Amsterdam weekend replay

I absolutely love it when friends come to visit, no matter how long.  Last weekend a good friend from H-town visited Paris for work and was super kind to take the train and spend the weekend in Amsterdam with me.  Fun times ensued....

1.  Friday night I took the train to meet her in A-dam.  Train was uneventful, actually easier than my previous trip that week for a passport issue.  I was on American soil for an hour on Tuesday to get a new passport.  Mostly because I needed to add pages to my old passport, partly because I lost my old passport.  Dumb things you do in Schiphol airport.  Long story, but I now have a brand spanking new one with 50+ blank pages of freedom to see the world.  A weight has been lifted.

2.  After meeting her at the hotel, we went to the Damrak for dinner, which was quite lovely.  We ate at the NH Hotel restaurant, which I usually don't like hotel food, but this had great atmosphere, very friendly waiters and was just a nice night.  After that, we walked the canals, the floating flower market and hit a piano bar (because weare two super cool girls).

3.  On Saturday morning, we headed first to Anne Frank, which unfortunately, I forgot my Jewish holidays and found out it was Yom Kippur the hard way.  So no Anne Frank.  After that, we headed to the Museumplein for the reopened Van Gogh:

 

The Van Gogh was even better than the first time I went.  It was in the news recently for a newly discovered Van Gogh, the first since 1923.  Apparently it sat in an attic for years until the Van Gogh museum finally decided to revisit their initial decision that it wasn't an original.  Apparently now it is....the intrigue alone will make that painting priceless.

 

After that, it was a quick lunch at the museum café and then off to the newly opened Rijksmuseum, with a stop for the typical Amsterdam photo:

 



 The Rijksmuseum was amazing - I can't believe I enjoyed the smaller version before the newly redesigned version.  It was better than the National Gallery in London and rivals the Louvre, although the Louvre totally beats it in sheer size.  It was pretty comparable to the Orsay in Paris...that's probably the best comparison.  It was packed, so I'm glad we got museum passes at the Van Gogh and then went to the Rijks.  The only room that was really busy was the Night Watch, which was anticipated. 

 It felt like a church, filled with art.  The whole design of the building was created to compliment the art or add to it, not subtract.  I loved it.

After that, L and I took the obligatory tour of the Red Light District, which is the Lindsay version.  We walked around one block and then got the heck out of there.  Every time leaves me more and more creeped out.  The first lady of the night/day we saw looked very manly like, which freaked L out.  At another set of windows, we saw a very confident guy walk up to a door, open it, negotiate quickly a price and then the curtain closed.  Disgusting.  He even looked normal, which just makes me sad for the male gender.  I know its the world's oldest occupation, but good Lord this is the 21st century.  Have we not evolved?  That was a first, I've only done 2 quick walkthroughs and I can now say I've seen a transaction happen.  I could go a lifetime without seeing that again.

Then it was off to introduce L to Dutch delicacies such as bitterballen:

 

Bitterballen is a Dutch meat snack best eaten with lots of mustard and lots of beer.  We followed this up with some Dutch pancakes (lots of them) and some more beer.

 

Then it was off to find a place to enjoy the rest of the evening.  Further proof that the living I forgot to do in my 20s I am now doing in my 30s:

 



On another note, I saw this bar in Amsterdam, which is the bar I frequent a lot in London with friends.  Took a picture for nostalgia:

On Sunday it was up early for L's flight back to H-town and I slept the rest of the day to rest up for a night of football at O'Caseys.  My FF team won, the Texans won in overtime....great weekend!

On another note, the weather has officially changed to fall here.  Rain every day and the temperatures are now below 60 degrees for what seems like for good.  Makes riding the bike in the morning an adventure....never know if that's how you will get home!  I draw the line at hail - I refuse to ride home in hail.

Happy One Year Anniversary, Holland!

and I cheated on you with London last weekend.  Sorry about that.  It's happened a lot with a lot of other countries.  I can promise it won't stop.

To recap the last year:

Countries visited (in no order):  Netherlands, England, Scotland, Italy, France, Monaco, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Montenegro, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, US (repeats not counted)

Favorite memory:  Friendships made at work.  I can't speak highly enough about the people I work with.  It's been so great.  Quarter drinks are the highlight....particularly my Q312 and Q113.

Favorite scenery:  Norway's mountains/fjords (followed closely by the cliffs around Dubrovnik)

Favorite city:  London (closely followed by Paris, Edinburgh, Budapest, Salzburg, Prague, Rome, Dubrovnik, and Vienna)

Favorite beach:  The beach that I can ride to from my house.

Favorite guide books:  Rick Steves!

Favorite Dutch food:  Cheese and those little pancakes

Favorite time of the year:  Christmas (markets and cold) (followed closely by a cool summer in the Netherlands)

Favorite weekend trip:  Budapest

Suffice it to say, I'm in love with living over here.  I love the fact that I can jump on a plane and in 2 hours be in a new country.  I love the ease of public transport.  I love biking to work and grocery shopping.  I love my team.  I love the fact that I love everything here.  Lots of love. 

Last weekend, I headed to London.  I needed to be there for Tues-Wed and I can work from just about anywhere, so threw in Monday as well.  Here's a recap:

1.  Saturday was spent with a teammate.  We started out shopping at Shepherd's Bush Westfield, which is like an American mall.  Heaven - I even shopped in some petite sections.  I found two dresses - one from A&A's wedding and the other for work.  Exciting stuff!

2.  After shopping, I convinced my friend that I really did want to see Cricket, even if it was only county cricket and no one was going to show up.  She took me to the Oval (one of the Ashes venues this year!) to see Surrey vs. Derbyshire.  Here are some pictures:

 

I read a book about cricket in NY.  One of the memorable quotes from the book was something like "There's a limit to what Americans understand.  That limit is cricket."  Well, if that doesn't sound like a challenge, then I don't know what a challenge looks like.  I've been studying up, making some of my teammates teach me the basics (via "Cricket word of the day") and texting regularly with them during the Ashes (Aus vs. England) whilst either watching it at O'Caseys or listening to Test Match Special on the BBC.  I felt adequately prepared to see a match, so we went.  I don't recommend going to a match without doing some basic research beforehand.  Unless you get the basics, cricket is awful and frustrating.

 

Anyways, my friend was a member of the Surrey county team, meaning she had buddy passes to the matches and access to the clubhouse.  I'm telling you, I have never felt more English or by extension, cool.  Being in the Oval clubhouse was what I imagined the Kentucky Derby clubhouse to look like.  It was really neat. 

 

I had my first Pimm's - which is an English ice tea/lemonade thingy with alcohol.  Quintessential London summer drink.  It was great.

 

The cricket pictures above are of the action....we got lucky and had a really nice day outside (mid 70s and straight sun).  I even have odd tan lines, but no burn!

 

At tea time (yes, cricket has tea time), because the crowd was so small (or maybe it's a normal thing), they let us out on the pitch:

 

 People on the pitch

 The clubhouse!

 Beautifully maintained grass

 The bales and the wicket

 The wicket

Me and S on the pitch with wicket in back ground.

 

Going on to the field changed how I view cricket.  It put it all into perspective.  I'm hooked - I now have new bucket list items (see an Ashes test in England and Aus!) in addition to the Rugby items I added last spring (6 nations in each of the nations). 

 

3.  After cricket, we headed to dinner, which we had at Shepherd's Bush.  It was the best burger I've had since moving to Europe.  Amazing.

 

4.  Then we caught a film, including VIP seats.  We saw "The Way, Way Back" which is by the same team that did Juno and Little Miss Sunshine.  Great movie!

 

5.  I was up early on Sunday, walking through Picadilly and Leicester Square area.  After that, I met friend C and his new fiancé A for a proper English roast near Highbury, which is apparently where Arsenal plays.  No way I could have got a ticket, but cool to be in the vicinity.  Another bucket list item was added - see an EPL game.  Roast was great and the conversation was better.

 

6.  C showed me how to use the bus and we took off for Covent Garden shopping which was fun.  I tried to find the best book stores in the Charing Cross area....one was a store of only travel guide books and maps.  Amazing.  I didn't buy anything, but I consider that a fluke.  It's a dangerous store.  I also went to the Waterstone on Piccadilly, which is apparently the largest book store in London.  I did buy 2 books there......couldn't resist.  After that, it was off to cream tea and then walking the long way back through the park to the hotel. All told, I probably did 5+ miles of walking and felt great going to bed early.

 

7.  Monday went well - work was great.  I got out around 7PM and then wandered into the West End looking for a cheap deal.  I found a ticket to a show called "Private Lives" (comedy from the 1920s) and it was awesome.  The guy sitting next to me looked like William from Downton Abbey.  There are several reasons to believe it wasn't him, but I'm choosing to believe it was him.

 

Oh and as I was headed over to the theater area, a red carpet premiere was happening at Leicester Square.  I could see Ron Howard being interviewed and the lead actor in the new Formula 1 movie "Rush".  I would have stayed longer to scream like a little girl, but couldn't get a spot close to the railing without pushing people out of the way.  So seeing it on a TV screen is lamer than going to see a real show, so I opted for the latter.

 

8.  Tuesday and Wednesday were work.  K and I enjoyed a nice dinner on Tuesday night (I even met her sister!) and then a long walk back through the park. 

 

Other random pictures:

 

  MI-5 and random guy

 

5 guys London!  I didn't have a burger there, but everyone will be happy to know the line was around the corner.