Home Sweet Home: Visiting Olana

Our day at Olana with my nephew was by far the best day of this vacation. Every time we travel to visit my family, Jaap and I like to explore something that we haven't seen together in the Hudson Valley. Having grown up in the Hudson Valley, many of the sites, parks, and places we visit are not new to me, but new for the two of us to explore together. I've developed a greater appreciation and admiration for the beautiful region that I grew up in. Jaap proposed to me two summers ago across the river. We could see Olana in the background up on the mountain. It's something we've wanted to go back and visit ever since.

Having grown up just across river from this site, I have many memories of Olana as a very young child. I was nervous about taking my nephew there because I wondered how much a 9 year old boy would really enjoy touring a historic site. I was impressed by how much he enjoyed it; asking questions to the tour guide and seeming to be genuinely interested in the life of Fredrich Church and the house itself. We were off to a good start!

Olana is a large, Persian inspired mansion built in the 1800s by Fredrich Church, one of the famous Hudson River School painters. We followed an indoor tour of the home and learned about the Church family's world travels and what inspired them to build Olana. 

View of the Hudson

Now, on to the fun stuff. After our cute little picnic lunch in the grass (complete with Jaap teaching Joey how to burn ants alive with a magnifying glass), I watched on as Jaap and Joey flew the kite we purhcased in Mystic, CT through the fields of Olana. Beautiful sunshine and the perfect amount of wind.

It was a day full of art, history, exercise, and nature, followed by a stop at Friendly's for some ice cream. (This was my favorite part). We finished our day together with an art project back home. Fun times.

Living in the Netherlands and being so far away from family make me appreciate these moments together much more. From beginning to end this day was perfect. And what better way to end the day with a free haircut from your 2 year old niece back at the house.

Weekend Fun, Summertime

View of the Maas from the John F. Kennedy Bridge

Four more days until I'm officially on summer holiday! It's one of the greatest perks of being a teacher. :) I can't wait. In the meantime, we're getting into summer mode here in Maastricht. We've had some nice weather here the past few days. ("Nice" weather by Dutch standards, i.e. I don't have to wear a coat to work). I still have to get used to not having warm summers and weeks on end of sunshine. On the other hand, New York is practically a tropical climate these days. I can't say that I miss riding the subway in 100 degree heat. Ick.

We had possibly the most relaxing weekend we have had in a long time. Dinners on the balcony, a party with my colleagues, and drinks with friends at a terras. 

Friday evening was a quiet evening at home with dinner on the balcony, games, and good wine. Jaap and I have decided to break into our stash of German wines that we brought back with us from our vacation along the Mosel & Rhine. (See here). I've been saving the bottles for special occasions, but really...isn't the start of summer a good enough reason? It was the perfect way to end our week.

Delicious Riesling from the Mosel region

And the fun is just beginning. Jaap's birthday is this Wednesday, book club on Thursday, last day of school on Friday followed by our joint birthday celebration with friends at night, Saturday with the Jansens, North Sea Jazz on Sunday, and then my birthday on Monday. Whew! Quite a week, but all fun things. Shortly after that we'll leave for our vacation to Croatia followed by a visit from some of my Boston friends. YES for summer!!!

Fish tacos on the balcony. LEKKER!!!

Our little herb garden

Best night ever!

Me, Angela, Céline & Jenny

Last Friday night was officially my best night out in Maastricht...ever! It was a New York kind of night.

Jaap and I spent the day at the Efteling with the Jansen clan. Despite the constant rain all day, we still had a great time with the family. Welcome to a Dutch summer.

Later that evening was the International Women's Club Summer Party at a castle just outside of Maastricht. My friend Jenny had the idea to have a girls night out in town afterwards. What a night! We danced, had fun (and maybe drank a little tequila) until the sun came up. The perfect girls night out. It's nice to have fun girlfriends in Maastricht who remind me of home. And who knew that Maastricht had this kind of nightlife?! 

Berlin with the Band Geeks

Our Berlin trip was about month ago, so this story is getting to you quite late. Now that life is slowing down again I have some time to share about our musical Berlin adventures. My last trip to Berlin was 11 years ago when I was a student in Vienna. I was happy to return with Jaap, but I only wish we had more time there. We've decided that we will return at some point in the future to give this city the time it deserves. It's such an interesting place. 

Exploring the Tierpark

Our getaway was a band trip for a wind festival in Berlin. Jaap's hometown band, Arti,  has a good concert band. Jaap began playing with them when he was just 10 and now plays with them when they are in need of a horn player.  They needed a flute player and french horn player for their festival in Berlin. I was super excited when I found out I got to go on the trip with Jaap. It was so great to reconnect with my band roots again. Oh how I miss playing in band! We're such geeks and I love it. This trip reminded me of high school and college all over again. It also made me realize how much I miss playing in a proper wind band.

Arti youth band

The majority of our time was spent either in rehearsals, playing concerts, or on the bus. We literally had 5 hours of free time, so we went out exploring on our own. Here are some of the places we got to visit:

Checkpoint Charlie

Topography of Terror & part of the Wall

Reichstag

Another random place where Jaap has fallen asleep

Brandenburg Gate

No good band festival would be complete without a little party at the end. Good German food, beer, and "interesting" music. After seeing the Dutchies party to oom-pah-pah music, I now understand why they love band so much.

conga line

I loved our weekend of music, singing, and travel. There's one thing that I learned on this trip. Band geeks have no bounds. We are worldwide and we're all the same. We sing silly songs on the bus, can turn any random object into a percussion instrument at any time, and love good wind music. I felt like I was home. 

Here's one example of band lovers keep themselves entertained. It became the anthem of this trip. 

Bike adventures

Now that my big musical at school (and major workload) is over I'm getting back into my normal routine again. What a great feeling! So even though Pinksteren was almost two weeks ago, I'm now getting around to blogging about it. Not to mention I'm still working on our post for Berlin! 

Pinsterdag or Pentecost is a three day weekend here in the Netherlands. We had amazing weather and Jaap and I took full advantage of it. Three days of sunshine and the outdoors!

Drinks with Jenny & Arie on a terras

The Friday of our Pinkster weekend was warm and sunny. As much as we love our little balcony, we were in no mood to stay home for dinner. We met up with our American/Dutch friends Jenny and Arie at a little terras on the Maas. (I love how the Dutch have a specific name for an outdoor café.) It was a beautiful evening of snacks and drinks. Our romantic stroll home along the river reminds me how much I love Maastricht and its beauty.

Jaap took us for a scenic bike ride on Saturday. He's a good navigator with our bike maps of Zuid Limburg. We couldn't have asked for a better trip. (Well...we probably could have done without my whining over all the hills). Thankfully Jaap is used to my whining. It wasn't too bad though. I've toughened up since moving to the Netherlands. I would have never enjoyed this bike ride two years ago. Now it's actually fun!

Break time in a little secluded spot

Belgian biking

We rode through some tiny little Belgian towns, stopped for drink in the woods, and ended up back in St. Pieters, in Maastricht, for a drink at one of my favorite places, De Sjans. The perfect day. Minus the severe allergy attacks that we both had. Hay fever season is not fun! 

Back in Maastricht in Biesland

I love this restaurant. The terras at De Sjans is so peaceful and tranquil. The perfect ending to our beautiful ride in the sun.