Emmy Neilson

Do’s and Don’ts DO… READ THE BLOG for great tips on Stuff, Food, Hotels, and Entertainment. Below are just some extra tips from Emmy. STUFF Do… get prescription sports glasses for riding. They are biking sunglasses with inner prescription lenses that easily snap in and out. Lewis calls me “Six Eyes” when I wear them. I am not offended cause I look badass. Do… pack a couple of spandex/nylon sun dresses.

Let’s get to know our indispensable support team, Christopher and Andrew, better! In Malta, Montana, Christopher and Andrew… Discovered a rope swing and together swung out buck naked… dumping themselves into the Milk River. Took the evening off to go Wine and Dino at the Malta Dinosaur Museum where they flirted with two Montana women twice their age. Entered the Oasis Bar and Casino around 9pm with 20$ between them and came out at around midnight with over 1000 bucks.

We’ve been traveling through Texas for the last two days. My friend who grew up here told me to be on the look out for big hair and armadillos. We are proud to say we have seen both. Everything is big in this state including the Texas shaped waffle Lewis had for breakfast this morning. Oil rigs, truckers, cowboy hats… …it’s all here.

Lewis and I have taken two tours through the Red Light District and given one after our brief apprenticeship. Last year, 2013, we took the Saturday 5pm tour offered through the Prostitution Information Center (PIC). Mariska, who now runs PIC, was a prostitute and she gave us an informative one hour tour. She’s serious about this age old business and we learned a lot. If you are traveling with your parents, your kids or someone you don’t know very well, we recommend this one.

Bluespoon in the Andaz Hotel One of the reasons I am writing about this restaurant is that it isn’t in any of the guide books we are using. Coming home from a dinner out along the Prinsengracht canal, we ran into an attractive elderly couple out walking their wired haired dachshund. Trusting their taste, we asked them what their favorite restaurant in Amsterdam was. Smiling at each other, they responded, “The Bluespoon.

Our first overnight bike trip to the north of Amsterdam was to the town of Edam. This little place was, in a French word, charmante. We spent the night at a charmante hotel called the Fortuna and rode home, via Marken Island, the next day. Our Route To Edam Delightful De Fortuna, built in 1654 Highlights Dinner at Fortuna (best dinner yet! Cheers to the cook.) Ferry ride to Marken Island Cheese Museum in Volendam Tasting the water on either side of the dike to see if it was fresh or salt… answer: fresh leaning to brackish on both sides because the former ZuiderZee has been enclosed as the IJsselmeer.

Cido and Rob are our amazing landlords. They invited us for drinks and we had a lovely time. Susie took the picture. They answered our questions: The canal house right next to ours went for 1.5 million euros (2 million dollars approx.)! It is very expensive to live right in the city especially along the three historic canals. Kids start biking as soon as they have graduated from the trike.

Food, Atmosphere, Service Brasserie Vlaming Prinsengracht 193a Dutch F*** A*** S*** Sampurna Singel 498 Indonesian F**** A*** S*** De Belhamel Brouwersgracht 60 French F** A**** S*** Golden Temple Utrechtsestraat 126 Vegetarian F*** A*** S** Ko Chang Westerstraat 91 Thai F*** A*** S*** Proeverij 274 Prinsengracht 274 Trad. Dutch F*** A**** S**** Bluespoon Prinsengracht 587 Modern Dutch See Review in this blog La Oliva Egelantiersstraat 122 Tapas F*** A*** S** Kinnaree Anjeliersdwarsstraat 14 Thai F**** A** S***

Winkel Noordermarkt 43 Simple, Dutch, apple pie De Bolhoed Prinsengracht 60-62 Vegetarian De Prins Prinsengracht 124 Brown cafe, outdoor tables Cafe de Jaren Utrechtsestraat 126 Spacious, canal views, wifi Brasserie Baton Herengracht 82 Caual, simple, window seats, wifi Teun Restaurant Haarlemmerdijk 61 Casual, simple, sit outside, people watch Keizersgracht 238 Keizersgracht 238 See review this blog Tujuh Maret Utrechtsestraat 73 Indonesian, food amazing

Wally is our dog back in the US of A. Wally happens to be a poorly behaved, but personable wire-haired dachshund. There are more wire-haired dachshunds in Amsterdam than any other dog… as far as we can tell. Here are some of the ones we made friends with: Poopie Hans walks Fuzzy and Beloved, his two old geezers Isadora Uppie gets Attention This is James

We had visitors our second week here. Two beautiful women stopped by to check in and we went to the Noordemarkt right near our apartment. This food market is only open Saturdays. Sally was looking for a full wheel of cheese to send to her mom and Helen was taking photos of cool fresh food for her mom’s blog. Lewis and I bought some fish to fry. Helen Vinn, a person whom Lewis and I have gotten to know really well because she is an awesome adult in the making and actually looks you in the eye and engages in meaningful conversations… we could go on and on about Helen….

With our daughter Susie, who is visiting for a week, we took a 50 minute train ride from Amsterdam to Den Haag. We visited three spots: The Gemeente Museum (Obama had been there the day before talking about the Nuclear Safety Issues!) Due to the renovations of the more popular Mauritshaus Museum, the Gemeente had received 100 of this museum’s famous paintings. Two of our favorites… a. Rembrandt van Rijn – The anatomy lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp

Gross… and Grosser Lewis tries a beef croquette... Pickled herring dish

What’s a Hofje? A hofje is a courtyard of homes built by the wealthy to house the poor, the old, the orphans or the widows. They are hidden from the streets behind a canal house door. Once you open a door to a hofje, there is a lush green courtyard inside of peace and quiet. Hofjes of the Jordaan The Van Brienen Hofje (89 Prinsengracht) is our next door neighbor.

Emmy’s Packing List for Amsterdam Tips I bought my toiletries when I got there Working with Celsius instead of Fahrenheit: 30 is hot, 20 is nice, 10 is cold, 0 is ice. To get to F take the C and double it and then add 30… you’re really close…subtract 3 to get more accurate. I Used lite nylon packing bags for different clothing categories. For example, all my T-shirts went in one bag.