Last Days

It is Saturday morning, 7.33 am and I am sitting on my own couch, in my own house, drinking a cup of tea from my own cup and enjoying my own jetlag while my very own amazing husband is still curled up in bed. 

It is wonderful to be home.

I came home to a clean house, with white lilies (my favourite) in vases, a box of Max Brenner chocolates on my bedside table and one seriously warm welcome from my wonderful Ash.

The flight here was very pleasant, mostly due to the fact I had upgraded myself with my frequent flyer miles for the longest leg of my trip, and the difference between business class and economy is incredible. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my flight, which I never do normally. I generally hate flying - my body hates it, I get sick, am uncomfortable the whole time and can never sleep. For a trip that started on Wednesday afternoon and ended Friday morning, with a lay-over of 9.5 hours in Dubai, if I had been flying economy the whole trip I would now feel absolutely miserable and wiped out for lack of sleep. However, I spent the 9.5 hours in the lounge in Dubai, enjoyed lovely food, a pretty decent snooze and a refreshing shower and breakfast. Then I settled in my very comfortable seat and slept for a lot of the trip, with a short stop in SIngapore where I had another shower and some food in the lounge. So now I feel quite ok, I slept an hour or two in the afternoon yesterday, and slept from 10 pm to 5.30 am this morning, which I think is pretty good. 

The last week has flown (quite literally!) and the last few days in Holland were great. I really enjoyed my party last Friday, and I even enjoyed the hangover with that lovely road trip with my sister and Phizz and Olly. 

Monday was quite busy with a sudden afternoon of moving all the boxes we had put in the shop apartment to the storage from the big shop in De Mortel as a Portuguese family is moving into the shop apartment for a year while my mum still has her house. So it was moving boxes just like old times. 

Then when we got home we had two sets of visitors who came to say goodbye to me, which was very sweet. And then Mum and I enjoyed my last Saté met friet dinner at the local bistro - which was totally delicious.

Tuesday went fast, I spent all morning packing and organising, and then after lunch Mum and I drove to Amsterdam where we were staying at the lovely Mercure, because both Stella and Phizz had guests staying at their places. After check in Mum had a rest and I walked to nearby Two for Joy coffee roasters, where I enjoyed two wonderful cappuccinos (very different to the ones from Sander at SOK, but also very good) and did some writing in my Amsterdam journal. I pondered all the lovely times I had there, and felt happy realising I have fallen in love with Amsterdam, and that I have some amazing friends and family there. 

After that Mum and I readied ourselves for my final farewell dinner with just a small group of lovely people, which turned out to be still quite a big group!  It was another amazing gathering of such lovely people, and I really enjoyed seeing everyone there. It was over way too soon, and after walking Mum to the hotel, I enjoyed a final stroll through Amsterdam with Phizz and Olly. We tried to get into Door 74, but it was full, which was fine. The walk through dark Amsterdam with my lovely boys was a great way to end an amazing trip. I got into bed late, but slept like a baby in that amazing hotel bed. I had been struggling to get to sleep before 3 am for nearly a week, but I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. 

Mum and I enjoyed breakfast at Two for Joy, where there was a cheerful atmosphere - they were playing some good old cheesy 80s music and I was bopping and singing along. In my history of having to leave my beloved home land annually I have not felt so cheerful on the day I leave, ever. But I was ready to leave, ready to go back to my house and my husband and my friends here. The chef at Two for Joy witnessed my enjoyment of their fantastic 80s tunes and asked me if I had a request, so I told him Wham! and he played ‘Wake me up before you Go-Go’ which was awesome and made me miss my pal Emily terribly, because Wham! is our music.

There was plenty of time for a shower and some final relaxing before we had to check out and pick up some final things from my sister’s place and Phizz’s. Phizz came to the airport as he was also flying out that afternoon, and Stella came in her lunch break to say goodbye, which was so nice. I couldn’t help the few tears that came as I said goodbye to my mother and Phizz, but it was ok. 

And here I am. Back in Australia. Yesterday was nice and cruisy, very relaxing to be home with my husband. It was such lovely weather, we went out for lunch to one of my favourite cafes and then washed our car because he was very dusty and covered in spiderwebs from 6 months of very little action. Then I had a snooze and we had plans of going out for dinner, but we were both too tired to bother going out, so we just ordered some fish and chips. I unpacked and then hit my pillow and slept wonderfully well.

And that’s how this blog ends. I think I might start a new one called ‘The Dutchstralian’, and I will post here once I do that. For now, I think I might crawl back into bed. Yup, just like that.

Garden cocktail party

Hi team! Well, like I wrote yesterday, it’s been an amazing few days in Amsterdam. Very jam packed with fun and also with a lot of organising for Friday’s party. It’s now Sunday and I am writing this in the car, parked outside a big farmhouse where mum has to do a photo shoot at an 80th birthday party for a friend. I went inside to say hi for a minute, but it was crazy noisy in there.  And somehow one of my ears is currently blocked, which makes having a conversation very hard in such an environment, too.

I rather sit here with Macky and some tunes and reminisce about the last few days. 

Last time I wrote was Tuesday morning, when we had that incredibly big rain and thunderstorm. That afternoon the weather became fine, and I spent most of it looking out of the train window on the way to Amsterdam. I got there early evening and Phizz and I enjoyed some Thai on a terrace, in the sun. It was quite warm and pleasant. However when we got home and I started getting ready to ride to the Amsterdam Dance Centre for a jazz class, it started pouring down, so I decided to take the tram.

Armed with a rain jacket I went outside, but the rain had stopped falling, though the streets were flooded and I had to walk around a few massive puddles to get to the tram stop, where I got almost run over by a rushing fire truck, which was causing tidal waves. It was very hot and muggy outside, and also in the tram. Halfway to my stop I saw what the fire truck had been rushing to, the street had flooded so badly (you couldn’t see the road anymore and the tram was driving through ankle-deep water) an electrical box had caught fire and was billowing a putrid smoke. Quite amazing to see such intense rain in the Netherlands, it barely lasted fifteen minutes. Dutch rain is normally long and slow.

On my walk to the Dance Centre I encountered a wet, disoriented rat, who had obviously been flushed out of its hiding place. I said: ‘hello, rat.’ But it didn’t reply and scuttled away. Then I enjoyed a very nice contemporary jazz class, which was quite a challenging and made me realise I had not done any jazz since I was 15. That’s half my life ago! But it was great. I really love dancing and I hope that when I get back to Australia that I will be able to find some good dance classes to attend. 

Afterwards the evening was mild and Phizz and I enjoyed a nice late-night stroll around the park, after which I hoped to sleep soundly. I had been having trouble sleeping in Elsendorp the nights before due to the ‘fun fair’ which shakes up the town annually and plays terrible music until deep into the night. But unfortunately a mosquito decided to choose me for its meal that night and kept me awake most of the night. 

Wednesday we came to the sad conclusion that my planned garden cocktail party for Friday was going to be completely washed out, the weather report gave my planned party time a 100% chance of rain...I had already tried to find an alternative location, but unfortunately there just wasn’t anywhere indoors that was suitable or available. So we came up with a plan B: A party tent, tarp and a patio heater! 

Phizz rented a car and we took a trip to a massive hardware and building warehouse, something like Bunnings, and bought some great supplies for the party. We spent all day driving from one place to the next to get everything we needed, cocktail shakers, muddlers, jiggers, straws, you name it, we got it. Then when we got home we did some gardening and weeding to prepare for the feast.

Wednesday night I had planned to go to the Lyrical Hip Hop class at ADC and Phizz offered to drive me there and work downstairs during my class and then drive me home again, which was very sweet. In case you hand’t come to this conclusion yet: Phizz is the most generous and sweet and caring person, he’ll do everything for everyone. 

So I did my class, with my favourite teacher and enjoyed it so much. We did two bits of choreo, one of them was to The XX’s song Shelter, which is one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands - and the cool down was to Jamie Woon! It was amazingly fun. Afterwards we went to Egypt for a midnight snack. In case I hand’t explained this yet: down the road from Phizz’s there’s a snackbar owned by a very nice Egyptian man, and Phizz frequents this place often. But since the snackbar doesn’t have a name displayed anywhere, we call it Egypt. It’s not actually in Egypt!

Speaking of food, my lovely mum just came and delivered a big plate full of lovely salad and things from the party for me to eat here in peace. So nice!

Sleep was better this night, and we spent Thursday out grabbing coffee at SOK and then eating lunch at Buffet van Odette. Afterwards we went home and I decided to go for one final bike ride because I knew I wouldn’t be able to ride again before leaving: there just wasn’t enough good weather coinciding with available free time to ride anymore. So off I went, one last ride through my now beloved Amsterdam, along the canals, past the Westertoren, to enjoy one last cappuccino from my beloved barista (and it turns out, two time national barista champion) Sander from SOK. It was one amazing coffee. I have never encountered a barista that could make such good coffees with such consistency. He blows my mind, and he is a very nice guy, too. I have to say I am quite in awe of him. 

So, then it was home again on the bike and time to set up the garden and house for the party. We managed to pitch the party tent (3x3) with our combined amazing tent-pitching skills, and then I tried to convince Phizz that we should also hang the massive tarp (4x6 meters) over the rest of the garden, because I desperately wanted to keep the party dry and cosy. He was quite certain it wasn’t necessary but indulged me and we spent a good few hours struggling with ropes and knots and succeeded in getting the garden party ready before meeting Stella and Vincent for drinks and dinner at the Mint Hotel. 

Of course, Thursday was quite a lovely day weatherwise, and so a drink on the roof top terrace of the Mint Hotel was very pleasant. We enjoyed some dinner afterwards, and then Phizz and I watched our last movie together. Well, in Amsterdam, that is. For now. We watched Cowboys and Aliens, which was sufficiently cheesy for a nice end to a good day. Unfortunately, the nice feeling didn’t last very long, as just after we passed a tram stop, we heard a bang and our taxi driver exclaimed as he looked in the rear view mirror. A cyclist had been seriously hit by a tram, he was two meters away from it, on his back, looking completely limp and it felt horrible just driving past and not being able to help. I felt quite upset by it, and it didn’t help me in my attempt to get another night’s sleep.

On Friday morning, as the clock hit nine, the clouds decided they weren’t done dumping rain on us and we witnessed another loud and impressive thunderstorm right over our heads. I was so glad we had put up that tarp. 

We spent all of Friday organising for the party, hanging up lights, setting up the music, getting the glasses we rented and doing some supermarket shopping, while my mother made all sorts of lovely hors d’oeuvres in the kitchen. The afternoon was dry, and even a little sunny and we were hoping it would stay dry for the evening.

The party itself was fantastic. It was small and intimate, and I had asked everyone to please bring the ingredients for their favourite cocktail, so we had quite a few to try out. Of course the elusive Vanilla Pie (this was my signature cocktail for the night), which I had been trying to find in Holland but couldn’t, was much loved by many, and it turned out my sister is very good at coming up with cocktails on the spot. Phizz’s cousin Olly had arrived for a visit for a week just before the party, and joined in the merriment. And my lovely cousins from Utrecht also made the trip and it was so nice to have them there. There were fluffly pink clogs, a slug invasion, many cock/mocktails, some rain, lots of friends and lots of laughter. It was a wonderful night. I cannot remember how many cocktails I had, but the next morning, I found out that it might have been one too many.

Saturday, August 27th, 2011, at age 30 (nearly 31) yours truly had her very first hangover. Yes. So for breakfast I thought it appropriate to eat the leftover profiteroles from the party, and they were perfect. A bit soggy, just right. We also ate some cherries and strawberries. 

They boys (Phizz & Olly) had offered to drive Stella and myself to Elsendorp on their way to Brugge, and after some tidying and returning our rented glasses (I can highly recommend hiring glasses for your next party, it’s cheap as and you don’t need to wash them!!) we were on our merry way. I, slightly headachy and generally feeling a bit worse for wear, was allowed to ride shotgun, which I much appreciated. Turns out driving and hangovers are not a good combination. But, Phizz, Olly, Florence and Stella are a good combination - we had a very entertaining trip together. We stopped along the way at a service station to get some supplies, and I thought a Lion bar would be sufficient lunch, but Olly wanted to try getting a snack out of the wall. (See my post Slow Sunday from 19/6)

I had convinced him it should be a satekroket, which he enjoyed and he offered me a bite. Of course after one bite I could not resist and had to eat one myself. So I did. Then there was no more stopped and we both enjoyed a brogue frikadel after that. Perfect food for a hangover!

The drive back to Elsendorp with the boys and my sister was extremely enjoyable, lame jokes flowed easily and laughs filled the car. When we got to Elsendorp, I lit the woodheater and we sat around the table for some more pleasant conversation with mum, and afternoon tea. The boys left to journey on to Brugge for the night (and to “pick up chicks”) and Mum, Stella and I had a very quiet afternoon, with some chips and broodjes knakworst for dinner. It was an incredibly relaxed Saturday.

Sunday morning was quiet with a pleasant breakfast of croissants and bacon and eggs, in true Ietje/Stella/Florence style. It was a nice lazy Sunday with some pottering around the house, after which we drove to Den Bosch to drop Stella off at the station and Mum and I headed off to this party. 

Awesomeness

I will soon try and write about the most awesome time I have had the last few days. But I can tell you this: I have had my first hangover ever today. A result of one of the most awesome parties I had. It was a small price to pay. Turns out my sister is very good at creating cocktails on the spot.
My last few days in Holland are turning out to be just packed full of goodness.  I'm feeling lots of love. Enjoying every second, taking it all in, and smiling lots.

Details soon.

Time & Age (or: Too fast & Too old)

Hey crew! How's your part of the world? Here it's finally warm again, except of course, that it's been raining so much with so many thunderstorms that it's not really been great for getting a tan or sitting outside with your Mac writing your blog. But you know, that's Holland and I still love the place.


I have to say that my looming departure is in many ways making me feel all melancholy and weepy. In other ways I am jumping up and down with excitement, mostly to see that gorgeous smile on my husband's face, feel his super warm cuddles and enjoy our everyday in-jokes that wouldn't make sense to anyone but us. There are many things to look forward to in Australia. One of them, of course, the weather.


I can't believe it's been nearly six months that I've been here. Time just goes so incredibly fast. Have you ever noticed that the older you get the faster it goes? Children have so much time to themselves to do whatever they want they often complain of feeling bored! Not to mention the amount of 'I'm bored, inbox me' status updates I see on my teenage friends on Facebook. I remember when I was a kid and used to tell my mum I was bored she would exclaim:"Enjoy it, child, I wish I was bored!"


That's one of the facts of life, and to quote the brilliant song Sunscreen by Baz Luhrman, "Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded." I wish I had enjoyed my youth more. I spent so much time worrying about what others thought of me that I let define me. I just wanted to be liked. Wish I had known the magic trick to being liked is liking yourself. I still find that hard sometimes. I am seriously crap at reassuring myself that I am a nice and kind person, and often let myself believe I am constantly letting people down. 


I am afraid I do not have enough emotional maturity. In truth, I wish I was still 23 physically because often that's how I feel emotionally. I do not feel like someone who is nearly 31. I like the life experience I have, and I like the life I lead as a 30 year old, but I don't feel ready for the emotional strains of this age. I don't feel ready to worry about my mother's health and ponder her mortality. I don't feel ready to lose friends to their babies. I don't feel ready to have spend 6 years living with constant renovations and a mortgage. 


I was quite late with a lot of things. I started drinking coffee at 21. I started drinking alcohol at 28. I learnt how to drive at 24. I feel like my life has only just gotten good and now I feel too old to enjoy it.  All I would now love to do is go out every night with friends and have fun. Not get drunk or behave like idiots, but just be out and enjoy life. Instead back in Australia I spent nearly every night with my husband on the couch watching tv. That's not how I want my life to be like anymore.


(By the way, the weather has just seriously turned violent, we're inside a thunder cloud right now, it is dark as night, rain is flooding our terrace, the thunder and lightning are frightening the cat, the drain in the kitchen is making gurgling noises as the rain is flooding the sewerage! I have not witnessed rain like this in ages. Amazing how there was a dry spell just as I made coffee for my mother and delivered it to her at the local shop where she volunteers!)


Since I have gotten to Holland I haven't watched any tv. I watch series online, in my own time without advertising and just the things I choose to watch. Nothing mindless or dumb. My friend Renée got rid of her tv recently. Most of her friends told her she was crazy. I told her 'good for you!' She now enjoys reading books and listening to music, or even, god forbid, have conversations with her beau! To be truthful with you I have not missed watching tv at all. I can get whatever I am interested in from the web, the news, documentaries, tv series, films. It's all there, on demand. Why put up with advertising? The only reason I used to watch so much tv is because my husband does. He can watch tv and read the paper or browse the web at the same time! 
But one of the reasons I don't need tv is because I read so much. I love to read. Books are my movies, my tv. I much rather curl up in bed or on the couch with a good book than watch tv. 


(Funny: the cat was meowing by her cat flap, as if she wanted to go out, but it 's crazy wet out there, so I opened the door for her to have a look. She quickly turned and walked away! Now she's just gone out through her flap and ran under the cover over our terrace where she's walked around, looking grumpy because it's flooded and wet there, too. She's now back inside complaining loudly, and jumped up on the chair behind me demanding cuddles. She's all wet. Silly cat! Though the storm seems to have passed.)


My husband doesn't, and many other people don't, enjoy reading as much as I do. Some people find it hard work, it's not relaxing for them. But watching tv requires little physical or mental effort, and a lot of people find it relaxing. To me, it's the opposite. Stupid tv and ridiculous advertising totally wind me up, I often yell at the tv. Who says that smooth and shiny hair is healthy hair, for example? Surely that is not the natural state of human hair? How many chemicals are in a product like Pantene that we don't need to clean our hair, but is in there just to make it shiny? Most advertising is lies anyway. Washing your hair with Pantene is only going to make it look like in the ads if you had your hair styled at a salon every day. 
See how tv is not good for my brain? I waste so much time getting riled up over things that really never need to be worried over. Like shampoo ads.


So, I would rather go to lots of dance classes, and go out for drinks with my husband and friends at night. However, it's hard to find friends to go out with for me. 


Anyway, sorry, I've gone off on a bit of a tangent. 


It all boils down to this: What am I doing with my life and why? I keep asking people's opinions because I value them, but I still don't know what my own opinion is. Have I grown up at all?

bike beats tram

Hi Team! Well, I'm back in trusty Elsendorp, which can be trusted to be totally uneventful. Luckily, you still have a few days of Amsterdam left in my report of the last few days, so please breathe easy.

When I last wrote I was going to do some work on my job application, which I did, after which I met Phizz for some lunch and we drove to Den Haag to pick up his visa for Saudi Arabia. No crazy antics in Den Haag this time. Sometimes we can behave.
Back in Amsterdam, however, we had some time to kill before meeting my cousin and her beau and some friends for a movie at Pluk de Nacht ('Seize the night)', a temporary outdoor cinema which shows free movies. What better to kill time to before watching a movie, then watching a movie, right? So we enjoyed some lovely sushi at Tomo and watched Super 8. It was quite fun, however it does get a bit Disney towards the end. Still, enjoyable, non-the-less.

Then, miraculously it turned into quite a dry and pleasant evening, which resulted in a massive turnout for the Pluk de Nacht movie that night, because up until then it had pretty much rained every single night. Not Friday, however, so we were very lucky. We were not lucky enough to get to have deck chairs which had already all been given out, but we did get a blanket or two. We settled quite comfortably left centre screen, and watched a quite in-your-face and slightly unnerving Australian short film called Crossbow, which prompted me to assure our company that that's not how life is in all Australian suburbs.
After that we watched quite a lovely French film called Les Emotives Anonymes (Romantics Anonymous) which we all thoroughly enjoyed. It was fun watching it with such a bog crowd, people really got into the movie and cheered and sighed at all the good moments. The closing credits rolled to Angus & Julia Stone's song Big Jet Plane (hear it here) which I love and really enjoyed hearing there.

Saturday started very nice and cruisy, another cappuccino or two from Sander at SOK Espresso Lab, who is very pleasant company and we shared a a giggle when a costumer ordered a 'large espresso'. Sander tried to clarify: 'Do you mean a large cappuccino?' ' No, a large espresso, please.' 'A double espresso?' 'No, a laaaaaarrge espresso' combined with a puzzled look, as if that's a normal thing to order. Eventually Sander made him a double espresso, which the customer asked to be turned into a cappuccino after all. Ooookay, then. We should have referred him to the nearest McDonald's. But a customer is a customer, and he got his coffee in the end. Hope he enjoyed it.

Then I met Phizz for lunch at Buffet van Odette, a little gem of a place I was recommended to visit by Sander's colleague when Sverre was in town a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it's so much of a gem that recently it's been packed to the rafters every time I visit and they seem to be unable to cope with their own popularity. It is fantastic that they are doing so well, but it took over 45 minutes for our lunch to arrive. Luckily I wasn't too hungry and was in brilliant company, we weren't too fussed about the long wait. But there were a few customers who were, understandably. They are moving to a bigger premises soon, but until then I think I will only visit it on weekdays. The lunch was delectable, though, all organic and tasty.

Considering the weather was rather crappy, the afternoon that followed was quite wet and we didn't do too much, I visited one of my favourite little design shops to buy Renée some birthday presents, then picked up my gear from Stella's place and trammed it to Phizz's. We then took a tram back into town to spend the remainder of the wet evening comfortably entertained in the cinema, first we watched Larry Crowne at Pathé City, then we took a taxi to Pathé de Munt. Now, you must know that my dear friend Phizz is a bit of a movie junkie and has a monthly unlimited movie pass. Phizz likes movies. And he likes my company. And I like movies. And I like his company. So, movies together is one of our things. One of many. Another thing we do all the time is say something that the other was just about to say. It's funny and amazing the amount of times we say exactly the same thing. Often the whole conversation is unnecessary because we basically already know what the other is going to say and often it would just be easier to just say 'Ok, good idea' before the other has opened their mouth.
Anyway, so Saturday was movie night, after Larry Crowne we watched Captain America, which was so bad it was funny. And then it was late and bedtime.

Sunday was crazy but fun. I nearly saw all my favourite Dutch people in one day. In the morning I was meeting my cousin and her beau again for coffee at Screaming Beans. Do I still need to write what Screaming Beans is? You're all familiar with that place by now, aren't you? So there we are, the three of us had just ordered coffee when in walks my sister's boyfriend. I said 'Hey, what are you doing here?' And he replied 'I could ask you the same question!' I told him that I was having coffee with my cousin and he told me he was having coffee with my sister. And another friend of hers was there too. So the six of us ended up having coffee together, which was lots of fun. Halfway through I got a text from Emily saying she was having coffee near her place that afternoon and whether I'd like to join her. Of course I did. But I was also going to Utrecht to visit Renée for her birthday. And after I had already agreed to meet Emily I realised I had left Renée's present at Phizz's because I was intending to go back there before going to Utrecht, I wanted to say goodbye to him before he went to Saudi later that day and I would go back to Elsendorp the day after.

So I had to leave coffee early, walk to my sister's where I had left my bike and race to Phizz's to pick up the present and give him a gick hug to say goodbye. That's when my public transport drama started. In hindsight, it would have been better had I just ridden my bike to meet Emily, and taken my bike everywhere that day. But as I didn't know how to ride from Phizz's place to where Emily was, I decided to take the tram. Which I missed by one minute. I ended up being almost half an hour late, but Emily and I still had a nice little chat and some lunch. After which I missed my tram to the train station by one lousy minute, too. So I walked to the train station, where I missed my train by one lousy minute!

I decided I was not going to miss that bus I had to catch in Utrecht, so I raced out of the train to the bus terminal, where I easily caught the bus. I felt quite pleased with myself, until I hopped off the bus and checked out with my public transport chipcard, and noticed it suddenly had a lot less money on it. Then I realised that with my rush to catch the bus, I had forgotten to check out at the train station. Aaaaargh!

However, that didn't wreck any of the fun I had at Renée's that afternoon, I had two types of cake, and plenty of great conversation. In the end I didn't end up leaving until 9.30 and joined one of Renée's friends back to the station. Luckily I found out that when I checked in again at the station, it instead checked me out of the first trip, and thus put all my money back on the card. However, you can't check in again until 15 minutes after checking out, so I missed my train back to Amsterdam! Of course!
All in all still a fabulous way to spend a sunday.

Monday I enjoyed another coffee and some breakfast at Screaming Beans, mostly because the SOK Espresso Lab is closed on Mondays and also because there's no food in Phizz's house so I wanted to eat breakfast, which is very nice at Screaming Beans.

Then I took a train to Almere, where my friend Mel lives, and I spent a lovely afternoon with her, marvelling over the sudden lovely weather and enjoying watching her little boy have water fights out in the court with his friends. Mum came to pick me up on her way to Lelystad, where were would enjoy a dinner at my aunty and uncle's place, and Stella came to join us there too.

It became a very late night, as we left quite late and then had to drop Stella off in Amsterdam, and then drive back to Elsendorp. It was 1 am when I got to bed, but I couldn't sleep until 3 am. I was lying awake worrying about things, and one of those things was the fact that I wasn't sleeping. I really wanted to sleep because I had set Tuesday aside for working on my job application, and I wanted to be bright and sharp for that, as it had to be submitted by Tuesday night. However, I was wiped out all of Tuesday morning, couldn't quite sleep in like I had planned, either and when Mum came home for lunch, I was a useless heap of yawns and sighs. So I had a one hour snooze after lunch, and then an espresso. That worked. I worked on my application all afternoon, and got some great feedback from my sister and Phizz and submitted it feeling happy with it.

And today was a nice a quiet day, though I didn't get to sleep until well after 2 am again last night, despite my best efforts of trying. Don't know what it is, but I'm so tired of it! Literally! Today I am having an early one, for sure. I did some washing today, some shopping, some list-writing, and a lot of thinking. Oh, and of course some blogging!

My way is the Segway.

Due to a lot of fun events and enjoyment of Amsterdam, the following writing has been slightly delayed when it comes to posting. 'Pologies! I started writing it yesterday but the fun began Tuesday night. As you will find out.

So, I’m at Buffet van Odette after just spending a ridiculous amount of time at the S.O.K. Summer Espresso Lab chatting to Sander while drinking two divine cappuccinos. The second was as good as the first and I am now on a total coffee buzz, unable to type fast and accurately ,unable to concentrate or do anything properly! It’s taking me forever to write this, and I’m very amused by my own incapacity. It’s quite funny witnessing my own bumbling. Like a Hugh Grant but younger and femaler.

I have had an amazing day and a half so far. Phizz brought an amount of excitement which was in stark contrast to the week and a half I had spent at home. As is his general effect on life. He decided to swing by Elsendorp and pick me up after he had to drive to Tilburg for work, and I offered him to join us for dinner. However, Mum and I didn’t feel like cooking and we didn’t have much vegetarian food let alone vegan food in the house, so the three of us went to a chinese restaurant nearby where we gorged on a lovely buffet. That’s buh-fay, not boo-fay, by the way. 

Afterwards we drove on to Amsterdam in the small car Phizz had hired, which was absolutely fine, except for the sound system and its inability to be fast and cool. And if there’s anything that we like in a car, it’s listening to tunes (while perhaps doing a little sitting-down-dance) and going fast. And a nice interface. And a smooth drive. And other stuff.

So, Phizz decided he might just see if he could trade it in for something slightly faster/cooler/nicer/with better sound. He could. A car he’s been wanting to try for quite some time, a fast, cool, nice one with a great sound system just happened to be available. So we switched our little biscuit tin in for a bullet. I can say someone was extremely gleeful and contemplating driving to Germany that very minute. And it wasn’t me, though I would have happily gone along with it. But Phizz had to drive to Den Haag the next day to sort out a visa application, so we decided to be sensible. For now.

But, we had agreed on watching a movie, so we drove it just a few kilometers to a secure car park with a car lift (something new for me!) and parked it on the rooftop where we had an awesome view of Amsterdam. We were in very high spirits, and we had chosen the perfect movie for our fun night, a comedy called Horrible Bosses. It was very funny and we came out as cheerful as we went in. Phizz’s hunger to drive somewhere just to drive somewhere had not gone away, so we drove to Haarlem at 12.30 am. We visited my old high school, well, we drove to and around it. It was fun to see my old haunt, and kind of surreal in the middle of the night. Like a bizarre but fun dream.

Still, we weren’t sleepy (we did share a Coca Cola) and not at all sick of driving that nice car. It was late and Phizz had to be in Den Haag the next day, we knew we really should call it a night. But instead we booked a hotel in Den Haag and drove there. Why the hell not? Less traffic at 1 am than at 10 am the next day. The moon was big and low and beautiful. And we felt like we were driving a bubble of happiness through the darkness. There’s something about doing something spontaneous in the middle of the night while everyone’s asleep that makes you feel part of a secret club. 

The hotel bed was big and soft and sooo comfortable when we finally put our heads down at 2.30 am. And the 10 minute drive to the visa place was a breeze. We were out of there in no time. And how to end a pretty much perfect adventure? 


Well, riding Segways on a private tour of Amsterdam, of course. 

We had wanted to ride Segways together since our first meeting in Amsterdam about 4.5 months ago. We had tried that day, but the place was shut and when we called they said they didn't have any tours at all. I had discovered a Segway Tour on Terschelling, an island in Holland’s north which was where we wanted to go on our May road trip, so I thought I’d surprise Phizz and organise that. However, that tour wasn’t done anymore. No Segways on Terschelling or any other northern island. So we ended up riding bikes on Vlieland instead, which was also very awesome. 


But yesterday we were lucky. We called the Segway people in Amsterdam on our way back from Den Haag, but were told there were no tours that day, but that we could book for the day after or Friday. I told them we'd be in touch as we didn't know whether Phizz had to go back to  Den Haag at all in the next few days. Not long after that, however, the Segway people called back and told us we could do a tour that afternoon. And so we did. 


I have to say, I was a little worried about riding a Segway. It looks kind of precarious. But it wasn't, it was easy as pie. And I love pie. It felt really natural, and that's how it's designed as well. I think my experience with snowboarding and dancing helped, too. Catch any bumps in the knees, keep your balance, it's really quite easy. And really quite a lot of fun. Actually, it's a massive amount of fun. As in, I want one! 


We were the only ones on the tour, so it was extra fun, we had a lovely young man called Wolf for a guide, Wolf the Segway Guide. We did a lot of the east part of the city center, where both Phizz and I hadn't really been much to before, so it was also very interesting. I absolutely loved it. And pretty much everyone looks at you and you can see they want to do it, too. Some kid called out 'Look at those cool scooters!' To which our reply was 'It's no Scooter, it's the Future!' 


Unfortunately the weather wasn't fantastic, it was grey and windy and it started drizzling halfway though the tour, but we kept it reasonably dry. After that fantastic afternoon, it was time for a bite to eat and a nice coffee at Screaming Beans. Sadly I was feeling a little unwell, bit queasy and headachy, which might have something to do with not enough sleeping and water drinking, and having too much crazy fun.

But after lots of water and some lunch I felt much better, and I picked up my bike from Phizz's, made my way to Stella's place with a stop for dinner shopping at the supermarket, and then went home (to Stella's place) where I put on some tunes (Cold War Kids, in case you're interested) and happily started creating a nice smoked chicken salad with some baked potato to share with Stella who was joining me for dinner.
Dinner was lovely, it's fun hanging out with Stella, and she joined me to the Amsterdam Dance Center where I was going to do another Lyrical Hip Hop class. She watched for half an hour, and then went on her way. I have to be honest, the hip hop class wasn't nearly as much fun as the first one I had done two weeks ago, because it was different teacher. I much preferred the firs teacher's dance style and way of teaching, this class was a little bit messy and the teacher seemed not very prepared and clear. It was still fun to dance, though, but next time I might do that class again I'm going to call ahead to make sure the other teacher is there. I would love to have one more class from that one, he was great.

After a nice shower I curled up cosily and caught up on some much needed sleep.

Today was very cruisy, slept in a little, nice breakfast by myself: muesli with yoghurt and a strawberry or two (yay for no longer being allergic!) and then I put on some washing and got ready to go the the SOK Summer Espresso Lab for my first milky coffee again in two weeks. Sander, my favourite barista of the SOK team, was there and made me a most beautiful cappuccino. I was so keen to drink it that only after a few sips did I realise it was beautiful moment for a picture, so I took one with my phone. Tada!

Without even thinking about it, I ordered a second cappuccino. I had learned from experience that it's a bad idea to order a second coffee if the first is absolutely divine, because the second one usually disappoints. But not this time. This second one was equally divine. I did end up with that wicked coffee buzz. Totally worth it! I hung out at the Espresso Lab for a quite a while and had a giggle with Sander when a customer ordered a 'Large Espresso' and Sander tried to find out if he wanted either a double espresso, or just a long black, but the request didn't become any clearer. In the end Sander made him a double espresso, but the customer then asked if it could be turned into a cappuccino after all. It was quite funny.

After I spent too much time writing in my little Amsterdam Moleskine journal with pen and pencil at the Lab and Sander got a little busy, I knew I had to do some serious blogging and headed to Buffet van Odette, where it was seriously busy. Good for them. It's a gorgeous little place with delicious organic breakfast and decent coffee (at times). That's where I wrote most of this post. Now you're full circle to the start of this post, but stuff has happened since then!

I met Phizz for a nice lunch of salad at Bijenkorf Kitchen, after which I went home for some washing and some research. I've applied for this job (writer/researcher, or Magnificent Content Creator as the company likes to call it) back in Melbourne, and I got a reply to submit some things, so I have to make sure I do well and impress the hell out of these people. It sounds like a fun company to work for.

Then it was time to head to Emily's for an intimate girls' dinner, some heart to heart chatting, goofy dancing, making up songs to Take That's album Everything Changes, and obviously some giggles. Then Phizz came to join us and we went for a joy ride in his lovely, fast, smooth, beautiful rental ride. We drove to Bloemendaal aan Zee where absolutely nothing was happening, we had to walk quite a bit through bit sandy speed humps and strong wind to get to the one beach club that was open, only to find out there was a door charge of €10, usually it was €20! The place was very quiet and not worth paying to get in, so we just called it a stroll on the beach and headed back to the car and back to Amsterdam.  Emily knew of a cocktail bar on the top floor of the Fashion Hotel, which we decided to try. It was quite a nice bar, though the mood was a bit dead. Lots of men by themselves (on business, probably) and couples with nothing to say to each other. I had to really curb my extrovertiveness, and failed quite poorly. I wanted to be have a loud and outrageous night, but it just wasn't the time or place, Em was tired and Phizz was a little pensive but we did have fun. My cocktail was delicious, it was called Kobe One Kenobe and had Genever, Sake, Lychee, Grape and fresh lime juice. Yum. I had two! I think we were the life of that bar for a little while, and I'm sure we made people wonder what the hell was going on with the three of us, especially when Phizz came to sit in between us. A fairly geeky (but charming!) looking short guy out with two pretty girls? Let them think! Hope they enjoyed their thoughts, I'm guessing it was more exciting for them to imagine what was going on with us than actually being in the company they were in! Next time we go out for cocktails, it will most definitely be back at Vesper or Door 74. This place was trendy looking but not at all lively.

Had a good but short night's sleep, and I just met Stella for a coffee at Screaming Beans who gave me some good advice for my job application. Which I will be spending some time on right now!

Home

It's coming closer and it's not as scary as I thought it would be. I would have been home for almost a month if I had left on my original departure date, and I would have been home for a week if I had left on the 31st of July, which is another date I considered leaving just to keep my silver frequent flying status. But I’m glad I’m going when I’m going.

I’ve been really struggling with accepting that I will have to leave. I’ve been thinking a lot about this split life I lead, and it’s never gotten any easier over the last 11 years. I would have returned to Holland permanently if I had not met my husband in 2004. I was struggling with my studies and then I came for a holiday to sunny Holland and had an awesome time. And I didn’t want to go back to Australia, but I had to finish my studies, so my mum told me to just finish them and then come home. And when I got back to Australia I fell in love. It was amazing, too, that love. Never met such a gentle, warm and caring gentleman before. He wasn’t the type I would usually fall in love with, as I tended to fall for flaky arty types with a lot of ambition and no guts to make their dreams come true. Not this guy, he was full of ambition, but also very committed to making his ambition become his life. And now he’s an associate architect, with a lovely wife (right?), a nice house, a very cool car, a cute Vespa, and a bright future. I am so proud of him, and feel so lucky to be that lovely wife. And I so look forward to going home to him.

But, truth be told, he is the only reason I still live in Australia. I love my family here so much. I love the culture. I love riding my bike through Amsterdam, over the cobbled streets along the canals, dodging traffic like a local, my big chain lock clanging against my handle bars, ringing my bell at the tourists and hearing the Westertoren carillon play. I take deep breaths and feel so very thankful for those moments. My own 15 year-old granny bike to get around, the city becoming a friend, befriending baristas around town, my sister’s place to call my own, and having her and my friends a phone call away - it’s all so amazing. And it feels good to my very bones. This is who I am. But not all of who I am.

I will not linger on how much it pains me to have to leave this house, my mum’s place, a place I call home though I have never really lived here permanently. And to know I will almost definitely not come back to it ever again...well. Brings tears. And also leaving my mother alone, knowing she should take much better care of herself than she does, with her diabetes, and her love for good food. It worries me. It worries me so much. Not to mention her habit of not putting her seatbelt on until she’s already moving. Those things sometimes have me lying awake all night when I’m in Australia. And I have tried to tell her that she needs to look after herself, for me, for my sister, we want her to live a long and healthy life. But she seems hell-bent on living a happy and tasty and comfortable life, even if that means it won’t be that long. There’s nothing I can say to make her choose a long life. 

But I am going back. I want to. I am ready. I look forward to wrapping my arms around my wonderful husband and kiss him. It’s kind of exciting to be able to kiss him again after six months. I look forward to cherishing that. Almost like a real first kiss with the added bonus of knowing it’ll be wonderful. And I look forward to going for breakfast with him on Saturday mornings, like we always do, with the paper, a nice Melbourne coffee, lazy times and total contentment. 

I look forward to cooking in my own big, well equipped kitchen, talking to Ash as he cuts the veggies and tells me about his day, some music playing, darkness falling and knowing this is home. This is my house, my life, my husband, my world and it’s a good one. I do love that life. I find it easy to place it on hold when I’m here, but when I get back I remember how nice my life in Melbourne is. My gorgeous car, so comfortable, so cool, so loveable. My beautiful zippy Vespa, her cream coloured body swift over the (not so busy) Melbourne roads, taking off at the traffic lights with ease, leaving the cars behind me. Pulling of my helmet to see sweet friends in cafes, ready for chats over coffee, to have giggles with my kiddies, perhaps a cool job in writing and/or communication. It’ll all be good. 

I have never left Holland feeling this ready to go home, I don’t think. Maybe in 2009 when Ash and I were in Europe for 3 months because his work kept us in London after our honeymoon. But then I didn’t have him waiting there for me.  We’d been together and that was very nice.  

Notice how I call this home, but also my life in Melbourne? It really is like that. I have two homes. Two worlds, equally wonderful, with their own charms and disadvantages. Life is life, here or there, I only have one life, and I can only be in one place at a time. So I better enjoy the one I am in as long as I can.

Southern Routes/roots

Hi Team! Let me tell you about my lovely weekend. I know it's Tuesday already, but you know, time happens. 

Last time we spoke, or rather, I wrote and you read, was Friday afternoon, unless of course, you read it another time. I'm sure time also happens to you. Regardless, after I wrote I did go for a nice bike ride around Amsterdam, I had a lovely coffee at Two for Joy and ventured further east rather than ride back west like I normally would. I have to say the weather was rather cool and grey, and though I had borrowed a lovely warm cardi from my sister's wardrobe, it was still a bit breezy on the bike, but riding kept me warm enough. I rode along the lovely Amstel river, saw some pretty bridges (no way, in Amsterdam, really??) and ended up as planned at The Botanical Gardens or as they are know in Amsterdam 'Hortus Botanicus' - a name which could be confused with a Harry Potter character. However, considering my financial situation, €7.50 was a bit much to pay to see some plants, so I decided not to visit. Maybe next time I'm in Amsterdam, which will be next week. For now, I am enjoying the sun in Mum's garden which also has lovely plants. And it's free to get in!

I then traveled on to the Nieuwmarkt square area, where I know my sister's new boyfriend lives, and I was curious to see his side of town. I took some random turns, saw some prostitutes, also a lot of tourists eating hot chips in paper cones with dollops of mayo on top, encountered many tourists on bikes riding dangerously and then I decided I would ride on to the Science museum known in Amsterdam as Nemo. If you know your children's fiction you'll know it's not a Harry Potter character, but a Disney character this time. So is Mary Poppins, whom I went to see in a musical last week. She's one of my favourites since I have been Mary Poppins for the last five years, only without the actual magic. That makes me even more of a super nanny, actually. No deliciously flavoured medicine, but cunning additions of honey to make the medicine go down. Works like magic! I know all the songs, too, of course.

By now you'll realise I am fond of children's and young adult fiction, which is appropriate since I studied and wrote a lot of that back at uni. Perhaps one day I will be a young adult book editor, which is my dream job. Or a young adult fiction writer, which is my even dreamier job. Or both!

Sorry, I digress.

I tried to ride to Nemo, but didn't stop enough to check my iPhone maps, so I ended up on the Piet Heinkade, which is on an island-like part of Amsterdam too far north and also where my sister works, but has no access to Nemo. So I rode back and tried again. I got very close, but then I noticed there were no bike paths to Nemo (at least not from where I was) and I was tired and a bit sticky, yet cold, so I decided it was home time. I knew I'd be in Amsterdam again and then I could go and visit Nemo and Hortus and have a cup of tea with them.

Back at my sister's place I relaxed a little, put my poor foot up again, which was improving and not very painful anymore and I decided I would perform my last task of organising for my sister for the week. I emptied out all the drawers of her wardrobe and neatly folded and organised all the clothes in there. It is a relaxing task, and gives such satisfaction. I wouldn't even want to click my fingers like Mary Poppins and do it that way!

The evening I was hoping to catch up with my lovely sister, but she was tired and a bit upset about hearing during her visit to the hospital that afternoon, that her foot hasn't healed properly and she might need complicated surgery and three months in a cast. Ew. Poor thing. So I decided to bum around at home alone, eat some soup she and I made on Monday, lie on the couch with my foot up and watch a few episode of House.

Saturday morning I packed and caught up with my sister for breakfast at Screaming Beans, after which I rode my bike and all my stuff on it to Phizz's place, where I could park my bike safe and dry in his garden. Then we hopped into the nice fast car he hired and drove south to pick up Mum on our way to Limburg, the most southern part of Holland. It's also known as Holland's tail, since it's a longish narrowish part of the country which sticks into Belgium. The drive was smooth as a baby's bottom due to the lovely nice car, however it was so very smooth that it felt like we were going 80 even when went 130, so it seemed tediously slow. Remind me never to buy a nice, expensive, fast, smooth German car. I now understand why people in expensive German cars drive so fast. 

Both my parents were born down south, and lived there for their first 20 years of life or so, and their parents lived there before them, so my family roots are deeply embedded in the lovely clay soil of Limburg. It's a gorgeous part of Holland, amazingly hilly in comparison to the flat, flat pancake that is the rest of the country. The valleys were all cut out of the limestone plateau it was millions of years ago by the rivers that run through there. 

Our first stop was afternoon tea at a gorgeous little castle called Château Elsloo, which, believe it or not, is in a town called Elsloo. I was in dangerous company, namely my most spoil-prone friend Phizz and equally spoil-prone mother. They like their food, they like to order lots of it because they want to taste everything, they love to share it and they want me to enjoy it with them. And let me put the record straight in case you might be confused: I LOOOOOVE food. Really do. But I ain't got no brakes once I get rolling, if you get my drift. If it's in front of me, or even in the house, I shall devour it with joy. But then later, when suddenly my jeans are too tight, I hate that I ate so much of whatever it was I ate. So, when I am with either one of these people, I need to mind the amount of delicious foods that crosses my lips. When it's both of them, it's double trouble. Phizz always tells me to just stop feeling guilty and dig in, but I don't feel guilty about eating food I love. I just know that my genes like to eat, and my jeans don't like that. I want to feel good about my body, and generally I do, but I know when I've gone a bit overboard, and I know that I have since I was in France. Not enough time at the gym (or Hip Hopping!) and too much time enjoying food. It's not balanced. And as a libra, I want balance.

Enough said about that, let's just say I forgot about my jeans last weekend.

 

After this delicious interlude, we drove on though the beautiful countryside towards Valkenburg, which is the most touristy town in Limburg, but we weren't there to visit the actual town, but the cemetery. This is where my grand- and great-grandparents are buried, and also my aunt. I try to visit this very pretty cemetery every time I visit Europe. I enjoy going there, thinking of them, knowing these people are part of the reason I am who I am. This is where my roots are buried.

Then we drove on, past familiar landmarks from my childhood to the little house my grandparents lived together and then when my Opa died, Oma lived there until she passed. They lived there for most of my life, and I have such fond and dear memories of visiting them, staying at the little house and being spoiled with lollies and cakes. 

Afterwards we drove to the Three Country Point, which is the point where Belgium, Holland and Germany meet. There's a monument there, a viewing tower and a lot of touristy restaurants, including of course, lots of tourist. We didn't stop, we just drove past. I don't like the three country point. You know why? Over about fifteen minutes' time I received five messages saying 'welcome to Belgium/Germany' and informing me how much calls and text messages cost from there! Even while I was still in Holland, being so close to the border made my phone think I was in another country. I wouldn't want to live around there, it would drive me crazy! How high would your phone bill be if half the time your phone thinks your in another country when in actual fact you're not?

Anyhow, the drive was just wonderful, I really enjoyed it, seeing all the places I remember from when I was young, knowing the towns, the sights, the streets. We eventually made our way to our hotel in Maastricht, where Phizz and I were staying while Mum would stay with her cousin/my uncle about 20 minutes away. We checked in, had a drink, dropped off our stuff and then went for dinner nearby, after which we dropped Mum off at her cousin's place. We stayed for drinks and a chat and by the time we got to bed it was 1.30 am!

I had plans of walking around downtown Maastricht in the morning while Phizz worked on a report he had to finish before flying to Thailand on Monday, but when I got out of bed I had to rush to make it to breakfast in time! The breakfast buffet was ridiculously extensive, and obviously I ate more than I should have. Hmmm, bacon.

We then went to pick up Mum from my uncle's place and stayed for coffee, apricot pie and some more chatting. I love family. Because I love chatting. I really, really love my family, they are the warmest, loveliest, most welcome bunch of people. I am really going to miss them when I go back to Australia.

Next we planted some flowers at my grand- and great-grandparent's graves, after which we went on to deliver a bat. Yes, a bat. Not a cricket bat, or a baseball bat, but the flying flappy type of bat. Not a real one, mind you, but a toy one.  Here's why:

Last year we had a big family reunion in Limburg, with about 52 descendants from my great-grandfather Van Schaïk. We rented a lovely homestead for the weekend on the top of mount St. Pieter, which is made up out of limestone and has been mined for the last 950 years. Due to this mining, there is an amazing network of tunnels in this mountain and my great-grandfather was very involved with these, he spent 30 years mapping them, studying them, and studying the bats that spend the winter months in the tunnels. He would take the hibernating bats home to study, and hang them in the cellar where my grandmother and her four sisters and one brother would get to study them also. And the only remaining sibling of my grandmother is her youngest sister, my great aunty Frieda, who, it won't surprise you, is very fond of bats. She and her husband came to the family reunion last year, despite them being quite old (85 and 89 at the time) and having to travel all the way from the UK for the reunion. These are the great-uncle and aunty we visited in England for their 65th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. And they are amazing people.

Anyway, in the homestead there is also a small museum about the Mt. St. Pieter, and the mines and the creatures that live in and around the mountain. Obviously there was a small display on bats, and when my great-aunty Frieda visited the museum she told them about her father bringing them home and also about the toy bat that she has flying in her bookbinding studio. She promised them she would send them one. However, she couldn't find any in the shops, and when she told me this when I was at their place a few weeks ago, I grabbed my great-uncles iPad 2 (yes, my 90 year-old great-uncle has an iPad!), Googled the toy bat, found it on Ebay and ordered it. I had it delivered here to Mum's place and we promised Frieda we would deliver the bat to the museum. And so we did. 

It was well-received there, and they installed it immediately! They were so pleased to have it. Obviously, my aunty Frieda was also very happy to hear I could help her keep her promise, a year afte she made it. We sent her pictures and called her to tell her. Now there's a cute bat with red eyes and flappy wings flying round and round in the museum.

After the bat delivery we went to visit the tunnels themselves, which was fun an interesting. Then, we ate some more delicious food and sadly, it was time to drive back north. 

Phizz dropped us off in Elsendorp and then drove on to Amsterdam to return the car, finish his report and fly to Thailand, while Mum and I went home to do boring mundane things like washing and gardening. And blog writing. Which is not mundane, but fun. Hope you enjoyed it too!

Cocktails and heels

Friday morning, fairly overcast, about to eat an early lunch. Yesterday was a good day, like most of my days in Amsterdam. I was very productive at my sister's place once again, though I got so completely absorbed in cleaning the bathroom that I totally forgot that I was meant to meet Renée at Screaming Beans at 11 am and didn't hear my phone as it was on silent - I finally heard it vibrate when I left the bathroom, more than 45 minutes after I was meant to meet her! Shame on me! But we had a lovely lunch and the weather was quite nice once again.

When I got home I vacuumed and washed the floors, which must not have been washed in... well, ever, since my sister doesn't own a mop or anything at all to clean the floors with. I improvised with a kitchen cloth and some multipurpose cleaning product and used my ballet-trained legs to move the cloth over the floorboards. It was really quite fun. It was a bit like dancing. And the floor looks so clean!

I also fixed the door to her apartment as the lock stuck very badly and it was impossible to open with one hand, but not anymore! Fix-it Florence took tools to hand and solved that problem. I don't know where I got my handy-woman genes from, but I really love that I have them. I organised some cupboards, then I sorted the washing, returned some pants for my sister, bought some groceries and readied myself for a night of cocktails with Emily and Phizz. It was a lovely surprise to hear Renée could come and join us after she finished work too! Once again it was a drawn-out process finding something to wear in my sister's wardrobe, I am just so much bigger than she is! She has so many gorgeous outfits, but I just don't fit into them! It was getting very close to the time I had agreed to meet Emily, and I still hadn't found anything, so when I finally found a nice top in size medium instead of a small or extra small, I was very relieved! I do have clothes with me myself, but my outfits are way too boring and sensible for cocktails, and I wanted to dress up. I put on some make up, slipped into my new heels and off I rode...

Until I crossed the bridge in front of the apartment, hit the intersection with the Marnixstraat where they are doing roadworks, couldn't dodge an oncoming cyclist, put my left foot down for balance, which was inside my lovely new very high heel, couldn't actually find any balance on that heel and feel quite hard to the ground! Embarrassing! The lady I was trying to dodge helped me up and was very kind, kept asking how it happened that I fell (I wouldn't have fallen in my sensible sneakers, of course) and I showed her my shoes. Which unfortunately didn't come away from the fall unscathed. I quickly left the scene on foot, trying to look as stable as possible though my knees were shaking from the shock and embarrassment. I hadn't hurt myself much, I noticed a little pain in my left foot, but nothing too bad. I decided to hop back on my bike and ride the last few hundred metres, as I was only meeting her a a few hundred metres from the apartment.

I met Emily and laughed as I almost fell again trying to get off my bike in those heels, and decided I would not ride in them anymore, but take them off when riding. We had a nice burger at the busy Burgermeester burger place on the Elandsgracht, as we didn't want to make the same mistake we made last time, which was drinking cocktails before eating dinner... So after lining our stomachs we made our way back to the Vesper Bar (my heels secure on my transport rack!) where she and I had enjoyed lovely cocktails last time we caught up. The bar was still closed for a private function for another half hour, so we met Phizz on the Haarlemmerdijk. He needed some food so we went to a lovely little pizza place and enjoyed a chat. My foot felt a bit tender, but I could walk and it didn't worry me too much.

Then we met Renée at the bar and we started our first round with some very pretty cocktails, both with and without alcohol, and it was a very fun evening from then on. At the pizza place Emily and I had nagged Phizz into showing us the entire contents from his tool belt and pouch, but he only got halfway before the pizza arrived, so when we conquered a table, we told him we wanted to see the rest. He said we couldn't really be that interested, but honestly we really were. His tool belt is very impressive, and I've seen the most amazing things emerge from his pouch, so our curiosity was enormous.You will not believe the things that man has with him at all times. Let's say that if you needed to escape from a dungeon of a fairytale castle, or break into a bank, you'd want him with you. Or, you know, if you needed a raft built, a shelter erected, or a mythical creature captured and defeated, he's your man. Or if you just need your phone charged. Any phone. Really. Or two phones. Or two phones and an iPad. Or if you need special electronic earplugs for during bomb detonating practice... Or you really need an automatic pencil that extends as you write so you never have to press it to make the tip longer, which also rotates as you write so it's even all the time, he's got one. Never (hardly ever) leaves the house without it. Just so you know.

And then we thought it was only fair that us ladies also shared the contents of our bags, which really was very entertaining. The only things all four of us carry are pens and lip balm. So there. That's what three pretty girls and one charming man have in common in their daily attire! Bet you didn't know that.

It was a lovely night, with lovely cocktails, some of which were on fire (some other people on our table ordered those, and when we saw their reaction from when they had their first sip, we decided they might be a little too strong for us) and some of which had very suggestive names and all of which we enjoyed. The company of course was great, Emily made another great Dinglish joke: "You want to try my drink? Here, prove it!" Because in Dutch to taste is proeven, and "taste it" in Dutch is "proef het". It was another classic Emily Dinglification. My other favourite of course is her dancing in your ducky. Look that one up in the post I wrote the first time she and I went for cocktails with Phizz.

Anyway, it was a fun night, though my foot was getting more and more sore. It wasn't swollen or anything, I was just in an increasing amount of pain. When it came to home time I could barely walk, even with no heels on, so I was quite worried that I had broken it. Which in a way would have been quite ironic considering my sister broke her foot last year by falling off her bike on the Marnixstraat...but not because she was silly enough to think she could ride a bike in stilettos. The problem was that I hadn't thought about the stopping and starting you have to do on a bike, because riding in heels, the actual pedalling, is not at all hard. It's just that they are so friggin' unstable when you have to put your foot down to stop. Anyhow, I felt stupid for having tried it and now I was in pain because of it. You live, you learn, you crash, you burn. Isn't that how the saying goes??

Emily rode home with me to share a cup of tea and I sat down and put my foot up. We chatted for a little while and Em decided that she was too tired (read: tipsy) to ride all the way home, so she stayed the night here. I slept with my foot on a pillow, and I have to say it felt less painful this morning. I can walk without much pain in my foot though it is tender, but unfortunately my leg muscles are also quite stiff from my Hip Hip class wednesday night (and possibly walking more than I ever have in those heels last night), so I currently move as if I'm in my eighties. We had some breakfast and we rode to the Espresso Lab for a morning coffee. We sat on the bench outside and chatting for a while, which was very pleasant. I feel so grateful for being able to see so much of my friends while I'm here, to share some quality time with them. That morning coffee with Em was just so simple but so special at the same time. We've been friends for so long, we've shared so much, we can have such serious and meaningful conversations, but we also just have so much fun, we can be completely crazy and outrageous together. I do not have another friend like her. I love her to bits.

Now I am sitting with my leg up on a pillow, just to give it plenty of rest, though the pain is fairly manageable. I will go out in a little while for a final bike ride through Amsterdam before I head back down south with Phizz tomorrow. I will stop at Two for Joy in the hope the same barista from last week is, there, he was wonderful. I plan to explore a bit of the east side of Amsterdam, which I haven't seen much of. I don't know when I will be back in Amsterdam next, there's still work to do at my mum's but I just love being here so much. However, life in Amsterdam is a lot more expensive than life in Elsendorp, as I am constantly catching up with friends and enjoying coffees and food, but it's so worth it. And one specific friend has been superbly generous, will not let me pay for anything and spoils me all the time with movies and dinners, for which I am truly grateful. I hate knowing that I won't see these friends for a long, long time when I go back to Australia. I don't have friends like these back there, friends that you can catch up with just on a whim and go out for cocktails with. I just don't. I don't really know why.

Anyway, I have just finished my wholemeal cheese sandwich (bruine boterham met kaas) for lunch and will go for a little bike ride. I can't just sit here on the couch with my stupid foot up all afternoon! I'm glad it's not broken, it's probably just sprained. I will look after it and take it easy. You look after yourselves and take it easy too. x