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.
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