Saturday ORGANIC market :)

~Eat Local~

 This time of year, Holland produces pretty much 

everything we need in fruits and veggies.

A bulk food stand. The woman is filling our reusable bag with organic red quinoa.

 The fresh bread is so yummy.

We have been purchasing freshly made pasta at this stand every week.

This week we got a mixture of raviolis filled with, truffle and cabbage, beets and split peas.

Beautiful weather

 If the weather is nice everyone wants to be outside. The park is packed.

Families and friends are grilling, people juggling, slacklining, playing smash-ball, drinking

and enjoying the sun.

They love there outdoor music festivals.

~This is a photo from the Milkshake Festival~

An enormous tree house in the tree tops of Vondelpark. 

There is a meet-up group for beach volleyball so Nate and I decided to give it a try. 

It is a little weird to play beach volleyball inside with imported sand...but it was fun and 

we met some nice people.

Yes!!! The Beach!!!!

We biked to the beach (1.5 hours away), which is a little different than our 60 step commute 

we used to have back in OB. European beaches are not the same as the beaches I am used to. 

This beach has lots of structures built right on the beach and man people love their beach umbrellas.

They even have soccer nets on the beach and people driving full on tractors that pull food stands. 

Since it is not hot everyday, when it is, everyone comes to the beach so it is very crowded.

The picture below is a Tuesday afternoon at Zandvoort.

Botanical Gardens-Amsterdam

The lilly pad pond. These leaves can support the weight of a baby.

The butterfly greenhouse is filled with hundreds of 

beautiful butterflies

Jade hugging the oldest tree in the botanical gardens.

Nate, happy in the Southern California desert green house.

Our edible plants tour guide.

He was quite a character.

I love botanists!  :)

Baseball in Holland?

As the good Americans we are...

When Nate and Tom found out that there was the World Championship of 

college level baseball going on in Haarlem (20km away), they decided to go.

There are some similar baseball game traditions that transfered over but the Dutch definitely 

created some of their own.

 We watched Cuba vs. USA

In the end USA lost in extra innings to Cuba.

USA plays today against the Dutch to try for 3rd place.

The final game is Cuba vs Puerto Rico.

Every time there is a pitcher change they play this song and do this 

..."squat dance"...

So I gave it a try :)

The all Biologic (organic) Market

Biological Noordermarkt Amsterdam

This market has everything and everything is organic!

You can buy local produce from 12-15 different farms

Cheese, Bread, Pastries and even Meat

It goes on every Saturday and has become part of our weekly routine.

It is more amazing than words or pictures can describe. 

And if one thing can keep me in a place with colder weather than anywhere

I have ever lived, it is a market like this!

This man knows how to make bread. He will even pair your 

loaf with a bottle of wine, to the exact region and grape variety.

There is a mushroom stand with more varieties than I have ever seen. And the ladies that own the booth know exactly how to eat each mushroom and how that mushroom is good for you.

This is our overloaded bike basket full of fresh veggies and bread

for the week.

We also have back-packs full of purchases too.
There is so much good food!

Exploring Amsterdam

Biking everywhere we travel, occasionally there is traffic and occasionally you 

have to wait for a drawbridge.

Below are our bikes.  The gold bike is the one I cruise town on

 and I have name it "The Hermit". 

Nate's bike remains unnamed...please feel free to offer suggestions.

The 3 of us have been finding very nice pubs & 

 cafes to eat delicious organic/biologic desserts.

They love their Belgium beers here and that brings smiles to my 

face because I love Belgium beers too.

 This is an organic farm we went to visit (a 30 minute bike ride outside of town).

We start volunteering there next week.

It is harvest time, always the most enjoyable time to be around a farm.

We have been participating in various events around town and have met some wonderful people. There is a very large ex-pat community here in Amsterdam.

Stockholm

"I fear the man who drinks water and so remembers this morning what the rest of us said last night."

:)  Nate and I on my birthday :)

The wonderful open air markets with fish the size of my torso!

But they always have beautiful stands full of vegetables too.

Went on a hike in a lush green forest with about 

10,000 mosquitoes and after 10 minutes, said "we are out of here".  

And proceeded to go on an urban hike where we found

a Teeter-Totter. After my 2 weeks in Stockholm I found a 

collection of amazing Teeter-Totters. So fun!

 After a jump in the Baltic Sea.

Yes, even in Stockholm they have thousands of people who ride bicycles!

Annette's amazing Stockholm family who treated us as family.

~Sweden is wonderful~

The Wedding-Stockholm, Sweden

Mother Vickie, Father Roger, walking their beautiful daughter Annette down the aisle.Mike Sullivan as The Officiant          

Krakow, Poland

 St. Mary's Bacilica, at the main square in Krakow

  :) They think so in Poland too!  :)

 Nate and I at the 2nd Chakra of the World, in the walls of the Wawel Castle.

We are feeling the healing powers!

 The 3 of us celebrating Spain's Semi-Final Victory

 The city buses, after Spain was victorious over Portugal, were so jam-packed no more people could fit on and we had to walk home in the rain.

Nate and I went to an Ashtanga yoga class (led by Michal, pictured above) at an amazing dungeon-like studio in his house.