July - Off to Brussels Belgium Part 2

So we checked into our hotel and than started marching around the city. Its not horribly hilly, but seemed so after a few months in Holland. The streets and sidewalks of Brussels arent as well maintained as Amsterdams, and they were murder on the feet. But it was worth it and quite fun. Here is one of the many beautiful churches we saw in Brussels.

This is a different church, I believe the Royal Chapel. Amazing inside.

Love the monster sized paintings in the Belgian churches.

This is another church in the north part of Brussels downtown.

Look at the amazing stained glass windows

More glass and the alter

So we took a short break than went out for the night...more searchin for Jean Claude...

July - Off to Brussels Belgium Part 1

So we had initially planned to go to Paris for a few days, but the train tickets were way overpriced. What was a good deal was Brussels Belgium. So about 10pm late one night we decided to get on an early morning train. John, Saviya and I hopped on the train and 2 hours later were arriving to Brussels.

We walk about 10 mins from the train station and arrive here to the Grand Paleis (Grand Palace). This square was amazing, with 17th century guilded buildings. Here I am:

Another side of the same square

And another

And a closer shot of the top of one of these buildings, lit up with gold.

And another close up

And look at this amazing door

I looked high and low, but never saw the 'Muscles from Brussels' Jean Claude Van Damme.

June - John Comes to Visit

So our first house guest was my friend John. He and I worked together for a few years at LexisNexis.

Its nice to 'pickup' your guests at the airport in Amsterdam. A tram and a train and I can be at the airport in under 30 mins. Met John in the lobby, and came back to the apartment.

We went out that night to show John around, here he is taking a pic of me.

And the 'world-famous' Condomerie on the edge of the Red Light District in Amsterdam

Took him past the most famous 'coffee'shop in Amsterdam, the Dampkring, which was featured in the movie Oceans 12.

And in a completely unrelated note, here is one of many Dutch foods we tried, these we love. They are like Nutella, but white chocolate or Hazlenut blends..yum!

-Colin

A visit to the Reed Elsevier Office

So many of you know that I work for LexisNexis, but may not know that we are owned by a larger corporation known as Reed Elsevier. Elsevier is known as a publisher of magazines and periodicals. Its corporate headquarters is in Amsterdam. This office is where I will be based out of this year, though I often work from home. It is about 30 minute bike ride or 15 mins on the tram to get to this building from my apartment.

Very tall building by Dutch standards. This is 24 floors, and over 2000 employees. There are divisions of LexisNexis, Reed Elsevier, and the corp headquarters of Elsevier.

Elsevier is located in a part of Amsterdam known as Sloterdijk, right at Sloterdijk train station.

-Colin

Riding Through Amsterdam Part Een!

So our first month we did tons of walking..way way way too much walking. I finally found a mountain bike and Saviya was riding our landlords old bike. We finally rode over to Vondelpark to check it out. There is a wonderful gazebo in the middle of it.

One night we heard that there was a new museum open, and for that first weekend it would be open 24 hours per day. We left around midnight and rode our bikes figuring we would miss the long lines. We show up and there are hundreds of people lined up around the corner. So instead of the museum, we took an evening bike ride. Here are a few pics of the amazing building known as De Waag. Its a 17th century weigh house, now a bar/cafe.

Here are a few vids of Saviya and I on our night ride

and another of the Rijksmuseum hiding in the fog at night.

-Colin

June Summer Neighborhood Party

So we wake up one morning and there are a few less bikes in the square below. The city had come by and removed them and the racks they were locked to. They put a few cement planters where they bikes used to be, and than they left. Maybe a week goes by and the planters get moved one Sunday morning...its all making more sense..


A truck backs up to the market (closed on Sundays anyway) and the side opens up creating a stage. The Cafe De Punt on the left corner there is our neighborhood bar. It had organized the event, put out the tables and chairs and setup the stage. Five or six bands played that day, as well as one of our local street musicians who blew his crazy harmonica the entire day.

Later in the afternoon, the rains came, and came hard. Everyone went home, but as soon as the sun was out an hour later the show resumed and everyone came back out.

So Saviya and I go down for a few beers and to watch the show. A dude on a scooter comes riding up full speed..honked his horn a few times and just plowed slowly through the crowd. The people in such a Dutch way were compliant, pulling tables and chairs out of his way..and off he went...Than about 20 seconds later came 2 police officers on their scooters...the crowd had just helped the criminal escape!

It was a good day, unfortunatly soon afterwards the Cafe De Punt would have an electrical fire and be forced to close for the remainder of the summer for renovations. -Colin

Welcome Back to our Blog!

Welcome!
Sorry its been a while since we updated the blog. Busy with work and travel and just enjoying the experience here. But look forward to lots of updates soon as I have over 2 months of updates to blog about. Enjoy!
-Colin