Amsterdam: Beware of who you give your keys to

Post Barcelona, we headed to Amsterdam to visit friends we met in Kiev.  Such good friends - they generously offered to accommodate the 5 of us + 3 other 'former Kiev expats' starting 2 days before they got home from vacation.  

Some headlines:

Leaving the house 'unchaperoned' is risky...

• Friends will drink you beer.....

• Even if they can't find the opener - Danes apparently know mad 'beer physics'....
  

• And the best of friends will taunt you from afar...

(with pictures from in your bed)

Expat friendships run deep...
I've often compared our time in Kiev to freshman year in college. The more unfamiliar & insane the situation, the faster & deeper the bonding.

Zoe's and a BFF - Isabel - jumped right back in together....

Once again, swapping snacks....

(Zoe adores their toast with chocolate sprinkles - brought a box home)

(Zoe regularly brought our imported PB and crackers to Isabel at school)

The boys reconnected via universal boy fun...

And 12 year old humor...

(demonstrating the 'Smoking Kills' warning)

It really did feel like we just left yesterday...

Meanwhile, us ladies also picked up right where we left off....

....shopping!

(can you spot Marri, Susie & I?!)

And getting silly lost in foreign lands...

(Kelly & my walk 'to the center' found us apparently close to a penitentiary.  Reminded me of our drive around random parts of Kiev trying to find Xmas trees)

It was fab to reconnect with so many dear friends..

(Marri & Gijs really do deserve a medal for hosting 8 upon their return from vaca!)

Amsterdam just might be the most bike friendly city ever....
OK, I know I said Barcelona had cool bike lanes - but Amsterdam seriously trumps.  

With more bikes than people (~880k bikes for 810k people)...

(love the double-decker bike racks at the Metro station)

 ...and WAY more bikes than cars (only ~263k cars), this place know how to do it right...

(a bike garage instead of a car garage - fab!)

Everyone rides everywhere...

(Marri is demonstrating being an attentive rider - but riding while smoking and / or texting was a fairly common site)

Crazy cool architecture...
While they don't have a wacky Gaudi, everything in Amsterdam is just cool looking.  The Nemo Exploratorium is seriously whack...

Zoom in and you'll see the roof is a fab water feature / play area

Local kids came donning swim suits

Inside is more standard hands-on fun...

Seriously Progressive Attitudes...
Given its Red Light District fame, the Dutch open mindedness is not too surprising.   However, some of the exhibits at the kid-centric Exploratorium reminded me just how different it is from the USA

A sciency exhibit about cells & DNA included a naked Barbie & Ken....

And a full on 'All about Sex' exhibit geared to educate kids...

Starting with the chance to be a tongue in a french kiss...

Followed by a display of a variety of positions...

...even included racial diversity in the 'models'

Big shoes to fill...

Add all that to the amazingly beautiful canals...

Loads of art...

Charming markets....

And entertaining bottle return machines..

 (Yes - we brought a rolly suitcase to the store)

Amsterdam leaves other cities with big shoes to fill

(hahahahaha!)

After almost a week, we knew it was time to give our hosts their house back...

...especially when the neighbors' noise complaint came penned in English

 

Here's to a fab city & even better friends

5 things we learned about Barcelona

A few months ago, I opened an infrequently used drawer and was startled to find something we had used so frequently sitting there getting dusty - our passports.  After going into a bit of a panic, we checked our United miles balance & booked a trip to Europe.

First up - Barcelona.

5 observations about this fab city: 

1) Impressive Attractions:
Barcelona has some pretty major, cool sights - and eagerly flaunts them

Gaudi fabulousness...
Gaudi tours, postcards & souvenirs are everywhere...such cool buildings - the excitement is warranted in my POV

Serious FC Barcelona pride...
The spirit is everywhere.   I estimate 1 of every 4 males in Barcelona wore some sort of FCB gear.   Q included.....

Given Q's fan status, we had to pay homage with a Camp Nou tour.  The place is massive - seats ~100,000...

But the coolest part was being able to place an order and watch them make a personalized, official jersey...

(and just like that, Q's first day of school shirt is all set!)

2) Doesn't-look-like-an-economic-crisis infrastructure

While one hears a lot about Spain's economic crisis (e.g. unemployment ~23%), looking around the city you'd never guess they had any issues

Fancy, fab wide boulevards....

(Las Ramblas 'death march' with serious jet lag)

(they even have their own Arch de Triumph)

Random parks abound...

They pepper the wide boulevards 

And include fun equipment I'm sure would be deemed 'too unsafe' here

Protected bike lanes...

Yes - I am a sucker for a city with a good bike lane

When you have a kid riding while eating ice cream (thus not holding on,..thus falls into the street on a sharp corner), you can see why that separate bike lane is so exciting

3) Vacation worthy Indulgent

Barcelona is clearly a place to have fun - the whole city feels like a vacation really

Amazing Seafood....

Xavier agreed with us - and appreciated the abundant and delish calamari

Zoe wasn't so convinced

(We had to bribe her with screen time to even try one)

Good cheap wine...

After loads of trial & error with cheap Moldovan & Georgian wines, I was a tad dubious when I saw the surprisingly low wine prices...

(most ~2-5 Euro range)

I liked one so much I brought a few bottles with us...

Kids welcome in bars....

Seriously, this should be a norm.  In true American style, we tried to go to dinner ~7pm.   The restaurant wasn't open till 8 - had to kill time with a cocktail.....kids?  No problem! 

  

A tiki bar with live birds in the window & smoking drinks even!

Smoking....

OK, so you can't enjoy all that fun without a price - smoking is also more pervasive here than in any city I have been in in a while....

4) H-O-T

You won't forget it's summer temps....

While SF has that good/bad same temp year round, in Barcelona the weather made sure we didn't forget it was summertime

The kids nearly melted at the zoo...

They got resourceful about cooling off...

I resorted to buying refreshment...

But best yet - about midway thru the zoo, they offer rentals of these...

 

What a brilliant way to extend zoo time!

Show some skin outfits...

Maybe it was the weather, but seemed cultural - not a lot of fabric was common

5) Time to enjoy it all

There appears to be an awful lot of time for coffee, smokes & a leisurely pace.  No one seemed in a rush

Serious 'Bankers hours'....

Hot damn - I'd be happy to work 'full-time' with hours like these

(off at 2 everyday except Wednesday - sign me up!)

Serious about vacation too....

All those 30 hour weeks add up to August off!

Many of the small stores & restaurants just flat out shut down in August & locals clear out of town

The good news: the bigger stores take that opportunity to clear out their summer inventories

Practically everything was on sale!

After almost a week in town, our kids took a page from the Spanish play book - totally protested the last day of touring to enjoy AC, staying horizontal & Netflix

(Yes, while in Barcelona they discovered the joy of Scooby Doo - you win some, you lose some)

Here's to discovering so many fun elements of this fab city - and (reluctantly) knowing when to say when - and just chill.