Fall Back

A week of firsts for us here in Amsterdam. On Monday morning we completed our second to last step of the immigration process and registered at city hall. Apparently one must register in their municipality whenever they move. On Tuesday we received confirmation from our immigration attorney that Tracy was finally legal to work. We have to hand it to the Dutch, they are nothing if not efficient. Tracy's work permit came through right when they said it would.

Tracy attended an Expat meetup group luncheon on Friday that was held at a restaurant on the 7th floor of the Amsterdam Library. It was a great time where she met a lot of friendly women. It was very encouraging to have such a great experience at the first one of these gatherings. It ended up being a beautiful day to walk around the city as well.

Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam

We awoke to a beautiful blue sky and sunshine on Saturday morning. Cool and crisp doesn't really do it justice, it was flat out cold. Despite the morning sun Nick's hands still turned to ice cubes on his morning run.

The weekends bring us the opportunity to really get to know the city. So despite the cold temperatures (5 C with a windchill of -1 C), which allowed Nick to use his new down coat for the first time, we headed into Amsterdam. We were prepared to stand in line in order to get into The Rijksmuseum but luckily for us the sunny weather was keeping other people outdoors. The Rijksmuseum is the State Museum of Amsterdam. It's filled with art from the beginning of Dutch settlement through the Golden Age. The real draws at the Rijks are Vermeer's The Milkmaid and of course the Rembrandt's. Unfortunately The Milkmaid was on loan to a museum in Egypt but the Remrandt's more than made up for it. The Nightwatch is arguably Rembrandt's most famous painting, it's so large it commands its own room at the museum. We'll be the first to admit we are not art buffs and neither one of us took art history in college but seeing these works up close is pretty special. We look forward to visiting the other museums that Amsterdam has to offer, including the Van Gogh and Stedelijk. We also look forward to sharing these experiences with visitors (hint! hint!). 

After the museum we decided to join everyone else and enjoy the sunny afternoon strolling the streets. We did some window shopping along Amsterdam's equivalent of Rodeo Drive and then walked through part of Vondelpark, which is comparable to Central Park. We found a cafe for lunch just in time, as what appeared to be wet snow or sleet began to fall as we were sitting down. The restaurant was nice enough to provide "entertainment" for our meal. By entertainment we mean random music videos from the past 30 years played on mounted flat screens. We have not quite figured out what is going on with the music scene here but there is probably a reason you don't hear of many famous Dutch music groups/acts.

The Rijksmuseum

I amsterdam letters (there is always huge crowds around these wherever you find them) with the Rijksmuseum in the background.

Museumplas on a gorgeous day.

Sunday brought daylight savings time for us and more morning sunshine and chilly temperatures. We're not complaining though, the first half of October has been one of the wettest on record for Amsterdam. We'll take cold and sunny any day. As both of us will be travelling this week, we treated ourselves to a late breakfast, and began to prepare for the week ahead. Tracy will be heading to Eindhoven for a few days to spend time with Marja, Maarten, and the kids and Nick is off to Paris first thing Monday morning for work.

We also booked our first side trip this weekend! We will be going to Paris in early January to meet up with Leslie and Guy. We are over the moon excited to see them and to see Paris!

An update...

We spent the week settling into our apartment and getting the lay of the land around our neighborhood. We decided that on Saturday we would head to Ikea to pick up the few extra things we needed around the apartment. Mainly we wanted to buy some big coffee mugs. Everyone drinks from tiny little espresso mugs in Europe. That just doesn't cut it in the morning for us. We need our giant cup of coffee!  There are Ikeas all over the Netherlands. So we were able to find one a few kilometers away. It was pretty much the same layout and the same Saturday chaos that you would expect at the Southcenter Ikea. We found it amusing to pick out all the furniture and decorations that are in our apartment. Pretty much 99% of it is Ikea stuff. After wandering through Norwegian furniture paradise and picking up a bag of meatballs we headed home. We only managed to get lost once on our way back.

After an early dinner (of Ikea meatballs) we decided to head out and check out a couple bars in Amsterdam. So we hopped on the tram and headed for De Pijp (a neighborhood we had heard a lot of good things about in Amsterdam). After wandering the streets for a bit and realizing that we can't trust the navigation on Nick's new phone (or don't quite know how to use a phone that isn't an iphone), we finally found a great restaurant to slip into for a drink. The de 3 vrienden looked so inviting from the outside we just had to go in for a drink. We saddled up to the bar and were greeted by the owner of the restaurant. We struck up a conversation with him over a couple of beers and learned more about De Pijp and some of the other places we need to visit while we are here. About a week ago our friend Kayla recommended that we visit the town of Giethoorn, which is referred to as "The Venice of the North". It is a town that has no roads and cars, the only way around is by boat in the canals. The owner of the restaurant made the same recommendation, so it has made our short list of places to see in the Netherlands. The menu at the restaurant looked really good and he was so hospitable that we will definitely be heading back there sooner than later.

As we made our way back to the tram to head home, we popped into the Kingfisher Cafe for one (or two) last drinks. The Kingfisher reminded us of a Capitol Hill type venue, only with fewer hipsters. The place had a great vibe, we will definitely be back.

The city was not as busy as we had anticipated for a Saturday night, but we thought perhaps it had something to do with the Amsterdam marathon which took place Sunday morning. We came to find out that the reason De Pijp was so dead that evening was because there was a world famous deejay event going on in downtown Amsterdam. Apparently there was a three day dance event that weekend where deejay's from all over the world come and perform at all the clubs in Amsterdam. We were bummed to have missed out on it as Nick really wanted to get his groove on. Next year for sure!

Sunday was a lazy day for us. We have discovered a huge park about a mile and half away from us. It is called De Braak. There are trails all around and throughout the park. So we have both taken to running there. It feels nice to be able to do some trail runs instead of running on busy streets.

This week we joined a group called Meet Up. It is a way for us to meet other expats and do and see fun things around the city we might not otherwise do. Tracy is going to a ladies lunch social on Friday and we have a couple events that are just drinks out on Friday evenings coming up as well. We're really hoping it will be a good way to meet people around here. Tracy also joined a running group called Amsterdam Fit. They are a group that meets and trains for the Paris, London, and Amsterdam marathons and other fun runs. And again, hopefully it will lead to meeting people with similar interests. Nick has promised to join on some of the training runs. But we all know running comes a little easier for him than Tracy!

We also found a really nice gym that is not too far from our apartment. It is on the tram line that runs near our neighborhood and once we get bikes it will be a quick bike ride. It is called Club Sportive and absolutely has a club-like feel to it. Tracy went in for a work out this morning and could barely hear her ipod over the loud music being played in the weight room.

We have definitely made progress this last week in attempting to build a network outside of work and outside of our home. But we still miss Seattle, our friends, and our families very much!

Sorry, but no pictures for this post. We've been bad about the camera this week.

I'm not a tourist...

So we're just over two weeks into our new adventure. We've figured out the grocery store, we have a dutch bank account, and we've secured an apartment. We are definitely not on vacation. We were feeling a bit guilty that our first and only trip into the city (together) was two weeks ago. So today we decided we would spend the day further exploring our new home, despite the 8 degrees Celsius temperatures and constant threat of rain. There is a tram station which is a convenient five minute walk from our door, which has a tram that takes us straight into the Centraal Station in Amsterdam. We needed to go to the Centraal Station to pick up our Amsterdam Holland Passes, which we had purchased online last night. The Amsterdam Holland Pass is a discount card that provides free or discounted entry into museums and other attractions throughout the country.

Without fail we arrived among the hordes of tourists descending on the city for the weekend. What makes us different than these people we thought? Well, first and foremost we weren't packing bags and secondly, we were prepared for the rain (of course native Seattle-ites never leave home without a raincoat). Oddly enough, we have noticed that the Euros seem to love themselves suede and leather coats, despite the torrential downpour. After picking up our passes successfully and navigating the streets like seasoned veterans, the most important decision lay ahead. What museum would we visit first? Although many of the museums are spread throughout the city, the Museum Quarter, houses many of the city's top artistic attractions. The area houses five museums and a concert hall, all in very close proximity, including the Van Gogh Museum. We decided to dip our toes into the shallow end of Amsterdam's culture pool and visit the Heineken Museum first. Culture and drinks, sign us up!

Not surprisingly the Heineken Experience was well attended on such a dreary day. We were actually quite surprised by the length of the self guided tour. We spent a solid two hours drinking in, literally, the experience. The tour even included a view of the draft horses, which were used to deliver Heineken to the bars of Amsterdam until the 1960s. Horses two weekends in a row, fancy us! After the tour of the brewery we continued our Heineken adventure with a mini canal tour and a visit to the Heineken Company Store. They take their Heineken very seriously here.

It became evident the weather was not going to lift, so we decided to wander back to the Museum Quarter and grab a bite along the way. Our walk back took us along the Amstel River and past the most expensive hotel in Amsterdam. We were told rooms will cost you 2800 euro per night (breakfast is included). We also walked across the Magere Brug, the current wood bridge is a 20th century replica of the 17th century original, where the mechanical drive was only installed in 1994. As the rain truly began to come down, we ducked into an English Pub for some sandwiches and a beer. We've taken to drinking Palm, although we mistakenly called it Paul upon our first order a few weeks back. Clearly we had not picked up on the Dutch accent yet.

As we exited the pub and headed for the tram stop to head home, it didn't take us more than a block or two to realize that we had wandered in a giant circle and were right back in front of the Heineken Company Store. We're blaming it on the concentric circles the streets run in here, not the three and a half Heinekens before lunch. However all is well that ends well, we found our tram stop and hopped back to head home, warm up, and dry off!

Have we become full-on locals? Not even close, but the tourist in us is starting to wear off. Next week will take us back to the city and deeper into the culture pool.

Flower market along the canal.

Mecca? Close to it on this dreary day.

Don't mind if we do. Beer here is served in metric, but it is still delicious.

Nicest hotel in Amsterdam. Good to know the 2.800 Euro per night includes breakfast.

Theater along the Amstel River

Must be so you can hold a 6 pack.

Eindhoven

This past weekend we packed up the VW and hit the road for a good ol' fashion road trip. We headed all the way to the southern part of the Netherlands. Only an hour and a half later, including a slight detour because the highway/freeway was closed for widening, we arrived in the 5th largest city in the country, Eindhoven. Eindhoven was merely a small village back as early as 1900 but has grown exponentially due to the arrival of Philips, which was founded here. The population is now in the 200,000's.

As we drove further south we noticed more and more farms. Eindhoven has a city center as well as a technology campus but reminded us of Issaquah, as there are lots of trails, woods, and farm land surrounding the center of the city. Maarten, Marja, and the kids live in a very nice neighborhood which is only a ten minute bike ride from the barn they ride at. In fact Philine can ride her bike there by herself in order to tend to her pony. The neighborhood also has a nice small wooded area just across the street from their house where the kids can play.

All of the books we have been reading about the Netherlands claim that Dutch kids are some of the happiest in the world. We have found that children here are given much more freedom than they are in the U.S. They can ride their bikes almost everywhere on their own. On our way out of Aalsmeer on Saturday we were driving behind what must have been a 10-year old boy and his younger brother, who we estimate was no older than 5 or so. They were riding their bikes through town all on their own right down the middle of the street, yet cars yield to bikes here, so you don't really have the same worries about being on a bike, that you do in the U.S. No one here bothers to wears bike helmets either! Since arriving we have probably seen hundreds of thousands of bicyclists, but not one with a helmet (not even the kids).

Once we arrived in Eindhoven we had a little time with just Danique and Niels, as Philine and Marja were still at the barn preparing for Philine's horse show the next day. It was great to have a home cooked meal for the first time in a few weeks. We also very much enjoyed an evening catching up with everyone. It was so wonderful to see how the kids had changed since being back but also how much has remain unchanged. All three of the kids have picked back up the Dutch language. Philine and Niels are even learning to read and write in Dutch at their school.

The next day Maarten, Niels, Danique, and Fudge took us on a mini tour of parts of Eindhoven (Philine and Marja were back to the barn to prepare for the show). We arrived at a wooded area where the kids could dig for pirate gold around the lake and Fudge could chase countless sticks (and small trees) into the lake. We had the place all to ourselves, at least until church let out. Once church let out the area was flooded with other people exercising their pups and their horses. We lucked out and enjoyed a beautifully sunny day! Here are some pictures.

The mini lake

Danique

Niels

Fudge

Yup, we saw this ;-)

After seeing some more sights around Eindhoven (lots of horses) it was time to go watch Philine in her first horse show since moving to the Netherlands. Not to mention her first horse show on her very own pony! She did a wonderful job and we were so happy that we were able to come cheer her on!

Philine and Dancing Girl, getting warmed up before the show

Preparing to enter the arena.

After the show we headed back to the house for some lunch and more play time. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Aalsmeer. We are both adjusting to life here, more and more each day, but it was wonderful to spend some time with "family". Tracy will head down to spend a couple days with the kids at the end of October while Nick is on a work trip. There is also a trip with them to Switzerland in the works for Christmas. We couldn't be happier to be in the same country again!

Tomorrow is moving day for us! No more hotel!!! Woo-hoo!

Apartment Hunters International

This week has been one of ups and downs for us. The fact that this move is real and not just a "vacation" has finally hit us. Living in a hotel room has started to wear on us. The fact that the weather in Seattle has been sunny and warm and it's been rainy and dreary here, has been a bit of a bummer. We have had definite moments of homesickness this week. But we knew this was to be expected and will probably not be the last time we feel this way. All in all the week has ended on a very happy and positive note and we are excited for a fun weekend and for what next week will bring.

Nick began work this week at the Expeditors office in Schipol (near the airport). There are nearly 300 people in the office, many of whom have relocated from throughout Europe and the Middle East. He's excited to be working with people from various cultures and backgrounds and interested to see how the business and office culture differs in comparison to that of Seattle. One difference he's excited about is starting work at 8:30 instead of his customary 6:30 in Seattle. There is also a lunch bus which stops by the office for breakfast and lunch. It makes its presence known by honking the horn while pulling into the parking lot. Everyone seems to know it is coming as they are already pulling on their jackets and grabbing their wallets prior to its arrival. One can purchase all kinds of treats from the lunch bus...including cigarettes.

We began our search for housing on Tuesday and saw two places, one an apartment in Nieuw-Vennep, with a great view to the west, the city center at the front door, and a canal at the back. The town was a bit too quaint for us though. We also looked at a house that day in Hoofdorp. It was a tad too 80's for our taste and much too large for just the two of us and Rocky.

Our search continued on Friday as we spent the majority of the day meeting with brokers and viewing apartments. We spent the morning in Haarlem, which is nicknamed "Little Amsterdam". We had a wonderful  tour guide (broker) named Bas. He was so personable and informative. He truly sold us on the city of Haarlem. It is a beautiful and historic city directly west of Amsterdam proper. I think we both fell in love with this particular city. It has the feel and beauty of Amsterdam without the overwhelming number of cars and people. Bas showed us two great locations there. One of them was in an old hospital that had been converted into amazing apartments. The place had a great roof top terrace but the owner was still a little reluctant to move out. We really were wanting to move into an apartment asap, and were worried that since the owner was not fully mentally ready to part with the unit that we might be waiting for another month or two before we could move in. The other apartment was in the center of Haarlem and was a great "sexy" apartment (our wonderful broker loved to use the adjective "sexy" when describing places to us). Unfortunately, due to the apartment being in the center of the city there was no parking for our car. So we decided we'd have to pass. We had a wonderful experience with Bas from Interhouse Haarlem. If you ever need to find housing in the Amsterdam area, look him up! We will definitely be spending lots of time exploring Haarlem while we are here.

Next it was on to Amstelveen, which is a suburb of Amsterdam. Many Expats end up living here because of the easy transportation into the city, as well as the proximity to schools, shopping, outdoor activities, etc.  We saw a few very nice places and are happy to say we are in the process of closing on one and will be moving in on Wednesday. It is a super cute two bedroom apartment (2 bedrooms!!! That means anyone that wants to come visit has a free bedroom!). It is a wonderful feeling to know we are getting out of the hotel! Here are some pictures from the website.

The view from the street.

The living room and partial dining room.

The kitchen.

The view when you walk through the front door.

Spending the day driving around Northern Holland helped us (really just Nick) get our bearings.  The country is very beautiful and filled with plenty of green (flat) space, which is surprising, considering that nearly 17 million people live here and the square mileage is smaller than that of Costa Rica and only slight larger than its neighbor Switzerland.  We're told that the Netherlands is the second most densely populated country in the world behind Singapore (Kevin, always having to be a one-upper).

Tomorrow we will head south to Eindhoven to spend the rest of the weekend with Marja, Maarten, and the kids. We will go to Philine's first horse show in the Netherlands on Sunday. We are very excited to get some time with the kids and to pump Marja and Maarten for tips and information. Lots of pictures to come!