Playing Hooky

We played hooky a little bit on Saturday after the bookstudy by going to Amsterdam City Center for the afternoon. I do feel a bit guilty, because after the bookstudy (which was at around 40 people this time....the two groups they usually have are meeting together for a time since the sister is sick who usually houses the second bookstudy) the conductor goes straight away into the meeting for service instead of just closing the study. So, the assumption that everyone will be going out in the ministry makes you want to join no matter what your plans. It was a very nice day, compared to the frigid foggy days we had in the beginning of our stay here. Clear blue skies, and a bright sun to warm us. I didn't even pull out my scarf until after 4pm, when the sun start to darken a little.

Our main goal, really was to get our monthly bus passes so that we could save some money on public transport, and so that we could stop worrying if we'd have enough "strippen cards" left to get us home by bus, or would have to pay exorbitant prices to the bus driver to get where we needed to. This way, we can take the buses, metro, trams, and some trains without paying extra, so long as it is within 3 zones of our base, Amstelveen Bus station. You have to do this at Central Station, Amsterdam, and we only have weekend days together, so it had to be Saturday because they are often closed on Sundays. We found a cheesy photo hut box, took the requisite photo's of ourselves, and got our bus passes within 30 minutes of arriving. Then had the rest of the day and evening to play.

We didn't really have much of a plan, just to wander and explore. We started on the main shopping street, Damrak Street, and Matt had a trick up his sleeve. He had looked up the address of the Amsterdam Lush, my favorite place to get bath goodies. I was very happy to see it. We chatted with a few of the workers there about the differences between here and home, until we caused a little grid lock in the store, so we checked out. But not before Matt got some input on a good place to have lunch. We were directed to a hole in the wall place that turned out to be one of the best lunches we've had here yet. On the walk down the lane, we passed a brightly graffitied wall, a la Picasso, and, of course, bicycles. And just before the doorway to the cafe, there was a man with almost no teeth, sitting in an arm chair sipping coffee with a dog about as big as himself strapped to his chair. As we approached, and made noises at the pooch, the dog came toward us, dragging the man and chair behind. So we hurried to stop him, and pet him too. The dog, not the man.

Our lunch spot (I never did see the name of it) had stacks of books everywhere inside, and board games. And very very cool art work and decor. While we ate, a group of 6 or 8 ladies came in for lunch, carrying their own recently purchased board game to play. It looked like a lot of fun. They brought their own chocolates too...I have always loved soups. Especially on cold days. Now I have a new favorite that this lunch place one-upped. Mustard Soup. That's right, it's like French mustard creamed into a thick chicken broth. So good!!! And this restaurant added a special touch by mixing in strips of very flavorful salmon, and parsley bits. Matt also had a great sammie. And does this country know how to make a sandwich! Even though they do indeed throw chocolate sprinkles in sometimes. Pannini's are huge here. Matt's was ham and cheese and pineapple. It is definitely a dairy country. The cheeses are phenomenal.

We had a few pints at an Irish pub recommended to us by the lunch cafe folks. They had one of my all time favorite bad for you snacks there too. Bacon fries, which are something along the lines of bacon bits crossed with corn fritos. Watched a rugby match there. We shared a table with two young men from County Roscommon, Ireland, and we quizzed them from time to time regarding the rules of the game. It wasn't much of a match...Ireland, a world class team, against Canada, who kept to the loosing end of the 27-0 points that we stayed for. The kids we met renewed our hopes of getting back to Ireland while we're here. It's only an hour and a half flight... Earlier when we walked past Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum, the square was fenced off with seating for a youth soccer match. It was so crowded we couldn't see much, so we didn't linger. But it showed us that this is indeed a city full of surprises. I'll post the drum legion we came across later too. After Matt shows me again how to clip my videos. I still don't know what those people were up to, but they all had strange black costumes on, drums in hand, and were following the directions of one guy out front as they played various beats. We got distracted from them by an "American Bookstore" which we rushed into for a few things. Matt ran out of reading material for the bus to work, and I've been wanting a short history of Amsterdam, and/or the Netherlands, and I'd only found one in Dutch before. I still haven't even looked through it. Between work and service, and now the gym, we've been so busy I haven't even properly unpacked. Tomorrow I go to Ikea again for some shelving units for the guest room. The amount of hanging closet space in the average European closet is laughable. There's almost enough room for Matt's suits. No sense unpacking everything if there's nowhere but the floor to put it.

Here's one last shot of our evening out. I'll upload more to Flickr tomorrow. Way past time to sleep now. We stayed up late because we had dinner at a family's house from the Hall. He's from South Africa, and she's Italian. The other couple they invited is from Suriname, and here. The guys played some Nintendo Wii Mario Cart after dinner while the ladies chatted. That crosses all cultures, I guess :) More tomorrow.