Our friends have come and gone and we are looking forward to Koninginnedag. (Queensday)

Our friends have come and gone

Suzo and Jeseka were here for a visit and would come and call on us every morning whistling outside our window, but did I get a picture of that? NO,  it was great to have guests; Yvonne made some delicious breakfasts, and we had some fun adventures. We are looking forward to seeing them again next week in Istanbul along with Emma who will surely help with our pronunciation.

Michelle asked about the trees that line all the canals, which 

I have become obsessed with lately. I still have no name for the trees, BUT they create a false, early summer feel when it is only barely spring. They are covered with green seeds that fade to white and yellow and then blow off the trees all over the street and canals like confetti. Then the trees are bare again. I am anxiously awaiting this happening and we only have 4 more days here, and one good wind would send the seeds off and the weather is turning from warm and beautiful to cooler and rainy.

We went to more museums and looked at art

The Rijks Museum is currently undergoing a major renovations so instead of exploring a mammoth of a building they had a show called The Masterpieces where everything you might want to see was conveniently located in one exhibition area. Perfect; and the big dra

w was the visiting Vermeer's from Washington. It was fun to see some of the pieces after having familiarized ourselves with some of the "masters" included in the postcard race.  I particularly liked the  landscapes and the household scenes where there was always either a cat or a dog or sometimes 

both portrayed. I was seeing and have continued to see cats everywhere. Yvonne thought the cats and dogs just made everything more "gezelligheid" one of our favorite Dutch word as life must be as gezellig as possible (nice atmosphere, fun activities and the right company).

We got to go to the Van Gogh Museum with Jeseka and Suzo. Many of his famous and beautiful pieces were there. Jeseka liked "Gauguin's Chair" and Suzo made sure we got close to the paintings to see how the paint was laid. Though there were some self portraits, sadly the one that Suzo had rendered for the FDI catalogue "Music so good you'll want both ears" was not there. 

Tulip is Turban in Turkish

We are really glad that Suzo and Jeseka wanted to visit Keukenhof or Keukenheim or the Disneyland of Tulips or the Lourdes of Tulips or perhaps the Fantasy Garden of Tulips or maybe Tuliparama: over the top Tulips. We couldn't have done it without you. We have posted MANY pictures of tulips, especially for Anna, Yvonne's mother, (who would have loved the garden) on FLICKR.

Much like Delft potters conquered the world with their imitations of Chinese porcelain, Delft blue ceramics. The world tulip actually comes from the word for turbin in Turkish and  the tulip was imported to Holland in the 16th century from the Ottoman Empire. As we learned at Keukenhof there are now 5000 different tulip varieties. We saw a feathered white tulip called "Calgary Flame". The cultivators actually name the varieties. Was the developer of the "Calgary Flame" a hockey fan and he imagined snow-covered white Calgary his favorite team?  Is there a player with a Dutch background honoured by the tulip on the Flames? We were unable to find out. Tricia any ideas? Tulips are shipped around the world from Keukenhof in September when they are ready for  planting. We were lucky to be here in April since they are at their be-dazzling best (Yvonne's description) only for 2 months.

The Tulip Connection

At Keukenhof they had postcards of the Dutch Royal Family (Jeseka loved those). During the war, the Dutch Royal family was hosted at Government House in Ottawa. Princess Margriet was born at Ottawa Civic Hospital which was declared to be part of the Netherlands for the day since the monarchy must be born  on Dutch soil.  My grandmothers brother, Dr Charles Coupal attended at the Birth, though he is not mentioned in any of the articles. Every year since 1945, 100,000 tulips are sent to Ottawa in appreciation of the safe haven and Canada's role in liberating the Netherlands. Jeseka said if I had only played my cards right I could have been invited for a royal cheese tasting or some such thing, but I did not use that incredible connection.

So if you like tulips (and who doesn't) please check out the Keukenhof on Flickr:

What we are reading:

2666 R2 everyone should read this

3 cups of tea Yvonne

What we are watching

"Mammoth" heavy Babel like movie very good

"In Treatment" he was happier in the first season

www.flickr.com

  

The Postcard Race ROUND 2 Winner Announced!

Kris Purdy of Toronto, Ontario is the winner of Round 2 of The Postcard Race!

The Post Office is so fast. Kris' postcard was picked up in Amsterdam
at 6PM Wednesday April 15th, (approximately 6 AM Wednesday Toronto time)
and then she received the postcard Friday, April 17th (2 days SUPER FAST)!
Kris will win something mailed to her from another country.

We will be scouring the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul,where
we are going in May, for something especially for Kris!

Congratulations Kris!

The Postcard Race- Round 2

April in Amsterdam

More than a quarter of the Netherlands lies below sea level. The lowest point in the Netherlands is also the lowest point in Europe- almost 7 meters below sea level.

Hans Brinker, the hero of a popular book, is one the world’s most famous Dutch people. The book sketches a romantic American view of the Netherlands: windmills, water, ice and skates. Mary Mape Dodge wrote the book in 1865. She had never visited the Netherlands. Pilgrims from abroad began to arrive in Spaardam seeking reminders of Hans. The tourist office had little choice but to put up a statue of him.

The Netherlands is the bicycle capital of world-it has 20 million bicycles and 16.3 million people: which gives it the highest density of bicycles in the world.

A windmill, a plate, a bowl or a tile. White with a subtle decoration in blue, preferably a Dutch landscape. Delft Blue ceramics are sought-after souvenirs. The city of Delft became world-famous for its artistic earthenware, but it is not an original Delft creation: local potters copied the Chinese.

Amsterdam has the largest canal system in the world and the most bridges of any European city.

The 380 Kilometers Dutch coastline is graced by beautiful wide, white, sandy beaches bordered by equally beautiful sand dunes.

At 45,000 pages, the Algemeen Woorden boek der Nederlandse Taal is the world’s largest dictionary.

It is a typically Dutch concept one that is difficult to translate: gezelligeid. It is a term often used in the Netherlands, as life must be made as gezellig as possible. Gazelligheid is found in a setting that has atmosphere and fun activities, but aall above all the right company. Having a bakkie (coffee) together is by definition gezellig.

Johan Cruijff’, nicknamed The Phenomenon and The Saviour, is regarded by many as the best Footballer of all time. The former Ajax player is the most famous Dutchman in the world. Nowadays, as a football analyst, he regularly stirs audiences with his striking use of language. His commentaries have become as legendary as his footballing skills. His quip: “every downside has its upside” has permeated everyday speech.

The Dutch eat fifteen kilos of cheese per person annually. They were producing cheese even in prehistoric times. The Netherlands is the world’s largest exporter of cheese, butter, and milk powder.

The Dutch are frugal and prudent- world champion coupon savers-yet the Dutch are the most generous charity donors in the world.

The prosperity of the Golden Age helped Dutch painting flourish. Dutch masters were often underrated. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Goth died in poverty.

www.flickr.com I have posted many, many views from our window. Maybe Pebbles will recognize someone else!

The Postcard Race ROUND 2 April in Amsterdam

The Postcard Race:  Round  2

April in Amsterdam

Postcards for round 2 have already been sent. The handicap entries (those living outside major centres) left on April 14 with the bulk of the postcards being mailed April 15th. This time the postcards will relate "Fun Facts about the Netherlands".  Let us know your fun fact plus a description of the postcard you received (since some of you might cheat by looking too closely at the above photo). The first contestant to report getting a postcard will win "Something mailed to you from another country!" 

Good Luck!

Round One Winners; your package is in the mail to you. Please let us know once it arrives!

31 people, so far, have reported receiving postcards sent out for round 1 of the Postcard Race, (some reported spelling errors thanks for those too).

24 people have either not received their postcards OR have not bothered to report. 

Some SAD news about the Post Office:

The Netherlands Post Office, is owned and operated by ING you might recognize the name, it  is a bank. On April 14th, we went to the postkantoor on Kerkstraat. It was the last day for the post office at that location. Imagine our shock! The purple haired, pierced, postal worker (sister) was losing her job at the post office after 30 years. It was her last day, she was 52. Why didn't I take a photo of her, or at least take her out for a beer? In any case , apparently you just can't make money moving mail. So the counters are going to private stores, sound familiar?

Time for more Tulips

The tulips were done so we went back to the Albert Cuypstraat Market for more. This time the palate is purple and yellow, but the tulips there cost a lot more than at Dapper Market . Today we paid 2.50 euros for 20 purple and  2.50 euros for  10 yellow. Also yvonne  found the greatest hat ever for me. (7E)

After finishing the Strippen Karten (strip of bus tickets) that Pebbles had kindly provided for us we invested in quite a bit more Strippen Karten so we hop on and off the trolleys and walk once we get there.  We expect to have enough Strippen Karten to take the 197 bus from the Leidsplein to Shiphol when we go. (I just love that word Strippen Kerten probably the only Dutch I will remember.)

The Food..... overall here has not been great, but being back at the AC market let us visit again the Turkish Pizza Place/Bakery at Governstraat and Van Woustraat. Yvonne and I agree that this is our favorite restaurant and favorite meal ....two pizzas (they served them rolled) for (1.60 e each).  The lamb mixture is cooked with the crust which is like a nan bread, super  delicious and the raisin cookies are very good.

We have been here now two weeks and happy to have such a nice apartment so staying home is fun. There are endless pictures from the window on Flickr "Just Passing By our Window"   

On arriving home today there was a photo shoot going on just outside our window. It was all I could do not to race up to the our window and start taking pictures myself...which I did.  A tall slender blonde model type women with a sexy red dress was the focus of everyone's attention.  So since we heard that Paris Hilton is in town I am just saying that it is Paris Hilton, (not that I really know what paris hilton looks like) but Yvonne insists it is definitely NOT Paris Hilton. Whoever she is will soon be feature on "just passing by my window."

So we've had had three garbage pick ups since we arrived, Every Tuesday morning and Friday morning. 

It is very strange coming from composting and recycling to throwing away cans. I get the urge to collect my cans and mail them home to my lane to be picked up by the binners. We have recently found a place where we can put paper and glass down the street.

Finally, in the town filled with every kind of museum, gallery and collector we have gone to see some, the Cat Museum was our first stop quite a nice tribute to cats in a beautiful mansion and garden on Herengracht. 

We also went to FOAM and saw a Richard Avedon retrospective with that great shot of Janis Joplin and this really nice picture of a Paris model in the sixties playing pinball in an outrageous dress. 

Yvonne has noticed that the men of holland wear  a lot of pink as becomes their complexions. We ar gathering photographic evidence of this to share with you at a later date.

Meanwhile stay tuned for the Postcard Race Round 2

I will be placing more photos on Flickr very soon. I have only done that once, it is hard to keep up with all the fun activities.

What we are reading:

Yvonne- American Wife

R2 - 2666 (thick book that I will be reading for a long time.)

Tomorrow is Yvonne's Birthday

We have been wandering the oude parts of Amsterdam over the past few days. 

At the Dam Square we tried to go and see the Royal Palace but, unfortunately it is undergoing renovations and is currently not open. I really wanted to see the Burgerzaal (Citizens Hall) a marble room with maps of the world all over the floor. Sounds beautiful! Apparently even the Royal Palace has been occupied by squatters.  Under certain circumstances, in the Netherlands, squatting is not illegal. If a building has been left empty for over one year,  one chair, one table and one bed  establishes a private dwelling and the right to stay there. I would like to get to know the person who has chosen to squat in the Citizens Hall; perhaps be invited to their place for a meeting. But it is unlikely we will be seeing the Royal Palace any time soon.

One of my favorite stops on our rambles though the city was at 

Eduard Kramer  www.antique-tileshop.nl.

It is a store of millions of tiles recovered from Amsterdam and region. They are many animal tiles and we spent a considerable time searching through tiles. Here is a picture of one of my favorites.

We have met three cats Ober, who used to be a bar's cat and then the bar closed so now he lives outside our front door. H e is featured in many of the shots taken from our window as he goes back and forth from the front stoop to his bench by the canal. tomorrow we will be looking after Dottie and Dropria , who live downstairs.

We are in such a great neighbourhood and we keep discovering new excellent things about it. The other night we went just around the corner to De Kou (The Cow) and had ourselves a very excellent meal in a very cozy cool place. 

We have also located the curiosity coffeeshop: 

Sanementereng. I cannot wait to show Jeseka and Suzo when they arrive.

What things cost: 

The Euro is very strong and we are paying 1.7 CND dollars for every Euro. 

6 Grolsch (the beer of Beligium) 4.68 (the Heineken is probably cheaper)

quart of melk                                         .78

our apartment for one month     1500.

250 grams of espresso                       2.69

entrance to the Van Goth Museum   15.(still yet to get to any museum)

Bhudda Big Cheese 2 grams   17. 

Parador red wine from Spain 6.

4 HUGE avocados from the Dapper Market  1.

cheese from the Dapper Market including Maasdmmer (Soft swisslke)/Mustard Cheese (OLD) and Sambal cheese (spicy and delicious medium)

maybe 2 kilos   13 Euros

10 tulips small and red from the Dapper Market  1.

10 tulips orange 2.50

What we are reading:

Yvonne: The Bastard of Istambul

Rachel: 2666

www.flickr.com

Believe it or not we are living in Amsterdam

Here is a picture of our apartment in Amsterdam, up 32 steps to the third floor. You can see our open window in the picture overlooking the canal (Leidsegracht). The apartment is on route to Leidensplein a party plaza so on Friday night (probably the first hot and sunny day of the year) it was very noisy between midnight and 4 am, there was a lot of honking about 3 am. We looked out the window to see a huge white limo and a tour bus both on the tiny bridge crossing the canal. Neither vehicle could move and well it was a very amusing traffic jam. (I imagined that Bob Dylan was in that limo since he is here doing three shows here next week).

The streets of Amsterdam are endlessly beautiful and we have been wondering around. The women wear all kinds of beautiful fashions while riding their bikes and carry everything including children and groceries and flowers and cakes. They are so much more interesting than the sporty spice riders of Vancouver. Bikes, of all sorts, are everywhere. 

Sunday seems to be a huge day for boating on the canal. There are all kinds of boats floating around including an incredible trumpet and french horn player who has a boat rigged up as a music box or player piano which accompanies his lovely playing, (there will be a photo of him on Flicker soon). We will be going on a canal boat and have chosen to support the non-profit St. Nicolas Boat Club (www.amsterdamboatclub.com).

We have visited the Paradox coffeeshop, where I hung out the last time I was here. It was was in process of being painted, but have a look at their fantastic fans.

We are also searching for the curiosity coffeeshop The Sanementereny, though we know where it is we cannot find it.

We are becoming accustomed to this new normal: enjoying ourselves and passing the time. I have cooked Moroccan Lamb with figs and pears to impress Yvonne with my cooking. Yesterday we ate Turkish Pizza near the Albert Cuypstraat market. They put a very thin topping of lamb and vegetables and then roll it up and cut it like a wrap. Super delicious. 

It is supposed to get cold and rainy next week so perhaps we will visit some of the excellent museums. The Tattoo Museum comes to mind.

Today Yvonne was peacefully reading by the canal, while I was on a photo shoot but soon her quiet bench was overtaken by children. 

 

WHAT ARE WE READING:

Yvonne just finished Miriam Toews " the Flying Troutmans and I have just finished Joseph Boyden "Three Day Road" Both highly recommended.

I will be posting photos some time soon on my Flicker site. 

We Arrived Safely

After plenty of preparations, endless lists and more luggage than intended, we have arrived at 96 Leidengracht  in Amsterdam, our first stop. We are sitting in the sunshine on our third floor canal house on our third cup of coffee watching the canal boats go by. (I am so happy we put the stovetop espresso maker in the bag).... We must have slept for 13 hours...and now we are feeling almost normal. 

The Postcard Race ROUND ONE

Postcards for round one were mailed from the beautiful postbox at north Nanaimo and Wall Street in Vancouver, BC.

handicap #3 (Galiano Island included here) mailed on March 30 handicap 2 mailed March 31 and handicap 1 mailed April 1, 2009.

AND WE HAVE A WINNER FOR ROUND #1

Congratulations Lori Seay of Galiano Island who reported receiving her postcard while we were still sleeping off our jet lag. Yvonne and I will be scouring Amsterdam for your custom chosen prize and mail it off to you before Round 2. Way to go Lori and the postal workers of Galiano Island.