Amsterdam - Day 2

It finally started raining and we danced in the streets because of the relief that it

brought from the sun heat. Unlike Oregon, it only rained for one

afternoon and we woke up to perfect 70 degree no humidity weather.

Since our canal bus tickets were good for 24 hours, we got up Saturday Morning

and took the train back up to Amsterdam which only takes about 15 minutes.

And then we had a little taste of home. Burger King.

We are having a hard time finding the foods that the kids like.

Too bad they don't like Mayo - because Mayo is the equivalent to Ranch

where we come from.

Many times we've had the "try new things" talk, but

that is much like trying to teach calculus to drunk people.

Impossible.

Mind you, even "American Food" doesn't taste the same as it does

at home. It's off, no doubt. In particular, Diet Coke, or Coke Light.

Its sweeter and flat.

But, after a belly full of BK, we headed back out on the

canal bus.

The Canal Bus. Our "captain" was interesting.

We knew it was going to be an eventful ride when

he ran the boat into the side of the canal as we pulled out.

But as you can tell in the picture below, he is like "whatev."

Henry planned out our day on his map:

While Charlie worked on his hair:

I love all of the family bikes here.

By the time you are 3, you know how to balance on the back of a bike.

This is my favorite family bike - the bakfiet:

Ever wonder how you move your large boxes,

beds, sofas or even pianos into these beautiful

homes? We watched them do it:

We hopped off of the canal bus and walked to the

Artis Zoo which was built/opened in 1838:

Like everything, it was incredibly expensive to get in.

Lucky for Charlie, who fell asleep right as we walked in, he was free.

Otherwise, I would have wedged toothpicks to hold

his sleepy puffy eyelids up.

Henry, with a camel on his back.

It was super heavy.

The park was so beautiful and once we got over the

outrageous sticker shock, we decided it was worth

every penny.

All I have to say, the Dutch language uses a LOT of letters.

This turtle was the size of a family room coffee table.

Oh Lordy, it hurts to even type "coffee" which I haven't had in

6 long days.

In other zoos that I've been too, the safety measures are set so that

there is no need to have a discussion with your children like

"if you put your finger right there, that Vulture will take it off."

Or if you stand under a certain tree, a Lemur might just

defecate on you from above.

Here, however, the animals are really "integrated" into the park

experience. For example, certain monkeys are not caged, rather

simply surrounded by a 3 foot moat. Deductive reasoning

leads you to believe that they don't swim, but STILL!

These guys, however, did have fences, of course, only waist high,

but the kids were never in danger.

Yes, (below) this is still the zoo.

It was so beautiful.

So we stopped for Popsicles:

And running:

This baby giraffe (below) just took its first steps

this week:

Cockroach wallpaper:

Artis also had an aquarium:

This (below) reminded me of my sisters. You can even

get your buzz on at the zoo!

This is the first zoo that I've been to that smelled like

poop and pot.

I'm not kidding.

And if you indulged a little too much in the Wine Gums

or pot, they provided you with back-up (see below).

You just had to have someone who could pull you around.

This is the monkey moat that I spoke of:

After the zoo, we rode the canal bus

back to Centraal Station.

And then, to secure my nomination for Mother of the Year,

not only did we walk the kids around in the rain,

we also walked (very quickly) through the Red Light District.

In my defense, one kid was sleeping and the other was distracted

by the crowds in the streets.

Like everything we've experienced here, it is so hard to

describe what this was like.

It was so "normal"-like, we might as well have been walking

down NW 23rd in Portland. Of course Pottery Barn on NW 23rd doesn't have

scantily-clad prostitutes hanging out in their store front windows aglow in

their "Red Light", but now we're just getting bogged down in the details, aren't we?

After walking the Red Light District,

instead of washing/cleaning my innocent eyes out with half part

vinegar, half part water, we instead gazed at beautiful restaurant

fronts like this one:

And this pub, which had roses, ROSES on their outdoor pub

table. Only in A-dam.

See? I told you he was asleep!

And he is like, "Holy Crap mom, the kids in daycare

aren't going to believe me. I came here a baby and I'm

leaving a toddler."

I'm kidding.

And in defense of walking them around in the rain, the rain doesn't slow

anyone down here. See?

Amsterdam does NOT disappoint and I cannot wait to

go back. We have not even had the chance to eat anything in A-dam yet,

unless you count Burger King - which Henry would.

Amsterdam - Part I

We broke down. No longer could Nate and I carry or piggy back

our 41 lb 4 year old. When he is tired, he just falls asleep.

So on our way into Amsterdam, we stopped at a Weesp

store and bought another stroller. I think we paid a lot for it,

but at that point in time one bazillion euros would have been worth it.

We've had it two days, and it is absolutely worth it.

The only downside is that we are quite a sight getting on and off

trains. People look at us with pity.

And we have to ride the "lift" everywhere we go.

A lift here is a 4x4 solid metal cage that smells like urine and then

like the urinator tried to clean it up with vomit, or vinegar.

It is awesome.

This was in the Centraal Station. A vat of sausage!

I was like - DONE - I can go home now a happy girl.

ew.

This is the Oude Kerk and it is Amsterdam's oldest

building (14th Century). I'm having a hard time conceptualizing "14th Century" as I walk around this place. Before now, "old" to me was my dog, or the last house we lived in which was built in 1901. But this.....this stuff brings emotions out in you that you don't expect. It's breathtaking. Rembrandt's first wife is buried here and it is stunning!

It is the first thing you see as you leave the Central Train Station.

Friday, we started a canal bus tour which we finished on Saturday.

Here are some of the highlights from Day One of that tour.

We could get on and off the tour as we wanted.

The famous Flower Market:

The back of the Flower Market:

I thought this picture below was interesting.

The birds, the bike, the boat, the metro....its an array

of transportation, old and new.

Right after The Netherlands won on Friday,

the city went absolutely crazy.

You might expect that it was a drunken celebratory college frat

sloppy kind of crazy, but to our surprise, it was the best crowd

I've ever witnessed. Yes, they were crazy and loud and honking horns and

singing songs and revving motorcycle engines, but they were the most

not sloppy fans I've ever seen. Classy people.

As we wandered along our sight-seeing path, we started to get deeper

and deeper into the celebration. Soon, we were surrounded by orange pushing our

sleeping (yes, they both feel asleep amidst the mayhem) babes through the sea of

celebration as strangers hugged each other and blew whistles at the Brasil fans

in their green and yellow. All the while smiling, laughing, singing and hugging.

It was as though everyone knew each other, or were related.

These were strangers that gathered in the middle of the street. The group

kept getting bigger and bigger.

It was blocks and blocks of this (below). At one point, I was nervous.

We were the only ones pushing kids around and it started to get pretty

crowded and I started to get a little panicky. Of course it was fine.

These are classy people who apparently know how to handle

their Amstel. It was an honor to be part of their proud celebration.

Oh snap. This is the Rijkmuseum.....under construction.

Henry would not wake up. When we finally made it back to our

canal tour boat, we had to lay a sleeping Henry on his own seat.

He loved the sightseeing - I mean, OBVIOUSLY.

This is hard to see, but below is the "Homomonument".

A monument dedicated to the Homosexuals who were discriminated

against during the Second World War.

Nate and I were cracking up a) because its called the Homomonument

and b) its just a triangular area of marble bricks.

And drumroll....my favorite picture from the day (below):

Oh wait, I mean, this one is...of course!

It was another sweltering hot day on Friday and it was hard to find

reprieve. Even the canal boat ride was a sweaty, hot mess.

And the TRAINS....Oh my....it just isn't fair to take a girl from

a cold Portland summer and stick her in a Holland train.

Ok, its fair, but it was not a pretty sight.

We've spent a mint on bottled water and get mad at each other when

someone spills or wastes the liquid gold known as "SPA" water.

It was an amazing day and we had a hard time imaging that we could top it,

but somehow we did.

To be continued......

An Evening Stroll

We are obviously doing everything we can to tire the kids,

so why not take a walk at 9:30pm? Or should I say 21:30?

This is a house right by our flat that is on the little lake that

houses said rooster from previous post.

This house is for sale, though I didn't see how much it was.

The french doors open to the bedroom which had a four poster

bed and a white flowing canopy. Not that I looked and took

note or anything.

Boats line the canal that we walked along. People actually

sleep in their boats, cook on the side of the canal

and most all of them had their dogs with them.

I loved this guy.

The boat plug-in

My zombie babes which later turned into

werewolves around 3:00 am:

One of the three windmills in Weesp.

Fun Fact! This one ground the cocoa beans that were used to

make chocolate in a beautiful factory-turned-condo building next to us.

The former chocolate factory:

This is our building on the far left.

Good Night!

Have Mercy on Us - thoughts from a crazy persons head.

For some reason, our kids are refusing to adapt time-wise.

Yesterday, they woke bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 1:38am.

This morning, it was 3:00am.

Today, we are trying a long morning nap in hopes of keeping them up the

rest of the day into the late evening so that they will sleep through.

I know they will eventually adapt, but it is thoroughly exhausting.

And I wonder when I will begin to feel normal again.

Yesterday, we had our first "adventure" which was supposed to include

a quick trip to Ikea for a few comfort items.

Like a fan - it is very humid.

We've been told this is very unusual.

We stand out as the people on the stuffy trains who are sweating profusely

desperately fanning ourselves with our train tickets and downing water like

we are hiking in the Sahara.

Our quick trip to Ikea included a short train ride to Duivendrecht

where we then had to change from the train to the metro.

The "Information" desk (term used loosely) told us to ride the Metro

3 stops. As we are on (what we thought was) the Metro, a nice

Dutch lady informed us that we were on the wrong train. In fact, we were on a train,

not the Metro. Note to self - these are different.

So we got off at the next stop and waited for the "Metro" which we rode to our

final Ikea destination. Except, we couldn't get out of the station (they are automated "gates").

The station was empty and lacking an information desk.

We run the kids up to the platform again and ask someone why we can't get out.

There wasn't a good reason. Our tickets were just rejected, so in front of the

security cameras, we drafted behind other exiting train riders.

Only to find out that this was not the Ikea stop. The Information attendant was wrong and we

had gone one stop too far. Back on the Metro going the opposite way now.

And finally at the Ikea stop. We are sweaty, hot and tired and Henry's legs are giving out

on him, which is great, because it is a 15 minute walk to Ikea.

Once at Ikea, we seriously contemplated napping on the staged beds.

After a plate of meatballs and frites and soft serve, we

head back 15 minutes to the train. Henry wants to be carried because his

legs are tired.

I mean, at least we know how to get back....right?

Wrong. We got on the wrong train in Duivendrecht and passed right on by Weesp.

A tear falls from my eye (or maybe that was sweat) as I watch Weesp get smaller and smaller.

Now in the Dutch country side and too stressed to enjoy it.

30 or so miles later, we finally stop.

Henry melts down, Charlie is whining.

Back on the train going the other way..again.

We land at Weesp and Henry falls asleep for the 10 minute walk back to the flat.

Which means, he must be carried. All 41 lbs of him.

I've never challenged deodorant more.

FIVE hours later, we were home.

Thankfully, one of my new co-workers offered to deliver the 50 lbs in boxes that I shipped

to the office. Bless his heart. Public transportation is a whole new element that

I underestimated. I am so thankful to my kind co-workers who also demanded

that I take a "Holiday" on Friday (today), get settled, help my kids and just start work on Monday. I almost cried, because this is just what I needed.

Today is the big football match Netherlands v. Brasil.

Big game and there is a buzz here. You can't help but

get the football fever and it is fun!

Nate is sporting his new Nike Netherlands hat.

We planned to head to Amsterdam today (its a straight shot, no train changes, so we are good!)

and start a canal tour, but our kids fell asleep at 9am, so we're letting them

sleep the crankies out. We'll head north this afternoon. The canal tours are "hop on hop off" and are good for 1.5 days. I am so very excited to take this tour!

The sun is out until 10:00 every night and rises at 4 something.

There is a rooster behind our place. It starts crowing at 4:22 every morning.

It makes the kids giggle.

Maple syrup is nowhere to be found. I bought something that looked like syrup.

Turns out, it is molasses and is disgusting and I gagged.

We don't have many TV channels, all are in dutch except 3 or so, which is totally fine, but since the kids are asleep so

much during the day, I am watching a lot of MTV.

Except I think it is Dutch MTV.

The fruit here is like crack. The strawberries are like

nothing I've ever had. I am so ready to dive into the

baguette and Gouda that Nate brought home this morning.

The peanut butter is "different" as is the bread, so Henry will

likely slim down while we are here.

He does like croissants with jam - so that has been a staple.

Nate is wandering around Weesp with backpack on trying to rent a bike for he and the boys.

He hasn't found a bike, but he found a fan....and that is more important right now as I sit here

fanning myself with my tiny train ticket.

vaarwel!