The Bloemenmarkt

I have so much fun wandering through the tightly packed floating flower market. Dense in population, produce, and kitschy touristy tripe. I get the same joy from it that I do when I go shopping for Christmas decorations.

So much blue and white pottery. And I haven’t even made it to Delft yet!

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Then there’s the vaguely creepy staring eyed dolls in traditional dress.

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Of course there’s tulips everywhere which weirds me out only because they are being sold as souvenirs. And of course, given where I’m from, I keep thinking, “but you’ll never get plant matter through the border!”

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The orchids are spectacular, and I can’t tell you how much I want to try growing some!

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And in living areas where space is at a premium, bonsai are the perfect answer.

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I love this mainly because it’s so weird and a carnivore.

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This wall just makes me want dozens of window boxes growing everything possible! Just think how much better my cooking will be when I have fresh herbs!

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And finally, when you don’t actually have garden space to put ornaments in, they make them in pot size! *squees!* I’ll be getting a flamingo *nods*

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Hope you all had a good ANZAC Day and remembered that we still have people out on the front lines. And I hope all our people out on the front lines are safe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Hitting the Streets

With so much to see and do, and not much time before Himself needs to begin at the office, we decided to hit the ground running. Armed with a batch of brochures helpfully provided by the hotel we were staying in, we headed to breakfast.

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With the assistance and input of a local, we reached the conclusion that we need to see everything, just not necessarily all at once.

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So we headed off to wander the streets of Amsterdam and soak up our new environment.

The architecture is magnificent.

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We keep being blown away just by staring at the buildings.

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It’s so different from Australia and New Zealand.

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Did you know the front of the buildings leans inwards in order to move in furniture? The stairs inside are too narrow and steep. These are still in use today, we’ve watched them be used.

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Before street numbers, it was the different shapes of gables that identified your house.

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And it doesn’t really show up in the picture, but can you see how the side wall heading back from the front of this house is slanted and not at right angles? I can’t imagine trying to furnish a house of this shape! *grins*

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Houses built into the canal. I’m in love!!!

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I laughed out loud when I saw this house, and yet there are many like it. I honestly am not sure how some of these buildings are still standing they are so far from square! But they have been for centuries now, and it’s beautiful!

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I can’t wait to discover which one we’re going to live in!!!

The Last Few Days

Let’s step back in time to last Tuesday. The movers arrived, packed everything, and took it all away.

Wednesday in the rain, we began early and shoved everything left over into a skip to head to the dump. Then we had final inspection of the property (passed with flying colours!). Then we completed final errands in town, and met up with our ride to the airport.

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Quality time was spent, and goodbyes said.

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Then began the first leg of the flight. 14 hours to Dubai.

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After a lay over of … I forget how many hours, enough to get through security and find a wifi hotspot, we got on the next leg of the journey. 7 hours to Amsterdam. This flight was going to have some turbulence so they headed us over Iran, Turkey, and Poland.

Then there we were.

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It’s kind of reassuring to know that tourist souvenirs are the same the world over.

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In a taxi we headed to our hotel where we would reside for an indeterminate amount of time.

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Stashing our bags and determined not to be done in by jet lag we went out for a walk and found our first canal!

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We discovered quite quickly the need to be constantly aware of your surroundings, as the highly prevalent bikes move at speed and can be unforgiving!

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Then I found the floating Bloemenmarkt. After having read so much about it, I was in heaven!

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There is so much to see and do, and suddenly all I want to do is have a garden! I guess I’ll need a house, and at least some window boxes first …

Stay tuned for our next exciting episode!

Maps

Something I had wanted for a long time was a huge world map on the wall.

When I finally got one, Himself and I had the brilliant idea that we should mark it all up with all the places we wanted to visit. Keep our goals in plain sight as it were.

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So we began putting little labels all over it of where we wanted to visit.

Quite quickly a pattern became evident as to where we really wanted to get to, and what part of the world held the most interest for us.

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Can you guess where we’re moving to?

We’re boarding a plane tonight! All our things are already on their way by sea and will reach us there in a few months. The kittuns are in boarding and will follow us in a few days.

We’re off on a grand adventure!!!

But don’t worry, I’ll still be updating here and there’ll be photos. Boy will there be photos! 😉

See you on the other side. Of the world!

Salmon Frittata

3 leeks
1 packet of smoked salmon
1 punnet of mushrooms
1 bundle of asparagus
1 tub of crumbled fetta
10 eggs
some parmesan

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finely cut up your leeks and fry for a few minutes in the pan. Then cover and cook for a further 5 minutes or until soft and reduced in size.

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Then forget to take photos as you add the smoked salmon pieces, mushrooms and asparagus. Cook until tender.

While this is cooking whisk your eggs with pepper and salt and the fetta.

Add the egg mixture to the pan, pulling it away from the sides as it cooks until it begins to solidify all over.

Coat in parmesan as desired then put in the over at 180-200C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from oven and pan, then consume with s side of salad.

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Damn this was tasty!