World Cup fever

Last night was the semi-finals, with the Netherlands playing against Argentina. I actually had tickets to see LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring in Concert at the Concertgebouw for that same night, and in true nationalistic spirit, they moved the concert an hour earlier so that attendees could watch the game! The Concertgebouw is certainly […]

Strawberry picking

I LOVE strawberries, and Dutch strawberries are quite a distinct kind. They tend to be rounder and smaller than Californian strawberries, and are super fragrant. Many Dutchies will argue that “Hollandse aardbeien” are the lekkerste, *whisper* but I don’t really agree.

Bomb threat at the Dam Square

On Wednesday, there was a bomb threat at the Dam Square. They had evacuated the area and closed off the entire square along with the two long streets leading to the square, Damrak and Rokin. Read the news article here.

Munni

Dear Munni, You have been an amazing dog and we will miss you dearly. I still remember when we first adopted you from the shelter – you were so small, pink and quiet. We took you for a walk around the block and ended up falling in love with you. On the way home, you fell asleep […]

Descaling a fish

My cooking skills are improving daily but there are tons of things I still don’t know how to do yet. The other day I bought a whole salmon filet, and it needed to be descaled… This has never occurred to me before in the US because the fish sellers in Chinatown will usually descale it for […]

Geslaagd!

Last week I noticed something strange in my neighborhood – flagpoles with backpacks hanging. “What could this mean?” – I wondered, and of course I asked my Dutchie.

World Cup 2014

World Cup fever has gained a lot of momentum since the Dutch team won last Friday. The World Cup 2014 also known as WK is hosted in Brazil this year, and Spain was the first opposing team that the Netherlands faced. Everyone was rushing to get home or to the nearest bar to watch the game, […]

Food festivals galore

The days are getting longer and the temperature is becoming higher, summer is here! There are a ton of festivals in the Netherlands during the summer, such as music, dance and my favorite – food. I have been to 2 food festivals so far, Taste of Amsterdam and Rollende Keukens.

Ondertrouw aka “intent to marry”

In order to get married in the Netherlands, one person from the intended union has to be a Dutch citizen or permanent resident. Sorry, no vacation weddings here! Also, there is a minimum 2 week waiting period before you can legally get married. The countdown starts when you submit the “ondertrouw” which loosely translates to […]

My wedding day in Amsterdam

There are many reasons why people move to Amsterdam, work, study, adventure… I came for love. My husband is Dutch, and I moved here a few months before our wedding. We had planned to get married in Amsterdam, and there were many challenges with planning a wedding while I was in New York, and also navigating […]