After what seemed like years rather than months, the girls have FINALLY started school - hence my new found time to write in this blog. Needless to say, this was truly the never-ending summer. For context, children in the Netherlands end school in July and start back after Labor Day. With our girls finishing at their US school in late May, this has been a painfully long 3+ month summer.
Upon arriving, our days were a mix of expat paperwork, Ikea deliveries, and daily grocery runs while trying to incorporate some fun and exploration between tasks. Needless to say, it was a juggling act, especially while trying to manage our jobs in parallel. In an effort to preempt the dreaded "what are we going to do today?" we acted like tourists in our new city, checking out all of the museums on rainy days and all the playgrounds on the sunny ones. Thanks to the Museum Card we have access to majority of the museums in Amsterdam and anywhere else in NL for virtually free. It's amazing to see our kids enjoying the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh, and other world class museums in our backyard. We were fortunate that many of the museums had summer programs for kids, each designed to engage rambunctious kiddos with interactive displays and activities.
Late Nights and Even Later Mornings
What has taken us by surprise is how late the mornings start compared to the US – perhaps driven by everyone’s desire to enjoy every last-minute of the evening light before the dreaded winter doldrums roll in. No matter how hard we try, bedtime for the girls is almost never earlier than 9pm. Thankfully, school starts at 8:45 AM, so a 7am wakeup call is perfectly adequate. For all the delicious reasons, the kids are content to be pushed out the door with a croissant or bribed with pan au chocolate, making our chaotic mornings a bit less stressful. Ben typically takes the girls to school in the “Bakfiets” (basket bike), where he navigates what must be the heaviest bicycle traffic in the world. Thousands upon thousands of bicycle commuters moving in perfect harmony and with the utmost efficiency. Actually…not really – it’s pure chaos and accidents are reasonably common, as evidenced by the ever-present crutches and arm-slings that can be seen throughout the city.
These late mornings are even more important now that I am working from 3pm - 7pm most days. There is even the occasional 9 or 10pm meeting, resulting in what feels like a never-ending day. To sustain this schedule, our coffee consumption has skyrocketed. Given filter coffee isn't very common here, we have adjusted to a small espresso/Americano cup five or six times throughout the day. That, coupled with fresh bread from a local French bakery, has me running on coffee and carbs with a side of gouda or chocolate for good measure.
Filling Up Our Cups:
Living just a few blocks from the famous Vondelpark has made all the difference for us in terms of quality of life. Ben and I have easy access to a scenic 2-mile running loop, and the kids have a place to hone their biking skills as they prepare to take-on the wild bike paths of Amsterdam. Millie gets her daily fix of dogs and ducks at the park, and spends the remainder of her day barking at passing cats and delivery men from our balcony. Granted, the first few days here were a bit tough as she grappled with city-life, but she seems to have adjusted to Amsterdam, and has even become a pro at navigating the nearly vertical death-trap that they call stairs over here.
Overall, we are off to a solid start. Millie and the girls are fully settled, while mom and dad are reuniting with old friends while making new ones.
Here's to filling up our cups with coffee, wine, walks, runs or whatever else it takes to get through the day, and looking forward to writing soon about our upcoming fall break adventures in Istanbul.
