Familiar faces and new ones in The Netherlands

The last couple days have been relaxing but with a purpose. We have been walking absolutely everywhere, which is a great way to see the city! Other than taking the train to Rotterdam we haven't used public transportation. Our visits with Julian, our former student, and Esmiralda, my mom's cousin, were wonderful! It was so great to catch up with them. With Julian we toured around the markthal, which is a huge food market. The building itself is really unique, with windows all the way up the tall ceiling and apartments along the outside. We checked out the cubic houses, which I hadn't seen since I was last in Amsterdam 20 years ago! Afterwards we saw Esmiralda for dinner at a great Italian restaurant named Vapiano. We both ordered pizza which was ready in no time! Poor Sean's pasta took forever though. Thankfully he was a good sport about it! It gave me time to talk with Esmiralda and reconnect with my relatives on my mom's side. I had last seen her 20 years ago too, so it was nice to catch up and talk about the family.

Sean and I later visited a few bars in Amsterdam including a fun hells angels biker bar in the red light district (sidenote: the bartender was awesome and the toilet paper was lovely and soft. I told him so. He seemed happy to hear the positive review). We also checked out another fun bar and met a nice couple from southern Spain who didn't really speak much English. They seemed happy to meet other people who spoke Spanish, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to practice!

Yesterday we visited Carlotta, our student from Italy, who is also studying here. It was wonderful to catch up with her and see how well she is doing. From there we walked to my cousin Rosa's house for lunch. She lives in an awesome house in old Amsterdam with 4 other people who are all in their 30s and work. They work together to get groceries, make meals and share expenses. It's a really cool system that allows people with similar interests to share a living space without spending a ton of money. A couple observations about Dutch houses that I had forgotten: staircases seem to be really steep with small steps, and the shower is often separated from the toilet, which is pretty practical if you're sharing a house with a few people!

Last night we went back to the bar where we met the Spanish couple and met an Australian couple. We walked around and had amazing burgers for dinner. Another successful night! Sean is always a lot of fun to travel with. Chatty Cathy as I like to call him enjoys chatting up random people and he has a fantastic sense of direction so it's always a good time!

This morning Sean found a delicious poffertjes (mini pancakes) restaurant for me so I could reconnect with a childhood treat that is very dear to my heart. The staff were super friendly and the Poffertjes were amazing, so a great way to start the day!

We are headed out soon to take the train (first class! Whooooaaaaa) to Germany to visit Jo and her family for a week. At this point we have been travelling for a week and are coming up to the halfway point. It will be great to see her and her family, but at the same time it's sad to know that we are already halfway in and will be winding down soon!

Some photos of the last few days:

In front of Amsterdam Central station:

With Julian and the cubic houses in Rotterdam:

With Esmiralda in Rotterdam:

So much delicious cheese! 

One of the many canals in Amsterdam:

From the Rotterdam port:

So many bikes! And you can park in layers too! 

With Carlotta at Bagels and Beans, a popular franchise (eating here reminded me that North Americans are all about spreads on bread... Butter, cheese, whatever...it's more about the plain bread here!) 

Delicious poffertjes for breakfast and the best cappuccinos we have had in Amsterdam!