Dear reader(s),
It’s been a great year for Natalie and I (& Joost) and we would have updated the blog sooner but we have been too busy with all of the friends and family who have visited us over the past few months (definitely no procrastinating going on here). When we first moved to Amsterdam, our goal was to update the blog each time we took a trip and/or had a memorable foreign experience; hopefully we will resume that cadence in 2020.
We maintain this blog for two main reasons: 1) share photos with friends and family (mainly Verna & Barb) and 2) as a journal/diary that Natalie and I (& Joost) will have for years to come…Hopefully not place-dropping. I also included a few random photos I have taken from my bike while exploring the Dutch countryside.
The 2nd half of 2019 in summary:
We bought an apartment in the Oud-West (“Old West”) neighbourhood of Amsterdam. Come visit!
In June we went to the coast and hiked in the Dunes…and rewarded ourselves with savoury pancakes afterwords.
We celebrated our wedding anniversary over a long weekend in the Rhine River Valley.
Natalie’s parents, sister, and sisters boyfriend visited; half of us went on to Bruges for a long weekend.
My parents also came for a visit and we wall sent to Paris; we also visited Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny.
Our friends, Jackie & Clint, moved back to Minnesota, but we were able to visit them one last time in Munich during Oktoberfest. We hope they move back to Munich.
My college friend, Matt Weber, and his family visited us in October.
Dave & Morgan came all the way from Bend Oregon to visit! We had a great time biking around Amsterdam and Belgum (the Mur de Huy and the Koppenberg).
I was able to visit Norway for the first time (for about 36 hours in total); I went to a conference in Oslo and took the bus to a really neat museum outside of the city.
Brendon Krieg came to visit; we ate good thai food and forgot to take a proper picture.
Last weekend we went to Cologne for the famous Christmas markets; bought a broom/dustpan.
A few year-end holiday gatherings here in Amsterdam: our rowing crew got together for drinks (we will resume rowing once Inge moves back from Bonaire and after Erika gives birth) and today we had a traditional Swedish Fika with friends.
