Ok so... I'm into Week 4!
I still like it....
Been home once (stop laughing Cameron), went to Paris to meet my new Boss, on the Thayls - 1st Class :) which was fun.
I'm supposed to be going to London and Rome next week.... but I have to wait till my boss gets back to his office to get more details... so that will be interesting.
Had a week on my own in the office last week as the 2 others that are here were in MIP in Cannes. It was ok.. I like being alone so it was fine. Trying to get a handle on one of the projects I will be doing is interesting. I'm using a system a little like the one I used to use in AA and I keep pressing all the wrong keys.... I'll get used to it. I have a horrible tendency to say we/us for AA and you guys for the new Co! Not good I suspect.
I have made some friends.... some Irish folks... all lovely. And some gay folks, also lovely!
This weekend I had a poke around two markets...
Nordermarkt and
Albert Cyupstraat Markt.
This place is crazy about markets, and I can see why. I tried Nordermarkt first as its literally just up the street from me and a lot smaller than Albert Cyup. It was great, bought some lovely bread and cheese and tomato tapenade and two plants for my kitchen. So I came home with my haul and then headed off in the other direction to the Albert Cyup. That was class, really long and selling everything and pretty cool stuff too. Got fruit and herbs and other bits and pieces.
And then... what I hade been waiting for, for ages but never seemed to be in the right place for,
Vlaamse frites (literally Flemish fries) they are soo good.... they are double fried... so they are really crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle, then the excess oil is shaken off them and they are then tossed in salt. That's when the fun begins, there is about 18 combinations of sauces you can have on them, I like frietsaus and curry. (frietsaus is like mayo only lighter and sweeter) you can go the whole Dutch hog and have frites oorlog (literally war fries) they have....drum roll..... mayo, satay sauce, and raw onions.... (peuke) Anyway with my frites in hand I strolled out of the market and back along the canal to my house.
Other things done in the last 2 weeks! Went to Vleuten (its outside Utrecht) to visit Catriona's friend Prina and her husband Wiebe in their fab home. There I learned that by Dutch law all new train stations have to spend a minimum 10% of their budget on Art installed in the station. I now have a new hobby on the train.... spot the station art (shut up - i have no one to talk to )
This is Vleuten Station - and the never-ending bike rack!
Prina is lovely and made a fab dinner.... she's pregnant and the bump is growing nicely!
She thought me a traditional Dutch breakfast on thr hoof consists of ... Krentenbrood, Pindakaas, and chocolate Hagleslag - its yum!! Hops watch out this is my new peanutbutter and jam (shit and blood as you so lovingly pronounced it)
I've been invited by the gay boys I met on Saturday to the Drag Queen Olympics (Queens Day Eve - 29th April) so that will be fun.
The Irish contingent are nice, we are trying to set up an Irish Expat Meetup group so we had the first meeting last week with 7 people there. Two came to my house on Sunday to watch movies which was nice. (even if I was dying when I woke up on Sunday morning.... as the beer here is served in half pint glasses - and during happy hour, far too many glasses... I think I drank 10 or 12 before I stopped counting... I did not however stop drinking) anyway Sunday I was dying till 3pm!!
Got my haircut.... Toni&Guy in Amsterdam, by Dutch standards 'they saw me coming' but I've paid more for a haircut I didn't like so to have them do (and agree) with exactly what I wanted was great.
Tonight I go to dinner in The Grand one of the poshest hotels in the city, very near the red-light district (go figure) the IT guys are over and I'm helping them to entertain some folks here. :)
So there you go..... there are the little 'flies in the ointment' but on the whole life here is good. I miss my family, Catriona and friends, that goes without saying, but its not a bad life here.
More soon.
