Halloween in Amsterdam!

Hey, if you want an American Halloween celebration in Holland you have to make one yourself!

A Dutch Jack-o-lantern

Yep, those are stickers...

Only 8 more weeks

Can you believe we only have 8 more weeks living in Europe? In some ways it feels like we've been living in Amsterdam forever, but sometimes it feels like we just got here and these last few moths are just slipping away.

During our last two months we have some exciting travel plans! In November we're going to Israel (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) and Germany (Aachen and Munich), and in December for our final trip (to celebrate Dave's 30th birthday) we're going to the South of France.

In the midst of all of this we're going to try to spend some quality time in Amsterdam. We'll plan to hit up all of the museums we've been putting off because "we have a whole year to get to them," and we'll spend some quality time with our friends here celebrating Halloween, having an "American" Thanksgiving dinner, and experiencing Sinterklaas since we missed it last year by just a few days.

Stay tuned for our final adventures abroad!
 

On the way home we stopped in Maastricht for dinner

La Batte Market

The crazy stairs I was telling you about!

Liège had a cool train station and we had a view of it from our hotel room

Liège at night

Romantic night away in Belgium

Our feet have been on Holland soil too long and we got the itch to get away! So today we're hopping on a train to Liège, a cute French city in Belgium. Highlights will be the awesome Sunday market that runs along the river tomorrow (hoping it doesn't rain) and some crazy stairs. Those stairs remind me of San Francisco and some of it's crazy city stairs. I'll post pictures once we're home!

Artis de Partis

Our new friend, Artis de Partis, is the Amsterdam Zoo's mascot. We got him in keychain (sleutelhanger) form yesterday when we were at the zoo. He loved the elephants (olifanten).

Our day at the zoo

Today we decided to spend the afternoon at the amazing Amsterdam zoo called Artis. Some highlights were the monkeys, lions (which reminded us of Stuart), and the giraffes.

Gotta love the Dutch!

Today I decided to walk by a local Ben and Jerry's because they are known for having great "American" style Chocolate Chip cookies (seriously, this is something that is hard to find in the Netherlands). Anyway, I was thrilled to see a huge sign on the sidewalk in front of the store advertising such cookies! My mouth was watering.

I walk in and scan the place... no cookies. So I inquire, "Hello, do you have any cookies today?" "No, sorry, not today." "Are you going to have some later perhaps?" I asked. "Ummm... I don't know... maybe tomorrow, maybe next week."

What? MAYBE next week? That would never happen in America.

In the US, if there were no cookies in stock the sidewalk sign would get pulled inside. And, if someone inquired about cookies an expected answer might be, "I'm so sorry we ran out of cookies, but there is a batch in the oven and they will be ready in the next hour!" or "We are out of them today but we'll have more tomorrow. Stop by first thing in the morning!"
 

we like funny hats

Take the stairs!

Homemade potato skins

First you bake them...



Then you gut them out...


Don't forget the toppings!


Then you grease the baking sheet...


And fill them with the goods.


End product: yummy, crispy, melty, 'skins.



My husband saw them and said, "that looks like a heart attack."