St. Petersburg is gloomy. St. Petersburg is bleak. My underwear got frozen standing here all week. Oh since the revolution, our lives have been so gray. Thank goodness for the gossip that gets us through the day! Hey!

In case you didn’t figure out from these first few lines and the title of this edition of the blog, I am a huge fan of the animated classic Anastasia. Although I’m a Disney girl at heart (Anastasia is not a Disney movie), in our most recent trip I could not help but sing the lyrics of the song I know so well as we walked along the streets of this very city. The first few lines of this song probably paint a pretty accurate picture of what the city is like in the winter or what it was like those days following the revolution, but they were anything but the experience that we had in St. Petersburg. We found ourselves in 80° weather, nothing but sunshine, surrounded by pastel buildings, and beautiful architecture. I count myself very lucky that we got to check off a city that has been on my bucket list for a while. We did not even begin to scratch the surface of all that the city had to offer. I can, however, reflect upon the experiences we did get to have and the places we got to see.

Russia as you probably guessed is not the easiest country to visit. In order to enter, you need to apply for a visa. One thing that is helpful to know is that if you arrive on a cruise ship and go on an organized tour through the boat, you can get around this tricky and time consuming piece of legislative paperwork. That was part of the appeal of choosing a cruise for this area of the world. My mom, dad, Bill and I traveled on the Star Breeze (one of the yachts in the Windstar fleet) all through the Baltic including an overnight stop in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, with the cruise visa you aren’t able to explore the city on your own outside of the tours. We did however, take two pretty incredible full day tours and lucky for you I am here to share all the details and photos! I actually have so much to share on this city that for your sake (and mine) I’m going to break this blog into two pieces. One for each day of our trip. So let’s get into it!

Day 1

On the morning of our first day we pulled into the harbor of Saint Petersburg bright and early. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Windstar cruise line, one of the big perks is they have much smaller ships which allows them to pull into smaller ports. This being the case, we were able to dock right down the river from all the main attractions. From the front of the ship you could even see a beautiful Russian orthodox church (Assumption church) complete with the signature gold domes which made for some gorgeous pictures.

After disembarking the ship, our first stop was passport control. I’m not exactly sure what they were looking for but they sure did take a close look at everyone and make sure everything was exactly in order. Thankfully we had no trouble and were able to board the bus without much trouble.

Our first stop for the morning was Catherine’s palace which is about an hour outside the city. This was one of the Summer Palaces for the Russian royal family. As it lies outside of St. Petersburg proper, it was occupied by the Nazis during World War II even though the city of St. Petersburg was never taken by their forces. In the course of the Nazi occupation the palace was completely destroyed and was only restored and open to the public again in the 1960s. Here is a photo of a photo that was displayed in the castle showing the damage done to the palace during World War II.

Before the Nazis were able to occupy the palace, the Russians were smart enough to remove all of the art and hide all of the statues. Interestingly, the statues were actually buried throughout the grounds and never found by the Nazis.

When we walked into Catherine’s palace, we were greeted by an impressive stairway.

The first room that we walked into was the main entry hallway. It is the only room with the original ceiling as it was painted on canvas and could therefore be removed before the occupation. The room is in the Baroque style and actually has real gold leaf in the paint used to decorate the wood moldings.

After this main entry hall we continued to walk through spectacular room after spectacular room.

All of these rooms lead up to the famous Amber room. Unfortunately no photos were allowed in the Amber room so the best I can do is to show you a couple pictures from the Internet.

If you have a look at the second photo, you can see that the panels are actually made up of many pieces of Amber. The darker colored Amber is younger while the more honey colored Amber is older. You’ll also notice red Amber which is much more rare. All of the Amber in these panels comes from the Baltic Sea. This room actually does not contain the original Amber panels however. These were not removed prior to the world war and disappeared over the course of the Nazi occupation. Our guide joked that the panels are likely somewhere in South America hidden from the world but like probably true.

Following our tour of the Palace itself, we had a chance to walk around the grounds which were equally as stunning. Although I will say they were nothing compared to the Peterhoff (again wait for day 2).

After Catherine’s palace it was back on the bus to head into the city of St. Petersburg once more. We stopped for lunch which included Bellinis and beef stroganoff – traditional Russian fare.

With our bellies full it was time to head to the world famous Hermitage. It’s interesting because I actually did not know a whole lot about the Hermitage prior to doing research for St. Petersburg. It is essentially the Louvre of Russia. During the reign of Catherine the Great she accumulated a vast collection of artwork which makes up a large portion of the collection today. There’s so much artwork that, coincidentally, there’s also a branch of the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam! We made a point of visiting the Amsterdam branch before our trip to St. Petersburg and our guide gave us some interesting insights into how that branch of the Hermitage ended up in Amsterdam. Peter the Great, one of the first Emperors of Russia, actually loved the city of Amsterdam. He spent a great deal of time here. In fact there’s even a dutch ship docked on the river outside of the Hermitage. You may have also noticed in the previous photos the Delft tile work that adorned of the heating units at Catherine’s palace. This love of all things dutch also explains why there is a Dutch wing inside this Russian museum with a large number of Rembrandts on display.

Anyway back to the museum in St. Petersburg. Our tour was on a Monday which is actually the day that the Hermitage is closed. When we booked our tour my dad noticed this fact and actually had to follow up to make sure that this wasn’t an oversight. It was actually the exact opposite. On Mondays although the museum is closed to the public, it is open for private tours. The only caveat is you have to go on a set path but huge plus you get the entire museum essentially to yourself which is pretty incredible. How lucky for us!

When you first walk into the Hermitage (or at least the entrance we went through) you enter in to the Winter Palace. This is the very palace which the Romanoffs were taken from at the start of the revolution. In addition, because St. Petersburg was never taken by the Nazis everything in the winter palace, and in the whole Hermitage for that matter, is original. The decor was reminiscent of Catherine’s palace from which we just came.

After the winter palace you enter into the 3 areas of the Hermitage. As we walked there were several interesting pieces.

The Peacock Clock

The clock was actually a gift to Catherine the Great. It chimes once a week and the peacock spreads it’s feathers as it rings. Unfortunately, we did not see it chime because I am sure that is quite a site to behold.

Danaë

This Rembrandt painting was actually almost destroyed. In the 80’s someone threw acid on the piece. It has since been restore but you can still see traces of the damage.

The Return of the Prodigal Son

Another painting by Rembrandt. If you look closely the hands are actually different sizes which likely means Rembrandt used different models for the painting.

Jasper Vase

The vase is actually three pieces put together. Unlike other vases in the museum which are mosaic this vase is solid stone and weighs over 16 tons!!

After exiting the Hermitage we traveled back to the ship. On the way out we did see a square outside the museum and I will leave you with those photos. Look forward to my post detailing our second day to come soon!

If you are a gardener or have done research on Amsterdam you know that as the days start to grow longer and the weather warms, the flowers start to peak out from the ground, breaking the city out of the clasps of winter and bursting it into colorful spring. There are a few ways to take in the beauty that is spring in Amsterdam. The most popular way is to drive 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam to the city of Lisse. Lisse is home to fields of flowers – namely hyacinths, daffodils, and of course, tulips. There are two great ways to take in flowers while in Lisse. The first is a visit to the Kuekenhof gardens. The second is a bike ride around the city passing by the fields of fresh blooms. Lucky for you, I have participated in both activities through various points of the season and can fully report of the experience.

Logistics

Before I get into the flowers themselves I’ll share some logistics on Lisse for any of you lucky enough to visit in the months of March through May. I would say you need at least a half day to enjoy either the gardens or to bike around. If you want to do both, I would say plan the full day. I would recommend doing both if you are there in peak season (middle 2-3 weeks of April). If you’re visiting in March or even the first week of April, the fields likely won’t be in full swing and starting the last week of April all the farms will cut the flowers so there won’t be much to look at. I would also recommend getting up and attem to beat the crowds. This is a tour bus destination and it’s much more enjoyable without hoards of tourists and their invasive selfie sticks.

You can easily get to Lisse from Amsterdam. Online you can find a combination ticket that includes transport to and from Lisse and entrance to Keukenhof. When the bus drops you off you will be directly outside the Keukenhof but you don’t actually need to visit the Keukenhof. You can proceed directly to the fields if you want and skip the gardens. If that’s your play, all you need is a metro card. Once you get to the bus itself it’s about a 30 minute drive, direct route with no stops. The Keukenhof itself is pretty massive. They have maps but you can just take random turns as you see flowers you like and just see where the wind takes you. This is extremely out of character advice for me to give as you well know I like to have regimented schedules while traveling. But this is a great place to sit back and smell the tulips as one might say.

When you’re through, go back out the main entrance. You can proceed back to the buses or, to view the tulip fields, veer left to the bike stand. You can rent the bike for 3 hours for €10 which is plenty of time. The vendor has plenty of bikes so no need to reserve one in advance. When you checkout the staff will provide you with a map with 4 routes ranging in length. They will also let you know which route has the best flower viewing as fIeld bloom at different times. All the paths are very clearing marked along the way so don’t worry about getting lost just remember the path number you are on. I would also recommend bringing gloves if it’s a little chilly because the wind is definitely amplified on a bike.

Ok now on to the show!

End of March

My first visit to Lisse was at the end of March when my sister Liz came to visit. It was opening weekend of the Keukenhof. I was skeptical of how many actual flowers would be blooming in the gardens as there weren’t any blossoms around the city yet. Much to my surprise there were actually many flowers in bloom, namely daffodils and crocuses. There were many tulips actually in one of the greenhouses on the property but not fields and fields like you would expect from social media. If you go during this time of year I would say stick to the Keukenhof as the fields won’t have many buds. We did see some daffodil field but definitely too early for the star of the show – the tulip. Also it will still likely be chilly so biking around won’t be as pleasant. Here are some photos which will say more than me blabbing on and on.

tulips in the greenhouse:

Mid April

If you can swing it, this is the time to come see the flowers. The tulips are in full bloom! We were fortunate enough to tag along with our friends Nick and Megan in town from Brussels during their tulip trip. Be warned if you visit this time of the season though as you will not be the only ones trying to see the flowers. You will be greeted by many, many tourists so get there early. The whole front parking lot was filled with rows and rows and rows of tour buses there that weekend, some double decker. It was actually incredible.

I would definitely recommend biking around as well during this period as the fields will be beautiful. If you’re imagining a picture in the rows of tulips themselves, forget those. The farmers are very strict about not letting you in to the actual fields. They are worried you will step on the flowers, thereby ruining the bulb, which is what they are actual selling. Here’s some photos from our trip in April.

biking around:

Late April

They next visit to Lisse was right after Kings Day ie the end of April. My friend Shannon visited for Kings Day so of course we had to swing by Lisse. There were still lots of tulips but they were slightly more droopy than when we went 2 weeks previously. Also, at this point it’s too late to see the fields as the gardeners have headed all their blooms by this point. The gardens themselves were not nearly as crowded as when we went 2 weeks previously which was a nice change of pace. Nevertheless it was still crowded and as the morning progressed more and more people flocked to Keukenhof. Here is what you can expect visiting this time of year:

End of May

Just as I saw opening weekend at Keukenhof I also experienced closing week. My parents (including Ann Oster gardener extraordinaire) were visiting from Colorado so of course we had to visit. I was very nervous there would not be many flowers left as everything was really blooming on the previous 2 visits and flowers only live so long. Much to our delight there were still many flowers to be seen. It seemed they switch out the flowers in the beds so there are still blooms to see. Here is the views of you stop by at the end of the season:

Hopefully this helps give some insight into your spring visit to Amsterdam if flowers are on the agenda. Bill isn’t even a flower person and he thought it was pretty amazing. If that doesn’t inspire you to visit I don’t know what will. Until next time. Tot ziens!

Back in the States the Fort Worth office had a golf day to celebrate the end of busy season. Sounds pretty good right? Well the EY AMS assurance group did one better in the form of the 20th annual ski weekend. An annual tradition where about 100 of EY Amsterdam’s finest flock to the Alps for some ski and aprés ski adventures. What could go wrong?

On of the flaws of the EY ski trip is it’s just that – an EY ski trip is no significant others allowed. So Bill stayed behind and myself and two other GEP Americans (Christy and Jaclyn) boarded an early morning flight to Innsbruck to see what shenanigans awaited us. Don’t feel too bad for Bill though, his KPMG ski trip was the following weekend. Some interesting logistical background of the trip for those interested. The fee you pay is based on your rank. The higher your rank, the more you pay. How very socialist of them. Unfortunately for me this meant I would be paying one of the top tier prices as a newly promoted manager. Darn.

Anyway ski trip technically started on Thursday but we did not depart until Friday morning. I wanted to see what the trip was all about but also wanted to conserve precious PTO days. The flight was uneventful and we landed on a runway reminiscent of that of Queenstown in New Zealand – surrounded by mountains. It made for a beautiful picture.

After collecting our baggage it was off to the car rental station. I had volunteered to drive but was a bit nervous given I hadn’t driven since Christmas. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day and we didn’t have any issues. We stopped at a grocery on the way to pick up all the necessary supplies (champagne, peach gummies, gummy worms, croissants, etc.) then checked into our hotel. Another unfortunate logistics item of the trip was because the EY group was so large we could not all fit into one hotel so we were spread among 3. Our hotel was one of the “others” and lacked any real amenities apart from a clean room and bed which are great but I would have really loved a hot tub to sit in when I was inevitably sore from the 2 days of skiing ahead. Also we were a group of three and all the rooms were required to be at full capacity. We were, therefore, partnered with someone from the Amsterdam office we didn’t know. When we arrived, we were the first ones so we claimed beds then dressed to go crush the slopes.

Christy had never skied before so she signed up for an afternoon lesson. Being from Colorado I am ashamed to admit this but I had not been skiing in over 10 years and figured it was probably a good idea to join the lesson at least for a refresher as to not kill myself. Our lesson didn’t start until 1 so we had lunch on the base of the mountain while we waited. The food was nothing memorable but the weather was beautiful. Sunny and warm. Just the ticket for some sun deprived accountants emerging from the trenches of busy season. When the time came for our lesson we waited at where we thought was the meeting point and no one showed. We asked some instructors if this was the correct spot and they affirmed it was. After another 10 or so minutes passed, however, we asked another instructor and were informed this was not in fact the correct location and we needed to ride in gondola. We trekked across the mountain to arrive to the proper meeting point only to find there was also no instructor there. Christy called the school and they assured us someone was on the way. 5 minutes later cue Ollie – an older ski Yoda. He had us go up and down the bunny hills many times saying “leannnnn!!!” And “brakeeeeee!!!”.

After a few rounds I felt like I had my ski legs back and I was confident enough that when Ollie wished us goodbye we could do a few runs solo. Remember that warm wonderful sun I was talking to you about? If you haven’t already guessed although the sun felt wonderful for a good sunnying, it was not great for the snow. The run we did was a slushy slushy mess. Every time you turned it created a mini mogul and was extremely tiresome. After only a few rounds I was ready to switch from ski to aprés ski so Christy and I went back to the hotel to join Jaclyn and get ready for the EY organized dinner. As we were primping, we were interrupted by some loud knocking on the door. Christy answered and was greeted by some Dutch conversation. I immediately recognized the voice as that of the executive director of my main client and wondered what he could be knocking on our door about. Apparently, the evening before we arrived the other EY members had a little too much fun and some of their escapades led to the hotel almost kicking everyone out – everyone except us that is because we had only checked in that afternoon. As a result of the fraternity worthy shenanigans, there was no more drinking allowed in the hotel. As a 28 year old adult it was a little irritating I was being told that the antics of some staff had impeded on my ability to consume the champagne that had been chilling in the fridge all day. Needless to say, we were now more eager to get to dinner early and start the aprés ski portion of the day. So we did just that. We walked up to the bar and it was crazy. Tons of people, many still in ski boots and clothes, crowded around the bar with loud techno house music blasting through the speakers. We finally made it up to order and each procured our own beverages – 2 in order to prevent having to wait in the line again.

Feeling a bit of a buzz from the alcohol, lack of food and altitude, we headed into dinner. The food was nothing very memorable but it was a good base in our stomachs to prepare for the evening ahead at the next bar. The next location was an experience to say the least. First, apparently in Fiss you can smoke at the bar. I have not been in a bar in which you were allowed to smoke for years and this experience made me extremely appreciative to live in places where this was no longer allowed. By the end of the night I smelled like an ash tray. The music was also an experience. All American songs were circa 2014 and those were mixed with a selection of very interesting songs including one in which the chorus was “Johnny Depp” repeated numerous times and another which was a techno remix of “Soarin” from the DCOM High School Musical. To say the evening was interesting is an apt description. Ultimately, we wanted to ski the following day while the snow was decent so we called it a night earlier than most.

The next morning it was off to the slopes to try and get some runs in before everything turned into a slushy machine. It was so much easier skiing on normal consistency snow and before lunch I was able to try my skis at some more challenging runs. By 1 though, I was hungry and the snow was back to a sloppy wet mess so we met up for Jaclyn for lunch. I did end up doing a few more runs after but by the end my ankles were sore and tired from pushing around all the snow so I called it. We went back, showered, sun bathed on the patio (on a ski trip, weird I know) then got our lives together to wander around Fiss. The town was quaint but very clearly there was not a plethora of activities aside from drinking, eating and skiing.

We ultimately ended up at Schlisshotel – the 5 star hotel where Jaclyn had her massage while we were skiing the day before. Now THIS was a hotel. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the views while we sipped cocktails and wine. We wanted a snack but none of their appetizers looked appealing so we asked if they had a cheese tray to which our server told us they could probably whip something up. Whip something up they did! About 15 minutes later we were greeted with a platter with enough cheese to feed a small army all for just the three of us. Talk about service!

In cheese bliss we left the hotel (although I never wanted to) and went to get an actual dinner. We went to a pizza place and split some salad (because health) and a za. In the course of our dining I think we saw basically every other EY person on the trip either eat here or attempt to eat here only to be turned away as the restaurant was full.

Feeling like we saw everything Fiss had to offer, the next morning we packed up and headed to Innsbruck to explore that city before our flight that afternoon. We arrive and enjoyed some coffees looking out onto a small plaza, enjoying the sun. In case you can’t tell I really really have missed the sun. We then walked over the the imperial gardens to check those out. On the way we walked down some quaint streets and saw the golden roof which is apparently one of the top attractions here.

Upon arriving at the gardens, I must say there wasn’t a whole lot that qualified these gardens as imperial but there was a nice little beer garden where we enjoyed a beverage. We then walked back towards the street with the golden roof and enjoyed a patio lunch and gelato before heading back to the airport closing our EY ski weekend experience. It was a very unique post busy season celebration and I was happy to have a chance to refresh my skiing skills. Next year though I think we will just plan our own ski weekend and be more inclusive of significant others. Until next time!

Greetings 2019. It’s been a while since I have last checked in with the blog. Since Strasbourg way back in 2018. Well it’s a new year and it’s time to dust off the passport that has been sitting in our safe taunting me since the long hours of busy season have begun. In these weeks since my last blog we have wrapped on our breakout tv roles (airing date tbd-more details at another time), traveling back to the States for the holidays, rang in 2019 in Amsterdam (pure insanity to number of fireworks) and crawled into our busy season holes January and the better part of February. Busy season was still terrible – despite the hopes for better work life balance moving abroad – but the thought of the non-busy times ahead filled with travel and fun kept a light at the end of the tunnel. And while I am still very much in the tunnel (compliments of another busy season client added to my portfolio) this weekend we got to do something very, very cool. Last year my dad and Bill’s dad planned an adventure. 10 days traveling through Egypt and Jordan seeing all the sites – pyramids, Petra, the works. When I saw their itinerary I noticed the first few days they were in Cairo fell on a weekend, after my main client’s filing. So I asked – can we meet you for the weekend and see the pyramids? And that’s the story of how we ended up in Cairo for 36 hours.

There is one direct flight to Cairo a day leaving at 3 pm. The flight is about 4.5 hours from Amsterdam and if you don’t go direct it added a minimum of 2 hours or so to the itinerary. Not ideal for a 36 hour venture to Egypt. So obviously we had to go direct. Practicing being Dutch and putting ourselves first sometimes. Anyway the flight itself was very easy. EgyptAir wasn’t anything to write home about but clean, comfortable, no complaints. When we arrived at the Cairo airport we were greeted by what I can only describe as an airport chauffeur. He met us before immigration (with a bouquet of flowers for me – nice touch), gave us our visas and swiftly took us to the car. We were in and out in about 10 minutes. Not too shabby. If you have Egypt on your list I would definitely look into having someone do this for you. Travel administrative headaches like visas can be so complicated to figure out and a mess if you get wrong. When we stepped outside the air was hazy and smelled of smoke. Some sort of combination of sand particles in the air and pollution I assume. Once in the car we got our first taste of driving around Cairo. Let’s just say that in Cairo there are no real rules of the road. Everyone is driving wherever they want – regardless of street lines or signs – people are crossing the middle of busy highways, cars pull off to the side and randomly stop blocking a lane. Pure chaos. The weird thing was within the absolute chaos and hooking none of it was aggressive. It was like organized chaos everyone understood and accepted. After about an hour or so in traffic we arrived at the Marriott Mena House right at the base of the pyramids. I was very confused when we first arrived because the pyramids are not lit up at night – don’t know why I assumed they would be – and it’s so dark in the desert you can’t see them at night, or you can barely see them. When we arrived in the hotel lobby we saw our dads there waiting then it was off to the rooms to catch some sleep before an early start the next day.

We woke up and looked out the window and I could not believe we couldn’t see the pyramids the night before. In the daylight you look out and it’s like WOW there they are.

We went over the breakfast in the hotel restaurant which was a combination of options suiting every cultures needs – rice and chicken, cheese and meats, eggs and sausage (non pork of course), and the universal breakfast items – assorted breads and pastries. After fueling up we met our guide Sally in the lobby. She quickly shuttled us off to the base of the great pyramid. The great pyramids of Giza are actually a series of three large pyramids – one for King Khufu, his son, and his grandson – and six smaller pyramids – for the wives and daughters of the pharaohs.

There are a LOT of facts about the pyramids so I could write and write and write but for the sake of your sanity and mine, here are a couple highlights:

• The pyramids were basically really really big tombs with the burial chamber generally under the pyramid itself. In the great pyramid, however, the burial chamber is about 2/3 of the way to the top. Likely to confuse grave robbers (unsuccessfully)
• The largest pyramid was Khufu’s but his son’s pyramid is actually “taller” as it sits at a slightly higher elevation. The third belongs to the grandson and is much much smaller in comparison, perhaps a sign of the decline in economic situation by the time he was pharaoh.

Khufu’s pyramidKhufu’s pyramid

Khufu’s pyramid

Khufu’s son’s pyramid

Khufu’s son’s pyramid (left) and Khufu’s pyramid (right)

Grandson’s pyramid (left), son’s middle, Khufu’s (right)

• Each pyramid had a shined limestone casing over the structure we see today. The only pyramid with a significant amount of the casing remaining is the pyramid for Khufu’s son.

• There are not really large open spaces inside the pyramids, really just the burial rooms and small, narrow passage ways leading there. You can go inside the two largest pyramids for additional cost. Khufu’s pyramid is more expensive, we went into the son’s and it was ok. Not for the claustrophobic.
• There is a lot of astrological and mathematical significance to the temple. The facts that stood out to me – 1) Khufu’s pyramid faces directly north, oriented with the North Star. The other two pyramids are aligned with the other two orient stars 2) if you divide the perimeter of the great pyramid by the height you get pi. This is also true for each of the rooms

After visiting the pyramids themselves we went to the east side of the pyramids and saw the mummification temple for Khufu. The temple was covered in sand for years and discovered by the French in the 1800’s. Each pharaoh in addition to their pyramid had a separate temple in which the 70 day mummification process took place. Seems a bit excessive to use for only 70 days. The mummification process is very interesting in the sense that despite us knowing so much about the mummification process it was actually never written down (or so our guide says. Haven’t audited that so can only provide reasonable assurance). This is another topic we could go on and on about but here are a few fun facts:

• All of the organs are taken out of the body for the mummification and kept while with the exception of the brain which is pulled out of the body via the nose

• The organs are all kept outside the body except the heart. The heart is returned to the body to be used in the final judgment. First, you present yourself to a panel of judges who ask you questions about your life and they vote on if they think you’ve lived a good life. If it’s split, they weigh your heart against the feather of truth. If your heart is lighter than the feather, you’re golden.

Next to the mummification temple is the Sphinx, or at least the one we all know from the photos. There are actually hundreds of Sphinx across Egypt but this is the largest. Apparently the Sphinx is carved from one stone that is part of the landscape. It blocks the direct path from the mummification temple to the pyramid so they decided to at least carve it into something. The Sphinx was meant to intimidate those who walked up to it.

After the pyramids we stopped in a state run store – time for the souvenir sales pitch. The speciality item for sale was called a cartouche. This is an oblong oval with hieroglyphic letters in the center. It is often given when you get married and has your name on one surface and the name of your spouse on the other. It symbolizes a marriage that lasts forever. After sales pitch #1 we headed into sales pitch #2 where we learned about papyrus – used in the oldest form of paper. Essentially how it is made is from the stalk of the papyrus plant cut into strips, pressed to remove the excess water, woven together, and pressed again. The final product felt a little like some sort of currency. They had paintings all over the showroom on the papyrus paper which were all very pretty to look at but we left with just the memory.

Once the shopping was over, it was time to head to Memphis, not the Tennessee Memphis but the oldest capital of Egypt Memphis. Memphis was about a 30-45 minute drive which was very eye opening. The road followed a canal that led to the Nile which was perhaps the most disgusting body of water I have seen. Bags and bags and bags of garbage piled up on the bank of the canal, spilling into the water, various pieces of trash floating along the murky green water. Just witnessing the filth made me thankful for organized trash collection which is clearly something that does not exist in Cairo. There were also several dead large animals either on the side or in the water. At one point, I even saw a half eaten dead horse. Needless to say, the experience made me very thankful to live in a clean city and shocked there are places in this state.

When we arrived in Memphis we went to a smaller open air museum. Most of the items looked a little like rubble to me but there were two impressive Ramses the second statues and a smaller Sphinx.

Following Memphis we went to the site of the first pyramid called the step pyramid. You could tell it was really their first go around building a pyramid as it really looked like a tiered cake as opposed to a pyramid.

In the distance we saw two other pyramids, the red pyramid and the bent pyramid.

Next we stopped in one of the tombs at the base of the pyramids. This was the tomb of a woman who we in the upper tier of the social hierarchy. The highlight was the hieroglyphics. They were so details and even had color remaining from when they were first created.

Leaving the grounds of the step pyramid we stopped at one of the carpet schools in the city. When our guide was describing the “schools” it felt a little like she was defending child labor. She told us they liked having the children work because with smaller hands they can make smaller knots and more intricate details. Parents will send their kids here to earn money to afford a good education. I heard her arguments but still felt a little uneasy about 10 year olds sitting making carpets all day. When we arrived the room was filled with giant looms each with 1-3 kids/teens working away. The process was very interesting to watch. When they tied the knot they would then take a razor blade sort of object and cut the knot. They did it so fast it was incredible! They also showed us how they would cut the excess string from the top with scissors which revealed the true pattern. Once the short tour was over they took us into the sales room which I could tell was another sales pitch. While I don’t consider myself a rug person, these were beautiful, particularly the silk rugs which would change colors depending on the angle you held the rug. I didn’t feel the need to drop a couple grand on a rug though so it was a pass.

Post rug shopping it was time to do it for the gram. We went to a stable with camels and horses for our desert sunset ride. Obviously we chose to ride the camels as a millennial in the deserts of Egypt by the pyramids does. The camels were very feisty, they kept making sounds that sounded straight out of Star Wars. After a few fits by the camels we were off and trekking over sand dunes to the perfect pyramids/sunset vantage point.

After what felt like a full photo shoot it was time for dinner which was mediocre so won’t bore you with details. We then went back to the hotel and enjoyed wine and good conversation.

So that was it! A whirlwind 36 hour experience. Now, onto the next!!

It’s Christmas time in Europe which means it’s time to heat up the Glülwein, set up the festive light and pull out the trinket stalls – in short it’s time for Christmas markets! After hearing everyone talk about Christmas market festivities, I knew we would want to check out at least one before we went to the States for the holidays. I did some googling and landed on Strasbourg as our Christmas market destination, the self named Capital of Christmas. Bill and I had some company on this trip, shout out to Christy one of my fellow American expats in the EY Amsterdam office. It’s always a little nerve wracking when Bill and I travel with other people particularly if I am the planner. When I am planning for just us, it’s less of a big deal if something doesn’t go quite to plan or a a bust of an activity. When I plan for a group of people, it’s an added level of pressure to make sure you make their experience is positive. Well if you had judged how this trip was going to go based on the three days leading up to our departure you would have said it would be a disaster. I told Christy it would be no problem if she stayed at the Airbnb we booked if she was ok sleeping on the couch. As I looked more closely at the Airbnb photos the Wednesday before we left, however, I noticed the couch was the bed. With some quick maneuvering Christy found a hotel and hostel to stay at thankfully that didn’t cost a fortune. The problems with the Airbnb continued from there. Thursday before check in I go an email from a third party service the host used for check in stating they would meet us at the apartment at 9:30. That was problematic considering that’s when our flight landed (which I had told the host when we initially booked). Anyway I messaged them to say we were landing at that time so we would need 30-45 minutes to get into the city. No problem right? Apparently big problem because they emailed us back that they would not meet us after 10 pm and we would have to get a hotel to check in the following morning at 10 am. Ridiculous. As luck would have it the hotel Christy booked randomly had three bedrooms so it all worked out. Still irritating. In the end, the 15 minute overage didn’t actually make a difference because we had to wait for maintenance issues in Amsterdam and were delayed an additional hour. So we batting a thousand out the gate but we did in fact eventually make it.

Saturday we woke up and we were supposed to meet the Airbnb 10 but they delayed it until 10:30… then 11:30… Although annoyed by the delays we didn’t have a strict schedule of the day (pause for shock) and this gave us time to get breakfast. We went to a restaurant at the entrance of an area called “Petite France” which is a darling part of the city. The buildings are all old and quaint and charming. I was excited to explore that area more later in the day. The breakfast spot was called Cafe Bretelles (don’t ask me what it means because I couldn’t tell you) and it was pretty good. It didn’t appear they had an actual kitchen as the majority of the plates were cold dishes. I settled on the yogurt and granola breakfast which randomly includes apple juice (actually super tasty). It was in retrospect smart that we had a light breakfast before the day of Christmas market snacking – because obviously one of the best things about markets is the food!

After breakfast we walked back to our hotel to pick up our luggage and meet our Airbnb host or rather the people he hired to meet us. When we entered back into the city all of the roads were blocked to cars and there was a security checkpoint where we had our bags searched. An ever present reminder that in the world we live in something as good natured as a Christmas market is tainted by the threats of violent people. I mostly mention this in light of the shootings that occurred in Strasbourg this week. I’m not entirely sure where in Strasbourg it occurred but Bill said it was outside of the security check and if that’s the case it means these measures were successful at least in the heart of the markets. Events like these should not make us stop living life or doing the things we want to do it just means you need to take extra precautions and always be aware of your surroundings. Anyway enough sad stuff, back to me bitching about this Airbnb experience. So Bill and I arrive at 11:30 and no one is there… 11:45 no one… so I call the host. No answer. I call the service and they are extremely confused who I am and why I am calling. They finally figure it out and say someone is on their way. On their way? They were supposed to be here. At 12:05 some guy finally shows up and says sorry and all I can say is “ya me too” because while I consider myself understanding, they refused to wait an extra 15 minutes for me the night before but I wait 35 minutes for them after they already delayed from 10 to 11:30 and it’s supposed to be fine? I don’t think so. I was already writing furious Airbnb reviews in my head.

When we finally did get in, we dropped our stuff and left to meet Christy in Kléber square. Our Airbnb was right by the cathedral and the streets were packed. I did not realize what a tourist destination this was. On the walked we saw lots of shops with elaborate festive displays on their facades which really puts you in the Christmas Spirit. The cathedral is also quite beautiful. It jets out of the skyline as the surrounding buildings are not super tall. I wish we had gotten the chance to go through but the line was so so long.

We arrived in Kléber square and the first thing we had to do was obviously take a picture followed very closely behind by our first glass of glühwein. It was neat that all the stalls with glühwein used the same cups so you would keep you me cup and they would refill it. Then at the end of the night you could return them for a euro back. Reduce reuse recycle!

As we walked around the stalls my only purchases were food items. I first got some scrumptious cookies (as soon as I saw them in the window I knew I must consume them).

Cookies in hand we made it to our first set of market stalls near the opera. There were some artist stall but mainly just trinkets and food. Thankfully I wasn’t too tempted to buy any trinkets – still suffering from post-moving stress. The smells of German food were too tempting though and I caved in some sauerkraut and cheesy potatoes.

After the opera we went over to the cathedral area but it was way too crowded so we headed over to Petite France. It kind of reminded me of scenes from Beauty and the Beast the more we walked around. Old buildings in a modern city seemingly untouched by time.

While we were strolling we happened upon a church where a choir was performing. Queue goose bumps.

After a full afternoon of strolling (and probably too much Jenny and Bill time for Christy) we went back to our rooms to shower and rest before dinner. I made a reservation at a spot found a la trip advisor called Les Fines Gueles which described its menu as French tapas. Everything we ate was very tasty. We started with tarte flambeé traditionnelle which is actually just like a really thin pizza with a creamy sauce instead of marinara #blessed. We moved onto a burrata and ravioli then finished with a croque monsieur. We left with very happy tummies. After dinner we parted ways again and strolled around the city admiring the lights before turning in for the night. Sunday was not super exciting (most everything was closed and we flew back right after lunch) so I will leave you with some photos of these dazzling lights. Until next time!

When we moved to Amsterdam 3 months ago I knew we would be traveling to a bunch of different far off places, hopefully even a few places that were off the beaten path. I did not, however, anticipate I would be heading to South America let alone Colombia. But life is full of unexpected surprises! Back in October I learned I would be participating in a site visit for one of the main clients I am serving here in the Netherlands and that site was in Bogota, Colombia. While this was a very cool opportunity to learn more about the client and to experience a new area of the world, it didn’t come without its worries. Although I have read many an articles on how Colombia is actually much safer than it used to be, I couldn’t help but see the scenes for Narcos playing through my head. I reassured myself, however, that that was then and this is now. Plus EY would make sure we were staying in a safe area and I would be with two other coworkers. Before I knew it the day arrived to take the journey back over the Atlantic only this time headed south. The day got off to a rough start when 3 Uber’s accepted then cancelled our rides. We were originally going to take the train which is by far the easiest way to get to the airport but there was scheduled maintenance on the tracks out of the central Amsterdam stations so that wasn’t possible. Once we finally got an Uber we got stuck in a traffic jam up to the departure drop offs (who would have thought traffic at 8 am on a Sunday?!). Then after security we had to go through passport control which was a disaster. We finally made it through though and were able to just walk straight on the plane. Thankfully, EY had approved us to take business class. I’m going to sound super entitled but business class is really so much better than economy. I’m definitely not at a point in life where I can afford it myself but when I can use miles or EY pays for it I am #blessed.

We arrived in Bogota in the middle of the afternoon and got to the hotel without too much hassle. Driving through the streets of Bogota I had a few “oh shit what have I gotten myself into” moments as passed through some questionable areas but our hotel itself seemed to be in a very safe part of town.

After we dropped our bags we went walking around the street surrounding the hotel. There were stands set up for Sunday markets and we peaked around. Anything to stay awake. At only 4 pm it felt like time for sleep. Jet lag is real. We weren’t super hungry after being fed about 4 times on the flight but we stumbled into a small cafe and had some finger food and drinks. It had a nice patio and general ambiance but it wasn’t necessarily anything to write home about. At about 7:30 we admitted defeat and went back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

The next morning I woke up naturally at about 5:45 (the upside of jet lag) and decided to go be healthy at the hotel’s gym. I started off at my normal pace and immediately felt a side ache gaining strength. I chalked it up to being tired from traveling but later thought to look at the altitude. We were at about 8,300 feet. That explained it. I was relieved that was the reason and it wasn’t that I was getting extremely out of shape. After 3 months level at/below sea level the altitude was pretty rough. Post work out we all met for lunch before heading to the office. It was about 2 km (1.25 miles) to the office so my coworkers wanted to walk. No wanting to rock the boat I agreed hoping I would not later regret the decision considering my choice to wear heels. I wish I had objected because it was probably top 10 worst walk experiences. The route we took all the sidewalks were cracked or cobbled which was difficult in heels. Also, we happened to be walking along the bus lane and in Bogota, I don’t think emissions tests are a thing. The whole walk I felt like I was just sucking in exhaust. I wanted one of the masks all the tourists from China wear. It was also quite humid so although the temperatures were fairly cool I had definitely worked up a sweat by the time we arrived. Once we made it to the office, we spent the day meeting with our EY Bogota team discussing their audit plan. All very boring to non-accountants so I will spare you all. We did go out to lunch which was enjoyable. We walked over (again) and by the time we got there my feet were in fire, dreading the eventual walk back to the office. I should have planned my footwear a little better. Anyway the restaurant we went to was called Andrés Carne de Res and it was located in a nice part of town (evident as it was surrounded by all the designer shops). This was apparently the restaurant for local Colombian fare and we ordered way too much food. To start we got these juice with milk drinks which were essentially smoothies. They were really good but oddly served in a bowl. You were supposed to drink from the bowl but we requested straws because there is only so far I will go for a cultural experience in the presence of my employers.

For appetizers the manager from the Bogota team ordered us plantains, chicharrones, and arepas. It was a little fun because I knew what all these things were but my European coworkers weren’t familiar. The plantains were interesting because they were served in a big circle cut into slices like a pizza and covered in cheese. I had never seen them prepared like this. I had just assumed they would be similar to how they were in the Caribbean. As we were eating our starters, a mariachi band appeared and offered a song. The partner on the engagement in the Netherlands had his birthday the following day so we requested Happy Birthday to record and send to him. Somehow in the process, I was given a sash and crown.

Once they left, we received our main courses. I was already so full but I did my best to eat the Ajiaco I order which is a traditional chicken soup served with corn. It was very good but I had no room in my stomach to finish. I definitely should have gone with the half order.

After eating so much I was actually happy to walk back to the office. We finished our meetings and took an Uber back to the hotel. Now I can commentate on how horrible traffic in Bogota is. Literally total gridlock the entire way back to the hotel. It took us probably over 30 minutes to make the short drive. The only form of public transportation in Bogota is buses which doesn’t help the traffic really. Just clogs the street with buses. They also try to help traffic by having restrictions on what cars are allowed to drive in the city center during morning and evening rush hours – allowing cars with odd license plate numbers to drive during those hours on odd days and cars with even numbers ln even days. People just get around this by having two cars though so also pretty ineffective. Despite the frustrations with traffic, as it was dark outside though we didn’t really have a choice but to take a cab. We didn’t want to have our laptops stolen on the trek back. Still full from lunch we had a small dinner after arriving back at a restaurant called la Mar recommended by the Colombian team. It was essentially different sushi and sashimi dishes which was perfect for a light dinner.

The next morning we were off to the client offices for meetings. Again, won’t bore you with all the accounting details. Our meetings ended around 1 pm and we headed quickly to the hotel to drop our stuff/change and then went on an adventure to the old part of the city. We attempted to get lunch at another spot recommended by the Colombian team but they were full so we just went straight to the Plaza Bolivar. The walk down had some questionable moments. There was definitely a quarter mile stretch that stank of urine. But there were some photo oops along the way.

We arrived at the plaza and to say it was disappointing would be putting it lightly. Basically it was a big square with some pigeons. Not a whole lot else.

Underwhelmed we found a patio and had some lunch to plan our next move. The Colombia team also recommended we head to the top of the mountain – Monserrat – to get some great views of the city at sunset and have dinner. After killing some time on the restaurant patio we did just that. This was probably my favorite activity that we did. The views were actually fabulous and it was quiet up on the mountain with fresh air. We finally managed to escape the polluted air below. There were tons of lights set up which I wish had been lit but I guess they don’t light everything until a little closer to Christmas.

After enjoying a glass of wine at one of the restaurants, we ventured to the other restaurant for dinner. The restaurant had incredible views of the city which was equally as impressive at night as it was during the day. With all the lights shining you could see just how expansive bogota was below. We tried a Peruvian cocktail known as a pisco sour which I would highly recommend. It was foamy and had a slight sweetness to it which I enjoyed. Our food was equally as delicious. I even convinced the group to indulge on some flambéed strawberries which were fun because you also got a bit of a show.

After dessert we went back to the hotel where I returned to the world of WiFi. I was greeted by a flood of text messages informing me my dad fell and broke his hip skiing that day. Talk about a sobering moment. The next morning after sleeping on it, I resolved I wanted to see if I could reroute through Denver on the way back to Amsterdam. Thankfully, it was fairly easy. I used miles to fly American to Denver (shockingly few miles might I add) and rerouted my KLM ticket from Bogota to Amsterdam to Denver to Amsterdam. Unfortunately I had to downgrade to economy in order to not incur a hefty fee but such is life. Our plane didn’t leave until midnight so we worked in the morning then arranged a visit to the Cathedral de Sal in Zipaquirá about an hour outside Bogota. we stopped in the old city center and had lunch on a terrace (our director really values restaurants with terraces). For a random pick, the restaurant was actually quite nice and tasty. The terrace had a nice view over the central square which was much nicer than the one we saw in Bogota.

After lunch we hiked (literally so many stairs) to the entry of the church. The church itself is carved into an old salt mine. You start by going through the stations of the cross which leads to the chapel itself. It was really nicely done with lighting enhancing the experience.

Once we emerged from the cathedral it was time to head back to Bogota. After some standstill traffic we made it back and quickly had a meal before heading to the airport. Overall, I think the trip was a good experience but when I hit the tarmac in the good old US of A, I felt a large sense of relief. I think part of it was I was relieved to be on my way to family but I was also happy to be in a place where I didn’t constantly feel like I needed to just be aware of my surroundings as to not get into a precarious situation. Now I can say I have been to South America too! Another continent down. I celebrated via chicken minis from Chick-fil-A and headed to my next flight to Denver. I was going home!

Another weekend another adventure. I am still behind in the blog but with this post I will be nearly caught up. This chapter of our story takes us to Geneva, Switzerland. Finally a new country! When Bill and I originally booked travel for this weekend we got on the skyscanner website and explored what city was inexpensive to go to this particular weekend. Geneva was the top of the list for wait for it…. €37 euros per person. Round trip. I can barely go to work in den Hague and back for that cost! So as thrifty travelers we said what the heck next stop Geneva!

This was an interesting trip for Bill and I because we actually did minimal planning. If you know us this is extremely shocking. The couple with google spreadsheets for each of their trips winging it? Never! Well believe it! The only things we had booked were the tickets, Airbnb and a dinner reservation. I guess that’s not entirely winging it but for us, this is as close to winging it as it gets. When we were both clicking around online we found lots of options of things to do and it didn’t really seem like anything needed to be booked in advance so we just kept a few ideas in mind and decided to make the call when we were in Geneva based on what we felt like doing at that moment.

We left on Friday evening and the truth is this trip almost didn’t happen. I originally was supposed to have filed my 9/30 job that day but for several reasons that didn’t happen and I felt like I had a mountain of things I needed to do. Ultimately I decided that I would just bring my laptop and work on the plane and if I really needed to I could find a coffee shop in Geneva. Even though I’m living in the Netherlands I am still having trouble letting go of my American workaholic tendencies. Laptop in hand we headed to Schiphol. I had this feeling I was forgetting something though. While in the duty free shop searching for peachie-o’s it hit me – phone charger. Thankfully they had some there and while I was looking at the various charger options I saw out of the corner of my eye a converter for Switzerland. Yes. Switzerland can’t even have the same outlets as anyone else. They have to have some annoying third plug. Apparently Italy is the same. It was actually a good thing I left my charger so I could have an appropriate converter for Switzerland as well. The flight itself went well. My canvas tasks even saved appropriately so I managed to get some work done. Help ease my mind leading into a Saturday of touring.

Saturday we woke up and decided to do a free walking tour on TripAdvisor also recommended by some friends who went to Geneva the weekend before. Before embarking we went to breakfast at a local coffee shop called Boreal. Most expensive coffee, sandwich and muffin we’ve ever had. Our first taste of Swiss prices. The muffin was by far the highlight. White chocolate and raspberry. Yummmm.

A short walk from the coffee shop was the meeting point of our tour. To be honest, I didn’t retain quite as much knowledge as I should have because the tickets for the Spice Girls reunion tour went on sale about 30 minutes after the tour began. So while we were walking I was guled to Ticketmaster.com attempting to relive the amazement of the 90’s girl power phenomenon. Despite my commitment, however, we were not able to get tickets within the first hour so I gave up to try and do a better job focusing on our guide. While I can’t say I absorbed much, I did take some nice pictures for you to enjoy.

Once the tour ended we decided we would make our way up to the United Nations building. We thought there were tours running butttttttt turns out in November there are no weekend tours. I did manage to take a picture of the broken chair monument however which serves to commemorate the victims of land mines.

We looked through TripAdvisor and we didn’t really see any other tourist attractions that peaked our interest. It was also starting to rain so we decided the most appealing option was fondue and wine. After some quick searching for “inexpensive fondue” we settled on a restaurant on the lake. It’s where the swimming happens in the summer and I was extremely skeptical when we walked up because it looked like the seating was outside. They did actually have some heated indoor seating however and all was well. We ordered the “inexpensive” fondue which was actually in no way inexpensive (I would hate to see what expensive fondue rings in at) and found some spots in the warmth. When the fondue arrived we made a rookie mistake and didn’t stir the fondue – note to other people that visit stir the fondue because all the garlicky goodness is at the bottom. Despite our improper technique we very much enjoyed our Swiss version of queso. Still waiting for Christmas in the States when I can swim in pools of torchys queso. I miss you queso. Anyway, in addition to photos of our fondue experience, I also included a funny picture of a swam upside down trying to get himself (or herself) a snack.

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Filled with cheese and wine we briefly debated taking a train up a mountain just outside the city for some views but given the weather was pretty cloudy and our general state of food coma, a nap sounded pretty darn appealing. So that’s what we did! After a fabulous nap, I woke up to a message that one of the members of our group that was attempting to get Spice Girls tickets had been successful! BLESSED! SPICE GIRLS HERE WE COME! Back to Geneva though – post nap it was dinner time. Finding a non $$$$ highly rated TripAdvisor restaurant in Geneva was a bit of a task. I managed to find one, however, literally around the corner from us called Milan. It was an Italian restaurant which I felt pretty good about given how close Geneva is to Italy. The host (maybe owner?) was very nice. When we first arrived and ordered wine he came back to inform us our selection was currently out but he would basically give us the next level up for the same price. What a gem. Once wine arrive, we ordered our main courses and were delighted with the pasta presented to us. I got a plate of fresh noodles with tomatoes and arugula or rockets. Also side note how is arugula called rockets? Like I understand when things don’t translate directly all the time but this is way off. Also, even English speaking foreign countries they call arugula rockets. How? I do not understand. Ok back to the actual story. For dessert we ordered what we thought was chocolate fondue but was actually chocolate fondant or a flourless chocolate cake. Thankfully, this was equally delicious. The nice host I mentioned earlier also told us we simply could not eat that dessert without the dessert wine that matched (which we didn’t order) so he provided that to us complimentary as well! Overall dinner was a great success and considering all the food and wine we had it was actually reasonably priced. A rarity for Switzerland.

Before heading to bed we drafted a plan for our Sunday. We decided we had seen basically what we wanted to in Geneva so we decided to take the train and venture to the other side of Lake Geneva. We could store our luggage at the station, head out of the day, then circle back, collect our bags and take a new train to the airport. Easy. Traveling around in Europe is so convenient. Take notes USA. So Saturday we woke up and headed to Montreux. The train ride itself was pretty awesome. At the beginning we passed vineyard after vineyard with pretty chateaus on the land. As we got closer to Montreux, the train goes right along the lake and is pretty breathtaking. Especially with the morning glow as the sun rose.

We arrived in Montreux and our first stop was Chateau de Chillon. It’s advertised as a castle but really it’s more like a large estate with defensive mechanisms. The Chateau is located basically on a rock right on the shore of Lake Geneva so it’s surrounded by the water on all sides. It had dungeons and ball rooms, and a defense tower. All the makings of a mini castle. The best part of the castle was definitely the views though. So gorgeous. Feast your eyes.

After exploring the castle, we opted to walk back to Montreux along the backs of the river. This was probably my favorite part of our whole trip. It was so peaceful and sunny and just overall spectacular. I’ll let the photos speak from themselves.

After our walk we found a nice spot for a bite to eat before our train back through Geneva. To be honest, I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but the burger with cheese from Switzerland was the best over $20 burger I’ve had (potentially the only burger I’ve ever had that cost that much). So that’s where I will leave you for the week. With a photo of my expensive burger. Oh and an Aperol Spritz because who doesn’t like a good Aperol Spritz. Next entry we will be headed somewhere I did not expect to go during my stint in Amsterdam or really ever for that matter – Colombia. Arriba arriba!

So my apologies loyal followers but work has gotten extremely busy and as a consequence my blogging has fallen behind. Almost 3 weeks ago (I know like I said I’m behind) we had some visitors from the Lone Star state grace us with their presence and I have yet to share the details of their visit with you. Well fear not! I have training this week so I have some time to catch you all up on the happenings of the Amsterdam Bartholomew’s.

Two days after the Oster’s departed Amsterdam to head back to the U S of A the Texas Bartholomew’s pulled into the Netherlands for a visit. They were fresh off their river boat journey through Central Europe and we were happy they added our new city to their itinerary before heading back to DFW. Brad and Beth did not arrive until late on Wednesday and I had a work event (see sushi made by yours truly below) so Bill greeted them. I didn’t see them until Thursday evening so I’ll start my recap there.

So Thursday. We met up with Brad and Beth at a local restaurant in the Pijp we had been wanting to try – Brasserie SenT. We tried to go here a few weeks ago but were turned away because we didn’t have a reservation. This time we came with reservation in hand. The appetizers we had were outstanding. I had a pork belly steam bun and Bill has a beef tartare dish with noodles. It was a promising outlook for the meal to come. We didn’t know it when we booked the restaurant but they specialized in different meat dishes cooked on non-other than a Big Green Egg. That’s right we took the Texans to a place with a meat cooked on a Big Green Egg. Enlightening. The Dutch sure knew how to use it though. The meat was fantastic and the frites perfectly crisp. It was a good start to the Bartholomew’s trip.

So day two. Unfortunately another day Bill and I had to work but we were happy to meet up as a group for dinner. Tonight’s selection was Rijks – the Michelin star restaurant under the Rijks museum. Very creative naming. Very Dutch. The meal was great. Another Michelin Star venue that didn’t make you order the fixed menu. We all decided to forgo the fixed menu and order a la carte. I remembered to take pictures of all the courses which is actually an achievement for me. First was the amuse bouche. A pear soaked in ginger. It was fascinating because although the pear slice was soaked through, it remained crisp. It was also served on this piece of wood which was a nice presentation.

Next up, oysters on the half shell. Nothing crazy here but I just love oysters. Still missing horseradish though… how can we make that a thing Amsterdam?

Keeping with the seafood trend, course two was a scallop ceviche with thinly sliced pumpkin on top. Now I love scallops and while this was quite tasty, I think I prefer them cooked.

My final course was my favorites of the mains – slow cooked short ribs. Definitely recommend this bad boy. Also note I Alison forgot to photograph this one but remembered halfway through.

Last but not least, dessert. I got the blackberry dessert which had different preparations of blackberries with some lavender ice cream. A great end to a lovely meal.

One final picture was the view from our table. Out the window you can see one of the towers of the museum itself. A nice backdrop to a nice meal.

Post dinner we attempted to go to the whiskey cafe but unsurprisingly it was at capacity so we instead had our nightcap back at our apartment.

Saturday started bright and early so Bill could head to the airport to meet our next guest – Jarik Jurica fresh off Mt Kilimanjaro. That right this crazy dude climbed the highest peak in Africa and thought ya I definitely will want to go be a tourist in Amsterdam for 24 hours directly afterwards… to Jarik’s credit though, he rallied. Once Jarik was on hand we went down to our now favorite brunch spot Bakers and Roasters. If you come visit us, there is a great likelihood we will also take you here. So take notes on which dishes look the best via this blog. Although there were several new items on the menu, I went back to the Navajo eggs and I have no regrets. Oh and a cute little build your own mimosa.

Post brunch the group broke into two. The males went and did a man activity i.e. the Heineken Experience and the woman did a woman activity i.e. shopping. After being in Amsterdam for two months I had a list of items I needed. My beloved heels are not sensible footwear in the city so the top items on the list were flats for work. Also, commuting in the rain has been a bit of an adjustment. After getting caught in a few downpours I need general waterproof gear – bag, shoes, coat, the works. After about two hours of shopping and much success we surrendered and headed home for diet cokes.

After resting our feet we agreed to meet the gents in the center (right back from where we came) to meet our boat tour. The Dam Boat guys. This is a great company to use if you’re coming to town. It is a small boat which allows you to interact with the captain, thereby getting a tour more catered to your interests. In addition, by being on a small boat you get to go down some of the more quaint canals which the big boats can’t fit. Oh and it didn’t hurt it was byob. Cheers!

After the boat trip Brad and Beth called it a day. They had an early early flight back to the States so they wanted to pack and rest beforehand. With only the millennials remaining, we met some of my EY coworkers at a boch beer festival in Dam square. The beer was actually reasonably priced (one token or 3€). It felt kinda cool too because it was clear this was definitely more of a local affair and we knew about it! Look at us becoming locals!

After lot of drinking we needed substance. We headed back toward the pijp and ate a LOT of pizza.

Sunday was Jarik’s last day but his flight didn’t leave until a little later so we had time for another brunch. We had a place all picked out but on our walk we went by the Avocado Show – basically picture any avocado dish you’ve seen on social media and you have this restaurant They very much seem to be centered on making insta worthy food. Anyways, the line is always miles long. Well this morning I don’t know what it was (maybe day light savings?) but there was no line. So we took advantage and decided to give it a try, see what the fuss was about. Well, as I expected the food was good but not great. It was definitely a place I would go to again but I 100% would not wait more than 20 minutes to eat there. No avocado toast is that good.

After breakfast Bill helped Jarik to the airport and I did a deep clean of the apartment before heading to Pilates then out for round two of shopping. This week I will end with a lovely photo of me and a coworker in our glamours new rain coats. Until next time!

Before we start, 10 points if you can name the movie I’m quoting in the title of this weeks blog. Ok now to start. Another week, another travel destination! The Oster parentals have returned from their adventure to Milan back to Amsterdam so we could head to Flanders in Belgium to visit the scenic cities of Bruges and Ghent. We took the train from Amsterdam Central after work Friday and headed west. Train travel in Europe is so easy. Don’t get my wrong, getting in and out of Schiphol is pretty easy but trains you don’t have to worry about how many liquids you have, you don’t have to allot time for long security lines, there is just less stress in general. Anyway, after about 3 hours and one train switch we made it to our first stop – Bruges. Earlier this week Bill had me watch the movie En Bruges in preparation for our trip. The movie was weird AF but the second we got off the train all I could hear in my head was Colin Farrel repetitively saying “In f-ing Bruges”. Not really related to our trip at all but if you have seen the movie you can probably hear Colin Farrel saying that exact line. We took a short taxi to our Airbnb which was extremely nice. I don’t know why people stay in hotels anymore. Our Airbnb was huge, allowed us all to stay together, had a central location, and was less expensive than a mediocre hotel. We even had little chocolates on our towels when we arrived. Shortly after “checking in” we were all off to bed to prepare for a full Saturday.

We woke up early Saturday to try and start the day before too many tourists were awake. We walked into the historic center for breakfast at a place called Sanseveria Bagelsalon which served you guessed it, bagels. The cafe itself was super cute. There were little nick knacks all over and every time you looked around there were new treasures to be discovered. The food was also too notch. We each got breakfast bagels mine with scrambled eggs, avocado, bacon and cheese. Dad got a hot chocolate and it was super fun. They serve you a mug of hot milk then a big chunk in chocolate on a stick that you dip into the milk and transform the drink into hot chocolate deliciousness.

Our bellies full, we left the bagelsalon headed for the bell tower which opened at 9:30. On the way, we stumbled across an extremely picturesque spot. This is actually the spot if you’ve seen the movie En Bruges where Colin Farrel jumps from the hotel window onto the boat into the canal. Anyway, we had the whole spot to ourselves which was apparently very lucky. We learned (and experienced) later on that this spot is one of the most heavily photographed in Bruges.

Aside from this spot, we also encountered more views along the way – enjoy.

So back to the Belfry. In our preparation for the trip we read you want to be there early to be at the front of the line which is very wise advice. First, as you would imagine the 366 step climb up the tower to views of the city is a popular tourist activity so it gets crowded. Second, the way up the tower is the same as the way down the tower. By arriving early you can make it all the way up without having to pause every 10 steps to allow people space to come down the steps. Finally, while the platform at the top has spectacular views it’s not an exceptionally large space. Being amongst the first people up there were were able to enjoy a peaceful experience not crowded by hoards of other people. On the way up (or down) there are a few interesting things to see. We saw the largest bell of the tower on its own floor. You were also able to go onto the floor where the inner workings of the clock were housed. There was also a big wheel which turned to play the 47 bell carillon. A carillon is basically a bell instrument. It can be played with that big wheel I mentioned similar to a music box and also can be played manually by an organ type thing. It looks similar to an organ but with handles and pedals as opposed to keys.

Now the views – worth the 366 step trek in my opinion.

Post workout (i.e. tower climb) we met our guide Anna at the base of the tower. Anna was an excellent tour guide and reasonably priced (€150 for 3 hours). I would highly recommend her to anyone traveling to Bruges or Ghent. Here is her website for your convenience if you’re ever interested: https://www.guide-for-ghent.com. Anyway, tours are very informative and I don’t want to overwhelm you with information so here are some of the most useful/interesting pieces of information I took away from the tour:

• The heyday of Bruges was the 1400’s. The city was located on the sea so it became a port where goods from all over Europe were traded. With all these different countries trading with one another, you needed a reliable facilitator of currency exchange. Out of this need the first “stock exchange” was formed.
• At the end of the 15th century the people of Bruges pissed off the king and as punishment the king took away the tax incentives of trading in the city. Without the incentives, trade moved up the river to Antwerp and Bruges started to decline. It declined to the point that 60% of the people at one point relied fully on public aid. Because the city became poor, it became a sort of time capsule as there was no money to build new infrastructure. All the untouched medieval architecture began to attract tourists in the late 19th century. Now, there are only 129k people in Bruges, 40k in central Bruges and they anticipate 7 million tourists will visit this year.
• There is a brewery in Bruges (Half Moon or Halve Maan) that actually has a beer pipeline. It is 3,200 meters long and takes the freshly brewed beer from the brewery in the city to the bottling facility just outside the city. They have a beer called the “Brugse Zot” which means the Bruges Joker. The legend goes that after Bruges started to fall they asked the king for money to build a mental hospital. His response was just wall the city and you would have a mental hospital. Since then the people of Bruges are known as jesters. We ended up circling back to the brewery post tour and the beers were quite good. They also have a nice outdoor space.
• Chocolate first came to Europe from the Americas following Colombus’ initial journey across the sea. The chocolate of that day was not the same as the chocolate that you and I know. It was extremely bitter and used mostly for medicinal purposes. It wasn’t until the 20th century that the first chocolate candies appeared. Belgium as you may know, is a center of chocolate so of course we had to stop for some treats.
  
• There is a church in the center of Bruges – Church of the Holy Blood- which houses a relic. During the Crusades a knight brought back a piece of cloth with drops of Christ’s blood. You can see the relic each day but it is only on display at certain times so if you’d like to see it do a little online research ahead of time.

Ok enough facts. We learned a whole lot more but I will save you. After the tour we went for lunch at a hole in the wall spot called soup serving, soup. The Flemish are apparently quite similar to the Dutch in the sense that this far the naming of establishments thus far has been pretty self explanatory. The place was packed which is generally a good sign. Although the weather was pretty nice it was pleasant to have a nice warm bowl of pumpkin soup to warm me up on a fall day. We went to see the relic I mentioned above them decided to go to the Historium museum right on the main square after a recommendation from our guide. I am not sure I agree with the recommendation. The museum takes you through a day in the 14th century heyday of Bruges but it’s a cheesy romance story that was hard to follow and did not really do it for me. There is a beer bar attached to the museum which you can go to without a ticket that looks out over the square. I would recommend doing this. There were also a few exhibits at the end of the museum which were ok. My personal favorite was the photo op – see Bill below.

There is also a virtual technology experience which had technology from about 3 years ago but did allow you to see what the city looked like in 1435. David loved it.

Post museum we got chocolate, went to the brewery then ventured to dinner at a restaurant called Mojo. There are no shortage of highly rated restaurants in Bruges but everything had 4 euro signs on TripAdvisor and had fixed menus. Mojo was near the top of the ratings list, allowed you to order for yourself, and was more reasonably priced. We did less of a good job ordering different items and 3 people ordered the Beef Stew while I got the lamb and sausage with couscous. Everything was tastyyyyyy. We of course had to get dessert and the special of an apple blueberry crumble with vanilla ice cream was calling our name. A great ending note to a beautiful day in picture perfect Bruges.

Sunday morning and it was off the Ghent, 30 minutes south of Bruges. Immediately getting off the train you could tell this was more of a living city with more actual residents and fewer tourists. We met up with our same guide from the previous day and it was off to the races. Our guide lived in Ghent so you could really feel her passion for the city. Similar to Bruges, I won’t bore you with all the facts but give you a few bullet points if facts:

• Similar to Bruges Ghent was a city of trade. They mainly traded grain, fish and cloth. The city is between two rivers the Lys (the lady) and the Sheldon (the male). There are symbols of the male and female figures throughout the city
• The clock tower in the city had a ground level that was used as a market for cloth. When wool went out of fashion, the market was no longer being used. In need of tenants, they let the second level to the guild of fencers. Today, 400 years later, the fencing guild still rents the space… For the same cost as 400 years ago. Talk about rent control. Our guide took us up to the level of the guild and we were able to see a few of the beginners in a match which was very neat. Everyone was extremely friendly. They were a little confused why we were there but they were telling us all these facts and even offered to show us their “museum”.

• Ghent is a city of students. Of the 259K residents, 70K are students.
• There is a lighting installation in the square near the fortress that is connected to the Ghent maturity ward. Every time a baby is born, the family gets to press a button that will illuminate the lamps in the square.

In the main church there is an alter piece by the famous Flemish artist Van Eyck (don’t feel bad if you don’t know who that is I didn’t either). There is a lot of symbolism and meaning in the alter piece (I’ll spare you). The alter piece throughout history has been stolen and returned and stolen and returned. It was one of the pieces saved by the Monument Men during WW2. Currently, there is still one panel missing. It was stolen and the church was prepared to pay the ransom but the police said they would find it. Well they took too long and now the man who stole the painting has died and they still don’t know where it is.

Well this blog post is getting a bit long so I will wrap up here with some more photos of Ghent. Next weekend is the Bartholomew parental invasion plus Jurica party of one. Looking forward to showing more friends and family our new “home”.

This was a special weekend as my parents made the journey across the Atlantic to come pay us a visit in our new temporary home. They left Denver on Thursday, got delayed in Chicago, and arrived about an hour and a half behind schedule on Friday morning. Thankfully my job, especially as a manager, provides me a certain amount of flexibility so I was able to log on from home in order to meet them when they arrived. Around lunch they arrived at their hotel and I went over to meet them. Now some of you are saying, “a hotel but you have spare bedrooms!” Well, there are two fatal flaws to the house. The stairs are the first. With my moms knees going up and especially going down the stairs is pretty treacherous. The second is the mattress in the spare room. It’s a great mattress for guests staying a few days or for those who can’t afford or want to pay to stay in a hotel but it does leave something to be desired. The hotel we recommended is right around the corner from us across the canal, nh museum quarter. Seeing their room, it looks like a nice place to set up shop for their stay. They upgraded one level to the standard room with a view and got a very nice view of the canal below. Anyway back to the blog, after meeting we went around the corner to a little cafe, Cafe Loetje. The cafe was in a cute little square with a Church. We sat outside in the nice fall sunshine. They got very lucky and arrived on a weekend with fantastic weather forecasted. The ambiance coupled with the beautiful weather made for a nice experience. The food was also quite nice. We ordered sandwiches and frites. HUGE sandwiches. Definitely should have split them. The fries were paired with mayo – of course – and I will say I’m becoming a bit of a convert… the mayo here tastes different than mayo at home. It’s slightly sweeter I think. Once we paid the bill I had to go into the office for a few meetings and we set a time to meet for dinner.

Dinner was at a restaurant we have been waiting to try until we had visitors called ZaZa. It was worth the wait! We told them we were celebrating my mom’s birthday which was last week and they had a nice set up with balloons and little bows on the glasses for the occasion. Bill and I started with starters – me a carrot and coconut soup that had quite the presentation – and Bill a scallop dish. I normally win the food ordering game but this time I think Bill was the victor. The scallops were delicious and sat on some sort of tart thing that was incredible.

Moving onto the mains we did something very obscure for Oster’s, we all ordered different things. I had the lamb, Bill the rib eye, dad the shrimp and risotto, and mom the ravioli. Everything was terrific but I think the ravioli won. Hard to beat good ravioli. Everyone debated dessert but I knew I wanted something. The bread pudding was calling my name. Fabulous. Warm, moist, flavorful, everything you want in a bread pudding but are generally disappointed to not find.

We were boring after dinner and just retired for the evening to prepare for a busy day Saturday.

Saturday we were up early for our tour of the Van Gogh museum. On our way we noticed that the much instagrammed I AMsterdam sign was fairly empty so we stopped to get our gram on and take some pictures. It was fun to be a little silly and Mom was quite proud of her poses. If you want your picture here when you come visit, I suggest going early as well. By the time we finished our museum venture the sign was packed with people.

Once the photo shoot concluded we went over to the museum. We arranged for a private tour guide for an hour. The hour wasn’t long enough to make it through the full museum so we rented an audio guide for the remainder. The guide was informative but too be honest, for the price I’m not sure you need a guide for this museum. The audio guide is organized very well and will take you through everything with ease. So advice for visitors – save some money and just go with the guide. In between the guide and the audio guide we did take a break in the cafe which was quite nice. They had a very large selection of food and beverages (including wine and beer). If you built your visit around a meal you would be pleasantly surprised. It is also to break up so much touring.

After the museum we took my parents to the Albert Cuyp market and had them try stroopwafels. I am not sure they appreciated them quite as much as I did but they humored me at least to say they enjoyed them. We picked up a roasted chicken and some hummus and bread for lunch. We intended to take it for a picnic in Vondelpark but ultimately decided a table and proper cutlery were more appealing than a picnic so we ate at our apartment. We did, however, make it to the park after lunch. It was the perfect park weather so we couldn’t pass it up. Apparently the rest of Amsterdam felt the same way because it was packed with people. After about an hour, we felt the effects from so much walking around and my parents went back to the hotel to rest before dinner. I used it as an opportunity to catch up on my trashy Bravo shows – thank you VPN.

When my parents returned to our apartment I practiced my domestic skills and prepared a nice charcuterie board for us to enjoy.

Then we were off to Bistrot de Alpes. We to eat around the city and have been trying to go to different places, careful not repeat too many restaurant. This place was so good the first time, however, we returned a second time. The food is Swiss style – i.e. fondue and melted cheese (you can probably now see why we returned). We got the staple cheese pasta and the raclette. I think I blogged about this previously but to recap, cheese block + heat lamp = melted cheese goodness.

Dinner was capped off with a great creme brûlée. Perfectly crisp on top without being burned and cold and creamy in the center.

Sunday we started with another brunch repeat at Bakers and Roasters. We all got different things again! Proud of us team! This time I tried the Kiwi Brekkie which was top notch. I forgot to take a photo – sorry!- so settle for a picture of my chai tea.

The big activity for the day was the Anne Frank house tour. If you visit us in Amsterdam and want to go to the Anne Frank house (which is worth it so you should) you must buy tickets well in advance online. Some of you are saying, “oh Jenny you’re exaggerating because you are a planner. I’ll just get them there. No big deal.” This is not in fact Jenny the over planner telling you to buy tickets online. There is literally no other way to buy them. They must be purchased online. They also only allow a certain number of people into the museum every 15 minute so your ticket is for a designated time slot. They limit the number of people allowed to enter during each slot so there is a fixed number of tickets each day. Because there is a set number of tickets available, the museum tends to sell out about a month in advance plus or minus depending if you come at a busy tourist month or not. Anyway back to the tour. If you haven’t read the diary before or it’s been a hot minute I would suggest reading up. Bill specifically reread it before our visit and helped give us little nuggets of info as we went through. The museum has a good audio tour and signs if you don’t have time to or don’t want to read it but it is helpful to have some context. The house itself is very small and there isn’t a vast amount on display but to me the museum is more about what it represents than its contents. It is one family’s story from a horrible moment in human history when people allowed hatred to overpower human decency and turn against their neighbors, their friends, their brothers. Anne’s story is a reminder that this sort of hatred exists and we need to remember and mourn the victims of this atrocity to leave this sort of hatred in the history books and not allow it to creep back into our present. Very powerful thoughts.

To go back to a lighter note, after the Anne Frank house we decided to try the insta famous Winkel 43 for some apple pie because what is a better pick me up than dessert? It’s a great slice of pie that’s for sure. It’s different than American apple pie but call me blasphemous, I liked it more… the crust was almost a crumble and tasted like cinnamon. Delicious. By the time we arrived it was about 2 in the afternoon which was good because we missed the lunch rush and were able to find a table. It’s first come first serve so you have to be ready to pounce if you see a spot open up.

We didn’t have anymore formal plans for the day so we decided to do the Rick Steve’s free city tour through his app. The tour itself was pretty good but I didn’t particularly enjoy doing it on a Sunday afternoon with perfect weather. The center was a mad house and getting around was like trying to walk towards the stage at a concert. We did see a few things we had not including the flower market. This time of year there aren’t a ton of fresh blooms on display, more bulbs. I must say I’m excited to come back in the spring when all the fresh cut flowers are out. At the tail end of the tour we also did something particularly Dutch. We tried herring. We did sort of cop out by getting the version in a sandwich. Overall it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be – slightly less fishy. I can’t say I’ll be rushing back for more however.

That was the end of our weekend adventure with the Osters. Monday they headed off to Switzerland and Milan for the week but they will be back Thursday then the crew is off to Bruges and Ghent in Belgium! For now, I’ll leave you with the video of Bill’s first bite. Bottoms up!