European sports

I can’t help but notice how weird European sports are. What’s on TV this weekend? Let me tell you!

 

MotoGP Sport Bike Racing (and reruns of yesterday)

Women’s Cross Country Running (hugh?)

Rowing – Oxford vs. Cambridge (a big deal?)

Track Cycling (at least it looks interesting)

Curling (I usually only watch this when heavily intoxicated and during the winter Olympics)

Snooker (I just don’t get it)

 

I thought I’d get to see a cycling race since there are two good ones this weekend in France and Belgium, respectively. How disappointing!

 

Losing an hour...again (notes from Amsterdam)

Sunday morning I woke up and realized I had truly done something I may never do again in my entire life: Lose an hour due to daylight savings time twice in the same year. Our government decided it would be great if we confuse the rest of the world for three weeks and move our daylight savings schedule up. While I do enjoy having more light at night in March, I don't think I would be hurt to wait for the rest of the world to switch over as well. So I lost an hour three weeks ago and I lost another one today. Let's mark that one in the hall of records.

 

Yesterday was a gloriously sunny day in Amsterdam. I spent most of it inside trying to finish some things needed for work on Monday morning, however, I did manage to sneak out for a couple hours in the middle of the day for lunch. I also secured a bike rental for the week, which cost about 47€, so basically if I use it twice a day rather than take the tram and a taxi here and there and I'll break even. Besides that, it's just faster to get around Amsterdam on a bicycle than on anything motorized. There are so many people everywhere and I think this is the one person in the world where a bicycle has right of way over a pedestrian. Cars are somewhere in the middle I think. You definitely have to be an aggressive driver here or you'll never get anywhere with all the bikes and people. It's a bit unnerving to have a car buzz past you when you are on a tight road and have nowhere to go and I could see how a lot of people wouldn't enjoy that aspect of bicycle riding around here. I plan to use the bicycle to jaunt off to and from work, weather cooperating of course.

 

I made my way over to Leidsestraat yesterday, which is one of the main shopping streets and is also on the way from the other shopping and red light districts up near Centraal Station to the museum district (Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum, etc.). It was a madhouse full of people. I took a spin up and down but didn't do a whole lot. I was mainly looking for something to eat that wouldn't require an hour of time. That would be okay if I had someone to enjoy the hour with, but when I'm alone I don't really care to sit around and stare at my napkin. I didn't end up finding anything suitable so I got back on my bicycle and headed back near the apartment where I knew there were some places like that. It is a 15 minute walk from there to the apartment, but less than 5 minutes on the bike!

 

I spent the day until about 8pm working and then went out for Indian food at night. There is a restaurant nearby called Shahjahan and I'd give it an "OK" rating. It was definitely spiced down for the locals and I should have thought to mention I want it "desi hot" (like an Indian would eat). It was also very creamy, and that always spells trouble for me.

 

To my delight, I found out NCAA basketball games can be viewed over the Internet from the Netherlands, so I watched a bit of a game with UCLA last night. It didn't start until midnight, I think. Of course, in the morning I realized I was watching a game from Thursday night. Oops. UCLA won last night too, so I felt like I was seeing the real deal.

 

It's just past Noon here and I still have a couple more hours of work to do. I'd better get to it!

 

Brian

 

The last few days (notes from Amsterdam)

Wednesday through Friday this week went by like a blur. Our whole team got together and had a sort of workshop to take stock of where we are at with our project. The great thing that came out of this for me and the family is that we decided my last week on the project will be next week, so when I return home April 5 I'll be home for good. At least, I'll be home from this project without any prospects for doing additional international travel in the near future.

Wednesday we worked until 9pm and then headed out on the Sneltram to Amsterdam Centraal Station. Sneltram literally means "fast tram" because it supposedly skips some stops, yet somehow it still takes 20 minutes to go 4 kilometers. I don't really get that. Anyway, my colleagues were staying at the KH Barbizon Hotel right next to Centraal Station, which had a fantastic lobby area. I heard from them later the rooms weren't so great, and for that I say "Welcome to Europe!" We asked the concierge for a recommendation on a restaurant and he recommended Het Melkmeisje, which literally translates to "The Milk Maid." It was just around the corner and had availability, so we went for it. It was right at the entrance to the red light district, so the area was full of people. The restaurant was typical Dutch style, in my opinion, in that it was small with a high ceiling and glass from floor to ceiling at the entrance. It was similar to the bruine café's we went to last time in the Netherlands. This place had a great wine list and I ordered a bottle of French Rhone that was something like a Syrah. I wish I could remember the name. It was tasty! I ordered a pepper steak to go with it and found I preferred it over German or Austrian pepper steaks, which are typically cream sauce based. This was based in something more like runny syrup. We wrapped up dinner around midnight and then Eduardo and I hustled back to the apartment, which was about a 15 minute walk. On our way back to the apartment we found the red lights extended far beyond the red light district. We were walking down a street a few blocks from the apartment and there were some red neon lights visible all over some windows on the other side of the street. To my surprise, there was a scantily clad lady flirting with some young men next to one of those windows. As we got further down the road, we walked past another "shop" on our side of the road and there was a woman standing in her bra and panties. I had to laugh, take one more look, and then walk on home.

Thursday my run started too early for my taste. After finishing dinner at midnight, I was up at 6am and with a mostly full belly still went out for a run. Needless to say, I took it nice and easy. This morning I noticed it was garbage day. Ordinarily, that would be unremarkable, but in Amsterdam they just throw their garbage bags onto the sidewalk rather than into a trash can. With trash bags strewn about, it made it a bit difficult to stay in the pedestrian lane, so I went out into traffic, which is mostly bicycles, but is actually a bit more nerve wracking than automobiles because you can't hear them coming along. There weren't many of them at that hour, so it wasn't too bad.

At work on Thursday we had another long day, wrapping up at 9pm again. This night the local folks from our project joined for dinner and our project Principal took us to one of her favorite restaurants, Blauw aan de Wal. This place was really in the heart of the red light district, so on the way to the restaurant you have to pass by all of the dirty little shops that make up that district. Somewhere between a porn shop and a peep show was a particular graffiti filled alleyway and at the end of it, to my sincere surprise, was the restaurant that was extremely civilized. It had a fantastic wine menu of high-end European selections and a menu crazy enough to justify it. I have been to a lot of really nice restaurants and have learned about a lot of foods that you wouldn't find in many places, and I'd say this place prided itself on having the most obscure gourmet creations possible. If only I had taken a copy of the menu I could share it with you, but as it stands now I can't even remember what the names of things were. Just think about obscure varieties of fish, vegetables, meat and meat derivatives, and that would be what they would have. I decided to skip a starter since I felt I had eaten rich foods already on that day and plus I saw some desserts that seemed more worthy of my calorie budget. I went for veal on the shank, along with the marrow from the bone, which was a first for me. It was served with a side of something I thought resembled a potato croquette, but I'm not actually sure what it was. There were also a couple other things that I have no clue what they were, and then some vegetables that I can't recall now. Everything was magnificent. For dessert I had some kind of chocolate cake-like thing. I don't know what the name for it is, but let's just say it was good. I would highly recommend this restaurant, and you have to be prepared to spend about 100€ per person if you choose to go there.

Thursday night ended around 1am, and I still managed to drag my tired self out for a run that morning. The day was mostly uneventful and we finished work by 8:30pm (On a Friday! In Amsterdam!) and then Eduardo and I went back to the apartment. We decided to stay in for the night and cook. I suggested Mexican food and so we went to the Albert Heijn grocery store and put together the best mix of ingredients we could get to make tacos. We made soft shell tacos and refried beans and it was great. I finally went to bed before midnight (barely, but still…) and slept until 9:30am the next morning. Life is good again.

The weather is back to normal and I'm feeling fine (notes from Amsterdam)

I awoke this morning with the urge to go do something active and lose the jet lag. I find getting back into my routine for both fitness and food is the best way to do that.

Last night we went to a reasonably posh if not trendy restaurant called Werck, which I found out after I got there should have been called "Wreck" because of the poor service and low quality food. That was a disappointing start, so I hope tonight we can find a place with equally as pleasing ambience with the food to match!

I also went to a grocery store to make good on eating better on this trip and with the hope I can control myself. On my trip to Helsinki a few weeks ago, I gained 7 pounds. I don't know how I did it, but sure enough the pants felt a little tighter when I got home. Anyway, back to the grocery store. It was called a super market, but was equivalent to the size of two 7-Eleven stores. I surveyed the store to see what they had before grabbing anything and found it was a decent market with fair variety for how small it was. I found the prices to be relatively cheap, especially on alcohol. Of course, I have to convert to USD, but when I compare the prices here to the prices at home, I think European groceries are cheaper. Alcohol was cheap. I bought a bottle of Bordeaux for 4€ and you could pick up a twelve pack of Heineken for 7€ and change. Fruit was also reasonably priced, so I bought packs of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and apples (the only that wasn't cheap). I look forward to eating them today.

Amsterdam is really the perfect runner's town. It's basically flat, with the only hills to speak of the bumps you have to go up and over to pass over all of the canals. The streets are generally brick, and while that can sometimes be a bit tricky to navigate if one has come loose, I think it's easier on your body than concrete. I ran around both sides of Prinsengracht this morning, which is one of the rings that form semi-circles around Amsterdam. I ran the whole thing in 37 minutes, so basically that should give you some perspective on the size of the Amsterdam central district (it's small). If you haven't been to Amsterdam before but expect to go at some point, bring your walking shoes. You can really walk around this whole city without ever needing a car.

Our whole team is coming to our office today, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and having a productive day. Until next time…

Arrived in Amsterdam

This morning I arrived to snowy and cold Amsterdam, which I’m told is a bit abnormal for this time of year. It actually isn’t that bad; even Atlanta had some snow flurries yesterday. The difference is Atlanta was warm and sunny the day before and probably went straight back to that condition today!

 

As a result of all the snow in Amsterdam, our office is closed. The office manager got snowed in at her house, so no one was there to open the doors for me and my colleague, Eduardo Rocha. Thankfully, we found out with enough time so we just went straight to our corporate apartment where we were headed anyway (so I could wash the international travel stink off me) and we are staying there for the day. The corporate apartment is absolutely beautiful, and in a perfect location right in the heart of Amsterdam near the Anne Frank house. It is appointed in contemporary European style with wide-planked bleached hardwood floors (that appear to be heated), stainless steel appliances, flat screen TV’s with a Bose sound system, Grohe faucets and fixtures, and an espresso machine. It’s much more comfortable than a hotel. It is set up in a roommates sort of plan so each of us has our own room and bathroom and then we share a common living area. The apartment has a terrible wireless internet connection and that is definitely slowing me down today, but I am surviving without it…barely.

 

The flight over was one of the worst ones I have experienced from a comfort level perspective, so I’m very happy to be settled into a relaxing and comfortable environment. I was on a terrible Delta flight on a 767 in a seat that didn’t recline with a headrest that had neck support but turned out to be a tease as it collapsed every time my head put pressure on it, and to make matters worse I had a small electrical box where my right foot should have gone, so I was basically sitting upright with my legs crossed for the entire flight. Note to self and anyone else reading this: Don’t book seat 29C on Delta flight 38 from Atlanta to Amsterdam!

 

I miss Rohan a lot on this trip (and Tina too of course). I think yesterday he really knew I was leaving and that was the first time he put two and two together in that he saw my suitcase and the way I was acting and knew I was going to be gone for a while. Tina told me he cried for five minutes after I left, which definitely made me sad. There will be many more of these days to come because a consultant’s life is all about travel.

 

Until the next posting…

Ear infection

One of the less enjoyable parts about parenthood is managing a sick child. Most of the time when you can figure out that they are ill, you feel bad for them, but you don't really know what is wrong with them. Today we took Rohan to the doctor and found out he has an ear infection. I had tubes in my ears as a baby and hope he doesn't have the same fate. He has been generally irritable for days now, so it is good to know it's something serious and not a change in behavior for the worse!

On another note, I'm heading to Europe for a couple weeks starting next Monday. I'm not really looking forward to another weekend away from home. Duty calls and I agreed to it, so here I go! I'll spend 5-6 days in Amsterdam and then head to London for a couple days, and then I'll either head back to Amsterdam or go to Helsinki for a few days. Lots of travel. Lots of air miles. Bad exchange rate = expensive trip.

Making good on staying in touch

I created this blog to stay in touch with friends and family. The primary purpose will be to talk about what is going on with our family life, and especially notes, photos, and videos of our children.