Waar is Dan?

So I suppose everyone but Tom, who quizzes me daily about the number of productive work hours consumed by my blogging, may be asking "Where the heck has Dan been (blogwise)?". Madeline has been holding down the blogfort since way back in February. Dan, in the meantime, has been jetsetting across the region in search of tropical locales where the sunshine rivals Phoenix in the springtime! This was not to be found...

Swindon, England is located 130km west of London (pop. 155,000). In a brisk taxi jaunt it can be reached in just over an hour from Heathrow. The first thing that strikes one is that one is not being transported on the right side of the road. This is not to say the 'wrong side', but rather the left. The Citroen Picasso provides a nice mobile workspace during the ride, with airplane-like tray tables in the back that support a laptop.

I arrived in the unsprawling minilopilos early in the evening. I was invited to dinner at Simon's house, which was a great treat as we have had the opportunity to hang out with Simon numerous times in the US, but I never had a business reason to jump the ocean this way. A good time was had by all, pending comments to the contrary.

Overall it was a productive trip, regularly fueled by the in-house coffee joint 'Java'. Prior to my arrival I did not comprehend the importance of this landmark, but it became evident during my stay that this is the place to hold meetings. In Amsterdam the hot beverages are all free, but everyone still congregates near the 'best coffee' machine...so I guess it's a similar phenomena. Even in Chandler, I suppose many people flocked to their favorite conference room SB-1 (Starbucks...).

Nights in Swindon were consumed by consuming curries and local brews. Yum! Call me a beerlitist, but I don't think anything compares to the quality and selection of beers in England. A slow-drawn cask conditioned ale tops the list, served (eek!) only slightly chilled. The curries were, of course, delicious. I was introduced to curries in London, and the British haven't let me down yet. This section wouldn't be complete without thanking Tim for teaching me to lose with dignity at both billiards and, alas, darts.

I returned late on Wednesday night to find that Liliane had frequently been asking for "daddeeeeeeeeeee!". Madeline encouraged me to wake her to let her know I had returned. As I expected she responded just as daddy would...grunting gruffly (like the Grufallo?) and pointing back towards her bed. The next morning, though, she was eager to see me bright and early!

The next visit to Swindon is already being planned. Liliane has some playdates on the calendar, while mommy and daddy are seriously considering the daunting challenge of driving there!

FEBOlicious!

Yesterday, Liliane confirmed Dan's suspicion that she loves to splash in puddles by tromping through every muddy puddle in Vondelpark. Since she was in her faux Crocs when she decided to let me know this, her shoes, socks and jeans were laden with water and mud! This morning, I set off to a store called Hema (that I'll blog about later) in search of garden boots for her. The smallest boots seemed a little big so I decided to hold out.

A close friend told me about a phenomenon here called Febo. You can go there and get hot food out of a vending machine. Febo primarily vends croquettes, all varieties. A digression - here in Holland, the gravy croquette is like a national side dish. I ate one once and the gravy and the crust in which it was fried were separately delicious, but didn't make sense to me together. Anyway, Liliane kept saying "eat" and I had already given her some cookies, so we had even more of a reason to stop at Febo, which was conveniently located next to Hema.

True to word, there was a vast array of croquettes! I went for the weekly 2-for-1 special of chicken and vegetable croquette (cost 1.40). I gave one to Liliane who ended up taking one nibble and then just holding it. I must say, the croquettes really hit the spot for me. They were crunchy on the outside, but not very crummy while eating. The inside was warm and filling for my walk outside. This sort of food concept makes sense to me. How often have you been in a big city during a late night out and had to wait a long time for food, even if it's just simple food like pizza, burritos, or donner kebabs?

Our next stop was a drugstore two blocks away. As soon as we entered, I noticed that Liliane had lost one of her pink crocs. I retraced my steps to Febo three times and it was nowhere to be found. I asked street sweepers and the clerks at Febo and the drugstore. I looked inside a trash can. Nowhere! So my story comes full circle. We ended up back at Hema and I bought the little boots that seemed a little big under the rationale that she will grow into them in the next few months.

I have a song dedication to the friend who turned me on to Febo. If you're interested to see which song, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiwcOaaRo1Y.

The final picture of both of Liliane's Target Crocs.

Croquettes and bicycles - can you get more Dutch?

The Artis Zoo

This morning, the girls and I unexpectedly went to the zoo! Our neighbor's children were going and we went along for the ride. Liliane was transported in a "bike box," which is a sort of cart attached to a bike in which you can transport children, groceries, odd-sized things. I took Amelie by bike. The zoo was beautiful, covered with pavers and very green. They had two playgrounds there. The cages where the big cats were kept reminded me of pictures out of children's books, with an actual big cage, and then some space, and then a fence. You could see them pretty well. When Liliane saw the baboons, she kept exclaiming, "Nana!" for banana. There was also a poffertje house. Poffertjes are special pancakes here, similar to our silver-dollar pancakes, but smaller and a little lighter. The opportunity to visit the poffertjehuis is reason alone to return!

Riding among the cyclists was fun, even though I hadn't ridden a bike for quite a while. It's so nice to cycle here because there are so many dedicated bike lanes. Most drivers seem aware of cyclist culture, so they go slowly around if there is no bike lane. The biggest reason I haven't ridden a bike in Phoenix is my fear of getting hit.

The Birthday Party

Saturday, the 23rd, was the day after Dan's birthday. We started off by going to the Albert Cuypmarkt, which is Amsterdam's largest general market. I had read that about 20,000 people visit it on weekdays and to double that number for weekends. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to find it rather uncrowded when we arrived there on Saturday morning at 10AM. Besides general market fare for sale, images that remain with me include tens of mannequin legs sporting all types of leggings and some X-rated garden gnomes. The only thing we bought were some olives for the party. We had hoped to eat Flemish French Fries, which are said to be the best, but the stand still hadn't opened by the time we left. I will definitely return, especially if the weather is as nice as it was on Saturday!

That evening, we put out a spread for Dan's party. It was small, but very gezellig. The guests were friends from work and our neighbors. A Dutch birthday party tradition is to put chairs into a circle. I ended up placing them along the walls, across from each other, since there only would have been room for a very exclusive circle, which would undermine the idea. I made Rice Krispie treats which came out a little differently than back home. The marshmallows were only available in pink and white mixed together. As a result, the treats were pink. They tasted a tad different - I couldn't figure out if they were just a little sweeter or if they tasted a little like strawberries. The cake we served was chocolate with chocolate whipped cream and raspberry filling. It was delicious! I tried to spell out "34" with the candles...

Gefeliciteerd met je Verjaardag Dan!

This is how the Dutch say Happy Birthday to Dan. They're saying this today, 22 February. I can tell you that he does not look a day older than he did yesterday at this time. Birthdays are huge events in Dutch society and dedicated birthday calendars are even sold. Tongue-in-cheek poems are composed for the birthday celebrant and friends come over to celebrate. To fit it with the Dutch, we're having a party for Dan tomorrow night. They do not have US-style cakes, but don't worry - there are plenty of scrumptious alternatives!! Feel free to leave your birthdate in the comments column or to email it to us - we'll add it to our calendar. Also, if you have any poems you'd like to dedicate to him and share, you can leave them in Comments as well.

Ribs that nearly rival Cousin Donni's

Wednesday night we went out with some friends to a place called Cafe de Klos in Central Amsterdam. Dan and I each ordered ribs which came out expertly smoked. Click on this link for some in-depth pictures. The uniform was a black t-shirt depicting the menu. Our waiter/bartender had a really incredible wit, the kind that makes one feel so intellectually small in comparison. He was smoking, drinking coffee and generally having a good time. The smoking ban does not go into effect until July 1st, so it was strange to be in a smoky atmosphere after years of going out without it.

Cafe de Klos is a small place, with a U-shaped bar and whose walls are flanked with seating. It was very "gezellig." Gezellig is a word said to not be translatable into English, but which basically means a feeling of cozyness+. In retrospect, instead of entitling a past post "A Typical Dutch Day?", I should have entitled it, "A Typical Gezellig Day." Sorry about that digression. Anyway, Cafe de Klos was simply a good scene, with a dog present enjoying the ambiance, and with incredible ribs. If anyone comes to visit, we'll stop by!

Etcetera, coffee.

As everyone who knows me knows, I love to drink coffee. Holland is great for me because everyone here also loves to drink coffee. Every morning I make a thermocarafe of a few cups of coffee. I make Douwe Egberts, which seems to be the only name-brand choice at the grocery. I like it so much that I'm not motivated to look for coffee elsewhere. I've also reconsidered koffiemelk and decided that I really like it. The koffiemelk I was drinking before (I mentioned it in the first column of this blog, "Dutch Cuisine") was the equivalent of 2%. Now that I'm drinking whole koffiemelk, I get it.

In 2003, the Netherlands ranked 9th in worldwide per capita coffee consumption with an average of 6.8kg/14.96lbs per person. The US ranked 22nd with 4.2kg/9.24lbs per person. Number one was Finland with an average 11.4kg/25.08lbs. Here's a link to other stats if you're interested. Note that many of the top-consuming countries are in the far northern hemisphere. Oddly, Aruba is near the top of the list. However, Aruba is characterized as a country within the kingdom of the Netherlands.

A lot of people joke about "coffeeshops" in Amsterdam. Coffeeshops (as opposed to cafes where people go to drink coffee) are where people go to purchase and consume soft drugs. They have fanciful names like "Space Mountain" and are found throughout the country. The government even provides public service announcement cards at hotels. The idea behind the coffeeshops is to spend less money combatting soft drugs and to focus on hard drug interdiction. The government believes this system is working because there are fewer hard drug addicts (1.6/1000 versus 2.7/1000) and fewer deaths from drug overdose than in other European countries (source: Cultureshock! Netherlands). Coffeeshop owners were able to strike a compromise with the upcoming smoking ban. There will be no smoking at the point of sale. Below is a photo of some people waiting for a coffeeshop outside Utrecht to open.







Someone asked about our oven and stove, so I've decided to include a picture. It's a 5-burner gas stovetop and the oven is huge. I love it!

The Jewel of Scandinavia

Oh why must you obliterate the sense of time yon Jewel of Scandinavia?
Your labyrinthine halls entomb rational judgment
Each twist taking us deeper into cycles of consumption
But prices too low to ignore!
We fall prostrate before thy registers
Opening the coffers to fill endless cubic meters
With superficial quality
And witty pseudo-Swede-speak
Until at last
The uitgang looms
And we run, hurtle
Towards the light
Of the parking garage, but nonetheless OUT
Now looking forward to the imminent return
There is indeed an I in Ikea

Potatoes Deluxe

I guess you are never in a country for long before the allure of McDonald's tangles you in its wiley web (or your kid wants milk on the way home from a full day of shopping). So we pull into the McDrive all ready to order some fries for the ride home. But there upon the menu board a tasty alternative lies in wait for unsuspecting souls...Potatoes Deluxe! Crispy, plumpy, wedgie. Yum. MacDo you have won this time, but we will be back.

Itrecht, Wetrecht, we all go to Utrecht

This morning, we drove out to the city of Utrecht. It was founded by the Romans in the first century and has at various time been a trade and educational hub. The city center was entirely charming! Our main purpose, however, was not to view the architecture or other fine sites. It was to make a pilgrimage to the Dick Bruna Huis. Dick Bruna is creator of the Dutch character Nijntje (aka "Miffy" everywhere else in the world). Liliane loves Nijntje and now that we have a DVR, will be able to watch her on demand. The museum was very small, but Liliane loved it.

We were first greeted by a statue of Nijntje.

Then we stopped in the reading room, which had Nijntje stories available in Dutch, English, and Japanese.




There was a small room about the creation of Nijntje. Then there was a great play area with a Nijntje house, giant foam blocks, video games and other amusements. Upstairs was a small gallery of other covers that Dick Bruna created before creating Nijntje. Nijntje is over 50 years old. Many people believe that Hello Kitty is based on her. I think there is a resemblance. What do you think? Liliane's on the left, Nijntje (Miffy) in the middle, and Hello Kitty on the right.



We had stopped in Utrecht's Centraal Museum, of which the Dick Bruna Huis is a component, and bought our Museumjaarkartjes earlier in the morning. These cards give us access to over 400 museums nationwide and for less than 40 Euros each. We returned to the Centraal for a quick visit and lunch. A giant wooden statue of a person greets you at the entrance to this museum. The docent inside was very accommodating, especially considering the fact that someone had Nijntje separation anxiety.



Dan and Liliane went on a walk out to Museumplein and Vondelpark after we got back. Amelie and I opted to stay home. Tonight, we saw this beautiful sunset from our kitchen windows.


Utrecht Home Page: http://www.utrecht.nl/smartsite.dws?id=13353
Dick Bruna Huis: http://www.dickbrunahuis.com/index.phtml?MenuLink=Home&Language=EN

Training to be a Nijntje

Liliane arrived with an open mind and is already shifting (or adding to) her Elmo obsession with a local favorite. A Nijntje is not a stealthy Japanese assassin but rather a harmless Hello-Kitty-like rabbit character. There is a Nijntje store on Beethovenstraat, and this glass was certainly just the start of all sorts of Nijntje paraphenalia of which tantrums will inspire our purchase. We're already planning alternate routes around that road...

Telefonie / Internet

We arrived home yesterday to find some largish parcels awaiting us. The cableinternettelephonemediaconglomerate UPC had drop shipped our do-it-yourself installation kits for Internet, Telephone, and Cable (with DVR even!).

Who woulda thunk that DIY only includes instructions in Dutch? Not I.

Dictionaries are tough for entire sentences. Babelfish makes some humorous translations. None of them can get the 4 green lights that mean 'good' to simultaneously light up on our cable modem. Soon I will learn some short and direct Dutch words to shout at this machine. Perhaps I need to place it in the magnetron for a bit.

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat

Tonight we celebrated Valentijgersdag at Gaucho's Argentine Steakhouse. They served up hearty cuts of tasty beef, barely licked by the flames (even at 'medium'). The house wines were absolutely fabulous (White - Sauvignon Blanc/Chenin Blanc blend and Red - Malbec/Sangiovese blend). Giant spears of grilled asparagus in garlic sauce were delicious. We passed on the dessert fondue (Chocolade, Chocolade, Chocolade instead which was acceptable...though Amelie loved here first taste of Choco), but maybe next time.

The girls were nearly angelic during our meal, which was a relief with our babysitterless status. Liliane chowed down a decent portion of pasta, and then demanded bites of chocolate cake, ice cream, and mousse without considering the intake needs of her parents. But here she is at the end of the meal--still in here seat and happy--so sacrifices must be made I suppose.

Happy Valentijnsdag!

Find attached some pictures from today of Liliane and Amelie. As you can see, Liliane is engaging in one of her favorite activities.

Here are some additional pictures from Gouda. The woman dressed in traditional Dutch clothing was handing out scratchers for a discount at a local shop. Later, we saw her smoking with someone next to a church. I really wanted to take a picture of that, but it would have been much to obvious. The cigarette made her look completely out of character. Speaking of traditional Dutch clothing, the only person I've seen wearing clogs has been my daughter who wears "water clogs" (aka Target's Crocs knockoffs).

I received an ecard from a friend for Valentine's Day today. It was a celebrity soulmate quiz. Mine was Will Smith. If you want to know who yours is, I've attached the the link. If you want to share it with us and the readers of this blog, feel free to leave it in the comment section.
Take the Quiz

typical Dutch day?

I looked outside this morning and there was a sort of mist that had settled in our neighborhood. I had imagined that every day would be like this, but it's been sunny almost every day. I rather like the cozy feeling one gets from the misty days like today. I made a pot of coffee and sipped much of it throughout the day (thanks to the thermocarafe). The girls and I went out in the afternoon and it was pretty cold.




For dinner tonight, we had mosterd soep, which tasted, as you can imagine, like mustard. I thought it was tasty and will make it next time with a hearty sausage.

I tried another Dutch delicacy today, the Kleintjes de Ruijter. They are essentially meltable chocolate sprinkles. They also come in different flavors and in shavings form as well. They are eaten on toast. I tried to consume them the other day and had sprinkled them on toast, expecting them to melt right on. I was entirely wrong and all the sprinkles fell off when I lifted the toast to eat it. I discussed this with Dan and he advised that the bread needs to be buttered first. So today, I buttered the toast, sprinkled on the kleintjes (which I believe means "little things") and then mashed and spread the kleintjes into the toast with a knife. Presto! It was delicious! The bread tasted just as one would imagine, like butter and chocolate. Can breakfast get any better? http://www.dutchsweets.com/product_info.php?products_id=404

Friendly People in the Neighborhood

On Wednesday, my third day here, I was out walking with the girls and my purse fell out of the stroller. I didn't realize this until a few minutes later. It had my keys, wallet, and various items. Fortunately, our passports weren't inside and I had some cash in my pocket. I went home and my neighbor's au pair let me in. She called the downstairs neighbor, who called the landlord, who contacted the neighbor with the au pair. My neighbor met the landlord and brought me a new set of keys within 40 minutes! A few hours later, I started to make a list of my purse's contents. I checked my email and my mother-in-law had sent me an email. Someone had found my purse in the street and called my dad back in the US! Since I did not have a phone, Dan contacted the caller and I had my purse back by 4PM! My neighbor and the au pair had told me not to worry because the neighborhood is very safe and they were absolutely right. That night I went out and bought a new purse, which is something I'd been planning to do anyway. The new one is big enough that it shouldn't be able to fall out of the stroller. I gave the set of keys back to the landlord the next day and he told me a Dutch saying for the situation - "A good neighbor is better than a far friend."

Jealousy

Dan: "Hey dear, why don't we plan our big vacation for 2008?"
Madeline: "OK honeybear. Where do you suppose we should go?"
Dan: "Why don't we tour around Amsterdam for a bit sweetums?"
Madeline: "Oh, I don't know if I feel like walking down all these steps to get there..."

Pannenkoeken

We made a trip this morning to the Boerderij Meerzicht (Meerzicht Farmhouse). It is only a few miles from our house, but it's literally a world away. It's located in the Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam Woods), which is a gigantic park right outside the city. There is a 2000 meter lake that was built for the 1928 Olympic Games where crew events took place.

Boerderij Meerzicht is well known for its delicious pancakes and it definitely lived up to our expectations! The boerderij buildings have thatched rooves and were extremely charming. We were able to sit outside since the weather was pretty mild today. Dan ordered the cherry and powdered sugar pancake and I ordered the bacon and apple pancakes. We shared these with Liliane. As you can see from the pictures, they were gigantic! Service was extremely quick, which made it ideal for people, like us, with children.

In addition, the restaurant had a small zoo with peacocks, chickens and a pony. The playground was also fun. I've included a picture of the playground with interesting things that I hadn't seen at a playground. In the foreground, there's an activity where children stand on a stabilized tire and run. There is a small zipline in the background. At the front of the restaurant, there was a Caterpillar-type sand mover that kids could play with.

And I don't think I've mentioned the love of dogs here in Holland. We saw a bunch yesterday in Gouda. Today, there were a lot of dogs inside the restaurant at the boerderij. And for those owners who forgot to bring canine snacks, the broederij has a vending machine for dog treats. With all the dogs, Liliane is in heaven!

Gouda ya do

Today we made our first (of many I'm sure) excursions out of our new home city. The Skoda zipped us down the A2 past Utrecht to the unbustling cheesetropolis of Gouda. For those of you thinking 'Gooooooodah', please replace the 'G' with a guttural noise from the back of your throat and the 'oo' with an 'ow'. Now you are speaking Dutch (the post-title only makes sense if pronounced in Nederlands).

After parking (I'll reserve an entire post for this phenomenon) near the canal, we ventured into the town market. Not surprisingly, there were several vendors offering an assortment of giant cheese wheels. The prices were pretty good, so we did purchase some Oude Kaas--yum. We strolled about the town for a bit, enjoying the unseasonable warmth. Clearly we packed a bit of Arizona in our bags (or 'most of Arizona in our bags' you may think as you look at our departure photos). We took our lunch at a cafe inside a bakery, happily nabbing a stroopwaffel sample to placate Liliane's cookie penchant on the way out.

Gouda was a very pleasant city, with interesting architecture throughout. A nice place to go to get the small town feel of the Netherlands. We didn't get to tour the Sint Janskerk, though it may be worth a visit if we pass through again. You can view some more pictures here.

Hasta la bye-bye Greybie

We received word that Greybie has been signed over to a new owner. While we are glad that it has sailed, we will definitely miss the greatest vehicle in the entire universe! Peace out Grandmaster Grey (Sep. 2003- Feb. 2008).

We are LIVE!

No, not the rockin' bank from York, PA... We are officially up and running, so we are now inviting visitors to check out the sauce! Welcome!!

MAGNETRON

We have one in our house! What an awesome word!

Spanked by the Bank

I lied. I was indeed stymied by another 'niet mogelijk' prior to Thursday. On Tuesday afternoon our relocation agent whisked me over to our semi-neighborhood ABN Amro to open an account. We had barely been seated when my passport raised the eyebrows of our banker. "American?" Furtive glances across the desk. It seems a recent policy prevents ABN from opening accounts for Americans (later clarified as those owning property, but still no dice for me...). This was due to the stock market or currency fluctuations, or perhaps the sub-prime crisis, though it's not clear which... But rack up another for niet mogelijk!

Temporary Skodarifficness

For the time being we are driving a Skoda Octavia Scout. It is a sporty Czech wagon that holds the whole familia. But it appears that this allegedly modest sedan exceeds our budget, so it must be swapped...we hope Yugo makes a wagon!

Niet mogelijk met een draai

Before we arrived we were amply warned of the 'niet mogelijk' -- a catch all phrase to indicate something that cannot (or in most cases will not) be done. Today we ran into our first major one, as we applied for our residence permits. Our application lacked validation of our marriage, even though our marriage certificate had already been apostilled through a complex beauracracy in the U.S. Validation is performed through our registration at the town hall--a process we could not get scheduled before February 15th. So typically they would give you the option to send in the validation within 2 weeks, but...it seems that the validation process takes 4-6 weeks if you have been married less than 10 years. So submitting our application was in fact, niet mogelijk.

But the twist (draai) on our much-anticipated governmental customer service bureaucracy interaction was that the lady who rejected our application immediately phoned the town hall, spoke with the chief of staff, and got us expedited to the front of the queue. So we headed down there and got registered right away. We still need to reschedule our permit application appointment--pending an investigation into whether we are really, really, really married--but the extra effort in the customer service department was unexpected and quite nice.

We have 90 days in the country without our permits, so let the countdown begin...

Arrival in the Netherlands

We arrived here yesterday, February 4th.

There were minor glitches that made for some anxiety. Three friends came to meet us at the hotel to help transport our numerous pieces of luggage (thank you Amarilys, Devon and Grant!). Unfortunately, Grant's pickup would not start. Amarilys and Devon, however, were able to repack everything into their SUVs and we left a little bit later than our target time of 6:30AM. Another glitch was that when we arrived at the airport, we were informed that the cages for our cats were unacceptable for air travel. We had gone to two different PetsMarts and had been told that the cages were fine. One we already owned and the other was new. Both manufacturers had information on them stating that they were acceptable. Fortunately, United Airlines had cages for sale that were acceptable. The cage is called Sky Kennel. I don't recall having seen these at PetsMart. The major difference is that the cage screws together at the corners. We were informed that straps/bungee cords to further secure cages are no longer acceptable.

The flights were uneventful, which are always the best kind. The cats made it with no incidents. The girls were great and did not cry too much. While we walked to immigration after alighting from the plane, I heard an announcement. This is an example of the characteristic bluntness of the Dutch. The announcement was, "John Doe, please come to Gate 100. You are delaying takeoff."

We managed to get to our apartment in two vans. The landlord and some of the relocation people were here. The apartment is spacious and there is definitely plenty of room for guests. There is quite a bit of light. Our landlord ran out and got us flowers, cookies, coffee, tea, and orange juice, which was really nice. We also met our upstairs neighbors. They have a 3-year-old and 1-year-old twins. We went grocery shopping a few blocks away at Albert Heijn, the parent company of Albertson's out in Arizona. We even got a bonuskaart to take advantage of great deals. In the same neighborhood, I found a steakhouse that I believe a friend ate at last year. I can't wait to go there - it has a great ambiance.

Liliane was a bit tired yesterday and this morning, but she managed to sleep through the night. Amelie woke up and ad some problems going back to sleep. I worried about our neighbors being woken up, which is something I've never really had to worry about. I'll try to get some pictures posted later tonight.

Happy Super Tuesday!!!

The baggage, et al.

Amelie and Liliane waiting paitiently.
At Dulles, where we were stationed under the Amsterdam sign.