Other funny Amsterdam observations - Spouses holding hands while biking (what I thought was a sweet gesture is actually a strategic move so the wife doesn't have to bike as hard). Singing out loud, and I mean loud, while biking. It's just like when you see someone belting their heart out in their car on the freeway, but out here you hear it!
We went to our very first show at the Melkweg! Kid Cudi was in town for the Cannabis Cup and put on an amazing show for his new album. The venue is really unique and the crowd had a great vibe.
A documentary played for about an hour. From what we could tell it had something to do with India and growing weed. The the dj Muggs from Cypress Hill pumped up the crowd before Cudi hit the stage. Cudi had a small film crew with him. One cameraman kept bumping into me, he then ended up on stage and Cudi asked that we welcome his friend the cameraman, Shia Labeouf. Apparently Shia is directing Cudi's short film.
It's hard being away from home over the holidays, but celebrating Thanksgiving twice definitely helps distract you from the lack of family and tradition. For our first Thanksgiving I met up with Courtney, Ali and Ali for some gluhwein on the Leideseplein.
We biked over to Vlaming brasserie and ate an amazing spread put on by Love Food. Love Food was created by Jason Hartley, an Englishman living in Amsterdam who is also an ad guy. He serves up brunches at venues he takes over for a short period of time only making room for about 100 folks so you have to make your reservations fast. He always makes a point to do holidays. We had roasted parsnip soup, sausage, sage and chestnut stuffing, velvet smooth mashed potatoes, homemade cheddar biscuits and gravy, roasted turkey and cranberry relish. For dessert we had sweet pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and a family-recipe pie made by Ali and myself the night before, a mix of pecan and pumpkin pie!
For our second Thanksgiving we spent the day at the Haley's. I made a dish (that didn't go so well) and we biked over in our first snow. I never imagined we would be doing just that, biking in the snow and balancing dishes on the way there. I actually helped Courtney out with the shopping, as in I helped carry the turkey and potatoes for a few miles. The things you do for a good meal! We celebrated the day with Courtney, Michael, Jen, Kevin, Jo and Scott!!!
Throughout the day Courtney cooked some excellent meals like butternut squash soup with spicy croutons, a beautiful turkey, fresh cranberry sauce and tasty potatoes. We drank dark and stormies (a rum, lime and ginger beer drink compliments of Kirk). I snacked on Jo's dip and Courtney's orange cranberry muffins! There was plenty of football watching and game playing (monopoly and Celebrity).
We spent the next day Christmas shopping and exploring the mini Amsterdam Christmas markets with the Bowman's. Friends that have been living here for years noted its the first time they have witnessed the amount of ice rinks, gluhwein stands and lights galore in the squares!
The most important day during the winter celebration in The Netherlands is December 5th. This day involves Sinterklass bringing presents to the children. St. Nicholas' day is on December 6th, but for some reason celebrations are held on the 5th. Santa Claus comes from the name Sinterklass. There are many differences between Santa and Sinter. Sinterklass is tall, skinny, and wears a long white hat, and wears bishop robes. I have read that he was a Greek bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey. Our friend Jon Abshire captured these amazing pics of the recent parade!
On December 5th, Sinterklass arrives in Amsterdam by boat from Spain. He travels with his servants called Zwarte Piet (Black Peter). Black Pete shows up in Amsterdam about 2 weeks before mainly to amuse and prepare the children before Sinterklaas arrives. Black Pete is described in some books as a servant and as black, and is depicted as a dark man wearing asian-style clothes.
It is shocking when you see him. He's literally a white man dressed up in black face with big red lips painted on. Other books state that Black Piet is dark from the soot in the chimney. Either way it's pretty crazy. You see Black Piet dolls, posters and even tv shows! After they arrive Sinterklaas leads a procession through the town, riding a white horse.
Children leave clogs or shoes out to be filled with gifts. They also leave hay and carrots in their shoes, so that Sinterklass's horse will have some food, in hopes that Sinterklaas will leave them treats! Children are told that Zwarte Piet keeps a record of all the things they have done in the past year and that the good kids will get presents and the bad will get chased by Zwarte Piet with a stick. It is explained that Sinterklass resides in Madrid, Spain and every year he chooses a different harbour to arrive in Holland. The author David Sedaris dedicates a whole chapter to the unique tale of Zwarte Piet and Sinterklaas.
Dutch families celebrate the holiday with a treasure hunt and exchange poems and riddles. Christmas day is actually pretty quiet around here. They still have church service and a meal with the family, but the children will receive an orange and biscuits on this day since they received all of their other gifts on the 5th. On Christmas Eve night, Dutch children believe that Santa Claus (also known as Christmas man) comes from Finland to deliver more presents!
The Bowman's threw a fantastic holiday party!!! We drank pomegranete martinis and consumed deviled eggs, dates wrapped in bacon, and delicious cheeses and salami!
A really nice evening with friends and also Apple Cup! Kirk and I actually stayed at the Bowman's since the game started at 1:30am. Kirk stayed up for the whole game while I dosed in and out of sleep! Way to go Dawgs!!!!
My friends Sam and Dan booked a last minute trip to Amsterdam and Paris. It was so wonderful seeing a friendly face from home and showing them a few of our favorite spots!!! I also really enjoyed explaining why there were white people dressed in black face running around the city.
Weiden + Kennedy had their annual Christmas party at Hotel de Goudfazant. We enjoyed the open bar, sit down dinner and tons of dancing! They played an assortment of American pop music, felt just like home!
Last weekend we had a little road trip on the autobahn (Germany's freeways with no speed limit) to Cologne, Germany for the Christmas markets. What should have been a 2.5 hour drive turned into 5 hours....its been awhile since I sat in traffic. At least we had funny signs to look at over and over - the German word for exit is "ausfahrt.".
We had a really great group meet up for the event, bounced around from market to market, enjoying Gluhwein and all the tasty foods.
The markets were so pretty and filled with all sorts of crafts and antiques. We walked through about 5 different markets, all selling ornaments, drinks, treats, candles, smokers, and a ton of yummy food! My favorite market bite was reibekuchen - a deep fried pancake of sorts, consisting of shredded potatoes and onion. They're served with applesauce as a dip. Ridiculous! Reibekuchen are from the Rheinland region of Germany and are often served at Christmas markets and street fairs. So good!!! We also ate bratwurst, crepes, waffles and pretzels!
The Dom Cathedral was located at the entrance of the markets, always giving you a beautiful view. The scenery was quite powerful and I was suprised to find out the cathedral meant a great deal to my McCoy family. My Great Great Uncle, Otto Paschen, is buried in the crypt of this church. He was a priest and dean of the Cathedral. Paschen was originally from Duren and studied theology in Bonn and was ordained in 1896. He was a religion teacher and senior teacher in Aachen, then appointed in 1903 as the director of the Theologenkonivikt Leoninum in Bonn. Archbishop Karl Joseph Schulte appointed him in 1920 and transfered him to Cologne. In 1930 he obtained the position of dean of the Cathedral. He died in 1947 at the age of 77.
The Cathedral, also known as Kolmer Dom, is a Roman Catholic church built in the 1200's and took 600 years to finish. It is one the world's largest Cathedrals and the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. The church suffered through seventy hits by aerial bombs during WWII. It never collapsed and it was believed that the troops did not want to destroy the cathedral since the great twin spires were used as navigational landmarks. American troops also used the Cathedral as a rifle range.
We trekked up to the top (500+ stairs) and the view was simply breathtaking. It took a lot out of me to get to the top, but so worth it!
Next stop, Seattle for a nice two week holiday filled with family and friends. We are so looking forward to being back in the States! It's hard to believe it's been 9 months since a trip home! We hope to make the most of it! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
