Memorial Day weekend

Friday afternoon we drove to Karl and Audrey's for part of the holiday weekend. They spoiled us with dinner Friday night (steaks, baked potatoes and wine) 

Saturday morning we played with Aurora and after everyone got ready for the day we headed to Saint Arnold Brewery for a tour/tasting. http://www.saintarnold.com/  

Saint Arnold Brewing Company is the oldest craft brewery in Texas. The tour cost $10 per person and include the 1 hour tour, a souvenir glass and a tasting of up to 4 different Saint Arnold beers. After our afternoon at the brewery we enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner at an Italian restaurant. I can't remember the name of it, but the pizza was very good! Aurora was an angel and slept most of the time. She is shown here in one of her new outfits we brought.  The photo in her car seat was her sucking on her fingers...just like Andrew. So cute!!
Sunday we would leave for home so we would have one day at home before Doug's next business trip.

Memorial Day we went up to the Elliott's and Doug helped Josh put together Andrew's new loft bed.  He had been sleeping in the crib as a youth bed. So he is now officially out of the crib so it can be used for the new baby's arrival in August.

Dallas 3.3 Earthquake

Monday afternoon I was working at my desk..when my monitor started shaking and then the house shook with a loud shudder.  I wrote down the time 1:14pm. on my notepad to compare it with any local stories of earthquakes. I called Jill to see if she felt anything and she didn't..maybe only a loud noise. I told her I thought it was an earthquake. I then called Doug and he said he felt one at his work. It moved his computer monitor about an inch.  Who knew we wouldn't have to be in California to experience our first earthquake.
 

 This is the official news report of that earthquake from the Associated Press.

The Dallas area has been shaken by a 3.3 magnitude earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake happened at 1:14 p.m. Monday, with the epicenter 3 miles south-southwest of Farmers Branch.  Dallas police had no immediate reports of any injuries or damage. Parts of rural West Texas had a 3.1 magnitude earthquake late Sunday afternoon. USGS reports the 3.1 magnitude quake was centered about 20 miles west-northwest of Fort Stockton. A 4.0 magnitude earthquake recorded May 7 was centered about 30 miles southwest of Dallas. That quake was the sharpest ever detected in North Texas.

The Texas Railroad Commission the next day ordered the operators of five disposal wells near the area to perform tests and gather seismic data.

Mother's Day 2015

I spent Mother's Day sick with a cold (fever, sore throat, runny nose) Not a fun day!!

This was the Edible Arrangement sent by Jackie & Jonathan.
They also left me a card before they went on vacation to Colorado.

 Doug picked me a pink rose from our rose garden.

 Jill, Josh and Andrew gave me a card with a 4 pack of tropical scented soaps.

 Karl, Audrey & Aurora sent me a bouquet of tulips and irises.

Amsterdam - Day 7

Wednesday, May 6th

Another late start as this is our last day in Amsterdam. I have been able to check off all my things on my "TO SEE" list so Doug has always wanted to see the Amsterdam Museum.  (Cost €12,00 per person)

Formerly called Amsterdam Historical Museum, or in Dutch: Amsterdams Historisch Museum. Located in the very center of Amsterdam (5 minutes from Dam Square), this museum is crucial for understanding Amsterdam rich history. Apart from its permanent art treasures, Amsterdam Museum presents interesting temporary shows – not only about Amsterdam recent history, but also about its people, arts, fashion and crafts.

The history of Amsterdam has been presented chronologically, on three floors of the museum with a huge respect for the tradition (remarkable paintings). This rich presentation has been made with an eye for different social aspects of the city life, its religions as well as urban folklore and diverse subcultures, including entertainment and prostitution.

Most of Amsterdam is below sea level.

 An actual piling used under the buildings in 1500s.

Our last dinner was at The Old Bell. I had the same thing as I did on the first day. The weinerschnitzel without the mushroom sauce and fries. Awesome!!

Back to the hotel to pack and prepare for our flight home on Thursday.

Amsterdam - Day 6

Tuesday, May 5th

This was also a Dutch Holiday "Liberation Day". In the Netherlands, Liberation Day (Dutch: Bevrijdingsdag) is celebrated each year on May the 5th to mark the end of the occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Breakfast at the hotel again.

I decided to not take my coat today and wear a short sleeve shirt. A BIG MISTAKE!!

Another adventure, Centrale Station to take Bus #316 to Volendam to see a local cheese market tour/tasting (Simon Hoeve cheese market- http://www.simonehoeve.com/en/).  All day bus ticket €10,00 per persron. This would end up to be a very, very rainy day. We got off the bus and luckily the cheese market was not far from the bus stop. The tour/tasting was free.  We bought a special cheese knife to use for more mature cheese. Who knew we were doing it wrong all this time!

Luckily we didn't have to wait to long for the next bus. We rode the bus in to the city of Volendam and had lunch at a quaint little restaurant on the corner. AMVO DE GASTHEER VAN VOLENDAM. We enjoyed a ham/cheese sandwich, with frites (fries) of course. We tried the Dutch dessert AppleCake along with a couple of bieres (Westmalle Dubbel, Dagsoep) and Coca-Cola light. (Cost €27,90)

Volendam is a village of fishermen, music and cheese.  My kind of place!We took the bus back to Centrale Station.

We had dinner at D'Antica Restaurante. A Very upscale restaurant serving genuine Italian food. We had brushetta as an appetizer; then I had the Ravioli filled with ricotta cheese and spinach in a sauce of butter and sage. Doug had the Tagliatelle with veal/beef tomato sauce. For dessert we shared a large portion of tiramisu. (Cost €78,46)

Back to the hotel for drinks.

Amsterdam - Day 5

Monday, May 4th

Another wonderful breakfast at the hotel.

We decided to be adventurous today and walked to Central Station to take a bus (Bus # 391) to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills. It cost €10,00 each for an all day bus ticket. This is called the Industrial Heritage Line. The bus departs every 15 minutes from Platform E at the bus station at Amsterdam Centrale Station.  The bus makes several stops along the way so we went through NDSM Wharf (where the largest ships in the world were built) as well as Zaandam City Centre.  We had planned on stopping there on the way back for lunch but we spent too much time at the Zaanse Schans windmills.

The Zaanse Schans http://www.dezaanseschans.nl/en/ takes you back to Holland at the 18th and 19th centeruy. Dutch wooden windmills are on display and available for tours at €4,00 each. We visited the windmill that was working as a commercial saw mill.

In addition to the windmills we saw the Zaanse Schans museum, Verikade Pavillion. Together, the Zaans Museum and the Verkade Pavilion make the tastiest museum in the Netherlands. The collection is extremely wide-ranging and is presented in a contemporary way. It features utensils, clothing and paintings as well as factory equipment from the food industry, and as you make your way through the museum you can press on various displays and try and package as many biscuits and sweets as you can in a computer game. There is always something exciting to experience in the Netherlands’ tastiest museum. You can imagine you are in an early 20th-century factory, with authentic machinery in full working order. The history of chocolate and biscuits comes to life in the place where the famous Verkade girls used to work.

We also visited an old cooperage and a wooden shoe making workshop. There were a few other smaller museums we missed (A.H. supermarket, bakery museum, time museum etc..)

ZAANSE SCHANS WINDMILL PHOTOS

We took bus #391back to Amsterdam. We had a little trouble navigating Dam Square as it was a Dutch holiday Memorial Day and the Dutch royal family was placing memorial wreaths in front of the Royal Palace.

We rushed to get back to the hotel to freshen up and change for our fancy evening out at Haesje Claes.

“Haesje Claes” is a restaurant situated in the historical center of Amsterdam, between the Spui and the Dam square, across from the Amsterdam Museum. The restaurant occupies six, epic buildings, in which the original architectural features such as little steps, corridors and hallways all have been preserved. Likewise, the exterior of the building is a beautiful example of traditional Dutch architecture.  We had three appetizers (smoked eel, carpaccio of beef with Old Amsterdam cheese and pea soup w/sausage); Entrees: Sauted salmon with lobster sauce, Sauted cod with mustard sauce. Beverages: Malbec wine, two different bieres: De Koninck and Op &Top. (Cost €76,00)

Amsterdam - Day 4

Sunday, May 3rd

We slept in this morning and got up just in time to get a late breakfast at the hotel.  Today would be a very rainy day so we planned on getting some souvenir shopping done locally.

We stopped and had some Vlaamse Frites (fries/w sauce) for an afternoon snack. You probably remember the conversation in the movie "Pulp Fiction" about the French fries in Amsterdam, where they discuss that the most common condiment served with them is mayonnaise. Not only is that true, but French fries are an obsession in the Netherlands and it’s difficult to find a restaurant in Amsterdam that doesn’t serve them.  As you walk through the city you’ll notice many little take-away shops whose primary decorations are oversized cartoon depictions of a bag of fries. Some of them also serve falafels and other Middle Eastern food, but many of them do their primary business selling these salty high-carb treats. You’ll never have to walk more than a couple of blocks to get your fix, even late at night. 

After the rain let up, we proceeded to "The Old Bell" for a beer or two, and then back to the hotel for you guessed it..more drinks.

Dinner was at EATMOSFERA Restaruant..just a short distance from the hotel.
We each had a pizza and wine. I had the Pizza of the Day €15,00 (see photo) and Doug had a Speck E Fontina pizza €13,50 (Total cost of the meal and drinks = €40.50)

This was a much more laid back day due to the rain.

Amsterdam - Day 3

Saturday, May 2nd

Another wonderful breakfast at the Banks Mansion.  Today I tried a chocolate sprinkles sandwich. Every morning Dutch people consume some untoasted brown bread covered with butter or margarine and sprinkled with hagelslag (famous Dutch chocolate sprinkle). And then to top it off, they don't pick it up and eat it like a sandwich, they use a knife and fork and cut it up in bite size portions. Although it tastes pretty good, it is the weirdest combination of ingredients I think I've ever heard of mixing together.  At the end of the week, I purchased a three pack of sprinkles (dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate) to bring back for my family and friends to try.

We walked through Dam Square onto Lindberg Travel (near Central Station) to board our tour bus to the Kukenhof Gardens. Travel by coach through the beautiful Dutch countryside. This extensive tour (€50,00 per person) takes you through the spectacular bulb fields, the coastal region between Maarlem and Leiden. The highlight of the excursion is the half-day tour of the Keukenhof Gardens from Amsterdam. This is the world’s largest flower garden (79 acres) and is truly a memorable sight in the spring.

Stroll down winding paths lined with millions of blossoming tulips, narcissis, daffodils, hyacinths and bluebells and dotted with lovely greenhouses, brooks and shady ponds. Stop by a special exhibit in one of the pavilions. We visited a sandwich vendor (grilled ham on a bun for €4,50) and a fresh strawberry with cream vendor. (€4.50) There had to be several hundred thousand people at this garden. It is only open to the public from mid-March to mid-May.  After our time at the gardens, we boarded the coach and head back to Amsterdam.

Please see this link to view several hundred tulip pictures if you are interested. Some of the photos are of the many tulip fields on the way to and from the Keukenhof as well as some of my favorite tulips.

Tulip Farm photos

Keukenhof photos

We walked back to the hotel for drinks. Went shopping at the A/H Supermarket to buy four cans of  Illy Coffee to bring home (way cheaper than buying it in the states).  Albert Heijn B.V. is the biggest Dutch supermarket chain founded in 1887 in Oostzaan, Netherlands. It is named after Albert Heijn Sr. the founder of the first store in Oostzaan.

We stopped at a little ice cream shop and enjoyed a stroopwafel/caramel cone and a strawberry cheesecake cone. Homemade and Delicious! 

We had dinner reservations at De NachtWatch (The Night Watch). This was a BBQ & Steakhouse located on Thorbeckeplein 2; We shared an order of the BBQ Spare Ribs with Patat (fries) and Gemengde salad along with a Affligem Dubbel biere and Pepsi Light. (Cost: €33,80)

Amsterdam - Day 2

Friday, May 1st.

After a large breakfast at the hotel kitchen. There are two different stations for food.

This is the breads, pastry, meats/cheese, yogurt station.

 This is the breakfast made to order station.

 I had a ham/cheese omelet with bacon every day. Doug had scrambled eggs with sausage.

After breakfast we went out exploring. We walked through the Bloemenmarket
The Bloemenmarkt is the world's only floating flower market. Founded in 1862, it is sited in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Singel between Muntplein and Koningsplein in the city's southern canal belt.

 This is the back view of the Bloemenmarket that shows they are actually a floating flower market.
When we first walked through in the morning, there were no people as the shop owners were just setting up. By the time we returned later in the afternoon, the market was full of shoppers (see below)

 An example of the tulips for sale as blooms

 An example of the tulips for sale as bulbs.

Our next stop was the Blue Boat Company for a Canal Cruise around Amsterdam. €10,00 each.
This is a  75 minute tour passing all the city highlights (Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum, Dam Square, Van Gogh Museum, Central Station, City Hall, Rembrandt house, Vondelpark, etc.)

 Houses in Amsterdam are very small (tall and skinny) as they are taxed on the size of the house front.  Most houses are settling and are leaning forward or sideways (as shown below).  But a lot of people actually live on the water in house boats (see above).  Some are very nice but some look like a shack on a pontoon base.

 This is a view of the IBIS hotel ...but look at all the bikes.  This is nothing compared to the three level bike parking garage we saw at Central Station.  Bike repair business in Amsterdam has to be big business!

After our boat tour, we walked to Stalstratt 21 to eat at Puccini (an espressobar) for lunch. We enjoyed sandwiches (salami/prusciutto) and 2 cappuccinos. Total cost €22,65

We then walked to the Central Station area to exchange our money for euros. We did some souvenir shopping. We purchased a bottle of wine to enjoy in the room, assortment of teas for home and purchased a Christmas ornament as a rememberance for our trip. We also found a Harley Davidson store and I bought my co-worker Jane a Harley Davidson Amsterdam t-shirt as a thank-you for covering me while I was on vacation.  Then it was back to the hotel for complimentary drinks and appetizers.

Dinner at Isola Bella.  The restaurant Isola Bella has an authentic Italian cuisine  The restaurant is located at the Thorbeckeplein 7, close to the famous Rembrandt Square. We enjoyed a lovely Italian dinner with fresh food and attentive staff. Jimmy the owner came over to visit Doug and meet me.  MENU  I had the Spaghetti Bolognese and I don't remember what Doug had for dinner. Lost the receipt :-(

Back to the hotel for drinks and then we walked to the Red Light District. 
The Amsterdam Red Light District is the largest and best known red-light district in  Holland and consists of a network of alleys containing approximately three hundred one-room cabins rented by prostitutes who offer their sexual services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights. These "kamers" are the most visible and typical kind of red light district sex work in Amsterdam and are a large tourist attraction. Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, with the exception of street prostitution

The Red Light District was not as bad as I thought it would be. I anticpated a much more vulgar/provocative setting. My surprise was the setting for these services (a number of old catholic churches that had not been converted to a protestant church during the revolt).