Pre parade atmosphere (above); most spectators arrived a few hours before the official start time (1pm).
We attended the Pride Canal Parade yesterday...It was crazy!
Pre Parade Atmosphere from Philip Shannon on Vimeo.
Pre parade atmosphere (above); most spectators arrived a few hours before the official start time (1pm).
We attended the Pride Canal Parade yesterday...It was crazy!
AmsterdamPride1 from Philip Shannon on Vimeo.
Last weekend we went to the birthplace (and lifelong home) of Johannes Vermeer, Delft, The Netherlands. Delft is a neat little town that is less than an hour from Amsterdam. Highlights included my (Phil) first attempt at canal-side parallel parking, great coffee/food at a place called Kek and touring the Nieuww Kerk ("New Church") which has the second highest church tower in the Netherlands and the tomb containing the Orange family.
*Update to blog 21:36 CEST: Phil forgot to mention his heroic act of saving a little girl/s bicycle that got blown over into a canal (while we were enjoying brunch at the previously mentioned Kek).
Protestant design is so clean!
I had about 1.2 shoe lengths of space to exit the car.
July 14 - 16
Natalie and I went to Dusseldorf to meet some friends from Minnesota/Canada who currently live in Munich (Jackie & Clint) and to see the start of the Tour de France! It was a great, quick and slightly wet weekend.
Some friends from MN*, who now live in Munich, joined us in Dusseldorf for the weekend and to watch the first two stages of The Tour de France! *Clint is a proud Canuck
Even the beers served at outdoor sporting events are served in nice glassware in Germany.
We had a few beautiful days in Aspen to relax after a wonderful wedding weekend in Beaver Creek! Thanks much to everyone who celebrated with us!
One was a gift from friends and one was a gift from the hotel. Equally delicious.
We hiked along the Maroon Bells today.
I took a long bike ride, Northeast out of the city, to an island called Marken and took a few pictures along the way.
It's on a roundabout thingy that splits the one-way traffic.
It's been a busy week: we moved out of the busy central district into our permanent apartment which is located in Oude Pijp ("old Pipe" see this Star Tribune article). Phil also had a team outing and we visited some American friends in the nearby town of Haarlem.
I (Phil) got these at the grocery store last week but somehow forgot about them. The flavor intensity definitely is XXL ("inspired by the XXL taste of the USA".
It was abnormally hot in Amsterdam so we didn't do much: Friday night we had dinner at a restaurant that serves bottomless french fries (!!), some furniture shopping, cafe time and Sunday afternoon in Vondelpark.
After spending the weekend laying low in Amsterdam (including dinner delicious restaurant, Mazzo and a digestif at Cafe George - a Sam/Mo Rufer favorite) we rented a canal boat on Sunday night. We were planning on getting a photo of both of us on the boat, but we ran out of time because I got us slightly lost in the canals. We had a awesome time picnicking and boating that we will definitely do it again!
The Keukenhof Gardens is the largest bulb-garden in the world and is open for 8 weeks every spring near the town of Lisse, the Netherlands. Natalie, Phil and about 20 million other tourists spent the afternoon there.
Having dinner at a great, little Mediterranean place.
With rain rolling in from the Southwest (left side of picture). Ajax stadium in the distance (right side).
3 short clips from Phil's commute home on 10-May-2017 (from the Adidas office in Amsterdam Zuid-oost to the temp apartment on Herengracht Canal in Amsterdam).
Happy Birthday Mother-in-Law Barb! Tonight Natalie is at the American Women's Club of Amsterdam so I'm uploading a few pictures I have taken over the past couple of (busy) days. We went to a Liberation Day celebration/concert on the Amstel River on May 5th, discovered a cool spot on the water for an outdoor beer and snack (Hannekes Boom), and I received some mail from the bank that explains our insurance in Dutch (we were told all "civilized" people get liability insurance); it contains the longest word I've come across yet: aansprakelijkheidsverzekering - 29 letters that translates to "liability insurance".
I noticed these huge (yuge!) swans on my ride home yesterday.
On the Amstel river.
After stoping at the official Expat Center at the World Trade Center, I went into the office for the first time today. The pictures below are from the bike ride...including the massive bike parking garage at the WTC.
Tonight is our 5th and final night at the hotel, which is technically located in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, and is technically our second night in the Holiday Inn Express (*after spending 3 nights in the Holiday Inn - my employer wanted to save a few bucks/quid/Euro). We have spent the last few days exploring the city on foot trying to avoid all the cyclists and tourists. Here are a few pictures.
Random Graffiti in Amsterdam.
We spent most of the day (Kings Day) walking through the Westerpark and Noord neighborhoods. I took a handful of pictures before realizing that I didn't have an SD card in my camera. Also, almost all of the airport taxis were Tesla Model S's.