Turning 30 is one thing, but turning 30 and living in Amsterdam is another. I didn't know what to expect, or how my night would end, I just knew that it would be special. However, it was hard being away from family and friends. For such a milestone in life it definitely would of been nice to share with my folks, brother and friends, but our friends here really made it wonderful!
Amy, a friend and soccer teammate from college happened to be traveling to Amsterdam during my bday weekend. We caught over drinks and my first taste of Rijsttafel (which literally means Rice Table in Dutch). Rijsttafel consists of many small dishes. Very tasty and something you should try out when visiting Amsterdam. My Aunt Sigrid told me all about Rijsttafel before I moved here and I am glad she did!
Our friend Jenn, who as of February moved to Berlin, flew out to spend the bday weekend with us! She was our official first guest from home! It was wonderful to have a familiar face and also a ginea pig to figure out our future visitors routine. Friday night we went out for Sushi (I highly recommend that you don't eat sushi here). We supposedly went to a "good" sushi joint, but am disappointed to say that the Dutch don't know a thing about sushi. For Saturday we started with breakfast at Pancakes for the ultimate Dutch pancakes. They have everything from savory to sweet, another must for all of our guests to experience. After a nice breakfast, we rented a bike for Jenn at Mike's Bike Rental, and biked thru Vondel Park and to other various parts of the city, including the Red Light, The Dam, Spui, De Pijp and our neighborhood.
Friends joined us later that evening for drinks, food and more drinks. We ended the night walking in the light rain to Cafe Nol (super-uber Dutch karoake bar). Overall a fun evening and splendid way to celebrate my 30th.
Adding on to the "More To Adore":
Bicyclists ringing their bells
The sounds of the tram
Various boats floating by on the canals
Dutch pancakes with basil, garlic and goat cheese
Peanut butter chicken sandwiches
Indiana update:
Indy is hanging in there and still making some friends. We had the opportunity to watch a yellow lab named Molly. We still like to run a few times a week at Vondel Park, also known as Fondle Park. Word has it you CAN NOT take your dog off its leash to roam around the park, but if you would like to have sex in this park, go for it. There are some limitations though, you can not have sex in front of children, phew.
The Dutch love saying "It's Not Possible" so here's a little list of things that are not possible:
Getting an extra chair for our table at a cafe
Asking for veggies to be placed on the side
Setting up a sports package for our tv
Setting up the electricity bill
Setting up the water bill
The following weekend we headed off to Bloemendaal beach. This beach destination is very popular and only 15 miles away from Amsterdam.
Our friend Ali rented a car and took us to our first beach experience, one I never thought I would happen since I didn't believe realize we even had a beach!
This white sandy beach is surrounded by dunes, nudity, dj's, and many sun bathers. Many Dutch and expats make their way out to the North Sea for some fun times. The sea is extremely, gray and cloudy, but refreshing in the hot weather!
The food was super expensive, the Turks love to wear jeans with their shirts off, and the cafe serves horrible smoothies. We were introduced to the "war" sauce. The Dutch like to take mayonnaise and peanut sate sauce, mix it together and call it a day! It's really surprisingly good!!!
Overall we had a nice time, I would definitely like to go there again, and check the other neighboring, more low key beaches!
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