Concertgebouw, Amsterdam..

accessibletravelnl.com Outside of the Concertgebouw

One of my most favorite places in the world. Recently, I read in one of my geeky travel books that I secretly, and now publicly adore (especially Rick Steves, he always tells it how it is, even when it isn't particularly friendly) that after WWII Audrey Hepburn lived in Amsterdam and even had season tickets to the concert hall, Concertgebouw. Ahhh Audrey Hepburn, two words- class act. The woman was a style icon, and practically  screamed elegance with her style and poise. And now I have even gone to the Concertgebouw for two classical music concerts since I've lived in Holland, and maybe perhaps I even sat in the same SEAT as Audrey. One can wish. Regardless, a few weeks ago, Eva informed me that her and the kids wouldn't be using the season passes for the concert and if I would like, that myself and four friends could go to Amsterdam and use them on Friday night. It just so happened it was Kristian's birthday that week, and well let's face it- what's better than a concert with free drinks, coffee's, teas, or alcohol for a belated present. So, I invited Kristian and our good friends Marloes and Frannie to come along. Eva had seen the concert earlier that week while I watched the kids on a Tuesday night and had said that it was an interesting concert because the beginning portion was contemporary classic but ended with a piece by Brahms who I am a huge fan of. Brahms is beautiful chaos at it's finest. His music is always full of emotion, and reminds me of a roller coaster- with many ups and downs, slow, romantic and soothing portions, followed by extremely fast and passionately loud portions but yet, it always seems to mesh in the scheme of things. (Check YOUTUBE Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op 68 for a preview of the piece..) The day leading up to the concert was hectic as usual.. trying to finish my daily routine of professional referee of three children, and laundry duty.. sometimes I have a profound realization that my life here is a paid role as Mom, confidant, friend?, and ruler of all things household.  At ten till seven, I had six missed calls on my phone and was rushing out the door as usual to catch the train to Amsterdam with Kristian and Marloes.. we were to meet Frannie at the Haarlem station, however, she boarded the train before ours and we met up at Centraal Station in Amsterdam. Took the tram to Museumplein where the Concertgebouw is located, had a few complimentary drinks and located our amazing season seats. The Concertgebouw is set up with the stage in front of rows of seats, with a balcony in a horseshoe facing the stage- they also have two sections of seats on either side of the stage that ascend to the second floor of the concert hall. These seats face the majority of the seats in the hall, on the opposite side of the orchestra. The Concertgebouw had a wonderful idea to have these seats reserved for families with children (such as my family) so that they would be able to see into the orchestra and more likely be entertained (code word for quiet) during the two hour concert. Therefore, our seats were perfect. Intermission involved a delicious cappaccino and discussion of how bizarre the first two modern pieces were, and my anticipation of the Brahm's piece to follow. I was in no way disappointed.. what a fantastic piece, extremely moving and full of passion. We had a great time at the concert, and was so thankful I was able to both receive these tickets (at 36euros a pop- thank you Eva and Jack) and be able to share them with others who appreciate the arts. I hope this is my second of many concerts at the world renowned Concertgebouw.

allaboutjazz.com... This is literally where our seats are.. :)

Markets and Rugby.. what's better than that?

Last full day in London.. again, I am at the telephone booth, I'm starting to see a trend. Ben and I were to  spend the day together since I was leaving the next morning.. So, we met up at the train station near London Bridge and went off towards Borough Market.This market is a food lovers haven.. fresh produce, meat, cheeses, and stands full of made to order food and coffee. Ben and I had decided earlier that we would cook dinner, so it made sense for us to buy all of our ingredients from the market. An assortment of wild mushrooms, tomatoes, a fresh cut of beef, mozzarella cheese and fresh strawberries. We walked around just looking at all of the different stands, sampling new and unique cheeses and olive oils.

Picked up all of our ingredients and decided we would go to Camden Market to look at the more artsy side of London.. This is such a cool market- full of vintage clothing, antiques, wild and wacky stores and more stands full of food from fish and chips to Asian cuisine. He had surprised me by bringing his digital SLR camera so I could take pictures with it at the markets since he knows how much I like  to. So, we walked just taking in all of the stalls- it goes on for forever.. it's amazing. At one point of the day, Ben unbuttoned his jacket to show me what he was wearing underneath- An English Rugby Polo. It being Rugby Saturday (as I know from my dear friend Ben Northern, is no joke) and the Six Nations Tournament.. England was playing France later that day. We were at a crossroads, Ben didn't know that I actually love watching Rugby.. and he felt awkward asking if we could watch it since we were supposed to spend the day doing touristy things. I believe I did quite well when I got super excited and asked "Can we plleeasse go watch Rugby today." His face lit up like it was Christmas Day- and we decided we would go to a pub and watch the game around 5, along with everyone else in London apparently. Every place was packed- standing room only and we managed to stand right in front of the bar.. that's always a convenient place. It was really surreal to watch a rugby match in an English pub with an English guy surrounded by other pint drinking Brits. Thankfully England won, I would have hated to be surrounded by that crowd if France had won. After the match, we were off to cook dinner- delicious steak with wild mushrooms, and portobello mushrooms filled with tomatoes and topped with buffalo mozzarella and a caprice salad drizzled with balsamic. I will say, on Ben's behalf- he is also an amazing cook. Which is good news, because after having to cook for the past 6 months here in Holland, my cooking is still just edible at best. I can honestly say, that this trip to London has been one of my favorite holidays I've ever had- for multiple reasons. I think the city is vibrant, cultural and a mecca of good food, musicals, pubs, and museums. I look forward to many, many more trips to London.. I left with such a deep appreciate for what it has to offer, the jovial humor of the Brits, and a date weekend for my birthday in April with Ben.

" JAMMMMESSSSONNNN"

Out at the bar- legal drinks and JAMESON!

London Day Three: At this point, my crappy Lebara mobile telephone was NOT working in the UK. And there was no computer at the flat. That makes for an interesting scenario for traveling tourist who are trying to get in touch with local friends. Hence, those cute, red and stereotypical British telephone booths came in quite handy. I was in fact, one of those people that instead of taking pictures of  pretending to use the phone in the booth, actually was. I finally got in touch with Kaitlyn around noon on Friday for our lunch date. I was instructed that 1. My mom was looking for me (shocker, sometimes I curse the day Facebook opened up to the "world" - remember the college email address days?) 2. I was to take the underground and meet her outside of her work! So excited, and off I went. Called from two telephone booths to find the right place, and then boom- reunited! It was like it was last week that we last saw each other, when in actuality, it had been what- 6 or 7 years. That's ridiculous. With both of us on this side of the pond, I hope that we will be able to visit each other and hang out more often than that! Went to a delicious Italian restaurant and I think the waiters were annoyed with us, because we wouldn't stop talking long enough to even look at the menu. Our lunch date lasted umm about 2 hours? Anyone that knows either one of us, knows we could talk for days without taking a break. Plus, there was so much to catch up on and discuss! (Thanks for lunch Kait!!!) After a delicious spinach and avocado salad, we parted ways and agreed to meet up to go out for her boyfriend Ash's birthday later on that evening. I was to be back at her office by 5, no big deal- I had the rest of the day to explore more of London! (There is never, ever a chance that you'll run out of things to do there..) Promptly at 5, we met up and took off towards the pub that Ash and his friends were drinking at.. let's just say that he's as wonderful as I imagined him to be. I wouldn't expect anything less from Kaitlyn though, she's quite the catch. After a couple of years and living together, they are adorable- she's his personal stylist (love the red shirt), they laugh at their own jokes, and are the type of couple that gives each other space to enjoy their friends too. We started off at a pub, drinking copious amounts of Heineken. That still baffles me, Europeans from all over really, really love Dutch beer- that's all that we drank in Dublin (and Guinness) and again in London. Previously this week on my first date night with Ben, I had mentioned the Jameson rep was at the Irish pub we were at and we scored free Jameson. While Kaitlyn and I were in the WC, I noticed on the wall that the Jameson reps were in fact going to be at the pub we were at in an hour- I told Kaitlyn who replied that she didn't like Jameson.. ahhh we will see about that. I am a BIG fan of Irish Whiskey, on the rocks (I don't even think my Mom knows that..surprise?)  In walked the Jameson reps- and I introduced Kait to the wondeful world of Irish whiskey. Needless to say, we managed to talk our way into two or three free drinks and then two for one vouchers. :)

Kait and Ash

"Feeling my fresh..."

After Jameson at the pub, we were off to Roadhouse in Covent Garden, which is a beautiful area of London. We were in hurry, so we didn't have to pay cover before 10pm.. and we made it in plenty of time. We were drinking Passion Fruit Bellini's which are amazing.. a mixture of fruits and champagne, how can you go wrong. At this point, our pictures show that we were perhaps more intoxicated than we thought considering just about all of them are rubbish. The live music was amazing and we posted up at the bar- dancing and drinking the night away. Looking forward to spending more time with all of them on future trips to the UK. AND, I think that a trip to Amsterdam should be in the works for Kait and Ash!

Oh boy.

Passion Fruit Bellini's 

Ash, Kait, and Mike

Roadhouse

"As the winter winds litter London with lonely hearts.." - Mumford & Son's

Big Ben at it's finest..

London- Day Two: Woke up with a full day planned.. I was going to take the underground to Trafalgar Square, and then walk towards Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. For a fact, the weather in England and Holland for that matter is notorious for being shit. I think that out of 365 days in a year- it probably rains at least 325.. However, this day in London was abnormally beautiful, warm and quite sunny.. I love the affect that weather has on other peoples mood. People were being overly friendly even for the English, smiling and conversing with strangers; children scattered the lawns near Embankment playing football, laughing and dodging their parents who attempted to scoop them up for naps at home. Today was no exception- a perfect day in London (or perhaps it was the good mood I was left in from the date the night before..) I began walking towards the best known landmarks of London, taking pictures along the way, dodging double decker buses and English taxi's. Even though I knew what to expect, everyone knows London's notorious clock, the view was still astonishing with the Thames River, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben all within a few kilometer radius. It felt extremely surreal to be standing in the middle of a packed cross walk staring at all the sights I've seen for years on T.V, movies, magazines. It reminded me of being twelve years old and waking up at 3am to watch the Princess Diana funeral at Westminster Abbey.. and there I was now standing in front of it. I distinctively remember Elton John's "Candle in the Wind," and watching her two young sons- one older and one younger than myself walking behind the casket of their mother, the ever glamorous and timeless Princess of Wales. After a few silent and sobering moments outside of the church, I decided to walk through the Royal Gardens on the way to view Buckingham Palace. Like I previously said, it was a gorgeous and quite warm day, so people had their lunches out- were running through the park, sitting on park benches, feeding ducks.. I remember looking at this lake with a little English cottage and an actually blue bird flying by and thinking how perfectly ironic it was- how completely British, and I loved every part of it. After a walk around the gates of Buckingham Palace (no royalty sightings) I took the Underground to Embankment.. and crossed over the Thames River on one of the few bridges. I walked near the London eye, watching the street performers, even saw Michael Jackson (and he was hugging little children-awwwkwaarrrd). I went to a book market on the bank and picked up a copy of Oxford English Verse- circa early 1900's as a souvenir. One of my favorite sonnets by Shakespeare, and multiple other authors that I adore and at four pounds, what a steal! After thumbing through the book market, I kept walking along the bank towards the Tate Modern museum. The highlights of the museum being "Waterlies" by Monet, which I sat in front of for quite a while.. work by Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol and a photographer that did a collection of women post birth (like minutes, with their newly born babies and little to no clothing).. We in fact, have the other version of the collection in our house here in Holland. That's pretty badass to share a collection with the Tate Modern http://www.tate.org.uk/modern. I stayed at the museum, just walking around taking in all the pieces. I have a deep appreciate for the arts, whether it be museums or galleries. The thing I love the most about art is it is a complete personal experience, whether the artist can evoke a sense of hatred or admiration, at least you feel SOMETHING.. It could be what I consider the worst piece I've ever seen, but at least I have an opinion and I respect the artist for creating something, anything. After Tate Modern, I was off to meet Ben after his day at work. We met up at the train station, then walked through the wine district and into a beautiful French Restaurant http://www.lacaverestaurant.co.uk/. We had an amazing bottle of red wine, escargot and a plate of French cheeses and bread. Again, we had great conversation, talking about my day and exploring the city, and his day at work.. I find myself liking him more and more, primarily because of his adorable accent and the multiple similarities we share- I have always thought that opposites attract, and maybe there is some truth to that, but I think couples that share goals, and ideas, and dreams will last. You might be attracted to what is completely different than you, but in the end being with someone who wants the same things as you makes much more sense. After a great evening with Ben, I was so looking forward to spending Friday with my good friend Kaitlyn and her British boyfriend Ashley!! Lunch and then out for Ashley's birthday! I needed some girl time and some major catch up time with my friend who I hadn't seen in years and years!.. 

Typically British

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey #2

Royal Gardens near Buckingham Palace

London Eye

Mr. Monet- breathtaking

Tomatoe vs. Toe-maa-toe and other common disagreements in the English language

Ah London.. I have spent the last five years of my life attempting to visit this amazing city. The first time was when my "Mum" and I traveled to Europe when I was 20. We visited Italy and France and I was scheduled to stay in Paris, and then travel to London to catch my flight and explore the city. Many of you might remember that was when the underground bombings happened in the city, and I was forced to cut my trip short and leave out of Paris. My love for Europe was sparked on this very trip, and I promised myself I would come back, never knowing that I would actually live here instead of visiting. Again, at Christmas time, I was at the airport twice with the family I work for, and due to snow in Amsterdam, and then London we were forced into cancelling our trip. I promised myself that my February trip WOULD happen, whether I had to swim to England or hitch hike. A month prior to my trip, I started making plans with my good friend Kaitlyn, who I haven't seen since University when we were perhaps 19.. She's been living in the UK for almost 2 years now after meeting a great British guy while on her "world adventure".. I also, had made plans to have a date with a Brit named Ben while I was there.. I had museums I planned to visit, and lots and lots of places I wanted to see. My flight took off without a hitch- my airfare round trip a mere 90euros to London from Amsterdam, but I also had to fly EasyJet. The easiest way to describe EasyJet is to compare it to a cattle herd. Literally, you congregate into random groups, and wait for them to open the door and everyone takes off to the airplane, because you have no assigned seat. Really? They herd you into the aircraft and then off you go. It is the simplest yet painful form of travel I have ever endured, but for the price, who am I to judge. I arrived into London Stansted, which is one of three airports in London, and took the EasyBus (another cheap alternative, but what you save in money, you gain in poor customer service and horrific driving.) Dropped me off right near the flat, so again, for 19 pounds r/t, you get what you pay for. Went to bed early, excited and nervous for my first day in the city. Day One: Woke up, went to the underground which is right across the street near the ever popular Madame Tussauds  http://www.madametussauds.com/. Madame Tussauds is a celebrity wax museum, and I can confidently say I absolutely have no urge to go to there. however, people line outside like crazies.. the line wraps around the entire building, all so that tourists can get their picture taken with the likes of  "Obama" and of course, " Robert Patterson.." I decide for my first day I will go to the Victoria and Albert Museum which houses tons and tons of artifacts and art from all over the world. It's an enormous and extremely beautiful collection. I purchase an Oyster card which is a fabulous means of traveling as a tourist. You simply buy the card, load GBP's onto it, and then swipe it when you enter or exit the tube. It's a much better deal than buying a one day pass, or tickets as you travel. I managed to find the museum with no problem, rather enjoying myself on the underground- listening AND understanding the people around me.. After a couple of hours at the museum, I took the underground to Notting Hill/Portobello Rd. I realized my fascination with British men when I was quite young, in fact, I believe Hugh Grant in Notting Hill was my first love (pre cheating on gorgeous Elizabeth Hurley with prostitute in car).. Ever since, I have had an admiration for the Brits- specifically, the way they speak and the humor with what they say things. I walked around the markets/shops and then decided it was perhaps time for me to change for my "date" that evening.. At this point in the day, I was a basket of nerves. I've been on many first dates at this point in my life, but I had been talking to Ben for at least two weeks or more, and I was quite nervous, and excited. We decided to meet outside of the National Gallery- Trafalgar Square around 6pm. He was just getting off work, and I was finishing up my touristy things for the day. Needless to say, I had no reason to be nervous.. we had a fantastic time, we met up and he took me to an underground wine bar named Gordan's which was amazing. Had a bottle of wine, talking (finally in person) about our lives, what we wanted, our families.. never running out of things to talk about, laughing the entire time. Afterwards, he took me through Chinatown, which at night is spectacular, all of the lights, all of the people- it's such an experience. We went to another bar, which he had picked, named Waxy O'Connors- which was an Irish bar, that had a tree growing out of the middle- and a pulpit. I know it sounds like a weird combination, but it was amazing. And, the Jameson reps were there- meaning, few free Jameson's for the evening. All and all, a fantastic first date- so good in fact that we decided to meet up the following evening as well.. To Be Continued...

Foyer of V&A Museum

Victoria and Albert Museum Entrance

Notting Hill- Portobello Road

Tralfar Square at Night- National Gallery

Is it bad when it's March and you're still blogging about February?

Working on finishing off February and it's already March 1st, my god... I have been fortunate to make many dutch friends, as well as from other countries, and one of the people I have enjoyed spending time with is my friend Klaas.. another Dutchie from CouchSurfing, he is an amazing guy, very goal oriented, well traveled, and quite the dancer! The first time we hung out, I met him in Amsterdam, had dinner together and then went to a way fun club named Milkweg (http://www.melkweg.nl). We had a great time shaking our booties on the floor, dancing around like maniacs- fist pumping and taking bets on where other people in the club were from, and if they were gay or straight (I still swear the one guy with ALL the girls was gay, and just didn't want to fess up, he was better dressed than I was.) Klaas has a great job and does a lot of traveling, for instance, as we speak he is in Saudi Arabia, so we spend a lot of time on different schedules and we plan "dates" multiple weeks in advance. The middle of February, I went to his flat and he cooked an amazing dinner (he's an accomplished chef as well) and we had a long debate about places to travel to, his family, my family.. watched a T.V program in dutch which is always beneficial when people give you the opportunity to TRY to understand the language by forcing you into watching and listening. He was nice enough to give me commentary in English if it appeared I looked puzzled. Although we don't get the opportunity to spend a lot of time together, I always enjoy our time when we meet in Amsterdam. He has even taken on an ambitious bet, which I am now making public, that he will learn 48 out of 50 States (excluding Hawaii and Alaska, too easy) and be able to place them on a blank map. If he loses, he will be forced to be ridiculed in public by having to don an appalling outfit for the evening. Pictures to follow :)


Come Friday (Feb 20th), I was counting down the hours. See, I love the family I work for, the children are amazing.. but after a couple of months, you need a break. Therefore, that Friday at exactly 9:00pm I was beginning my 10 day vacation, that included a dinner date with Kristian, my other half as the boys from Tapuit refer to him, a trip to Den Haag to spend the day with the children's Oma and Opa and to attend a classical music concert. Not to mention the long awaited trip to London.. Friday came and went, YAY(!) my host family left for Switzerland for skiing, and I was home alone- Kristian and I went to the markets to pick up dinner for that night.. a wonderful cut of beef, asparagus, mushrooms, and herb potatoes. For lunch we enjoyed a baguette and the most amazing herb brie with a few glasses of wine ( I won't even go into detail about the questionable Albert Heijn sushi).. dinner conversation as usual was entertaining. I had been introduced to a new "boy" a few weeks prior to my trip to London. He is British, extremely funny, talented, and his voice is similar to a blend of Jude Law and Hugh Grant (although he thinks it resembles Mr. Bean and Madonna's horrible version, which I assure him it is not.) So, Kristian and I did what any duo of "girls" would do- we listened to all of my voicemails from him, giggling and blushing, read multiple text messages, and emails and discussed how excited (and nervous, and excited, and nervous) I was about my "date" with him the following week. A sleepover and multiple bottles of wine finished off our Saturday night date. Sunday morning I awake with a slight hangover none the less- and drove to Den Haag to meet with Vera who is Eva's mother and the children's grandmother. She is an absolutely precious Czech retired doctor who loves many of the same things as I do- classical music, an avid reader, good food, and languages. We went into the city center after a cup of coffee, walking around showing me the sights of the city. We went to a beautiful catholic church, and walked in during service- the view was astounding and I was quite happy to be there during what I assumed was dutch catholic service. However, thinking that I would be able to follow along during the sermon seemed impossible considering it was spoken in Flemish (the language of Belgium).. After lighting a candle and saying a prayer, we were off to see more of the city- the Queen's office, Parliament, and the amazing designer shopping street. A quick lunch and then to the concert.. I haven't always appreciated music as much as I do now, I played the violin briefly, and then the flute during middle school (The big middle finger to Northwest Middle School's music teacher Mr. Amos and the damn stuffed duck he would throw at you, screaming "duck" when you would make a mistake or talk during class.. perhaps thats why my music career wasn't a lasting one.) Ticket's in Holland always consist of multiple free beverages- an espresso or coffee, followed by an alcoholic cocktail or juice at intermission- our seats were second row, left side so that we had perfect view of the master pianist once he came on stage. Pieces by two of my favorite composers, Beethoven and Brahms, I was so excited. The concert was absolutely breathtaking, all the pieces more moving than imaginatble. I was brought to tears by the passion of the conductor, the beauty and eagerness of the pianist Francois-Frederic Guy http://www.ffguy.net/ ... During intermission, Vera bought me a souvenir, the three disc set of FFG's Beethoven pieces and I was able to meet him and receive his autograph. A very eccentric French man, I spoke the little French I knew, and shook his hand multiple times :) Following the concert which we both couldn't stop gushing about, we went to meet Opa and head down to Scheveningen, which is a coastal town near Den Haag for dinner. An amazing seafood restaurant on the marina-a carpaccio, a delicious piece of fresh fish, and a few bottles of wine. I was invited to stay the night, so we went back for tea and biscuits. Afterwards, I walked through Oma's library picking books I'd like to read and borrow followed by a  good nights sleep. It was so wonderful to be in the home of grandparents, cozy, and warm with the walls lined with pictures of grandchildren and keepsakes. The weekend was an amazing beginning to what I hoped to be an unforgettable holiday.