Ronan of Jan Eef : Welkom! (“Welcome” in Dutch- Most translations are not this easy).

I decided I’d start a blog so everyone can see updated pictures and videos of Ronan while we are in Amsterdam. I also thought a blog would help me retain my friends when I get home (I won’t have to force you to sit down and look at my pictures/hear my stories and when I try it, you can just say, “Oh, I’ve already read about that one!”) So, here we go...

Ronan straight up
chillin' in the Lounge

The flight over was amazing- I am in love with KLM (A Dutch airline). Since we arrived at the airport so early, we bought tickets to sit in the KLM lounge. Margaret Atwood was flying to Paris the same day and also decided to make herself comfortable in the lounge. Francisco was thrilled because he got to make Margaret a coffee when she wasn’t quite sure how to work the machine, and she was thrilled because he warned her to stay away from the crazy-obsessed English teacher (This is me). The airline gave us 4 seats in a row to better accommodate Ronan, they allowed us on with 10lbs more than we were allowed, they had amazing food and the flight attendants were so friendly- I’ve already bought my stocks with the company.

Things continued to run smoothly (No line ups at customs, our bags were the first ones out and there was a taxi waiting for us outside of the airport) until we arrived at the apartment. We could not get the keys and were stuck outside at 7AM when nothing was open....with 4 giant suitcases....in the rain....with a starving Ronan. It was AWESOME.

We eventually got in and absolutely love the place. Below is a video of Francisco’s favourite room in the house (If he doesn’t get on the plane home with me, I’ll know where to find him). I’m a fan of the private rooftop patio and Ronan seems to like the giant couch for napping.

I’ve spent the last week getting myself set up (Buying a blow dryer and straightener were first on my “to do” list), trying to translate Dutch words, buying a couple things for Ronan, grocery shopping and touring around. Our apartment is at the top of a huge flight of stairs, so I had to buy a smaller, uglier and slightly broken stroller (but it is one that I can easily carry (or throw) up and down stairs while holding Ronan).

Grocery shopping is pretty hilarious- if it is not an incredibly obvious item, I have no idea what I’m buying. For example, “Zigeunergehaktschnitzel” in Dutch translates to “Minced Gypsy Schnitzel” in English. Guess what is "Snelfiltermaling" is? Something to do with coffee that can be filtered...I think. You try buy a piece of chicken! I did get an Albert Heijn Bonus Card, so at least I’m getting reward points.

The Royal Palace

Westerkerk Tower

On Saturday morning, Sirkuu, a really nice lady we've met, drove me around Amsterdam. She pointed out all of the major sites and Queen Beatrix was reopening the Rijksmuseum during our drive, so there was quite a lot of excitement in the city.

Francisco, Ronan and I also took a 3 hour walking tour of the city. If you happen to be in Amsterdam, I highly recommend it: Amsterdam Walking Tour. The tour covered the major attractions, museums, Dutch art, and gave a great history of the city.

The Anne Frank
Museum

We also learned that aside from obvious crimes, there are 2 things the authorities here take very seriously: "Wilde Plassen" which translates to, "Wild Peeing" (Thank God we have Ronan in diapers) and the other is insulting royalty. What I found interesting is that it sounds like if you'd like to break a "not so serious" rule, you just have to ask yourself 3 questions:

A House Boat

1. Am I hurting anybody?

2. Am I being discreet?

3. Are my actions profitable for the city?

If your answers are ‘No,’ ‘Yes’ and ‘Yes,’ then you're good- The rule breakage will be tolerated! Sounds like KLM was following this public policy as they checked us in to our flight!