We Had to Say Goodbye.

It all happened so fast. We put our house up for sale and it sold within 6 days. We were on our way to Amsterdam.

The movers came to take our belongings and to completely empty our house. . .

. . .Except for Wessel and his camping chair. Wes was a little sad to go. We were both sad to go.

Even our flowers were sad!

But, the moving truck was ready to go. We had to say goodbye.

After saying goodbye to friends and family, we arrived in Amsterdam! Here is Wessel standing in front of our hotel. We will be in the hotel until August 15--our move-in date to our new apartment! It was difficult to find a place to live. There are way more tenants then there are apartments. But we eventually found a nice apartment close to everything.

Just outside of the hotel, we found a few modes of transportation. A few bikes and . . .what the heck is the other thing, you ask? It's a typical European car. You won't find many SUVs and Hummers here!

As you can see, it is a necessity to have a bike in Amsterdam. Although the city has excellent public transportation, most people choose to ride their bikes. In fact, the Cloggies can't live without their bikes. They will ride them in the hot, cold, rain and snow. But Amsterdam is a very bike-friendly city. Just about every street has a bike lane and there are even separate stop lights for the bikers. But, you have to be careful to not walk in the bike lane or the bikers will ring their bike bells at you! So watch out! There is no stopping a Cloggy on a bike. And so . . .

When you are in Rome, do as the Romans do. Yes, that's right. We are official Amsterdam bikers. I even added a little basket to my bike. Don't laugh. This basket will come in handy when I take my daily trips to the grocery store. But the basket is nothing compared to what we have seen. We've seen an entire family on one bike. We've heard of people carrying washers, dryers and televisions on a bike. Just the other day we saw a musician carrying a tuba on his bike. We don't know about you guys, but in the states, we would probably have rented a truck for such items! Saddle bags are another form of storage for a bike. They are exactly has they sound. Bags that drape over the back of your bike--like saddles on a horse. I have been informed by the Deloitte GDP wives that I should get saddle bags. What the heck?? No woman needs saddle bags. I'm determined to think of a better name.

Yes, Dad. Your name is very popular here. Albert Heijn is one of the major chains of grocery stores. I haven't done official grocery shopping yet since we've been in the hotel, but I can tell you it is going to be a challenge. Everything is in Dutch. I can't even read what they put into their bread. Back in the states, I always read the ingredients in any canned, boxed, or packaged food. My philosophy was, if you can't pronounce it or it takes some kind of science degree to figure out the ingredients, you shouldn't eat it. Well now, I don't think that philosophy will work here. :(

But so far, Wessel has been a life saver. Because his native language is Afrikaans, which is derived from Dutch, he can understand at least 80% of what the Dutchies say. However, there are a lot of distinct differences between the two languages, and so, having an actual conversation with a Dutchy is quite difficult. Just the other day, we were taking a train to church, and they announced, in Dutch, that the train was stopping at a different platform. We would have missed the train if he didn't understand Dutch! So! Here are a few pictures of this interesting city!Most buildings in Amsterdam date back from 1400-1600s. These particular buildings date back to 1663. This is a typical Amsterdam street. Lots of restaurants, coffee shops and cafes.Amsterdam is below sea level, and so, there are canals everywhere.And thank goodness we arrived in time to catch the annual gay pride parade on the canal! Yes, Amsterdam is a very open-minded city . . .from the Red Light District to the special Coffee Shops, you will see just about anything here! I didn't include most of the pictures of this parade because I didn't want this blog to be banned for indecent content! But thousands and thousands of people come to see this parade--gay or straight! It's quite an interesting sight to see. Below the popular bank "ING" promotes "Personal Pride=Company Pride"



We decided that our first major weekend trip will be to Belgium this coming weekend. It's only about an hour and a half from Amsterdam! We are looking forward to tasting the Belgium chocolate and Belgium fries! So we took a day trip to Delft this past weekend . . .a very old city just about an hour from Amsterdam. Here they make the very famous blue and white porcelaine. Just a little handmade box was about $100. So we bought a few vases for the apartment . . . .just kidding.

Here's the $100 container. Crazy!Here we are . . .loving this city!
These next few pictures are taken at the Delft town square. Lots of old buildings and churches.

That's all the pictures for now! Our time here has been a lot of fun so far. We have been exploring the city and getting used to how the Dutchies/Cloggies operate. Life is very laid back here. For example, people love to sit outside of a cafe and drink their coffee or wine, and watch people go by. However, the service at any restaurant or cafe is very slow. If you go out to dinner with a group, plan for about a 3-5 hour meal--no joke! We basically have to flag the waiters down to get anything. Initially, we were annoyed with this, but now we are understanding that people aren't in a rush here. When we are ready to order, we just raise our hand and make eye contact and they happily come over to serve you. We also noticed that most shops and grocery stores close at 5:00 or 6:00. There is only one that I know of that stays open a little later. Overall, the Dutchies are very bubbly and friendly people and will try to speak English as soon as they realize that you are not Dutch. Our journey here will be interesting, nonetheless. But it's going to be a great experience! We hope that you all can come and visit! More pictures to come . . .please check our blog regularly!