A bit of an overdue post to close out the longest & shortest year ever
It’s been a fairly uneventful fall and winter here in Amsterdam; COVID-19 came back with a vengeance in September and not a whole lot is going on in this typically vibrant and lively city. We adopted a second kitten named Noah in September, but we were forced to adopt him back after a few short weeks because he came down with FIP (a feline version of a Coronavirus). In early November we had an election viewing party with our neighbours who provided the BIDEN balloons and a care package, along with moral support in a very pragmatic and typical Dutch way.
Here are some of the highlights that we documented over the past few months with photos. Photos from my trip to Sicily are at the bottom.
August 2020: One of the highlights of summer included a boat trip around Amsterdam with some friends on the Sir Edward. It was a beautiful evening full of Gezelligheid.
A FEW RANDOM SHOTS FROM THE PAST FEW MONTHS
Phil’s Pasta & pizza fueled pilgrimage to sicily
Our family trip to Portugal was COVID-ED so I cashed in some miles for a bike-focused trip.
Since nobody wanted to go on vacation with me, I booked a last-minute trip to Sicily to do a bit of biking and a lot of eating. I flew into Catania, spent four nights in Taormina and then took the train across the north coast to spend my last night in Palermo. My first day on the bike included a 55 mile loop up the west side of Mt. Etna; the 6,500 of vertical feet of elevation and hot Sicilian sun was quite the challenge for someone 7 feet below sea level.
A FEW STATS FROM MY TRIP (5 nights total):
Servings of gelato consumed: 6
“Servings” of pizza eaten: 7 (includes a few take-away slices)
Servings of pasta: 6
Pounds of Haribo Gummy bears eaten: 1.1 (mostly while riding)
Miles biked: 268
Vertical feet biked: 13,362
Weight gained / lost: not sure…Probably gained a few.
