Gazelligheid (Or, Sunday, Part I)

Proof that Jane navigated around Zuid by bike!

Gazelligheid is a Dutch word regarded as untranslatable into English.  It refers to the cozy feeling of spending time with friends, particularly after a long absence.  I was really lucky to have a truly "gazellig" day during staycation.

Jane, my BFF from my year in Dominica, was in Amsterdam with her 13-year-old daughter, Melissa.  Jane and I left Dominica around the same time; she and her family now live in the UK.  Despite our best intentions we have seen each other only once since 1998, when she and her family traveled to Washington, DC, when Melissa was an infant.  This DC was one of many trips that Jane and her family has won (they are incredibly lucky like that).

From the minute I arrived at their hotel it was like I had just seen them the day before.  What I have always loved about Jane is her zest for life.  To say she is fun loving doesn't begin to describe her (and makes her sound like a party girl which isn't the case).  Jane is filled with an infectious positivity that just makes people love to be around her.

Our plan was to cycle over to Art Zuid, a large scale public art exhibit in my neighborhood, and then get some dinner.  While Melissa is an expert cyclist, Jane (like me) isn't super comfortable cycling on main roads and prefers to stick to less populated paths.  Despite this, Jane made it to Art Zuid, out to dinner (Where we met M and Peter who had their own adventure) and back without incident.  Jane and Melissa were the most fearless guests we have had to date!

The big sauna skull...

...and with a visitor inside.  Sadly we learned it smelled a bit like wee.

We all agreed this bit of bling was one of our favorites.

Melissa and Jane looking lovely (and proud!) after a day of cycling.

New Bike

We have an exciting new addition to our bike collection: a family tandem!

I have been looking at them for the better part of a year now and been searching for a used one for a few months. My search included trolling Marktplaats, a Dutch version of eBay I didn't really understand (and which turned up the occasional tandem in some town nowhere near Amsterdam), contacting rental shops and putting notes on tandems in my neighborhood, in both English and Dutch, asking people if they were interested in selling. Just when I was about to give up and buy a new one I decided to check Bob Orange Cycles and they had this beauty, loaded with extras, for half the price of a new one.

My little Amsterdammer

So, he had to come to Cape Cod to learn, but our little boy, not even 5, is a true Amsterdammer:  he now rides a two wheeler!

Spring Fever

I think I must have spring fever because this weekend I ran my family ragged. On Saturday M had a birthday party at a local play space.  Despite knowing full well that this would exhaust him I still organized a trip to the pool for the morning.  Our local pool is really amazing--kind of like a water park, including a wave every thirty minutes.  

The Mirandabad, our local city pool.

Sunday we rode about 4 miles to the English speaking church then found a nice playground nearby at Park Frankendael.

Beautiful spring weather meant M could play without a jacket.

We stopped for coffee and M used his Leapster.

Our weekend was so busy that on the ride back from church M fell asleep on the back of Peter's bike.  Then we spent the afternoon watching a movie.

Bakfiets: The €10 Solution

A cheaper cargo bike option

A few months back I posted about my love of the Nihola bakfiets, a family tricycle which I thought was my best option for transporting M.  Despite my best efforts I am not able to balance with M on the back of my bike. The bike seat sits up high on my bike and he's nearly one third of my weight, creating an inverted pendulum that I'm not strong enough to counteract.  Most bakfiets are giant, but the Nihola is lovely and sleek.  It's also €2,100.  But, my reasoning was that we don't have a car, and the bakfiets would be our primary family transport.  It would allow us greater mobility and we'd greatly improve our quality of life.

But I hesitated.  As much as I love the Nihola I kept wondering how long the shelf life would be.  We only have one kid, and with any luck M will be riding his own two wheeler by summer.  And the sides are high--did I really want to be lifting a five year old out of a box bike?  So I tested the Bakfiets.nl short.  Given that it's a two wheeled bakfiets I was surprised how easy it was to ride (of course, I rode it empty).  And, M could easily climb in and out himself.  But, it's still no bargain at €1,600.  This only led to more hesitation.

So, last Friday at the playground a bunch of us moms were talking and I learned the Croozer bike trailer, at €300, is a very cost-effective solution to the bakfiets issue.  M and I took a test drive and we both loved it!  When I returned to the playground a friend told me she had one from the States she'd be interested in selling.

The cheapest cargo bike option.  

The next day I went to pick it up but it (American) wouldn't attach to the axel of my (Dutch) bike.  So, my friend put it in her bakfiets (kind of like the one above but longer) and drove it to the bike store.  One thing I love about Dutch bike mechanics is that they are willing to MacGuyver anything.  So, now I have an option for transporting my kid!  Since then we've been to the pool twice and I've taken it for groceries.

I'm not saying I'll never get a bakfiets but I'm definitely giving the trailer the old college try.  The big downside I see right now is that since only use the trailer a couple of times per week I have to lug it down two flights every time I want to use it--then lug it back up when I'm done.  Also, it's not the Dutch way so it's not really the Dutch experience I was looking for.

But on Saturday as I was cycling with the trailer I heard a Dutch dad talking to his kid.  I couldn't understand what he was saying but by his tone I could tell he was pointing out my bike to his toddler, and was very encouraged that he used the word "bakfiets."

Bikes, Redux

Last weekend I wrote a post about bikes in which I mentioned that there are two infrastructures layered one over the other here in Amsterdam.  Today as I was cycling back from the "winkels" (shops--the local shopping mall) a traffic light was out.  A police officer was directing traffic.  When it came my turn to go, he pointed at me, then made a cycling motion with his hands.  This made me think about how this dual infrastructure would make being a traffic cop doubly complicated.

Bikes

Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying to step up my game regarding bike riding.  I have been traveling further afield and generally getting more used to traveling by bike.  And I love it!  I've never been a huge fan of cycling in traffic, but here in Amsterdam there are bike lanes and bike paths everywhere;  two infrastructures layered one over the other (one for cars, the other for bikes).  Bike lanes even have their own traffic lights.  It's time for us to take better advantage of this means of transport.  I still plan to buy the awesome Nihola, but not until the new year.

Peter took M to Vondelpark on my bike the morning I prepared Thanksgiving dinner.  It was an incredibly windy day, and given my experience taking M on the back of the bike, I was concerned about how this would work, but Peter did fine right from the get-go.  You can see in the video that he wobbled slightly as he first set off, but was immediately able to handle the bike with the extra 40 pounds.  When they returned M told me that Peter rode the bike much faster than I do, and that he is a better bike rider than me.  He also asked Peter to ride around the whole of Vondelpark, whereas he has expressed some fear about being on the back of the bike with me.  What we learned from the experience is that we should move the bike seat to Peter's bike so we can have some family outings together.

Last year I got a balance bike for M free from one of my neighbors.  I took him out on it once, and he wasn't really into it.  He tired quickly and I got annoyed.  We never took it out again.  However, we have it in Amsterdam, and I had been thinking that we need to take advantage of it before he outgrows it.  The beauty of the balance bike is that it gives kids an opportunity to master balance at their own pace.  The idea is that kids first figure out balance, then are able to transition very smoothly to a two wheeler with pedals.  M is growing really quickly and I saw the window for using the balance bike closing so I knew I had to act.

I had read that the key to successful balance biking is a properly adjusted seat and well inflated tires, so I was pretty encouraged when he wanted to come on the "recon mission" to find a bike store with an air pump.  Then last Thursday we brought the bike to pump up the tires.  West Coast L and her mom came with us.  M was pretty disheartened when L zoomed off.  He even wanted to use her bike because he thought he was faster on it. I explained to him that it wasn't that L's bike was faster, just that he was 5 minutes more experienced when he tried her bike.  And the learning curve with the balance bike truly is that fast!

I told him that if he stuck with it he'd be riding a real two wheeler in no time, and that once he was ready, in couple of months, we'd buy him one.  The next day, I scooted along on my own bike.  M showed an interested in my bell, so as he reached each corner on the block he could ring the bell.  We also struck a deal that if he practiced his bike every day for a week, he could pick out whatever bike bell he wanted.  My idea is that if he practices every day for a week, it will start to be fun for him, then he'll practice all the time.

So far my plan has worked. We are three days in and he's doing great.   The first video shows M scooting along, and the video below shows him easily mounting the bike and actually steering the handle bars (although I admit I turned off the camera just before he wobbled and fell).

But you can see the progress only a few days make.  The videos above are after about 3 days of practice and below it's one week of practice (on the way to get the bell!).  He's still a little wobbly at first but can balance the bike standing (and with no hands) and has found a nice stride.  From time to time he even glides on it (although usually followed by a huge crash). But, he always gets back on and, thanks to my bribe, he has decided the bike is fun.

Food Friday: Thanksgiving!!!

Last Sunday I made Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a huge success, mainly because my wonderful husband took M to Vondelpark for several hours.  It's not every guy who will ride a bike decorated with pink tulips just so his little boy doesn't have to walk.

The kalkoen (turkey) was 4 kilos, or almost 9 pounds and ridiculously expensive at 12.50 Euro per kilo.  It also required a fair amount of prep, including pulling the lungs out.  My Thanksgiving gratitude surrounded the fact I had recently watched an episode of Masterchef:  The Professionals in which they prepared a wood pigeon, so I could identify this organ.

At the price of prime rib, I was terrified I would ruin the turkey, but it turns out I cooked it beautifully.  I prepared it by rinsing it thoroughly and pulling out all the gross bits, rubbing it with a lemon, stuffing it loosely with a red onion, some sliced leaks, celery tops a couple of cloves of garlic and a few slices of lemon.  Then I rubbed it with olive oil and a mixture of course salt and paprika.  I placed a piece of british bacon on the breast and back and trussed it.  Thankfully the legs fit nicely in the little flap of skin on it's bottom and the wing tips were already missing, so trussing it was really easy.  I cooked it breast down, started it at about 450' F, then roasted it for a couple of hours at 350' F, then turned it over and convection roasted it for about a half hour.  It was moist and juicy and flavorful.  Sorry, no photos.  I was a little busy with the cooking and totally forgot!

I also made cranberry sauce (this was supposed to be an activity for M and his friend West Coast L, but they basically snubbed me when it was time to make the cranberries, so I ended up making it myself.  It came out really nice despite the fact that it had a very strange smell during the cooking process (maybe this is normal--I had never made cranberries before).

The stuffing came out great, especially since I totally winged the recipe.  Mairtin also made a special "kid stuffing" from the base of sausage and bread, adding nuts, raisins and apples, but no seasonings.  The sweet potatoes I bought weren't really sweet potatoes, but the mash peter made was great.  I was challenged by oven space, even in my huge oven, so I only cooked part of the pumpkin, and improvised a microwave recipe.  It was OK, but a bit underdone.  The green beans were good, seasoned with a little lemon zest.

I served it with a pinot noir.  One of the bottles broke as I opened it, but there was plenty for the four of us in one bottle, especially since one guest preferred white wine.

For desert we had HEMA appelvlaai (pictured)  with some cream that Peter whipped by hand.

Zoo

A Last week we went to the zoo with M's friend from school.  We'll call her West Coast L to differentiate her from M's cousin L.  West Coast L is a lovely little girl with a great imagination, just like M.  She is also one of the older kids in a class of kids with birthdays in both 2007 and 2008 and when M started school and there were only a handful of English speakers, she was there for him.  She also doesn't go to school on Fridays so it works out well.

It was freezing cold but that was OK.  The zoo has plenty of inside places:  reptile house, primate house, butterfly house and one we'd never been in, the small mammal house.

This past Friday we also hung out with West Coast L and her mom.  M had suggested a swim, so we took a trip out to Amstelveen to the hotel pool we used when we came here for house hunting.  The previous two times we went to the pool we were actually registered guests but nobody checked.  On Friday were weren't, and they checked, so as you might imagine M was pretty disappointed.  But we decided to go to West Coast L's house for lunch and when I later apologized to M for swimming not working out, he said, "That's OK, going to [West Coast L]'s house was even better!"

M's love of swimming is another motivator to get the bike situation sorted out.  There's a great pool not to far away from us, but it's too long a walk, especially with a little kid.  Public transport is kind of a pain, but it would be a very easy, fast cycle.

Nihola Love

 Today I rode the Nihola Family bike.  I think I'm in love.

Riding with Mairtin has been challenging.  I'm nervous, and nerves and bike riding don't mix in a fall-on-your-ass kind of way.  While the Nihola is a bit wide, and somewhat tough to wheel around urban sidewalks, riding it on roads and paths is a dream and actually strengthened my cycling skills.  It steers easily and shifts smoothly.  The shop was near Vondelpak, so I took the majority of my test ride there.  My biggest challenge riding with Mairtin has been balance--his seat is perched high on my bike and the extra 40 pounds creates something of an inverted pendulum.  Since the Nihola is a trike, balance is simply taken out of the equation.  I didn't realize this until the end of the ride when I was stopped at a light and didn't need to put my feet down.  The downside:  The pricetag.  At about $3,000, it's in the same range as a car.

Between the test ride and my errand to the British General Store (to get the black pudding M requested for his birthday dinner), and the wrong turns I took, I must have cycled about 5 miles today.  What a great way to get around.

Tomorrow is my little boy's 4th birthday. I can't wait to celebrate!

Hip Grandma

Finally, I have a bike.  It's what's known as an Omafeits, or granny bike.  Just a basic three speed like everyone here had in the 50s, although a little more sturdy.  And mine happens to be asparagus green with pink tulips painted on it, which means the maker describes it at a "Hippe Omafeits," or hip granny bike.  It's actually rather hideous, but it was very difficult to find a bike my size.  And it will actually be good to have a distinctive looking bike, even if I don't particularly love how it looks.

My new bike, with Peter's behind it.

After several attempts, I bought my bike at BVD tweeweilers.  Actually, both Peter and I did.  I made several visits to learn about new and used bikes as well as child seats and not only were they knowledgeable, but every person I spoke to was incredibly nice and helpful.  At one point I brought M in and they advised me that my original choice of bike seat, the Bobike, was actually too small and that he would be better in a Yepp, which we can easily switch between our bikes.  My main concern was that I wanted to be able to touch the ground from the seat.  They were happy to MacGiver the bike seat to its lowest possible position, sometimes changing out a seat, but cautioned me to move it up slightly when I'm move comfortable to avoid stress on my knees.  I finally located a small framed bike at their location a few neighborhoods away.

A bakfiets:
the Amsterdam equivalent of the mini van

Riding with a 40 pound kid behind me has been a bit more difficult to get used to than I thought.  It's a lot like learning how to ride a bike for the first time:  I'm wobbly, super wobbly when I try to make a turn, and my wobbliness improves a whole lot when my confidence is up.  I also have someone behind me telling me I'm doing a good job, although it's not my dad but my son.  Every day M and I have some bicycle practice.  Truth be told I was never the most confident cyclist and preferred to stick to roads without traffic and bike trails.  So, I am also practicing alone to get used to cycling with traffic, but with Mairtin I have yet to move on from the sidewalk on my block.  Every day I'm a little better.

The Nihola family bike,
a well-styled take on the traditional bakfiets,
but is it worth the price?

However, I wonder if I'll ever feel comfortable to do the things I want to do, like ride to the zoo or Amsterdam Bos.  My only other choice is a bakfeits, kind of the minivan of the bicycle options.  Having only one kid this seems like overkill, as they are slow, hard to park and way more expensive than a regular bike.  I've noticed a new type of bakfeits in my neighborhood; a super sleek, compact model, the Nihola.  I initially dismissed this option because it costs what we sold our Corolla for last Spring (but wait, maybe that's a sign?).  I have also discussed bike options with some of the moms from M's school and I understand bakfeits have their own riding challenges.  But, I'm going to test ride the Nihola this week.

We will be seeing some other hip grandmas soon.  This weekend we are visiting Peter's family and next week my parents arrive for a visit.

Life returns to (the new) normal...

OK, so the belongings (read:  TOYS) have arrived.  It's much easier to be here now, especially recovered from jet lag and with the promise of school starting on Tuesday.  M will be attending preschool three days per week, although the first day will include shortened days as part of an "induction" period.  Being at home all day is still challenging (especially on rainy days), but we are finding a rhythm.  Definitely better when we get out.

We went bike shopping yesterday.  The advice we received was to purchase a 50 Euro bike and add a 50 Euro lock, but it seems that will be impossible, since used bikes start at 300 Euro.  I suppose we could buy a buy bikes from individuals rather than a used bike store, but that seems like a lot of trouble.  But, a bike is like a car here, so I think it's worth it.  The guy at the bike store explained that the bikes they sell are like BMWs and Mercedes.  I explained that I was thinking more about buying a Toyota. But I suppose we can sell them when we leave.

We interacted quite a bit with locals yesterday:  The bike store, the fish market (where I finally sampled the famous salted herring, which was delicious), and at The Little Gym, which had an open house. I don't think we'll be signing M up for any classes.  It's a schlep from our apartment--15 minutes on the tram, then another 15 minutes of walking at least-- and at almost 400 Euro per semester seems a bit overpriced.  I'm sure I can find another activity for cold, rainy winter days.  It was a really fun day.

Tomorrow there is an open house at M's school.  We can get his uniforms and hopefully some info about his school day, plus he'll be able to meet his teachers and finally see his classroom.