Amsterdam

Joe and I had the opportunity to take a quick trip to Amsterdam - a belated trip for our anniversary, so it was just the two of us.  It was a USO tour, so we didn't have to drive ourselves, but that was a VERY uncomfortable bus ride.  We barely made it.

We started out with a breakfast, demonstration/tour, and shopping at De Simonehoeve - a family owned business that makes cheese and wooden clogs.

 

From there we went to downtown Amsterdam and took a guided bus/walking tour of the city center.  Maybe I've been living under a rock all my life, but I had no idea (until I started doing research for this trip), that Amsterdam is sometimes called the "Venice of the North" because of the more than 100 kilometers of canals criss-crossing through the city, creating about 90 islands, linked by over 1,200 bridges.  Very cool looking.  I must have taken a gazillion pictures of the canals, but I promise not to post them all here. 

This guy (above) was our tour guide for the morning, and he was a hoot.  He took us through the neighborhood where Anne Frank grew up (we didn't go to the museum, but maybe another time), the more affluent old Jewish quarter (there are hardly any Jewish people left in Amsterdam), China town, the Red Light district, the farmer's market, Dam Square, and a million other places.  He talked about history, economics, religion, architecture, drugs, prostitution, crime, and everything else under the sun.  Very informative.  Very entertaining.  He obviously loves his country very much (as well he should, because it is a beautiful place with a lot to offer) and he takes great pride in their liberal ways.  He kept talking about how their crime rate keeps dropping since they've decriminalized things like marijuana and prostitution, and so they can rent out their prisons to other countries.  Joe and I couldn't help ourselves and we joked about this (to ourselves), saying that the percentage their crime is dropping is directly proportional to the rising percentage of their looking the other way ;)  Joe's other running joke of the day, of course, was the word dam/damn.  Need I say more?

When the tour was over, we had several hours to do as we pleased, so Joe and I hopped on the tram (great public transportation there) and headed over to the Albert Cuyp Market.  What a variety!

 It reminded us of Korea in some ways, and it was pretty crowded.  We had a lunch of fish and chips (very different from any fish and chips I've ever had, but delicious all the same).  They had a lot of fruit stands, and they were all selling freshly squeezed orange juice and other juices. 

Question - Can you get addicted to something after having it only once?
Answer - Yes.  Yes you can.

We quickly discovered that most convenience stores also sell these freshly squeezed juices, and we took full advantage.  First I had some orange/mango juice.  Then I had some plain orange juice.  Then Joe got some papaya/mango juice, and I had some of that.  And then I got two more orange juices.  I couldn't stop.  It was so good, and I want some right now.

But the real reason I chose this market was because I was looking for this.

They are called Stroopwafels, and they are a unique treat in the Netherlands.  You can't tell from this picture, but there is hot gooey caramel inside of there.  You can buy packages of them in any stores (usually mini sized), but they do NOT compared to the one's freshly made.  I did my homework, and this market was said to have the best freshly made stroopwafels in all of Amsterdam, and that's what we went for. 

They did not disappoint. MmmmMmmm, DELISH!

One thing that had Joe excited were the bikes. 

Amsterdam is the one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that bikes outnumber people (you can Google it if you don't believe me).  It really is the perfect city for biking because it is so flat.  Of course there are bike paths literally everywhere, complete with traffic lights specifically for the bikers, bike racks everywhere, and it's cheap to rent bikes there too.  Joe REALLY wanted to buy a bike there, but he's going to have to wait until next time.

The highlight of the trip came next when we went to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum. This was not only the highlight of the trip, it was a highlight of my life - epic!  I was within inches of some of my all-time favorite paintings, basking in the glow of thick brush strokes and brilliantly combined colors.  I wanted to touch them SOOOOO bad!  But I also did not want to be arrested, so I refrained. 

It's hard to pick favorites, but three of my favorites are:

Irises - the colors in this up close blew me away. 

I could have stared at that painting alone for hours.

 

Almond Blossom - Vincent had a very close relationship with this brother, and he painted this for his sister-in-law after his nephew, and name-sake, was born. 

Can you feel the love?

Sunflowers - Van Gogh said that other flowers belonged to other artists,

but sunflowers were his.  For some reason,

I've always thought of this painting as another of his self-portraits.

Okay, enough gushing about art.  Needless to say, it was an emotional experience for me.

After the museum we explored some more of the city.

The Waag (or weigh house, built in the 15th century) in Nieuwmarkt, which used to be a city gate and part of the city walls of Amsterdam

Central Station

Dam square, includes the National Monument

 The Royal Palace

 And the New Church

And, of course, more pictures of the canals ;)

 By the end, our old feet and backs were killing us, but we were happy.  As with all other places we visit, I feel like I have to go back to see the things we missed.  I want to see the tulip festival in the spring.  I want to take a boat tour through the canals.  I want to see inside the palace and some of the churches.  I want to visit the Anne Frank house.  And I want to rent a bike and ride all over, and let Joe buy a Dutch bike.  Joe reminds me that there are SO many other places we want to go - how will we have time to re-visit Amsterdam?  We'll just see what happens.

Hell's Bells

Warning - this isn't even a good story.

I forget everything.  Okay, not EVERYTHING, but I forget a lot of stuff.  I forget to take the dog on enough walks during the day.  I forget to pick the kids up from school.  I forget to pay on their lunch accounts.  I forget the weekly youth church activities. I forget to plan ahead for Joseph's birthday every year. Once, I even forgot Cora's best friend's baptism! 

I'm constantly asking myself, "What am I forgetting?"  But it's hard to remember what you've forgotten, ya know?

I have two things that help me remember stuff I don't want to forget.  First, I put EVERYTHING in my calendar, and I check it every day.  If it's not in my calendar it might as well not exist.  But sometimes a calendar isn't enough.  Let's say I have a luncheon planned on Thursday.  On Thursday morning I look at my calendar, and I know I have the luncheon.  All morning long I will tell myself, "Self, you have a luncheon.  Don't forget."  I repeat this over and over.  Then, about 1/2 hour before the luncheon, the fact that I have a luncheon completely escapes my brain somehow.  I don't know where it goes, but when it feels like it, it meanders back into my brain, usually a couple of hours after the luncheon is over!

Sooooo, the second thing I have to help me remember (my backup plan) is the alarm on my phone.  I have a GAZILLION alarms set on my phone.  It's ridiculous.  I can't even keep them all straight.  But it works.....for the most part.

The first two alarms I have set every morning are at 6:30, to wake up, and 7:15, to remind me to tell the two older kids that they have 10 minutes until they have to walk out the door to catch the bus.  They are both a must.

Two nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night and could NOT go back to sleep for 2 or 3 hours.  Needless to say, I was pretty groggy when that 6:30 alarm went off.  I must have hit the off button, instead of the snooze button like I usually do (just in case), and dozed off again.  The next thing I knew, the 7:15 alarm was going off!  Nothing like a shot of good old adrenalin to wake you up in the morning.

I jumped out of bed, rushed in to the kids rooms, told them we were late, and that they had 10 minutes to get ready.  Granted, I COULD have just let them miss the bus and driven them to school myself, but I just thought, "We can do this!"  I've got to give credit to Cora and Joseph - they did not complain or get mad at me at all.  Maybe they were just really happy they got 45 extra minutes of sleep, or maybe they're just really good kids, or maybe a little bit of both ;)  In any case, they scrambled fast, got ready in record breaking time, grabbed a package of Poptarts to eat on the go, and by golly, they made that bus!

Good times.

If you have guessed that this is not the only time that this EXACT same thing has happened, then you have guessed correctly.  I'm sure it won't be the last.

See, I told you this wasn't a very good story.

Mainz

Mainz is just across the Rhein River from us.  Even though it's close, we'd only been there for the Christmas market.  We fixed that on Saturday, and here are some pictures from our walking tour.

Eisenturm (The Iron Tower) - a mediaeval tower dating to the early 13th century.  One of three remaining towers from the city walls of Mainz.

Gutenbergplatz, with monument and theatre - Johannes Gutenberg was born in Mainz, and it is where he printed his renowned Gutenberg Bibles (considered to be among the most valuable books in the world - estimated at $25−35 million for a complete copy, and individual pages now sell for $20,000–$100,000, depending upon condition and the desirability of the page. FYI).  You can see two copies of Gutenberg Bible in the Gutenberg museum, which we did not go to.  But we did see the monument.  It's a start.

Hofchen (Marketplace) and Marketbrunnen (fountain)- they were having a farmer's market the day we went.

 

 

St. Martin's Cathedral (975 A.D.) -

St. Christopher's church (1292 A.D.) - it was destroyed in World War II.  Instead of rebuilding, they have turned it into a memorial and shrine of remembrance.

 

 

Domus Universitatis (Old University) - Constructed in 1615 as a Jesuit College, and now used by Mainz University.

 

Deutschhause Mainz (German House) in the Platz der Mainzer Republik - currently the seat of the Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate.

St. Peter's church (1748?) - Unassuming on the outside, but holy crap when you go in. "If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it" ;)

Christuskirche (Christ Church - 1896) - Can you tell we like churches? ;) The dome of this Italian High Renaissance-style church caught my eye right away as we drove across the bridge into Mainz.  It is beautiful on the outside, but I was surprised to see that the inside was so very, very plain. Not even worth taking a picture of.

Lovely city.  Lovely day. 

Apparently we missed seeing the famous blue stained-glass windows at St. Stephen's church, but we weren't there during it's opening hours anyway.  Something to look forward to next time....as well as the Gutenberg museum....and St. Augustine's church....and anything else we missed.  Good thing we live just across the river ;)

Starting the New Year Right

After VERY careful consideration, I have finally come up with my New Year's Resolutions.  It's time to get serious people.

I will not attempt to knit a pair of mittens using dental floss.
I will not lose 312 lbs. using the peanut butter diet.
I will not finish an entire tube of cherry Chapstick.
I will not pick my nose when someone is watching me.
I will not learn how to play Pachelbel's Canon on the trombone.
I will not stalk people named Janet or Emery.
I will not run a marathon wearing only socks.
I will not cook a five course dinner for Tate Donovan.
I will not be attending this year's National Council of Teachers of Mathematics  
Exposition in Boston.

I think this is a well-rounded list of attainable goals.  I feel confident that by the end of the year I will have accomplished all that I set out to do.....or not accomplish all that I didn't set out to do?  Anyway, it's going to be a great year.

In other news, my feet are freezing and I'm ready for winter to be over, even though it has just settled in and got all comfortable. Of course, it's not as cold here as it is other places, but I acclimatized rather quickly to California's mild weather.  I'm a big wimp now.

Joe thinks it's time to take down the Christmas stuff, but I'm having a hard time getting around to it.  I mean, isn't Christmas the only thing that makes winter bearable?  It's cold, gray, and uninviting outside, but inside I have happy, white, twinkling lights.

I just wish that Christmas lights would warm up my cold feet.

Also, I tried roasted chestnuts for the first time ever this Christmas - they're at all the Christmas markets.  I gotta say, I'm not a fan.  They're soft, and I'm a firm believer that nuts should be crunchy.  Peanut butter, though, I prefer creamy.  Anyway, I still like the song, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...."  I'm not a hater.

In the end my cold feet won out and I went to put some socks on, but I couldn't find any socks, because I never wear socks.  Instead, I'm wearing some leg warmers I found, from an old Halloween costume, and I'm pretending like Christmas isn't over.

Taffeta Darling. Taffeta Sweetheart.

A video I made Joe for our 15th wedding anniversary.  Enjoy.