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I don’t usually need to blog once home but the day has been interesting. We got our negative Covid test results 7:30 this morning, heading to the airport by 8:30, an hour and a half just to check in, then a special check in with Canada showing we had a negative test! 

Breakfast at the airport! Don’t ask the price but it really tasted good.

And Norman finally got some “American” pancakes! 

I ordered tea and said I didn’t get any. Guess what tea is an infused plastic like stick… who knew. Maybe we need to travel more. 

Now we are home but our luggage isn’t. Once we got to Calgary Norm pilled out to take a Covid test. Next we had to get boarding passes for the flight to Victoria. That was not an easy thing to do. It took a Westjet person more than a half hour to get us passes. 

Turns out because our flight from Amsterdam was late, west jet (we think) gave our seats to someone else! Finally we got standby passes and made it home! Who knows where our luggage is!? 

We had a very good holiday! So nice to see Odessa.

Well worth the delays, Covid tests and lost luggage. 

Last day in the Netherlands

We leave on Tuesday and have to have a negative PCR test before arriving in Canada. So since the lab is closed on Sunday we got up early and had the test done by 7:30 today Monday. We now need to get a negative result before we leave tomorrow at 12:25. We can’t print boarding passes without the results. Should we be positive….. we haven’t got that plan B figured out yet. 

Here is what the town of Zaandam, where walked to get the test, looks like at 7:35am. 

We walked from Koog aan de Zaan the almost six kms there and back. No coffee to be found at that time of day. 

Time to spend the last day in Amsterdam. It was cold! It felt like snow. 

You may not see from this photo but the two buildings just behind the canal tour boat definitely lean forward. Built in the 1600s on pilings thrust into the mud, it is not surprising. We love looking at the houses in Amsterdam; they are beautiful.

Walking about we needed to warm up - Starbucks! 

Norm always needs a coffee.

After checking out some bookstores we headed for lunch at Droog. It was probably one of best lunches on this trip. Maybe the wood-burning fireplace helped. 

Hot chocolate and cappuccino. The Dutch always add a cookie with the beverage. So classy! 

Quiche and salad for Norm

Avocado toast with puréed yams and pine nuts! 

And we shared a squash soup with carrot and ginger. 

We thought of doing more outdoors but the wind and cold sent us home on the train, with Yellow Bunny of course. 

Tonight for dinner Lauraine made a French dish called Quenelle. Google it! Yummy.

Duncan, the cookie guy, made perfectly round dark and white chocolate delights! 

Now we pack and hope all goes well getting us home. 

Sinterklass comes tonight.

A bit of a lazy quiet day waiting for Sinterklaas tonight. Norman is in charge of Odessa and doing a fine job, multitasking….

And guess who has a new toy - Sophie the giraffe. 

She likes it! 

An afternoon walk to the local pub that really is a busy neighbourhood cafe, always full and amazing food food. This is Norm’s club sandwich!!!

I ordered the soup of the day even though the waitperson couldn’t explain what it was. It sounded like snare soup. Turns out it is Snert- traditional Dutch split pea. It was thick tasty and chunks of I think ham

Duncan had eggs and bacon on toast- a huge serving. 

With honey mustard sauce. Odessa had her own favourite bread sticks! And just hung out being chill. 

Sinterklaas came tonight. We heard him knocking on the door and his loud footsteps, at least that’s what Lauraine said. 

Odessa loved the presents but mostly the wrapping paper and ribbons. 

There is the blue car that we got her but still the wrapping paper. 

And Duncan’s graphic novel from Curious Comics. Thanks Sinterklaas! 

A Saturday outing

We headed by train to Alkmaar, known for its traditional cheese market, but not at this time of year. 

Here we are on the train, bundled up and masked. We look a little cold too. 

What we found instead was a real country market for the local people. There was cheese, fish, vegetables, more cheese, nuts, fruit, flowers, Christmas trees and more….

Sinterklaas arrives on Sunday and the market was full of people shopping. It was exciting! 

Even potatoes.

Back in the old days a man would crank a machine to make music, an organ grinder. Today it is run by a motor and the man just shakes a can looking for donations but still lots of oompapa music. 

The traditional cheese “wag huis” or weigh house building is closed for the winter. Alkmaar is famed for a weekly ceremony here in summer.

A walk across a bridge 

And time for lunch. Flat breads with beets or chorizo 

Now the rains came and it’s time to head home. What a fun day.

But only in the Netherlands would you find a Christmas tree decorated with cheese rounds! 

And dinner at home. Chicken souvlaki, tzatziki  sauce,

Greek salad and hummus. Yummy! 

Back to Amsterdam

Up early to catch a train to catch a plane to get to Amsterdam. Going early to an airport is good thing to do. Just walking to the correct gate is at least 1 km. So we were ready to board at 8 for our 10 flight. But hey I had pizza from last night for breakfast. Cold pizza is really good.

Norm actually brought me a real cup and teapot too. What a guy! 

Yellow Bunny hanging out where she isn’t suppose to be but no one complained. 

Lunch on KLM was a cheese salad sandwich. New for me! It was ok….

As soon as we arrived Duncan said we could join him in Amstel for a beer with a friend. So we dropped our bags and off we went, with Odessa too.

A cozy quiet bar with lots of beer choices. 

Unfortunately the bar owner approached Odessa quite suddenly and she was not happy. So even with some drinks ordered, we didn’t stay too long. 

Poor Odessa was crying and Duncan took her for a walk to calm down. With his friend, Tom joining us, we headed to walk the Albert Cuyp market. 

What a great market even though some vendors were closing up. 

There was fish for sale 

Cheese and of course stroop waffles

Back home by subway and train with a sleeping baby now. 

Some days things don’t go as planned

After the failure yesterday to see Ostia Antica with the Metro closed,  we headed off again this morning. We caught the Metro and got off two stops later to transfer to the train. Surprise! The train was not running today. Tomorrow we were told. So change in plans. We decided to just go walking and headed across the Tiber to Trastevere. 

This is the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius. Built in 30BC

This is Norm and the pyramid 

Next to this is Porta San Paolo, a gate of the wall that once encircled the city. 

So off we started walking. Seemed like a nice day with a few drops of rain. Walking past a variety of stores and this one selling fresh fish.

A walk along the Tiber and where we could see bouncing plastic, lots of balls at the weir.

It started to rain so we stopped for tea, coffee and treats.

The sun came out so we kept walking and surprise!!! Another church. 

This is one of the oldest churches in Rome and the first church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Amazing inside with so many paintings. 

One of the ceilings. 

Th altar and below a closer look.

The church was very peaceful and dimly lit which added to the quietness. 

The ceiling was unlike any other we’ve seen. 
Onwards we decided, why not walk to the Vatican. 

The rain had started falling a bit heavier and by the time we got to St. Peter’s square it was a downpour. Thunder, lightning and RAIN. Probably a bit like B.C. these days. 

No one was in the square! 
We kept dry amongst the columns with everyone else. 

We ate the ham and cheese sandwich I snuck out of the breakfast meal this morning and waited for the rain to stop. And it did …. For a bit. 

This is the classy garbage cans in Rome. Remember how people were taking photos using the puddles? Well…. why not! 

We were quite proud of the artistic effort. 

Quick stop for NYT paper.

One more photo—Castel Sant’Angelo. Emperor Hadrian designed it as his own tomb! It later became a fortress and prison and today it connects to the Vatican as a refuge for threatened popes. It looks like a pile of bricks. 

The thunder and lightning continued and now the rain came down so hard we were soaked even with an umbrella. We headed home. Like so many we had to take cover because the rain was so relentless. 

We are now drying out in our hotel room but we can still hear the thunder and see lightning. Maybe it will stop for us to have one more look at Rome before we leave tomorrow. Probably a good thing we didn’t go to tour the ruins in Ostia Antica. The weather was not favourable today. 

Last dinner tonight in Rome. Yummy pizza 

Norm had 4 cheese amd I had ham and mushrooms. Enough for breakfast tomorrow as we head back to Amsterdam.