Mom in Amsterdam

Museumkwartier

Part of Mom's visit to meet Flora included a two night trip to Amsterdam. Mom's trip was full of sunshine, blue skies, and warm weather. I told her this was very "un-Dutch".

Per Mom's request, we visited the Van Gogh Museum. I was happy to see it since it's renovation. Afterwards we enjoyed a sunny walk through the Museumkwartier.

We had lots of time to kill before our visit to the Amsterdam Expo, so we had a very leisurely stroll and rest in the Vondel Park. 

Van Gogh Museum

Flora's first visit to a museum. She was unimpressed.

It was a beautiful, crisp fall day. Perfect for some exercise in the park. After the walk I was craving a nice cup of coffee. As we turn a corner, there it was. My favorite little coffee place, Douwe Egberts. Perfect timing!

Jaap wanted to check out the Pixar exhibit at the Amsterdam Expo. My husband is really just a big kid at heart. I realized this very early in our relationship, since our second date was to a Pixar movie. Here he is with some friends.

On Sunday we went to the Anne Frank Huis (something new for me) and walked around the Negen Straatjes and admired all the beautiful canals. What's not to love about Amsterdam? I love this city.

Flora's favorite hold

NYE in Vienna

A New Year's Eve post in March...here it goes. Our New Year's Eve began with a visit to the Upper Belvedere to admire the Klimt and Schiele works. We had a cold and sunny stroll to the Belvedere from our apartment and a great visit to one of Vienna's most famous museums. Afterwards we headed to another Vienna institution to warm up, Café Pruckel. 

 A few relaxing hours at Pruckel hit the spot. A delicious Wiener melange, some himbeer soda, and some dessert that we can't remember the name of. It was delicious! One of our favorite's of the trip.

We walked to the Stephansdom, another Vienna icon. The city arranges free waltzing lessons on NYE. How fun. Half the square was waltzing while the other half was watching it on big television screens.

Inside the cathedral

Outside the Oper on New Year's Eve

Hofburg

To ring in the new year, we headed outside for some fireworks. Vienna just doesn't have one fireworks display, they have several. We decided to catch out the display at Heldenplatz. 2012 brought us lots of happy times together and we're excited to see where 2013 takes us!

Fireworks above the Rathaus

The blog lives

Adventures with Jaap lives. I've had a super long hiatus from the blog. Life has been busy...our two weddings, the holidays, many gatherings with friends, a trip to Vienna, and now Carnaval. Time flies. So many things have happened and I've been too busy to keep up with it on the blog. The good news--I'm loving married life with Jaap! So Adventures with Jaap returns. But really...anybody out there reading this? 

Here's a little bit more of our trip to New York this fall. Once stranded in NY thanks to Hurricane Sandy, we spent an extra week with Jaap's parents exploring the beautiful Hudson Valley. Here we are having fun seeing Storm King Art Center.

Musée de Rodin & Midnight in Paris

The Thinker

My friends and I watched Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris the night before we went to Paris. It totally set the tone for our trip. It gave us this exciting, romantic feeling before we even got there. We were inspired to visit the Rodin museum after watching the movie. Some of the scenes were filmed with The Thinker in Rodin's garden.

The Musée de Rodin was a little oasis in the middle of busy Paris. We arrived just 1.5 hours before closing time and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere exploring the grounds and Rodin's former place of residence. The museum houses a large collection of his work and his contemporaries. The house was beautiful, but seeing The Thinker in the garden was the best part.

Before heading back to our apartment in Montparnasse we enjoyed a late lunch with pasta salad and a huge glass of white wine. A nice quiet way to end our day of busy sightseeing

Adventures in Bohemia: Castles & Beethoven

Our third day in Prague was spent almost entirely sightseeing in the Castle Quarter. Home to Prague's famous Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral and other historic sites. We somewhat "beat the crowds" to tour St. Vitus by arriving a little after 9:00 a.m. It's hard to believe how many tourists and visitors come to these sites each day. 

Stain glass by Art Nouveau artists Mucha

We both agree that one of the best place we visited on this trip was the Lobkowicz Palace. The palace is a part of the Castle Quarter, but privately owned by a prominent Czech family. This place has an interesting history. Confiscated twice in the past 100 years, first by the Nazis at the beginning of WWII and second by the communists in the late 1940s. Now, it is back under ownership of the Lobkowicz family and is open to the public to visit. The family has an amazing collection of art including a Brueghel and Velasquez paintings, but our favorite was seeing the Beethoven Room.

The collection of instruments and manuscripts is impressive. I have to admit, I was unaware of the patronage relationship between Ludwig and the Lobkowicz family. They pride themselves in having first edition copies of several Beethoven symphonies including the Eroica (originally dedicated to Napoleon), 5th, and 6th symphonies. It's amazing to see these things up close. We spent a lot of time in this room admiring the work. 

Mozart manuscript, his transcription of Handel's Messiah

First edition copy of the Eroica, Beethoven's 3rd symphony

Views from the Castle Quarter

Getting ready to tour the Old Palace

A visit to the Toy & Barbie Museum, a request from the resident Muppet collector

And now for some rest and relaxation away from the crowds. Pivo (Czech beer) and veggie burgers on a secluded terrace overlooking a monastery. 

Strahov Monastery in the background

Continuing on to Petřín Hill, we were dodging the rain in this wooded park. On the journey up the hill there are some nice little lookouts for some good views of Prague. 

Coming down from Petřín Hill, we stopped by the Lennon Wall. I had a completely different vision of what I thought it would look like. My parents sent me a postcard of the Lennon Wall from Prague about 12 years ago. It's the only image I had of the place in my head, so when we saw it in person, it was not what I expected. And since it's all graffiti, why would it look the same?!

After walking all day we stopped on Kampa Island for a quiet moment to relax. Iced coffee with Jaap on the Vltava. A great ending to a beautiful day.