This, that and the other

Last weekend was my third weekend visiting Nina in a row. We didn’t have much planned other than trying out one of the new restaurants that had opened the previous weekend.

Of the three, we chose the formal one. In the week since the opening the whole town was talking about this new restaurant complex. It cost around €4 million to make and was owned by an investor without any experience in the restaurant industry. There were complaints the staff was under-trained and inexperienced.

We had a great meal, although it was slow. We were there for 3 hours and we couldn’t figure out if it was because they were new and overwhelmed or if it was meant to be like that. The food and décor was excellent and I was overly impressed.

Sunday we went into Aachen as there was a large crafts fair. Over 300 stalls spread throughout the historic part of the city. Many of the stalls offered professional pottery, art, handmade clothing, leather goods, glass, jewellery etc.

We revisited the Aachen cathedral, the first place we went on my Europe trip last summer. We climbed to the top of the tower which afforded some wonderful views over the city.

That evening we met one of Nina’s good friends and went for supper in the student district. It was a lovely weekend and the last we would be spending together for a few weeks.

Monday morning I was back on the train heading home to Amsterdam. To my colossal surprise, a new recruiter started work on Monday. Three new recruiters (doubling the office personnel) in 1 month! With one week left in the pay period, it is looking definite that this will have been my busiest month at the company.

This week I met the writer who will be taking over for me while I am away. A nice Irish fellow studying urban planning at the University of Amsterdam. He doesn’t have much experience with writing (or the functionality of Word) so I logged a few hours teaching him. Any fears I may have had about my job security are quickly diminishing.

This week the weather has been pretty decent so I have started exercising on a regular basis; something I was sorely missing before. A kilometre away from us is Sloterpas; a lake and park with a bike and walking path that encircle its 6 km circumference. Twice this week I walked around it and another two times I did laps on my bike. It reminds me a bit of Stanley Park from certain angles. I intend to be keep this pace up as I didn’t realize how lazy I had become.

While walking through the park I saw one of those tiny cars whiz by on the bike path. I was quick with my camera and caught this action photo. It was whizzing by at a jaw-dropping 25 km/h. Every time I see one of them it makes me giggle. I can't take them seriously, it looks like Mr Bean should pop out of it, not a "real" person.

This weekend was supposed to be Dad’s trip to visit me as a precursor to a business trip. Although with the arrival of Elliott that trip was delayed. But of course, the new addition to the family is a big deal. Congratulations Andrew and Raquel!

I am getting very excited about my impending trip with Shawn. In just over a week I leave and I am ready for it! This will not be a “relaxing” trip at all. Shawn’s must-see list was impressive, considering we will only be in London, Paris and Rome for a total of 12 days. This is what we plan to do/see:

London — Abbey Road studios, BBC tour, do a walking and a bus tour, Piccadilly Circus, Museum of London, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, Changing of the Guard, London Aquarium, Tower London, Hyde Park, Covent Garden, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace Royal Staterooms and the Tate Modern Art Gallery.

Paris — Bus tour, Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Catacombs, Pantheon, Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Moulin Rouge, Notre Dame Cathedral, Isle de Cite, Beteua Mouche, Champs Elysees, Grand Palais, Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise, Parc Monceau, St Germain des Pres, Sacre Coeur Basilica and Mont Parnasse.

Rome — Bus tour, Vatican City and Museum, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Imperial Forums, Pyramid of Caius Cestius, Villa Borghese, Appian Way, Baths of Caracalla, Piazza di Spagna, Piazza Venezia, Trastevere, Forum Romanum, Arch of Constantine and Peter’s Basilica.

A lot of these sights we will see from the bus tour we will do in each city. But our hectic schedule will have us seeing/doing 2-4 things each day! Shawn and I are OK with that pace and that is what it will take for him to get the taste of each city he wants. And, it was fun organizing the trip and itinerary.

I will have half a day in London before Shawn arrives so I think I will visit a couple of galleries. The top one on my list is Dali Universe.

So it’s a Saturday afternoon, the rain has now stopped and the sun is trying to poke through. I am off to meet my expat group for an afternoon of street photography. It’s basically as it sounds, we go for a walk with cameras and take pictures of anything that suits our fancy. At the end they will be posted on line and voted on. As it’s also Open Monument Day a lot of buildings that are normally
off-limits are open to the public today. I don’t know if that will beincorporated into our walk or not.

More next week…