We plan to take some long bike rides with our road bikes once they arrive as well. We had to be registered here before they could ship our crate of belongings which was supposed to take three weeks so hopefully it will come this week or next.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Staying Fit!
I love the fact that you can pretty much eat what you want here and stay fit with all this walking! And we will definitely be trying all the different foods during our excursions throughout the year. We have also signed up for a race, the Zevenheuvelenloop, a 15K Seven Hills Race in November so we have just started training for that. I also want to make sure to do the things that I had been wanting to do at home but didn't have the time so I have taken up Yoga and love it! I have taken classes at the yoga studio as well as their beach location at the Beluga Beach Club (pic below . . I am the one in the pink tank). I plan to do yoga 1-2 times per week and hopefully drag Jamie to a class :)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
European Block Party
Our first weekend in Maastricht was spent at the Preuvenemint which is a culinary and music festival at Vrijthof square in the heart of Maastricht's city center. We had a lot of fun checking out the different culinary offerings, met some other Medtronic employees and listened to some music in dutch. We tried shrimp satay, fried rice dish, assorted meats and local cheeses, french fries with mayonnaise and lots of wine and beer!
Jamie and I also spent time exploring Maastricht's city centers and having lunch in a cute square.
A view of Maastricht and the Maas River (the river that runs right through the center of the city)
Adorable square where we stopped for lunch and a great spot for people watching
Onze Lieve Vrouwplein
Delicious brie, walnut and honey sandwich . . Yum!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Groceries, Groceries, Groceries!!!
I feel like all I do is grocery shop. I have gone to the grocery store every day that we have been in Maastricht! This can be attributed to a few factors. People here do not make stock up shopping trips once a week like in the US but rather go every couple days. The packages are smaller, food does not last as long (less preservatives?) and you can only buy as much as you can carry home or fit on your bike. You have to bring your own reusable shopping bags, there are no bags or baggers, the stores are a lot smaller with less variety and the majority of the products are private (store) label. There are also tons of markets. A daily market with fresh produce, a large general market (similar to the farmer's market in Mpls) on Wednesdays and Fridays, an organic market on Thursday's (which I am going to check out today) a Fish market on Friday's, an antique & flea market and lastly there is suppose to be an amazing Christmas market in December.
I had to make a meal rotation/meal plan as I was ending up with a hodge podge of food and no meals. I am making the same types of meals as I did at home but hope to expand the rotation with some different influences as we travel and try new cuisine. So far I have made baked chicken with rosemary garlic roasted potatoes and a mixed green salad with apple & chive, curry chicken with basmati rice and brussels sprouts, salmon with caprese salad, mediterranean penne pasta (spinach, sundried tomato, kalamata olive, etc) with salad and of course pizza (Jamie's favorite). For the rest of the week we are having chicken fajitas with guacamole & chips and turkey burgers with sweet potato fries (my fav!).
We have been here 1 week and 2 days but it feels like a lot longer. I finally have us all settled into the house, have scrubbed it top to bottom, washed and organized everything and we got new drapes and some decorations. I naturally get up around 7am now (I must say a regular 8 hours of sleep is amazing!!). It is 8am here now (1am at home) and I have already put away laundry from yesterday, started another load of laundry, made the beds, made coffee and breakfast for both of us, made Jamie's lunch, cleaned the kitchen and ready to go to the gym. I have been to the fitness center a couple times and have my first yoga lesson at the yoga studio tomorrow (can't wait!). I am also going to be taking Dutch language lessons and hopefully another class of sorts (photography, business or culinary classes). Jamie started work this week and seems to really like it. It sounds like he has a great team and boss and will be doing some traveling for his job here. I will be joining him and exploring the cities while he's at work. I think the first trips will be Switzerland, Italy and Germany. Can't wait to show you all the places we visit!
Bye for now . . hope everyone is doing well at home!
I had to make a meal rotation/meal plan as I was ending up with a hodge podge of food and no meals. I am making the same types of meals as I did at home but hope to expand the rotation with some different influences as we travel and try new cuisine. So far I have made baked chicken with rosemary garlic roasted potatoes and a mixed green salad with apple & chive, curry chicken with basmati rice and brussels sprouts, salmon with caprese salad, mediterranean penne pasta (spinach, sundried tomato, kalamata olive, etc) with salad and of course pizza (Jamie's favorite). For the rest of the week we are having chicken fajitas with guacamole & chips and turkey burgers with sweet potato fries (my fav!).
Bye for now . . hope everyone is doing well at home!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Trip 1: Amsterdam
Day 5 & 6 (Saturday, August 20 - Sunday, August 21),
We have only been here for a few days and have not even unpacked our bags but we are off on our first weekend trip! We decided to drive to Amsterdam with Steve and Sarah for the weekend. Jamie and I had been to Amsterdam a couple years ago and absolutely loved it so we were excited to explore more of the city. We got up bright and early for our 2 hour drive to get to Amsterdam by 10am in order to check into our hotel and make it to Mike's bike shop for our country bike tour. The tour was a lot of fun as we got to see the beautiful country side, stopped at one of the oldest standing windmills, a local cheese shop and a wooden shoe maker (lots of great pics below).
We went back to the hotel to get ready and went to dinner at Bark, a nice fish restaurant close by. The next morning we went to brunch at Gartine, a quaint restaurant with authentic local food. I can't say enough about how amazing the food and our experience was. So far this breakfast has been my favorite experience of our stay so far (a close tie with the bike tour!). We all had what was called the 'large breakfast' which included a croissant, brie, dutch bacon, fried egg, french toast, regular toast with homemade jam, fresh orange juice and coffee. I know it sounds like a lot of bread/carbs . . . that's all I feel like I've eaten since I've been here. The Dutch eat a lot of bread and cheese!!! Anyway, the restaurant was amazing and anyone that visits and we go to Amsterdam we definitely have to go there . . . unforgettable!
After breakfast we strolled around Amsterdam for a while, went to the flower market and then went to the Van Gogh museum. It was a great first trip away and we are now back home, had a little dinner out on the patio and now need to get to bed . . it's Jamie's first day of work tomorrow!
We have only been here for a few days and have not even unpacked our bags but we are off on our first weekend trip! We decided to drive to Amsterdam with Steve and Sarah for the weekend. Jamie and I had been to Amsterdam a couple years ago and absolutely loved it so we were excited to explore more of the city. We got up bright and early for our 2 hour drive to get to Amsterdam by 10am in order to check into our hotel and make it to Mike's bike shop for our country bike tour. The tour was a lot of fun as we got to see the beautiful country side, stopped at one of the oldest standing windmills, a local cheese shop and a wooden shoe maker (lots of great pics below).
We went back to the hotel to get ready and went to dinner at Bark, a nice fish restaurant close by. The next morning we went to brunch at Gartine, a quaint restaurant with authentic local food. I can't say enough about how amazing the food and our experience was. So far this breakfast has been my favorite experience of our stay so far (a close tie with the bike tour!). We all had what was called the 'large breakfast' which included a croissant, brie, dutch bacon, fried egg, french toast, regular toast with homemade jam, fresh orange juice and coffee. I know it sounds like a lot of bread/carbs . . . that's all I feel like I've eaten since I've been here. The Dutch eat a lot of bread and cheese!!! Anyway, the restaurant was amazing and anyone that visits and we go to Amsterdam we definitely have to go there . . . unforgettable!
After breakfast we strolled around Amsterdam for a while, went to the flower market and then went to the Van Gogh museum. It was a great first trip away and we are now back home, had a little dinner out on the patio and now need to get to bed . . it's Jamie's first day of work tomorrow!
Bike tour . . .
countryside . . .
old windmill
Cheese Farm
Gouda
wooden shoe shop . . .
lunch . . . brown bread & fresh dutch cheese from the farm
the bike tour went through Vondel Park in the heart of Amsterdam which is similar to Central Park in NYC
a cafe in the park . . check out the bushes around the cafe all lined with bikes
a drink with Steve and Sarah after the bike tour
Exploring Amsterdam . . . bikes, bikes, more bikes, canals and tiny cars!!!
yes, people actually live in house boats on the canals . . .
very narrow streets!
flower market
Amazing breakfast at Gartine!!!
click on the photo to see Jamie and I between the t & e!
Dinner back home on the patio . . . now time for bed!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Introduction to Maastricht, Netherlands (our home for a year!)
Day 3 (Thursday 8/18),
We still did not have any coffee filters and had to meet Yvonne from Paragon, a third party company that specializes in international relocation, bright and early for another full day of appointments. This time it was a day of settling in services to learn our way around our new city and to get registered at the town hall.
We started off at the Albert Heijn grocery store (a larger location a little bit further away than the one by our house) to learn about the trash bags, recycling and bottle return processes. The Netherlands is a very environmentally conscience country as they have to be since they are the most densely populated country within Europe and have very limited land area. We then went on a little city tour of Maastricht to both City Centers (aka downtowns), where we finally stopped for a coffee at a cafe (which is never referred to as a 'coffee shop' as that means something completely different here ;)) and also went to a very old refurbished cathedral that was converted into a bookstore (such an amazing setting where I will definitely return). We wandered around the city and stopped into a bakery, De Bisschopsmolen, (Bishop's Mill), dating from the 7th century, that is run by the oldest working water mill.
We then went to lunch in the Markt Square (one of the main large squares in our city center where the markets take place). I had an amazing beef carpaccio salad with goat cheese and Jamie had a traditional dutch lunch of bread and cheese. The city is absolutely adorable with all the cobble stone streets, shops, restaurants, old buildings and cathedrals with incredible architecture and hundreds of bikers! Maastricht is 2,000 years old and still has the walls that were built in the middle ages (early 13th century) to protect the city. We are learning so much about the history of the Netherlands and all the influences they have had with the several other nations that have conquered the country including Rome, Spain and France.
Then we were off to the Town Hall to complete our city registration, the bank (ABN AMRO) to setup our local bank account, and then we drove out to the country a bit, past a little winery and stopped at an old castle that has been converted into a restaurant. On our way home we stopped by Media Mart (similar to a Best Buy) so I could pick up a hair dryer.
Later that evening we met up with Steve and Sarah, the other couple that moved to Maastricht from the states (Steve is Jamie's colleague from Medtronic), for dinner. We went to Pet Thai (Trip Advisor's #2 ranking restaurant in Maastricht). I think we were all excited to discuss our first impressions and experiences in our new town. Steve and Sarah had moved here almost 2 weeks prior to us so they were a little more settled in and more familiar with our surroundings. It was a very nice evening of good food, drinks and conversation.
A map of our new country . . Maastricht is in the very southern part of the Netherlands on the Belgium border.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht
http://citytripmaastricht.webs.com/
We still did not have any coffee filters and had to meet Yvonne from Paragon, a third party company that specializes in international relocation, bright and early for another full day of appointments. This time it was a day of settling in services to learn our way around our new city and to get registered at the town hall.
We started off at the Albert Heijn grocery store (a larger location a little bit further away than the one by our house) to learn about the trash bags, recycling and bottle return processes. The Netherlands is a very environmentally conscience country as they have to be since they are the most densely populated country within Europe and have very limited land area. We then went on a little city tour of Maastricht to both City Centers (aka downtowns), where we finally stopped for a coffee at a cafe (which is never referred to as a 'coffee shop' as that means something completely different here ;)) and also went to a very old refurbished cathedral that was converted into a bookstore (such an amazing setting where I will definitely return). We wandered around the city and stopped into a bakery, De Bisschopsmolen, (Bishop's Mill), dating from the 7th century, that is run by the oldest working water mill.
We then went to lunch in the Markt Square (one of the main large squares in our city center where the markets take place). I had an amazing beef carpaccio salad with goat cheese and Jamie had a traditional dutch lunch of bread and cheese. The city is absolutely adorable with all the cobble stone streets, shops, restaurants, old buildings and cathedrals with incredible architecture and hundreds of bikers! Maastricht is 2,000 years old and still has the walls that were built in the middle ages (early 13th century) to protect the city. We are learning so much about the history of the Netherlands and all the influences they have had with the several other nations that have conquered the country including Rome, Spain and France.
Then we were off to the Town Hall to complete our city registration, the bank (ABN AMRO) to setup our local bank account, and then we drove out to the country a bit, past a little winery and stopped at an old castle that has been converted into a restaurant. On our way home we stopped by Media Mart (similar to a Best Buy) so I could pick up a hair dryer.
Later that evening we met up with Steve and Sarah, the other couple that moved to Maastricht from the states (Steve is Jamie's colleague from Medtronic), for dinner. We went to Pet Thai (Trip Advisor's #2 ranking restaurant in Maastricht). I think we were all excited to discuss our first impressions and experiences in our new town. Steve and Sarah had moved here almost 2 weeks prior to us so they were a little more settled in and more familiar with our surroundings. It was a very nice evening of good food, drinks and conversation.
A map of our new country . . Maastricht is in the very southern part of the Netherlands on the Belgium border.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht
http://citytripmaastricht.webs.com/
The city of Maastricht, the Maas River (Meuse River) and the St. Servatius Bridge (built in the 1200's)
Helpoort, the 13th century town gate, the oldest in the Netherlands
The bakery, Bischopsmolen, in Maastricht run by the old water mill
Selexyz Dominican bookstore located in a beautiful refurbished cathedral
The winery in Maastricht right before the Belgium border
The old castle right on the Belgium border that we stopped at
beautiful gardens at the castle
country side view from the castle
These are red wine grapes growing on the castle buildings & pears growing on this vine on the wall!
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