Amsterdam and Spring

My European life lately has been less of an adventure - save my trip to Amsterdam; see photos below - than a simple exercise in everyday life somewhere that is not my home. The past several weeks have seen losses and feeling lost, gains and regaining self, and countless small epiphanies. These are not really things fit for a blog, so this space has been a little neglected.

With spring, though, comes so much gratitude. Relief for the return of refreshing scents on the air, amazement at my good fortune despite all the bad luck I've seem to run into (life is never in short supply of that), and a sense of new beginnings around the corner. It seems, as usual, that I've only just begun my current adventure, and that it's nearing its end. I go home on May 2nd (in 40 days), and that's sort of hard to believe. So for now, I'm not going to try to figure that out, and instead present you with snapshots from Amsterdam.

Also, I've been studying my Japanese more lately, and I just want to say 日本語はとても楽しいです！

Canals and classic examples of old Dutch buildings

Inside Moeder's (Mother's) restaurant, which serves classic Dutch food, there are countless photos of patrons' moms

Greasy after an 8-hour bus ride and utterly unable to finish the heaps of food in front of me, which includes mashed potatoes with sauerkraut, sausage, bacon, meatballs and steak

Eating Dutch apple cake (!!!!!!) at Winkel

My favorite: cats

A little Dutch for you to try to decipher ;)

Left: Winkel; Right: Noordermarkt (open market)

The short red building is the narrowest in Amsterdam and thus, once upon a time, the cheapest.

Famed canal bridges

Me in front of some sloping buildings (caused by the squishy swamp foundation)

BIKESBIKESBIKES

Me and Mark aka "I have killed many pigeons in my lifetime"