Napless in Nederlands

Over the past two weeks, Liliane has decided that she no longer requires a nap. This coupled with her monkey-like climbing abilities has made for some exhausting days for all parties. Placing her in the crib merely guarantees we'll hear her roaming around the room 2 minutes later. Efforts to wear her out often leave her cranky, but awake.

Despite her best efforts, though, sleep eventually caught up to her. She fought to keep those eyes open, but to no avail...

We feared that her sister would catch on to this new trend, but her sleep patterns have actually been improving (especially at night!). During the day, she can fall asleep while on the move--especially in her Baby Bjorn.

On Saturday we visited the Kinderkoek Cafe, just outside Vondelpark. Madeline has been anxious to go there, as the concept involves the kids cooking all the food (lax child labor laws in Holland?). Ours were too young to appreciate the culinary construction, but there were toys to keep them occupied and coffee for the parents. Amelie tried out a new type of high chair, and (speaking of naps) I think she found it comfortable.

Our short-walk eventually extended to a 7-hour odyssey taking us through rain and hail, out of Vondelpark, through Albert Cuypmarkt, and through the local shopping district. Quite a workout! We offset the workout with a stop at Bob's for Vlaamse Frites and McDo for a Rolo McFlurry and Bitterballen. Bitterballen are essentially small, round croquettes. Liliane consumed several of these.

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!

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.