So Long to Weekends in the City

Our last weekend in Amsterdam, sniff sniff. Here goes...

Saturday morning was market morning. This will be one of the things that we miss most about Amsterdam - and specifically, about our neighborhood. We were so "blind" when hunting for our apartment 18 months ago, but God really guided us to the perfect spot. Although we were a bit far from friends we met who lived in Oud Zuid, we would not have traded living in the city center for anything. Being so close to two amazing Saturday markets was fun - and delicious!! Here's Ben enjoying fresh squeezed OJ (with a PINK straw, naturally). We shopped the produce and fish stands, which we did every week. No, we never ate the squid. Ewwww. We bought flowers for ourselves and for Ben's Sunday school teacher for the next day. I am going to be in serious flower withdrawal once we move. We shopped a bit more - bread, chocolate-covered peanuts, dried fruit - before heading home with our goodies.

As we walked to tram 10 to head to Leidseplein, I had to snap a photo of tram 3 Nieuwe Willemstraat stop by our home. We saw a lot of this tram stop; it took us to Vondelpark, countless Moms and Tots playdates, and Museumplein. I really believe that by the time we got bikes, I was already so used to the tram system that I didn't feel like I "needed" the bike. I learned a lot of Dutch pronunciation on the public transportation system, and I got to practice a bit of Dutch too. :)

We went to Leidseplein in search of an oranje Dutch voetbal jersey for Greg. Here's a photo of the Stadsschouwburg in Leidseplein square. This theatre stages plays by local and international companies. Also interesting is that whenever the Ajax football (soccer) club wins an important competition, the players gather on the theatre's balcony to greet their fans. Ben wasn't too interested in shopping, so he and I walked nearby to Vondel Park. Daddy joined us for playtime after finding his jersey, and we spent a while just soaking in the sun and enjoying this great park. Ben had a major full-blown tantrum when it was time to go. I can't blame him really...I don't want to leave either. :)

Next, we hopped on the tram to the Albert Cuyper market. Greg had never been, and I just felt like it was something that he needed to see before we moved. On our walk from the tram stop to the market, there was an olieballen stand!! Usually, these pop up closer to Sinterklaas time, but what luck!! It was unanimous that we needed to indulge in one last sugary donut ball. Yum! Then, on to the market. So many people! It's amazing all of the things you can find here...clothes, shoes, flowers, cheese, baby strollers, jewelry, guy making homemade stroopwafels (only one in the city), bikes, and of course, fries with mayo!! I have a feeling I'll be working off a lot of "Dutch" pregnancy weight come January...

After the market, we walked down the 'antiques' street, Spiegelgracht, looking for an old jenever bottle for Greg. Jenever is Dutch gin, and the country's most popular spirit. Greg, not really being a big drinker, just thought the old brown bottles were cool. During our hunt, Ben was sleeping, so we stopped off for a latte in the cool air. Cute little cafe, and here is Greg showing us that he has truly become a coffee man. God bless Europe!! He was also trying to make a sad face (in reference to our last Saturday)...it came out as kind of a sad smirk or a 'this coffee tastes gross' look (even though it didn't). Silly. No luck on the bottle, but some pretty canal sights anyways.

As we walked home, we walked by De Krijtberg (The Chalk Mountain) church near the Spui square. Pretty sure I've snapped an exterior photo before, but we'd never gone inside. Well, if not today, then when? ;) So glad we decided to stop...a beautiful Catholic church that was consecrated in 1883 and dedicated to St. Francis Xavier.

For Saturday night dinner, we enjoyed some of our market faves...lekkerbek (amazingly delicious fried fish), spruitjes (mini brussel sprouts), and aardbeien (Holland strawberries).

On Sunday, we went to church as usual. But, I brought along my camera to get photos. On our way to Central Station, they were already starting to decorate for the Sinterklaas/Christmas season. Once we got to the bus stop, we realized we had forgotten the flowers we bought for Miss Sandra. Ugh! Greg ran into Central Station and found another pretty bouquet and snapped this 'pedestrians walking' sign that had clearly been altered by some fine artist. :)

Here is Crossroads Church, services held in Amstelveen College. Although we missed our church in the States, there was a real intimacy here that was refreshing. We enjoyed Gerard Kelly's teachings and the Dutch/English worship time. Most of all, we will miss Miss Sandra, Ben's Sunday school teacher. Ben adores her, and we even made up a whole song about riding the bus to see Miss Sandra at church! I will miss her too, as I have helped out a lot in his class. She is a fabulous woman who loves God and loves 2 year olds. Ben learned so much from her...mostly lots of Bible songs that he loves for me to sing. Thank you Miss Sandra!

I also want to share a new tradition that we started way too late into our Amsterdam stay. There is a fabulous little deli/cafe called Small World Catering about 100 steps from our front door. I walked by it nearly every day on my way to shop or catch the bus. We had been in for their well-known carrot cake and other baked goodies before. But, they have a delicious sandwich board that we had always said we should try sometime. Well, in the last month, on our way home from church on Sundays, we stop in and get two sandwiches to go. Then, we split them in half and share. Oh my goodness!! These are some of the most amazing sandwiches I've ever eaten. The ingredients are homemade and fresh, and the focaccia bread is out of this world! We were determined to conquer the board as best we could in our last few weeks, and here is a photo of one wonderful Sunday lunch!

On Sunday afternoon, Greg braved the rain for one last hunt for a jenever bottle. No luck, so he stopped into the VOC cafe in the Schreisertoren for some coffee to warm up before coming home. He noticed some jenever bottles behind the bar and asked about buying one. It wasn't 'antique', but for 18 euro he came home with a jenever bottle containing half a bottle's worth of jenever. He tasted a bit of it too...decided it wasn't for him. Yay, mission accomplished!

I couldn't help ending this blog with a photo of flowers! These are the flowers that were originally meant for Miss Sandra. I have to say though that I am glad we got to enjoy them for our last few days in Amsterdam - even if we did have to use a teapot as a vase since all ours were on their way to Illinois. ;)