Scotch Whiskey Tour with the "Amsterdam American Men's Club"

(posted by John)

I have developed a number of new friends in Amsterdam.  A number of my friends are American and have kids that attend ISA.  We typically get together on Sunday evenings in the fall to watch American Football and at other various times during the year.

In early June, me and seven of my friends traveled to Scotland for a Scotch Whiskey tour.  Now before this trip, I couldn't stand the taste of whiskey.  But I was all-in for a three day weekend away with the boys...

Scotland is the only place in the world that distrils "Scotch" and there are many rules that dictate how the whiskey must be produced to be officially called Scotch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_whisky. 

Well, it turned out that a three day Scotch Whiskey immersion helped me "acquire" the taste for Scotch!  We only drank single malts during our tour of six different distilleries.  We learned a lot about the process to make Scotch and tasted a lot of samples!

We had such a good time that we have decided to keep getting together in Amsterdam as a means of continuing our Whiskey education.

The Amsterdam Eight

The "Boss"

(posted by John)

On Monday, May 28 (a national holiday in Holland), Jen and I traveled to the Southern Netherlands to the annual Pink Pop outdoor music festival http://www.pinkpop.nl/2012/programma/maandag/.  It was a beautiful day and night which unfortunately has been rare this year in Holland.  Jen, I and 60,000 beer drinking Dutch music fans watched Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.  It was our first time seeing him live although we have always heard about his outstanding live shows.

The show was outstanding.  Bruce played for 2.5 hours without a break!  Not bad for a guy in his early 60's.  I would definitely recommend seeing him live and will do so myself if given another chance.

The Boss

Best,

John

Playing at the Park

(posted by John)

The weather in Amsterdam this spring and summer has been downright lousy.  So any day that the sun is shining is a day to enjoy.  One May Saturday Matthew, Bella and I went to our park (the one on our street) to play baseball.  A sunny day, lots of smiles, and playing ball.  Who could ask for more?

Matthew at the Bat

Bella the happy dog

Betty comes to visit Amsterdam and Paris

(post by John, pictures by Jen)

Grandma Betty made her second trip to Europe to visit us in early May, 2012. 

When she arrived, we began her trip with a tour of Amsterdam that included visiting the Anne Frank house and a canal cruise.

Later in the week, we visited Kokenhoff to view all the flowers in bloom.

But the highlight of the week was Betty’s first trip to Paris.

We left for Paris on Thursday evening, May 10.  Our road trip took a little over five hours before we arrived at our hotel in the heart of Paris.  We stayed in a hotel right on the river Seine overlooking Pont Neuf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_Neuf.



Allison and Bella overlooking the Seine

 

We brought Bella with for the first time on this trip.  In the heart of Paris with a dog…why not?  We’re not rookies anymore J.  We awoke Friday morning to a partly sunny and windy day.  The weather forecast was much better for Saturday and Sunday so we made Friday our indoor day. After sleeping in (we needed some extra sleep after the late night car ride) we went to the Lourve.  Now, dogs are very welcome in Paris, but not in the Museums.  So Betty, Jen and Ryan went to tour the Lourve while Allison, Matthew and I hung out in the parks in the grounds of the Lourve.  The park team actually found a dog park for Bella to stretch her legs.  We also did a little window shopping on one of the trendy Paris streets (Allison thoroughly enjoyed this). 

In front of the Lourve

In the Lourve, Ryan showed Grandma the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and a number of other museum treasures.  Ryan is a big fan of museums so he enjoyed this immensely.

Ryan and Grandma in front of THE Mona Lisa

Friday night we found a great seafood restaurant that has been frequented by the artisan crowd for over 100 years.  The food was excellent and it was fun to dine in a restaurant that previously was frequented by Picasso among others.

Saturday afforded us the best weather of the weekend so when we woke up (which wasn’t too early) we went directly to the Eiffel Tower.  Although I have seen the Eiffel tower many times and have now seen many other European landmarks, the structure built for the 1889 World’s Fair is still my favorite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower.

The Eiffel Tower

Grandma, Jen and Matthew went up in the Tower while Allison, Ryan, Bella and I relaxed on the grounds in front of the Tower.  I was very happy to enjoy a siesta in the sun.

We enjoyed dinner near the Tower plus a stop at our favorite Gelatoria in Paris!

Gelato!

Sunday included a tour of Notre Dame and some shopping!  Allison was more than willing to lead the shopping team of her, Grandma and Jen while I led the boys and Bella to the park for some play time.

Notre Dame

We departed for home Sunday evening and had an uneventful ride back.  We are constantly amazed at how much there is to see in Paris.  We look forward to our next trip!

Betty left for the U.S. the day after returning from Paris.  We enjoyed her stay and look forward to her next trip!

Take care,

John

Queen's Day 2012

(posted by John)

We celebrated Queen's day for the second time in 2012.  The day is a national holiday that celebrates Queen Beatrix' birthday http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Day.  We celebrated with the Manbecks, Lodicos, Reynolds and a number of our other friends that live in Amsterdam Old South.  We spent time in Vondelpark, at the Reynolds's house party, and at a block party on Valeriusstraat in the Old South.  A fun time was had by all!

Queen's Day with our friends, Jay and Courtney Lodico

Spring Break in Italy

(posted by John, pictures by Jen)

Jen's parents John and Jeanne came to visit us in mid-April this year, coinciding with the kids week long spring break at school.  The timing of their trip was also ideal for the spring flower bloom in Holland.

John & Jeanne in the Holland tulip fields

We also had the opportunity to take a night time boat cruise of the Amsterdam canals.  Jen and I have taken such a cruise a few times during the day, but this was the first time we had done so at night.  It was a beautiful night and the experience was quite special.

The Amsterdam canals at night

After spending three days adjusting to the time zone, touring Amsterdam, and enjoying the flower bloom in Holland, we departed for the Amalfi Coast of Italy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalfi_Coast.  

We flew into Naples, Italy and drove to the first stay of our trip in Sorrento.  Sorrento is located right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrento,_Italy.

Ohhhhhh the food!  We have been fortunate to visit Italy on a number of occasions and for me the food and the wine are always the highlights of any Italy trip and its what keeps bringing me back.

Meatballs...sans Spaghetti

John & Jeanne with Sorrento in the background

Sorrento is known for lemons which are used to make lemon cello, a favorite drink of ours! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_Cello

Enjoying our Lemon Cello

Now that's a Lemon!!!

Our three days in Sorrento included a boat ride to the island of Capri, an often used retreat for Roman emperors 2,000 years ago http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capri.

A gorgeous view from the island of Capri

The Feriancek's in Capri

Back in Sorrento for dinner, Grandpa John is really enjoying Italian wine...

Love those big glasses of wine!

Our last day in Sorrento consisted of a day trip to Pompeii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii, the city that was buried by the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Vesuvius.  Pompeii was completely buried but preserved by this explosion so when it was excavated in the 1700's and 1800's, we learned much about everyday life in a Roman city 2000 years ago.  We hired a tour guide for the day and what a history lesson we received!

Main street in Pompeii

The kids and our tour guide in Pompeii

One last evening in Sorrento was as enjoyable as the rest.

The whole crew in Sorrento

Grandma and Allison shopping in Sorrento

More meatballs!!!

Halfway through the week we moved to Positono, about a 45 minute drive from Sorrento http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positano.  Our plan was to relax and enjoy the sun but unfortunately we received a fair amount of rain.  So aside from one day of sun, we passed the time playing games, doing a little shopping, eating great food and drinking wine.

The terrace of our villa in Positano

The view from our terrace...breathtaking

The beach in Positano

Dinner in Positano

Lemonade and clams...Mmmmmmmm

We had another outstanding trip and it was great to catch up with John and Jeanne.  We hope you and your family are well, we are doing great!

Take care,

John

A normal weekend in March

(posted by John)

I tend to write only about the traveling adventures we are having during our European stay, but most of our time here is "normal."  The kids go to school, I go to work, we do our best to eat dinner together despite crazy schedules, etc.  That being said, even normal has a different flavor.  On one March Saturday, Allison had dance class, Matthew had a soccer game, and Ryan had a basketball tournament...in another country!  Both Matthew and Allison's activities were in Amsterdam so Jen stayed at home to manage that part of the day, while I followed the ISA basketball team to Antwerp, Belgium for Ryan's basketball tournament.

Maybe every day over here truly is an adventure?  Maybe every day should be an adventure.

Ryan and the ISA U12 Basketball team at a Tournament in Antwerp, Belgium