Monday, November 24

ROAR!!! Yes, it's Lisa today. Travis had to go to work, so I hijacked his blog...bwahaha!

Guess what we saw this morning? SNOW, again. It was very windy and wet, so Alex and I stayed in until the weather cleared about lunchtime. After a hike to the market and back, we decided to take the tram to see Molen van Sloten, which is a windmill museum in the Sloten community. We walked through the old village which dates back to the 700's. The windmill wasn't quite that old, but was very interesting to go inside and see how it worked. We had blue skies and great weather this afternoon - Yay!

After a long tram ride back to the center of the city, we did a bit more walking, then headed home before it got too dark. By the way, the sun rises around 8 a.m. and sets by 4:30 p.m. - at least we think that's right, since it's usually cloudy, raining, sleeting or snowing :-)

Everywhere we go, we are taking in all the sights. The architecture here is so different and there are many beautiful buildings, canals, swans, parks, etc.

Loving every minute of it - Lisa.

Canal Cruise

We took a canal cruise today. Unfortunately, it was very hard to see much because of the snow we had. The glass window on the boat fogged up and the top was covered in snow. But we did get some historical narration about the city.

We started the day with brunch.... Dutch pannekoeken (pancakes). They are somewhere between a crepe and pancake. What was really strange is that they will also serve them with the same ingredients you get in omelets. Believe it or not, I enjoyed the "savory" ones that have the meat, cheese and mushroom.

We also went to our first museum, the Rijksmuseum. Here we saw artifacts of Dutch history, paintings and a skull with over 8000 diamonds. We also saw the 2nd most noted painting (next to "The Mona Lisa"), Rembrandt's "Night Visitor". Talk about a HUGE canvas.

Did I mention we saw snow? Oh yea, ever since Lisa and Alex got here, it has snowed every day. No accumulation, but very heavy at times.

We had a Dutch Kroeketten today. It is an appetizer generally that is made from a thickened meat broth, seasoned and battered and fried. Very good I must say. I have a recipe and will try to recreate back home. I can only hope it tastes as good.

This blog would be much better if Lisa was not looking over my shoulder and making me type what you are reading. But, what can I say, she is woman and hear her roar. :-) This is my blog and I am sticking with it. LOL

More Pics

And here are a few more pictures from Amsterdam. You can see the snow "comets" in the picture with the swan. They were really snow pellets much like dipping dots.

More Pics from Amsterdam Center

Here is the "VERY PUBLIC" toilet mentioned earlier.

The Real Amsterdam

We spent all day in Amsterdam Centrum. We began our day by hopping on the Metro and going to Central Station. Alex's first remark as that it reminded him of Central Station in NYC. We even had a chance to see the "High-Speed" train as it arrived into the station. You better bring plenty of change if you want to see this part of Amsterdam...why do I say this??? You have to pay to pee unless you want to use the truly "public" portable toilets (see pic in blog above). Yes... you just stand there and do your business as everyone walks by. Sorry girls... guys only... you will have to bring the change.

First impression... bicycles and more bicycles and beautiful architecture. We walked into Jordaan and on the way we got our first "whiff" of the Amsterdam "coffee shops), they are everywhere. The canals down there are very pretty and would love to seen them in the summer when everything is green and the flowers are blooming.

Lisa got to do shopping in the market area today and we sampled some of the local snacks. They had everything you could imagine, fresh fruits, veggies, flowers, cheese, bread, and fish. We continued our journey to the floating flower market and yes... the weather got us again. It snow-sleeted like crazy for a period and then it was off and on.

We toured the Anne Frank House and I have to say it was a somber experience. They lived it the top two floors for two years and never left the building. They were finally exposed by someone that to this day has never been identified and all sent to Auschwitz or other camps where everyone eventually died, except her father who did survive and lived until 1980 at 90.

Lastly, we made our way to the Red Light District. Not exactly something you would find in Conway, AR but something more in the seedier part of Las Vegas. They even have pictures of what their dogs are not supposed to do. :-) (see pic)

Tomorrow we are planning on hitting the museums and taking a canal tour.

Later

And we thought Arkansas had changing weather?

Friday, November 21st.....Lisa and Alex made it in, but not without a little excitement on the landing. Friday the wind was blowing easily 40 MPH steady with gusts to near 70 MPH. They said during the descent until touchdown that the wings were wobbling up and down. It was so much that when they landed the steward came on to the PA system and said "thank you for flying Delta, I am sure you are glad that you did as we have the best pilots around"... that brought applause throughout the plane.

When we got to the apartment, we have to walk between tall buildings and they funneled the wind so much that we had to stop walking against it for a moment because we could not move forward with the luggage as the wind was almost ripping it out of our hands. It did out of Lisa's rolling backpack and rolling no more can it be called. :-). Strangely, when we were able finally move forward and got past the first two, the wind switched direction and it blew us forward and we could barely stop at the door to the apartment building.

We saw every kind of weather you could see in one day. The wind and rain early, then the sun came out and it warmed up enough that a light jacket would be fine, then finally, the wind picked back up and guess what???? we had sleet, hail and snow all within about an hour. and the sleet is really funky looking... it looks like dipping dots.

Later in the day, we went out walking near the university and went to the rowing lake that we believe was built for the 1928 Olympics. The Olympic stadium is nearby, but we haven't made it there yet. Alex just cannot believe all the bicycles that are here.

More to come regarding our trip into the central part of Amsterdam.

Work Continues

Not much to add except I will be traveling to the Teddington office in London tomorrow and back tomorrow night. We will be working with other Product Managers in developing their business plans. Should have some more good pictures this weekend as I will have a chance to go into the part of Amsterdam that we all think about.

Lisa and Alex are scheduled to arrive on Friday morning. Will be interesting to see Alex's responses to being in a foreign country where the language is different and the culture being different from what he is used to.

Signing off for another day.

Time to go to work

Well...finished my first day on the job in Amsterdam. Most people come in the office around 9 and work to 6. This is pretty standard in Europe. What is interesting is how they do lunch. The entire office has lunch together (somewhat in shifts) during the lunch hour. They have sandwiches, salads/soups and fruit brought in. It really works well and is very efficient and without some of the longer lunches we tend to see in the US.

Everyone is very friendly and I am trying to learn more about their products and organization structure.

So far it has proven very easy to get to and from work via the subway and only takes about 15 minutes.

See you all later.

First Weekend in Amsterdam

Spent most of my first weekend trying to get my body used to the new time zone. Being 7 hours ahead of Arkansas time, my mind doesn't really want to sleep when it should, but the body is tired. Guess it will take a few days to really get both in sync.

Went out and did a little sight seeing in the area of the apartment. Bicycles and more bicycles, they are everywhere. Very strange to see older couples riding bicycles and even see couples on their bikes holding hands just as if they were casually strolling down the sidewalk. The sidewalks are even color coded...red is for bikes and gray is for walking. You have to look for bikes when walking or you will get hit as they have the right of way... or at least they act like they do. :-) There are bicycle parking just about everywhere you look. There is even an underground garage for bikes just on the other side of the train station from where I am staying. This garage even has a special escalator to take the rider and bike up and down.

Everywhere you look there are canals. Some are larger and well kept and there are others that look like large ditches and run behind buildings and across the fields. The water table is so close to the surface that they need these to move the water around. Apparently, this level requires that most all buildings are actually built on pilings that are driven deep into the ground until they hit something solid and in some cases it may be as much as 10 meters.

The architecture in this area is really neat. I have a few pictures of some of the buildings in the area to let you see what it looks like here.

I had dinner from Burger King on Saturday night and Jon, it tastes just like the Burger King in the US. Will try that Big Mac you asked about when I get a chance.

Next weekend I am going to venture into the city central where the museums and other historical spots of A'dam are and will share experiences and pictures of these.

Arrival in Amsterdam

I am finally here. Flight was fine...just a few bumps along the way. Pilot mentioned weather was the reason. I have to say that after landing the taxi to the terminal had to be the longest I have ever experienced. If I did not know better, I would have thought we were "driving" back to the US. :-)

Took a taxi to the office and quickly understood why many people do not own cars here. While the roads are excellent, the traffic and crazy drivers will make you want to take the train/metro. The office staff were very friendly and working with them should be fun. Looks like they are all pretty laid back.

Nienke Zwirs from the office showed me around and went with me to check into my apartment, do some initial shopping and get my metro pass for the month I am here. I am very thankful for her assistance as without her, I would not have been able to figure it out. Strange going into the grocery store and seeing items, but not being able to read the label. I could not tell it it was tomato sauce, tomato juice, or whatever kind of tomato something. Their grocery stores do not have the selections either. Most people shop almost daily due to smaller refrigerators and the fact that they walk or bike everywhere.

Got to my apartment without too much problems. The apartment is very small, but very nice and functional. It is located in Amsterdam Zuid (South) and is in the newer corporate area with many of the international companies located nearby. It is just a couple of minutes from the metro, train and tram and all of these are in one station. Should be very easy to get around from here.

More to come later.

Packing day has come

Well, time is finally here to pack for the trip. I am not really sure what to take and I don't want to take too much. Oh well...I guess I can just plan on washing more or buying if I don't have what I need.

One more day of work in the office and then I leave. Will let everyone know when I get there and what my first thoughts are of Amsterdam.

Until later...