We started the day at he market, one last time, Jason really loves the herring! I did not partake this go round but I did peep some pretty pretty mushrooms
After the market, we took a short walk down one of the many side streets from the market plain. It was time for a real breakfast, well that was the idea but I ended up ordering a salmon salad. Way off base but super delicious.
This was our view while we waited for foods. Sadly I do not remember the name of the place.
After brunch, I guess I’ll call it, We hoofed it back to the cave to wait for our ride. Esther came to pick us up – we all 5 piled into a Mini Cooper Countrymen – the driver was only about 40 minutes – we walked around Soest, the childhood home of Jason and Shannon. It was neat to see their faces light up and all the fun memories bubbling up.
Shit picture but this was in the right behind their old house, I thought I had a pic of them in the front of their house but I think Brian took that one and not me.
Cute little pond that in the coldest of winters will freeze up and they could ice skate, right behind their house. So cool.
We popped back into the car and headed over to the Castle! Kasteel Groeneveld is in Baarn, NL. Esther and her family lived at this castle for 6 years in while growing up. I can’t even imagine, ME: Oh yes, friends, just droppedp me off at my house. FRIEND, uhmm, yea OK. You guys, this was her literal home. Built in 1710 as an example of a typical country home.
Esther dropped us off and headed back to her house to pickup Oma (Jason & Shannons mom). We met at the cafe at the Castle and had some Frites and Coffees. Our time was pretty limited because we had to be back to Utrecht for our tour of the DOMunder. More on that later. Here are some pretty pics of the Castle outside for you to enjoy.
Stay tuned for part 6, I ran out of space on this post. I did not know that was a thing but here I am. No more space. booo.
Not every day can be perfect when traveling with a group.
This morning started out a little rough, some schedule confusion led to a wee bit of one or two of us melting down. The plan veered off course but it’s fine, we regrouped and will hit the Castle tomorrow.
So, we relaxed for a bit then took a walk about.
Back to the apartment for more relaxing and a little cleanup. Jason’s mom & a few long time family friends were set to meet us at the air bnb at 3pm.
They arrived on time, we sat, had coffee and talked until it was time to start walking to the rondvaart (canal cruise) launch.
Our air bnb view from the canal cruise
Back on land, we hoofed it up the stairs to street level and went to the OUDAEN for tea, beers, wine and tapas.
The Oudaen, was built in 1280 and is now a cafe, restaurant, brewery and hall rental. 746 years old 🤯
We don’t have these options at our establishments at home. mint and hot water, ginger and hot water and earl grey.
Goodbyes were said and we headed back to the apartment.
More bread and cheese then off to sleep!
Only one more full day left. I’m so glad we decided to stick to Utrecht and not try to cram too much in to one week.
So many hours in the bed last, my sleep score was 73 even though I woke up many times. I did feel good enough to start my day at the gym.
This view! Sure, after a hard leg work out go ahead and try your luck with these stairs.
Not only did I survive but I didn’t even break anything.
So I headed back to the apartment to shower so we could all start our day of wandering.
#OOTD Looking like a fisherman
First, coffee. At the bagels & beans. And while I was waiting for my coffee I ran to the media markt so I could get a new SD card, the one I brought only was 8GB
Caffeinated!
Off to the market for some fresh herring and stroopwafels!
I ate mine with bread.
So, the flavor was delicious but I do not like the texture of the herring. If I were to order this again I would have to asked for more pickles.
Then, more bikes
Walked over to the Dom Kerk again to try to book a tour of the tower and the basement of the tower. Sadly, they were sold out. This week is some kind of off week for the schools so they booked up quickly.
More walking around, went to some gift shops, ate some frite and krokette of course.
Another sleepless night, my watch told me my sleep score was 53 last night. Needless to say, I did not get out of bed until almost 9am.
No gym today. 😊 I thought we were going to hike up the Dom Tower but… that did not happen. We did tour through the Dom Kerk and its courtyard. It was beautiful. So crazy to think how long this has been standing.
On the way over we spotted these bikes that were just pulled out of the canal!
Canal bikes
Apparently, they pull out about 3000 bikes from the canals in Utrecht every year. What are you doing, people lol 😂
Coming up on the Dom Tower made me audibly gasp. It’s enormous, intricate and I was in awe.
We spent about an hour in the church part. Heads up, if you have to use the restroom, it costs .70 euro so make sure you bring some coins 😅
The cost to get in to the church is a donation n a denomination of your choice.
Back outside, we took a left to check out the courtyard. Pretty sweet architecture here too.
Of course a selfie 😊
With that we were done. I was ready but not ready to tackle the tower and all 465 steps however my traveling partners do not seem too into. So we walked back to the apartment where we brainstormed dinner ideas.
At 4pm. Like true US residents in their 50’s. 😂
We were the only ones in the restaurant, we walked in and they were cleaning. Specifically, mopping the floors. A black cat with white spots ran past us while I asked if they could seat the four of us for dinner.
He looked confused and then asked someone if it was ok. We must have passed the test because we were seated .
Cute spot at the canal level
The… best… food I have had this trip.
The cuisine is Balkan and i am a new fan.
My plate. Yes, I ate it allJason’s plate
What I love about dining in Holland (I think it also true for other EU countries) is that they seat you, take your order, feed you, then leave you along until you ask for the check.
That said, we stayed a while to let our food settle, then you walked back to the apartment. We all just chilled for a while and then Shannon and Brian went out to a bar, Jason and I hung back not really feeling the bar scene.
Friday the 13th, Thursday was galentines with the friends. There were 5 of us,
We each brought 4 gift bags of items we each like and use daily. It’s a cool theme that introduces our friends with things we love and can’t “love without”.
There was a full on delicious spread of food and drinks. Amy made a tasty and gorgeous charcuterie boards with all the meats and cheeses and grapes. Tracy brought cookies and chocolate covered strawberries, Jessica (?) brought carprese salad and toasted baguette. Amy also made a non-alcoholic sangria. So good! Cherry juice, sprite, lemon and limes, I added a splash of seltzer water and it was bomb.
We opened and shared gifts, snacked, talked and watched Pitch Perfect. I didn’t get to finish because I wanted to leave early to make sure I had all of my stuff together and ready for our flight to the Holland the next morning!!
I had packed the majority of my bags a couple of days before hand, after all, in Arizona the weather has been in the 80’s I did not need anything i was taking with me. I picked up around the house a bit then went to bed. I did not sleep much. Alarm was set for 4am, I woke up but did not get out of bed, just watched some TV for an hour.
Shannon and Brian came to our place, uber doober picked us up super early but it was fine, we had it in our heads this whole day is only for travel. 👎🏼
First flight to Salt Lake City.
The second leg of the flight, from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, was lonnnggg. 9 hours and 35 minutes. I watched 2 movies and flip flopped in my seat uncomfortably. I won’t bore you with too much detail here, most of you know how it feels to fly coach.
Passports stamped, luggage retrieved we headed to arrivals where we met our family friends, the sun and a burst of ice cold wind!! It was enough to give us the energy we needed to wake up after a long flight.
The 30 minute drive to their house went by fast enough, I wasn’t paying attention to anything outside because I can’t even tell you what I thought about the landscape.
At the house, we had coffee, pastries and caught up on the little things.
It was gezellig ☺️
Chats at the tablePatio poses
After a couple of hours it was time for us to head to the train station. Just a five minute walk from the house.
Another 30 minute ride to Utrecht we go!
This is what exhaustion looks like
We hoofed it to the air bnb which was not the easiest to find for us in our current mental state of exhaustion. But we did it! side note, when I say we I meant my 3 companions, between the 3 of them, they figured it out. I’m shit with a map.
Down a steep flight of stairs to canal level we found our home for the week.
From floor to ceiling the little cave is 7 feet tall. I just measured it with my phone.
A quick walk to the grocery store and we had dinner.
Too lazy to cook, too tired to go out to eat, we had boterham, kaas and brood.
Another walk about because…. Sneeuw!!!
Sneeuw on the canal More sneeuw ❄️
Back at the air bnb we hung out and tried to get sleepy… it took forever. 1130pm, and then I woke up every hour until 2am then sleep until 5am and then sleep until 745.
Coffee time! Took some me time and went to the gym next door. 15 euro for a day pass. Super cute and functional space.
Who needs the stair master 😂
The place was an amazing maze with multiple levels. Side note, their weights are in Kilos so, to me, when I was lifting them it looked like I was lifting soooo much weight 🤗
After gym.. shower time then lunch
We took a little walk around the canal and found a not so busy kitchen & bar called, Quignon. Of course I had krokette and frite .
Yes, I did.
Snarf, snarf, snarf, we ate, we paid, we left.
Stopped at some shops where I bought nothing 😌
Back to the grocery store for foods for the apartment, then a luxurious nap!
I don’t know if I slept for one hour or two but I do know I needed it and I feel like I need more. This jet lag is real.
Gah! I can’t believe you’re almost gone. I wanted to do something fun with you, like get out of town.
Weekend in the pines or a day trip to the snow, a hike somewhere new. None of that happened.
I did start training very early for a half marathon and have stuck to it every week running 3 days a week and increasing mileage according to the Hal Higdon training half marathon training plan for a novice.
I bought myself a pair of sweet new running shoes. Poor associate at the shoe store, he worked hard for his commissions. I swear I tried on 8 pairs of shoes, 3 different brands. I wanted Saucony but they didn’t have my size in any fun colors. Hoka was next but same… no fun colors. I broke down and got the Brooks. I was reluctant because for some reason I think of old”er” people when i think of Brooks. I thought they were along the lines of New Balance 🤣 but look at how cute they are!
Ask me how fast I can go in my new shoes!
Not only do I love the color but they are the most comfy fluffy running shoes I’ve ever worn. I’ve out 21 miles in them so far.
Dry January has been super easy for me. Today marks day 34. Interesting to note I have not dropped a single pound 🤨
Last weekend I went to a bar to watch some live music and hang out with a couple of friends. On the way to the bar I drank a CBD drink. I swear by these, Mad Tasty
I feel chill after I drink one of these and I can hang out for like 4-5 hours in one place! Unheard of, for me anyway. I wonder if I can buy stock in this. 🤓 I get them at my local Total Wine, I grab 2 every time. I stayed up way until 1am- who am I? 🤣🤣
I went out for pizza and I didn’t get my basic pepperoni. I tell you this Holy Shitake Mushroom from Mellow Mushroom was unbelievably delicious. I may have had a slice for breakfast the next day.
Holy shitake this was good 👍🏼
So although I did not get out of town this month I did manager to do some things not in my usual routine.
I cannot believe this trip was two months ago. I’ve been to Oregon now two times and I love it there. Not Portland though, Portland is a super sad, dirty place in dire need of assistance. That’s another blog that you won’t see written by me. I’m sorry Portland but I’m moving on. Moving on to the beautiful coast.
We flew in to Eugene, picked up our rental and headed out west like Fieval! The drive was filled with the color green at every turn. There first two nights we stayed in Yachats. Small little coastal town that I now keep checking Zillow for houses for sale. Yea, I have dreams. In this post, I will be ping-ponging around because I just did a little bit of a photo dump and I don’t feel like trying to remember places and things or order in general. All good, it gives you a teeny look into the inner workings of my brain. No order and super random.
Giant rock off the coast near her Devils Punchbowl. I think this actually may be called Otter Rock? Devils punchbowl Tide pools. See the little crab? Stairs, stairs and more stairs.
Otter Rock seemed to me to be a quaint surfer town of which I could see myself being a part of. At the top of the hill was a winery, it was a bit early in the morning to do any tastings but we did by a couple of bottles of wine. I mean, we had to of course, Jason is a Dutchman and the winery is called, Flying Dutchman Winery
I’m pretty sure this visit was our last day on the coast before we drove back to Eugene to stay one night and be close to the airport. So we grabbed our bottles and headed to Eugene. I am not sure how I feel about that town. I have a friend that lives there but I have never visited. The hotel we stayed at was not in the best neighborhood but it was just a place to lay our heads for a few hours before we woke up at dark thirty to get the airport.
On another day we spent the day in Depoe Bay (yep, poet and I don’t know it) whale watching. It was still wonderful to be out on the water even though there was no breaching and it was rainy. I had a an amazing breakfast omelet at the Gracies Sea Hag ocean view restaurant. Ok they ocean view but there is only like one or two windows and the restaurant is too dark for my liking but..but…but.. I had, for the first time ever..an OYSTER omelet. Yum. I have a can of oysters in my pantry waiting for me to be brave enough to try to recreate the Sea Hag omelet. Oysters in the pantry, gross?
ahoy matey! Depoe Bay, smallest natural harbor in the world.
After whale watching we drove down to Newport, it may have been the same day or it could have been another day. Either way does not matter, what matters is that we went. Right? Right.
All the, fried things. Quest for oysters
Our first trip to Oregon consisted of the continuous search for clam chowder and oysters, it was basically the only thing we ate. This time around, the search was not a success, we ate fresh oysters a total of one time. Disappointment.
After lunch we walked to Rogue Brewery, Was driving so I had coffee and Jason had some tasters.
To be continued. I think I have another day or two in photos to share. I am done concentrating for the day. Thanks for understanding. Until next time! Who can guess when that will be? Maybe tomorrow? Maybe next week or maybeeeee next year.
Done, in the books! It’s officially 2022. My day started out with a casual 4.5 wog (walk/jog) on the treadmill in my garage. I didn’t want to leave my house so I opted for home “gym” time.
Afterwards, I cleaned to prepare for friends and fam time, showered and complete just in the knick of time! It was a full house minus a few people (a couple down due to Covid and one down due to work emergency).
We had everything bacon! Jason made brisket, Shannon brought her world famous potato salad (with bacon), Danny made Mac n cheese topped..with bacon, Wyatt brought field peas, green beans mixed with… you guessed it… BACON! Me think I will be trying two days meat free this upcoming week.
We listened to records, watched movies, Shannon brought tarot cards, ate and of course there were adult bevy’s.
Hence the reason my activity numbers are so low today. 😅
The 3 minutes of exercise might be when I did some dishes. 😂 All in all it was a good first day of the new year. I was happy to spend it at home, with people I love.
I cannot end this post without a picture of the most excellent meat slab. You’re welcome 😇
Football season is here and with that brings our annual Fantasy Football league day draft. It’s great fun to get together, have snacks and steal each others draft picks for this years Football games.
I am barely a football fan but I have to admit these draft parties are a great way to spend a Saturday. 🙂
That picture was stolen from my friends Facebook page because the only picture I took yesterday was this one of the board and one of our league members cautiously choosing his next player.
There are sixteen rounds of picks and to be honest..I was done thinking by round five but I trooped along until… round 15..I, admittedly, allowed our friends three year old daughter to pick her favorite color (player position) and any ole sticker (player name). Those were to be my final picks 🙂
The guys said she did a good job though so I’m not complaining! win win! I’ve played FF for three years now and have yet to win the SHIVA..(yes, we stole this name from the show The League..it is a trophy given to the inner of the FF league..Maybe this is year we will get to bring it home!
You have to understand, people…this process takes like FOUR hours! Yes, HOURS…we have drinks and snacks and breaks and ten different conversations going on throughout so it is easy to understand the length of time and commitment needed.
Did I tell you there were snacks? I’ve heard people talking of cheat days, yesterday was definitely an indulgent cheat day..
I ate mounds of buffalo chicken dip laced with blue cheese, pizza bread, three beers (a delicious Camelback IPA from our local brewery) and a chilled glass of Cab to round out the day.
Now, I guess I should find out when the real football season starts and maybe log into my ESPN account to move some players about!
Happy Sunday everyone! I hope it goes slow for you if you are so lucky to have this day to rest and fast for you if you’re so lucky to be working!
A few weeks ago Jason told me we had been invited to a milestone celebration for our neighbors seven month old daughter. Obviously, the fact that I grew up in a completely culture free environment, I had never heard of Annaprashan. I had much to investigate! What is this celebration? What am I supposed to wear? What type gift do I bring?
In a nutshell, Annaprashan is a Hindu rite of passage (Anna means “grain” and Prashan means “to feed” ~ so the celebration is the beginning step to the weaning process from milk to solid foods. OK..I’ll buy that..plus..who can pass up a legit reason to bring family and friends to together to admire the baby (insert annoying lady from Seinfeld “Ya gotta see the babayyyy”) have great food and enjoy company??
Gift ideas can be anywhere from gold/silver bowls (most likely left to the family members to present) spoons and plates to outfits an baby memorabilia.. I decided to leave the fancy gift ideas to their family..I wouldn’t want to one up the grandparents :D…and settled on a simple cute outfit, a couple of bibs and a stainless steel sippy cup.
As much as I wanted to dress up in Salwar Kameez, I supposed that would be inappropriate soooo… I opted for simple black dress pants, a gray 3/4 sleeve top and simple Steve Madden pointy toe pumps. 🙂
Received with great smiles from the hosts and family – we said our congratulations and ogled the beautifully dress guest of honor, set our gift bag down and were both happy to see that our old neighbors were there with their three little ones. We sat at a table with them and caught up while we gorged on appetizers.
Side note: I really wanted to bring my camera but Jason said, “NO” ~ I didn’t even feel comfortable taking cell phone pictures so I hate to say this but…I snagged these pictures from google images 😦
I don’t remember the name of these but they were so good dipped in this beautiful green sauce:
I tasted cucumber and cilantro and now I must find a recipe to copy!
I’ll leave that for another day..for now I have learned this dipping sauce is green chutney and does not have any cucumber in it whatsoever. They had Tamarind Chutney also but the dates tasted too much like prunes and I did not like the sweetness – on the other hand…Jason loved it..
The chicken tikka masala was AH..MAY..ZINGG..
There were a lot of children there – maybe twelve? Our hosts had prepared for this so they brilliantly hired a magician to entertain the hyperactive little people and it worked like a charm! He had me on the edge of my seat laughing the entire time. I told Jason on the way home this magician made me want to adopt a five year old so I could have a party that included a magician…He laughs now but we’ll see.. muahh ah ah ah..
Close to the end of the performance, the main course was set out for us to fill our plates.
Jason pointed out ..all of the men were handling this task as the women all sat at their own tables. I told him this was because the women do all the work in labor and after the baby is out! 🙂 I don’t know if this is true or not but seems perfectly logical to me.
There were so many dishes to try! I did try small samples of each of them and my favorites were:
The rice pilaf with peas:
and…the goat mutton
I have never eaten goat before..It reminded a bit of as if a lamb and just the part of a cow that makes roast were to have a baby. So good.
After dinner there was CAKE! I was so full from dinner that I only managed two bites but the whip cream frosting was the best. All in all I’d say their Annaprashan was a great success and I was so flattered to have been invited to take part! I love learning about the rituals of other cultures.
Is this your new site? Log in to activate admin features and dismiss this message
kristilynk 