Sokken, Pannenkoeken & Stroopwafels, Oh My!!

With the recent nice weather (and my junky new stroller), Ronan and I have been able to get out and explore. Each day, we go bike dodging (In your city, I believe you would call this activity “walking”) and find something to do. Last Thursday, our bike dodge took us to The Yoga Garden where I signed up for Baby Yoga classes. The class takes place in 2 parts: For the first half hour, the babies get a massage and the last hour goes to yoga practice. 

Ronan in Vondelpark

As I was getting my mat set up for the class, the yoga instructor told me to get Ronan completely naked for the half hour massage. I had to confirm, “You want this baby out of a diaper for an entire half hour?” To me, this had “bad news” written all over it, but I thought to myself, “When in Rome...” and had Ronan buck naked for the longest half hour of my life. Somehow, there were no Lululemon casualties that day, but I don’t think this luck will last another class. Next week, instead of bringing Ronan an extra pair of clothes, I think I’ll just bring some for myself.

Last Saturday, Francisco and I did some shopping! We went to the Waterlooplein Market to try and find a bike (Francisco ended up getting a bike elsewhere, but it was a really neat market if you are ever in Amsterdam) and strolled through The Flower Market. 

From there, I really wanted to check out “De 9 Straatjes” (9 streets of shopping) and had to literally drag Francisco there. He assured me there would be nothing there for him-- and then he saw it: A store that only sold dress socks for men (in every colour design and size you could possibly imagine). I’m pretty sure Francisco spent more money here than he did on the bike and decided we should go back the next day, just to make sure we didn’t miss any other stores!

This store didn't sock

On Sunday, as we were on our way to take a canal cruise, we stopped in at a restaurant for lunch. Just as we were about to order, the waiter informed us that no one besides him showed up for work and he would prefer it if we just ordered coffees (Note: While I complained about coffees in my last post, I should add that all coffees here are served with caramel waffles, which is amazing!). 

Having to leave the restaurant without eating turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we found a pancake house around the corner. Here, when you ordered your pancake, you got to choose absolutely anything you wanted it to be made with; I chose bananas and Francisco chose ham. They were delicious- Let’s adopt this, Canada (And the caramel waffles too)!

After lunch, as the boat ride began, I realized the captain had not gone over any safety policies or procedures. In order to get good pictures, people were standing, walking, running and pretty much hanging off of the boat. Instead of enjoying the great sights and views, I spent the first 15 minutes of the ride imagining where the life jackets might be kept and planning my own personal evacuation strategy. Luckily, we were only in two minor accidents: The captain overshot a canal wall and later, hit another boat. All in a day’s work, I guess.

Ronan failed his Canal Quiz

Yesterday, Ronan and I made our way to Vondelpark to meet a new 
friend that I made at the yoga class, Katharina. Katharina has a daughter named  Marlene who was born the day before Ronan. It was so cute because the two babies held hands throughout the yoga class (After they were both fully clothed, of course! Ronan is a distinguished gentleman). Katharina had wanted to show me a really neat cafe in the middle of the park, ‘t Blauwe Teehuise (The Blue Tea House) and suggested that I order a mint tea. It was delicious (and also came with a caramel waffle!!!)- This new drink will now replace coffee until I get home.

This weekend, we will be busy preparing (by this, I mean buying lots of orange stuff) for Queen's Day, which is on April 30th. This already festive day will be extra special this year because Queen Beatrix is passing the crown on to her son, Willem-Alexander. There hasn't been a King here since 1890! I don't exactly know what we're in for, but I hear children turn into buskers, the streets turn into markets and barbecues are shared with strangers. Will post pictures next week!