a part of their family, not just the au pair.  They treat me like family and they will always have a place in my heart with the rest of my family.  

That's Pilou in the purple, Pippa in the middle and Cleo on the right.

Pilou's definitely the goofy one of the three.  I don't think there's a day she doesn't come home with some sort of sticker on her head or her hair redone in some silly way.

Cleo was absolutely thrilled with the weather yesterday.  She literally played outside until the sun went down.  It truly felt like summer.  It was fantastic!

Pippa is the artsy one of the three.  She has the most beautiful 5 year old writing I've ever seen.  She is perfectly content with a piece of paper and some felt pens.  

Some time with Mom

Last Monday, I managed to eat breakfast in Barcelona, lunch in Paris, and dinner in Amsterdam, followed by fish 'n chips and cider in London on Friday.

Let me bring you up to speed.

For my birthday, I got the best present ever-- a visit from my Mom! Since the sun only shines once every ten days here in Holland, we decided to head south and cruise the Canary Islands.

Our holiday quickly turned into an adventure as KLM lost our luggage and we nearly missed our ships departure from Barcelona.  But, we made it in time, and like I said, it was an adventure!  After getting over the devastation of the thought of having to wear the clothes on our back for 4 days until our suitcases arrived, we started to enjoy the luxury of the ship (especially the 24 hour ice cream station. Mmmm).  It was a quick two days at sea before we were in Funchal, Maderia (part of Portugal).

It was here we did our first tour.  We were taken by a bus to the very top of the mountain to visit a beautiful lookout point.  Here's the proof:

We then went back down and took the cable car on the other side of the island to the top, and rode wicker toboggans back down.  This mode of transport has been used since the early 1800s. It's more or less a tourist attraction nowadays since most people have cars, but it is so much fun!  

That's our ship in port.  It was ginormous!

And I have no idea who those people are, I just really wanted a picture of the sled in action.

Our next port was Santa Cruz, Tenerife which is part of the Canary Islands.  It is a very quaint island with not a lot of touristy things to do.  It was also the day after carnaval so things were pretty quite. Mom and I spent our time roaming the city, being amazed by cool street performers like this: 

The next island we visited was Arricife, Lanzarote, another port in the Canary Islands.  This was my favorite port of them all, and I can't quite pinpoint why.  It was so picturesque, warm, and just nice all around.  

Our next port was Malaga, Spain.  We didn't actually spend much time in Malaga for we had another tour booked, but we visited the Caves of Nerja, and the small town near it.  It was so cool and beyond explanation, and picture truly do the caves no justice.  They were discovered only in the 1950s by five children who were playing in the area and fell through a sinkhole leading to the caves.  

All in all, the cruise was a fantastic adventure.  We met a few really nice people, and did a lot of catching up and relaxing.  There were many laughs, and many memories made. 

However, the adventure didn't stop there!  On the weekend, Sander and I ventured North to London for a weekend of backwards driving, Broadway and visiting.  

After having some delicious, fresh, fish 'n chips with Mom and Joanne, Sander and I ventured out to the Museum of Natural History and the Science Museum of London.  Following that, we went to the play "The Madness of King George III".  It was a fantastic play, and the theater itself made the experience so much more!

On Saturday, Sander and Vince went to a football (aka: soccer) game while us ladies enjoyed High Tea at Fortnum and Mason  (which happens to be where the Queen and Kate had tea last week).  It was so pretty and girly and absolutely fantastic!

Oh, and while we were out, Joanne got a call on her ridiculously awesome cellphone!

On Sunday, Sander and I embraced our Dutchness (aka: were crazy) and rented bikes to tour the city....in the pouring rain.  It was super fun though, and driving on the wrong side of the road made for a very interesting adventure! 

So that's what I've been up to for the last month or so.  I've been seeing the world and visiting with Mom. =)  I have some travel plans in the works, but for now, I'm looking forward to some down time in Holland.  Sander and I have been so ridiculously busy since Christmas so it'll be nice to just sit back and relax for a bit.