These are a few of my favorite things.
Cheese slicer (and Daphne)!
Maybe they use these in the states. I don't know. I've never seen one. I grew up buying shredded or the processed packaged variety of cheeses. Velveeta, anyone? Now I rarely buy it at all. Except for the occasional log of goat or feta. But here in Amsterdam the old cheese is superb and all dietary restrictions are off, so we buy delicious hunks of the stuff and slice it up with this.
Daphne!
Daphne is my daytime partner in crime. Those photos are of us about to share a "thousand holes pancake" - it was not delicious, btw. We go out adventuring while Joachim and Dre put in their 8 hours and then Daphne takes care of all of us working people by cooking up some of the most amazing meals I've eaten in Europe. (She is at the stove, as I am typing this, cooking up some sort of gingery-garlicky heaven). Yay Daphne! Plus she shared with me the video below. Its her childhood friend's wedding and it's as good as any kitten video I've seen.
One of the Grandest Indian Wedding : Nesaghanth & Parvina from Digimax Video Productions on Vimeo.
Enclosed roller chains!
How do you say brilliant in Dutch? Briljant. And thats exactly what this is. Because biking is the primary mode of transport for like, 80% of the population - they've learned a thing or two about making it efficient. Turns out, not having pokey things (that rip up your clothes and scar your calves) exposed is one of those efficiencies. This means I can hop on a bike in whatever it is that I am wearing and ride free and clear.
Speaking of biking I must thank Boots for teaching me about bike safety basics. Apparently my theories (based on simple observation) that "bikes always have the right-of-way in Amsterdam" and "its a lawless country out there" were actually not accurate. There are laws and insurance requirements and little white triangles that indicate right-of-way. Oh. Thats helpful. I'd developed a whole theory of hierarchy that placed bikes at the top and all others below (pedestrians included) but it turns out Dutch law isn't so roughshod.
Laundry drying racks
Clothes probably last much longer here. Because air drying racks are the norm. If you use the "dryer" of our apartment's washer-dryer combo - you blow a fuse. And given how many drying racks there are to choose from at the local Blokker, I'm guessing hang-drying is the standard in most homes. And it totally doesn't suck. Clothes dry in less than a day and you save tons of energy.
Pre-cooked beets
I love beets. I especially love beets in spinach salad with some blue cheese. Yum. Yum. And here I can easily eat them all of the time because Albert Heijn, the ubiquitious Dutch chain, sells oodles of easy-to-eat veggies, beets my favorite among them. My heart, of course, lies with the Eko Plaza, but you can hardly turn a corner with out running into an Albert Heijn, so its my more regular stop over plus they sell the pre-cooked, pre-peeled beets - earning my loyalty and love.
Fresh flowers!!!
In travel books you'll read things like the "the Dutch have a love affair with flowers" and while I don't know about all of that I do know that fresh flowers are abundant and cheap. Which perks up my day immensely. I LOVELOVELOVE flowers and having affordable access to them is AMAZING. Bunches of spray roses sell for as little as $3 a bunch and the local florist, who favors me, hooks me up with enormous bouquets (and little candy bars) for a song.
To accompany all the fresh flowers are all the living plants. The front of most homes are dripping with potted plants - despite the lack of yard.
Who needs a yard when you have this loveliness?
Maybe they use these in the states. I don't know. I've never seen one. I grew up buying shredded or the processed packaged variety of cheeses. Velveeta, anyone? Now I rarely buy it at all. Except for the occasional log of goat or feta. But here in Amsterdam the old cheese is superb and all dietary restrictions are off, so we buy delicious hunks of the stuff and slice it up with this.
Daphne!
Daphne is my daytime partner in crime. Those photos are of us about to share a "thousand holes pancake" - it was not delicious, btw. We go out adventuring while Joachim and Dre put in their 8 hours and then Daphne takes care of all of us working people by cooking up some of the most amazing meals I've eaten in Europe. (She is at the stove, as I am typing this, cooking up some sort of gingery-garlicky heaven). Yay Daphne! Plus she shared with me the video below. Its her childhood friend's wedding and it's as good as any kitten video I've seen.
One of the Grandest Indian Wedding : Nesaghanth & Parvina from Digimax Video Productions on Vimeo.
Enclosed roller chains!
 |
| my bike! on loan from the excellent Katie |
Speaking of biking I must thank Boots for teaching me about bike safety basics. Apparently my theories (based on simple observation) that "bikes always have the right-of-way in Amsterdam" and "its a lawless country out there" were actually not accurate. There are laws and insurance requirements and little white triangles that indicate right-of-way. Oh. Thats helpful. I'd developed a whole theory of hierarchy that placed bikes at the top and all others below (pedestrians included) but it turns out Dutch law isn't so roughshod.
Laundry drying racks
 |
| I had just pulled all of our laundry off when I remembered to take this. Shoot. |
Pre-cooked beets
I love beets. I especially love beets in spinach salad with some blue cheese. Yum. Yum. And here I can easily eat them all of the time because Albert Heijn, the ubiquitious Dutch chain, sells oodles of easy-to-eat veggies, beets my favorite among them. My heart, of course, lies with the Eko Plaza, but you can hardly turn a corner with out running into an Albert Heijn, so its my more regular stop over plus they sell the pre-cooked, pre-peeled beets - earning my loyalty and love.
Fresh flowers!!!
 |
| I worked from home yesterday just to stare at these. |
In travel books you'll read things like the "the Dutch have a love affair with flowers" and while I don't know about all of that I do know that fresh flowers are abundant and cheap. Which perks up my day immensely. I LOVELOVELOVE flowers and having affordable access to them is AMAZING. Bunches of spray roses sell for as little as $3 a bunch and the local florist, who favors me, hooks me up with enormous bouquets (and little candy bars) for a song.
To accompany all the fresh flowers are all the living plants. The front of most homes are dripping with potted plants - despite the lack of yard.
Who needs a yard when you have this loveliness?
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