The Holiday's

Sorry for our long absence from the blog. We hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and are surviving the build up to Christmas and the New Year. We will try to catch you up on what we have been doing this past month.

We celebrated our Thanksgiving together the Saturday after. We made a grocery run to the Kings Market near our apartment, which sells some "specialty" American and British food. There we were able to buy some stove top stuffing (for 4 euro a box!) and other ingredients that we needed to complete our Thanksgiving feast. They had frozen turkeys for sale, but we opted to go with a small chicken instead. The turkeys were about 27 euro for a 7lb bird. Way too much food for just the two of us and much too expensive. Plus, we were unsure how well our microwave/oven was going to do in roasting a whole turkey or chicken (turns out it did a fantastic job on our small whole chicken). The only ingredient that we were unable to find here were the fried onions for the top of our green bean casserole. We tried using some panko bread crumbs instead to give it some crunch, but it wasn't the same. I think we were both glad that we took the time to make a Thanksgiving meal and celebrate in our own way. This adventure has really shown us how lucky and thankful we are to have such a wonderful family and friends.

On the topic of being grateful, Tracy found a job just before Thanksgiving. She is going to be a nanny for 6 month old twins (a boy name Milan and a girl named Laia). It will be a full time job, but hopefully the schedule will be four 10 hour days, Monday-Thursday. The mom has some flexibility in working from home and wants to have some days with the kiddos by herself. They live four tram stops from us and right next to our gym. So it is really close and convenient. It will be a much different change of pace from what Tracy is used to. But the kids seem wonderful and she is very excited to once again be employed! She has worked a handful of days here and there since Thanksgiving and the family is now back in the U.S. for the holidays. But she will start full time in January after we are back from Paris.

Nick continues to enjoy his new office. His Dutch co-workers have taught him a few Dutch phrases to aid in his integration. He's made progress in many of the areas he had hoped to and is optimistic about finding the right new hire or two soon. 

We've had some beautiful days here earlier this month. It snowed off and on for a good week and a half, which made for some really pretty scenery. It has warmed up quite a bit, so now we're experiencing typical Seattle weather here. Rainy and dreary. We have noticed that it doesn't rain all day long here, like it can in Seattle. The rain will move in and then stop. 

Early morning snow fall.

We have done some more exploring of Amsterdam and the Netherlands. The other week we went out to dinner at Tempo Doloe. An Indonesian restaurant that was featured on Anthony Bourdain's tv show. We were very impressed. The waiter we had was really friendly and walked us through what we should order. We ordered a rice table (which is what they are famous for) and the ajam di boeloe (chicken in basil sauce). Both were delicious. The spicy dishes in the rice tables are no joke though. They are spicy! 

Two Saturday's ago Nick had his work Christmas party. It was quite a bit different than the corporate holiday parties in Seattle. It was a casual occasion held at a bar not too far from our apartment which made for a great way to get to know his co-workers outside of the office environment. Plus he walked away with a panini maker and an Ipod dock. Coupled with the open bar, he considered it a successful evening.

While Nick was at the Christmas party Tracy met up with Bridget, one of the ladies she has become friends with through Amsterdam Fit. Bridget lives in the Jordaan, a neighborhood located in Amsterdam to the west of all the main canals. They first went to a cocktail bar called Vesper. It was a really cute small space that specializes in nothing but cocktails. The cocktails were delicious! After Vesper they went to a cafe called Scout for a couple more drinks and some bitterballen (the perfect drinking snack). It was a very fun evening overall. 

Last Monday our ocean cargo shipment finally arrived. It actually got here earlier than we had expected. So that was a great surprise. Also a pleasant surprise, everything made it in one piece, despite some beat up looking boxes. It's great to have some of our stuff from back in Seattle. Mainly, sharp kitchen knives, the dutch oven, and warm winter running gear! Rocky is loving that "his" two big pillows have arrived as well. Now he has multiple beds in each room. He uses them all. Such a spoiled cat.

Some of our boxes that arrived.

We were ready to get into the Christmas spirit and had been toying with the idea of jumping on the train and heading to Cologne to check out the Christmas markets. As the weekend approached we just had too much going on to make the trip worth it. After a little research we discovered a Christmas market in Dordtrecht, a town in the Netherlands just outside of Rotterdam. We decided that we would take a small road trip Saturday afternoon to check it out. After talking to Bridget at AMS Fit Saturday morning she opted to join us for the festivities as well.

After a little more than an hour journey south in the car, some searching for the free park and ride, and waiting in line to catch the free shuttle bus, we finally arrived at the Kerstmarkt. We were definitely impressed by the size of the market and the crowds. It was located in a really pretty part of town as well. Most of the booths were lined up on the canals with gorgeous houses on the other side of the street. There was a wide range of stuff for sale in the booths. Some had cute crafts that people had obviously worked hard to make by hand. Other booths had stuff that you might expect to find at garage sales. It was fun just to walk around and take it all in. We of course, purchased some warm gluhwein to sip as we walked around.

One of the busy streets in the market.

The church in Dordtrecht. The market was centered around it.

In other news, we got our wedding pictures back earlier this month. If anyone is interested in them let us know and I can send you the link and password. Here's one of our favorites. Both sides of the family and ALL the kiddos. We love it!

We are sending out Christmas cards, but made the mistake of ordering them from Snapfish U.S. Apparently an international delivery can take up to 25 days. So our cards might be Happy New Year cards instead. But we haven't forgotten you!

The last two weeks around here

We thought we'd share what we've been up to lately.

Nick traveled to Paris two weeks ago for work.

Nick and Aaron, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

While Nick was in Paris, Tracy traveled to Eindhoven to spend more time with Philine, Niels, and Danique. She was there for Halloween and volunteered to help out with Danique's class Halloween festivities. She wasn't sure what to expect as we had heard that Halloween is not as big of a deal here. There are definitely no pumpkins or household decorations to be found. But all the parent volunteers at the school did a great job decorating. There aren't as many options for buying costumes here, so there were a lot of skeletons (boys) and witches (girls). Niels definitely was unique in his Commander Cody (Star Wars) costume from the U.S. Danique was a cute space girl and Philine was a spooky witch. All in all it was a very fun holiday!

Danique and her friend.

Danique's class, all dressed up.

While Tracy was down in Eindhoven she had some time to explore the city. There is a huge shopping center in the city center, with numerous stores to explore. She also checked out the Van Abbemuseum, which was recommended by several people. The museum itself was a really unique building. The art was a little bit over Tracy's head. Modern and contemporary art is not something she understands or knows how to appreciate. But it was interesting to check out. Perhaps she's even becoming more cultured!

Van Abbemuseum

Tracy had a wonderful time down in Eindhoven and is grateful that she can continue to spend time with the kids! She will be heading back down next week to help out for a few days while Maarten is out of town on a ski trip.

That Friday night, we were treated to a very nice dinner by Nick's boss Aaron. It was Aaron's last night here before heading back to Seattle. It was very generous of him and great to see a friendly face! We haven't been impressed with the food here, so were a little unsure about where to go. We consulted Yelp for restaurant choices in Amstelveen and were pleasantly surprised by what we discovered.  We went to BarRestaurant which was a quick drive from our place. It had a very modern feel and located right on the Amstel river. We will definitely be returning.

Last week brought some long work days for Nick as they are making progress on interviewing people. Tracy was busy broadening her job search. She opened up her search to nanny jobs, as it is clear jobs are still hard to come by here. She's had a couple good interviews with a couple more scheduled. Hopefully something will be a good fit and she can start working soon. She's finding it rather boring not working.

Last Friday night we attended an Expat Meet Up at a restaurant in Amsterdam. It was fun to get out of the house and talk and meet other people. It was really interesting to hear different stories about what brought people to Amsterdam. It is apparent that it is a transient city where people are constantly moving to and from.

View back on the city from Openbare Bibliotheek.

Saturday was another low key day. We made our daily walk up to the Albert Heijn to grocery shop for the weekend. There is really only one choice for grocery stores in Amsterdam and that is Albert Heijn. They are everywhere. We have three of them in Amstelveen. The one in the basement of the mall seems to have the best selection so we tend to frequent it the most. There is a Kings Market that is just down the block from us that "specializes" in stocking U.S. products that you can't find anywhere else. Color us unimpressed. We bought a box of Lucky Charms there for Tracy to take down to the kids and paid 6 euro for it. Overpriced is an understatement. We have been pleasantly surprised that groceries in the Netherlands are cheaper than they are in the U.S. But so far they are the only thing that is cheaper.

Saturday evening we were finally able to Skype with Tracy's parents. It was wonderful to "see" them and cute baby Kate!

Sunday we ran in the Olympic Stadion 5k. We lucked out and it was a beautiful sunny morning. Part of the run was along a canal with some of the cutest houseboats that we have seen here. It was a lot of fun!

Finish line picture

Nick took off Sunday afternoon for a few days of work in Norway.

Kristiansand, Norway

We are settling into our life here and establishing some daily routines. We are really excited for our Paris trip in January and have started to think about the other places we want to see while we are here. We are very thankful for this opportunity to see Europe. But we miss all of you back at home, especially our cute nieces and nephews that are changing daily. I don't think we ever imagined that the beginning of this adventure would make us as homesick as we have been. But we know that in the end and after time it will be worth it and will get better! Thank goodness for Skype!

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!

Our Arrival

We arrived in The Netherlands after a 10 hour flight from Seattle, excited, bleary eyed, and nervous. The direct flight was a blessing. The babies competing in the screaming contest on our flight were not such a blessing. But we made it safely!

A very kind (and young) employee of Expeditors delivered us to our hotel in the village of Aalsmeer, which is located south of Amsterdam proper and about 10 minutes from Nick's new office. We began to unpack and settle in as we awaited Rocky's arrival. We were informed upon check in that customs needed a copy of Tracy's airline ticket in order to clear him in. Something we were unaware of until we arrived (good thing we hired that pet relocation company). Expeditors was contacted and provided a copy of the ticket. Rob, who is the manager of personnel at Expeditors here, showed up with our rental car and took Nick to the office to show him around. On his way back Nick was able to pick up Rocky and bring him back to our hotel.

While Nick was off with Rob, Tracy received a welcome visit from Maarten, Philine, Niels, and Danique. It goes without saying that Tracy was excited to see the kids and they were very excited to see her. They even got to miss a day of school for the trip up to Aalsmeer. We spent the afternoon reconnecting and touring the neighborhood around our hotel. The area is "very Dutch" with quaint shops, restaurant's, a very old windmill, and even a few canals. It was so wonderful to see the kids again!

The flight and travel was all pretty traumatic on Rocky. For such a social cat he has picked up a real awareness of "stranger danger". He spent the first day and a half curled up in the corner under our bed. He wouldn't even come out for food. Day by day he seems to be getting back to his old self. But he has taken to growling at people he sees out of our windows. I think this whole experience might get him back down to his old fighting weight!

We finished the day off with dinner at our hotel and heading to bed early...real early. We were exhausted! Plus, Thursday was going to be a busy day.

Our temporary home (beautiful welcome flowers from the kids)

Biking in The Netherlands is a national past time, separate paths parallel the roads and paths crisscross the country, making travel by bike from one end of the country to the other entirely possible. It helps that the country is very, very flat.

Thursday brought many meetings. We met Rob at Expeditors (yes, we were able to navigate back and drive ourselves). Rob took us to Den Haag for our first meetings. What we learned along the way is that The Netherlands is a small country, everything is about one hour away. We were met by our immigration consultant who escorted us to meetings in order to apply for residency, obtain a tax identification number, as well as establish a bank account. We were surprised by how quickly we were able to negotiate this process, I think we both feared it would last the entire day. We finished the day by meeting with a broker and scheduling an appointment to view rentals next week. We are both hopeful that we find a permanent place sooner than later, we are eager to truly settle in and start to get into a routine.  There has certainly been some moments of "What the hell have we done?!?". But we both believe this was to be expected. We're certain that once both of us begin working, begin to meet people, and spend time learning about and seeing our new surroundings, it will begin to feel like home.

Our first venture into Amsterdam.

Today we attempted to get over our jet lag and get up early. We ended up sleeping in until 10am...which for those of you keeping track at home is 1:00 PST, hopefully we get this all sorted out prior to Nick's first day of work on Monday.

After a slow wake up and even slower attempt at getting organized, we took the bus from our little village of Aalsmeer, back to the airport, in order to catch the train to Amsterdam. At the airport we bought re-loadable passes (for the buses, trains, and trams) just like true locals and were on our way. We spent the afternoon wandering the city with no particular destination or agenda in mind. We saw many of the canals, narrow houses, and house boats that Amsterdam is famous for. We also accidentally came across the Red Light District, which was a shock to both of us. After a Heineken along a canal we met up with Tracy's friend Erica, who happens to be visiting a friend in Amsterdam on her way to Normandy. Erica's friend has been teaching at the University of Amsterdam for the past two years and proved to be a great resource. He provided some ideas on locations for living as well as some websites to check out. He also introduced us to the fine Dutch delicacy known as Bitterballen, which go great with a pint. After some early evening drinks, with sore feet, we headed back to catch the train to Aalsmeer. We were both impressed with our first trip into the city, the people are friendly and the city appears to be well kept. We're looking forward to exploring further and really focusing one or two areas at a time on our next trips back.

The Canals of Amsterdam, this houseboat doubles as a Tulip Museum

The Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) located in DAM square

Tracy and Erica along the canal

Bitterballen