Beautiful weather in Holland this past weekend. Saturday I had plans to go to Amsterdam to meet up with Maureen and Bruce who were in town visiting HS friends, from NC. I met Maureen when I was working at David's Bridal in Wilmington, and honestly she is one of the most amazing women EVER! She has friends everywhere, from every stage of her life, and she is always the life of the party- At some point I began calling her Momo, I think it was after she found out she was going to be a grandma for the first time, and granny just didn't sound right for Maureen. My favorite memory is when I came to work and she had dyed her hair dark red because I had recently dyed mine and I asked her 5 times if she liked it before she finally answered.. it was her version of a peace treaty since I doubted she liked my new hair color, she would simply go red too- copying someone else is the ultimate form of flattery. Regardless, I was to meet her and Bruce at a restaurant I picked in Amsterdam named Luden's off of Spuistraat in central Amsterdam. I left the house at 11, to get to the train station for them to tell me that my local station (Heemstede Aerdenhout) was closed for traveling to Amsterdam and I had to go to Haarlem. Off to Haarlem, I get there, and no trains are going to Amsterdam for the day- so off to Hoofdoorp.. at this point, I'm beginning to get slightly annoyed at the fact that I've gone to two train stations and it's taken me 2 hours to locate and board my train to Amsterdam. I finally arrived into the city, took off walking at full speed and managed to only be.. ehh 45 minutes late?Thankfully they were just beginning to eat and so I was able to order a delicious mozzarella, pesto & tomato broodje (sandwich) and have a few drinks with them! It was sooo nice to see familiar faces, speak English with other Americans and I was able to meet Sherri and her husband (friends of Mo's that live in Den Hague, in case I ever need anything!) A wonderful lunch, and then a drink at a Frank Sinatra inspired bar on Spuistraat, a walk through the Red Light District and a tour of the Bulldog, and I was homeward bound.
Sunday I was invited to go to the ballet with my host family. Jacob, the youngest has developed a love for breakdancing, and due to his extremely good looking dutch instructor, so have I. When I get the opportunity, I usually make it a point to go and watch- only for the sake of Jacob of course. This Sunday, Jack volunteered to take Jacob to breakdancing for the day, so Eva, Christiaan, Emma and their cousin Misha and I were off to see Sylvia in Amsterdam at Het Nationale Ballet. It was a modern classical adaption of a ballet that was performed in 1876 in France. The music was absolutely amazing, composed by Leo Delibes. I highly recommend seeing this ballet if you ever have a chance! If I don't say this enough, I am so grateful for these opportunities to go to concerts, operas, ballets, or art exhibits whenever I can, especially while I am here in Holland.
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