I AMsterdam

Last weekend we spent two days in Amsterdam as a family. That is no night clubs, no coffee shops (like we would even without kids do it...), no red lights etc. Even without these fascinating elements, I gotta say Amsterdam is not just another European city.

There are many angles to it and I hope my Dutch friends will not be offended too much, since this is coming with a similar criticism and respect as I would hope to hear about Finland and Finns. And perhaps I should empty your arguments about Finland before you do it, even if some of you might have heard it from me verbally ;o)

Let´s start with the bicycles;

In AMS bikes have much better treatment then pedestrians. All roads provide proper bicycle routes but do not necessarily take into account people on their feet at the same level.

Also the pedestrians are awarded with about 50 cm wide tram stop between the rails and passing cars - without railing.

Someone who is not used to the bike domination (>99% of the people on globe), need to be careful since you will be ran over if you don´t pay attention.

I must say AMS is not a tidy place, just like Brussels. Good thing is that the roads are in much better condition then in Belgium.

Tip for Museum visitors: Buy tickets in advance online!!!

If you wanna visit a museum, I can tell from experience that it is worth paying the few extra euros for an online ticket that gives you access to the shortcut queue. I had my motivator to stand in line for Van Gogh museum to see the production of this misunderstood Pastis-abuser. At the end worth the visit but not the 1 hour queue.

We also visited the Anne Frank Museum that is in the building where she and her family were hiding for 2 years before being arrested during 2nd World War. Here you should not expect to see anything fancy or extraordinary, but a story that represents part of history. Having visited Normandie, Brussels Military Museum (that is definetely worth a visit), Finnish military museums, Bastogne (crucial battle point in WW2), and many other related places with children, I can say it does give a new perspective also to school history classes.

I would never had imagined that a 10 year old boy wants to get the book of Anne Frank´s Diary, but he is reading it. It is not light to read but with a little guidance, joint reading, discussions and finding facts that Anne at some point also was "in love" with some boy makes it managable. The same guy was fascinated to read a book about Winston Churchill (more kids version) and make a presentation of him.

At the same time I am very happy to say this young man is very consious of right and wrong!

...a bit off the track so back to AMS...

What about the canals;

The fact is that big part of Netherlands is under the sea level. If you want to capture land from the sea, talk to the Dutch, they are the World Champions in it. Could it be due to enabling to have so many terraces by the water. Or to be exact: under the water line...

A friend has got a "inside the block" garden in AMS city and not that long time ago that used to be under water. When she moved in the garden had not been taken care of for years and now the ground level has gone down quite a lot compared to neighbours. Normally you order a truck to drop a pile of dirt and that´s it. Noup, the only ways are to carry it in small amounts through the house (I would guess it would take about 25.000 portions) or to order a lift that takes it above the house.

Do you know how they move to the houses in AMS?

A bit like in Brussels but in BRU they use the mechanical lifts, in AMS they use ropes that they hang on the hooks you have in front/top of each house and then you move the stuff in through the window.

Why?

The doors and corridors are too narrow to move normal items in...

AMS is canals and partly they make the city what it is. You have so many ways to enjoy the water, and hence there are multiple different boats around too.

And also police.

Talking about the police: Wanna grow some Cannabis?

Welcome to the flower market and choose your flavor. For less than 5 Euros you can get you own starting kit and grow your own pot. In no time you might find yourself using hard drugs, selling your body for a trip and have premature funeral. There are plenty of nice people to help you get your journey started!

Let´s continue with the plants;

Tulips are THE thing and I am happy to say you don´t need to pay much for them.

And then the shoes;

Here are some shoe goodies from the trip.

The green ones were for kids under 10 yrs...

The guy who was wearing the spotty ones above had a helmet I thought only Paul Newman owned.

Queen´s Day I have already written about and I gotta say that has been one of the top city parties I´ve been to so it is highly recommended! Next year again on April 30th in case you can not go to Finland to enjoy Vappu. (In case you are a ski freak, go to Northern Finland - normally many ski resorts are open until early May!)

All and all, I AMsterdam!!!

PS The ones who are Facebook pals with S, check more pics from there

Summer tip for skiers: Exel Alpine Ski Poles

I was visiting the basement and came across with my ski poles. They are FANTASTIC!!!
Exel provides poles that are strong and light, poles that do what you need without you needing to feel them too much. It is fantastic to feel them without the aluminum weight and still enable to give the strength that for example +100 kg hard skier needs.

This is not the optimum time to plan skiing, but on the other hand there has been 3 bigger things in past years that has impated my skiing:
- Curver skis. Changes the style and increases the speed. Fun!
- Helmet. No itchy forehead, no fear of getting my head hit on lifts etc (remember I´m not short) and no discussion with kids why helmet is important.
- Exel poles. Light and fun usage that I didn´t expect. I really recommend!
http://www.exelpoles.com/portal/en/cross_country___alpine/products/?a=showProductGroup&group=69

Again: Airport Security

As I am writing this I have been now standing still at Brussels Airport security check line. That is quite normal, but I have been standing still for 10 mins next to a sign saying "10 MINS FROM THIS POINT".

I don't know yet what is going on, but I can give a tip to Helsinki Airport security check staff that went on strike a short while ago;

Few summers ago Finnish paper workers got greedy and tried to get even higher increases to their salaries that were already high. What happened little after?

Paper companies started to close paper mills in Finland.

What is the learning here then???

Don't get greedy or blame others. Fix it or someone else will do it. Cheaper.

...Now it has been 20 mins and still another to go...

Wanna spoil your toddler?

For the adults who don't have energy, imagination or courage to make their little toddlers to eat their food, I have found a solution: Airplane Spoon!
In Amsterdam you have it all - also a shop that sells such spoons enabling you to play with food. Soon you need to move up to helicopters and thereafter via motorcycles to cars.

If you wish to get one, I will NOT tell you the location but advice to get your kids to eat otherwise ;o) More stuff spotted in Amsterdam coming later...

PS Amazon.com sells it for 15.99$ and UK site coolest-gadgets.com you can find it for 5.99.

Surprise: School theatre can be good!

Last weekend at our kids´ schoolwas a theatre play of Narnia made by middle school, classes 7-9. I must admit I was pretty sceptic about it and wasn´t expecting much but I am happy to say I was wrong!

To follow the story, it helped that I had seen the movie but the key was the quality of the performances. I´m not an expert in theatre but I was impressed by the strong roles played. We need to remember that these were 12 to 15 years old kids.

Also the production crew was all student based, only adult being the director. Excellent experience for the kids.

...You might wonder why did we go there at all?

Well, we had heard the productions are surprisingly good but that was not enough to get me to go. Having a son of our friends in a leading role did it...

Totuuden väistäminen

Liian usein törmään ihmisiin tai tilanteisiin joissa ei puhuta asioista niiden oikeilla nimillä. Yksi huvittavimmista on koulumaailmasta, jossa oletettavasti joku kukkahattutätikonsultti on keksinyt keinon suojella pikku tiitanoita totuudelta.

Erästä Espoolaista koulua remontoidessa on tietysti oppilaille järjestettävä tilapäiset tilat joissa koulunkäynti voi jatkua. Mutta miten voidaan välttyä myöntämästä vanhemmille että heidän lapselleen ei ole normaaleja koulutiloja? Millä nimellä näitä tilapäisiä tiloja kutsutaan?

Tässä koulun rehtorin kirjoittamaa: "----nmäen koulu on vielä syyslukukauden 2009 remontissa ja oppilaat käyvät koulua nk. väistötiloissa, jotka sijaitsevat kuitenkin lähellä varsinaista ----nmäen koulurakennusta."

Jenkeistä on kuulunut työttömien ilmaisu "I´m between jobs". Näin sitä väistetään.

Car Boot Sale was OK

Car Boot Sale was quite good, but not perfect. Weather started perfect for flip-flops and shorts but I also needed to put a jacket on at some point. Atmosphere and music was good snacks & drinks depending on each individual and in my case it was perfect. Banana for b-fast, chicken wrap for lunch and cheese & salami with a wine glass for snack.

What else does a man need? Well, the beer I had in the evening ;o)

I sold more then half of my suff and found at the end also some kids´ clothes but there was no interest to them, except a winter jacket for boys. Someone valued it much enough to pay 5 euros, but no-one even asked for a price of the nice shirts and a dress I had there. Lady next to me had loads of clothes that she was selling for 25 cents per piece and still there was no interest...

As always some people were looking for good stuff for free, but I rather keep some stuff to give for free to friends or relatives then sell to strangers for a rediculous price. One lady expected me to sell kids´ diving fins, snorkle and mask for 1 euro. I didn't. The mask & snorkle I sold for 3 euros - having bought it from Spain for about 9 euros - but the fins are still with me. That is if you have usage for fins size 36-37, come and get them!

All and all it was worth the trip, I sold 2 pairs of hockey skates - of course to a Finnish family. I was a bit surprised that the slalom skis didn´t raise any interest, but I know in US it is more common to rent the skis and you can´t make day trips for slopes down here... Then again, the nieces in Finland might appreciate some day the lack of buyers.

It was also proven that in Belgium such events need to start and finish early. That event was supposed to be from 10 am to 4 pm but almost everyone was ready to sell already 9 am and leaving around 1 pm. Cost for the spot was 20 euros and money went to the school Family Association that supports arranging different activities for the kids.

A town of Tongre is famous of flee market and antique sales on Sundays, but I have never been there. Don´t particularly wish to wake up at 6 am for such a trip. Making it to Waterloo or Sablon area before noon is tough enough...

Car Boot Sale - Kirpputorimyynti

Tomorrow at our kids´school is a Car Boot Sale - kirpputori, that should enable us to get rid of some stuff that is outdated for our family.

We have tried to find stuff that we don't need any more - things others might be willing to pay something for. Or some just to take away... We have given quite a lot toys and clothes away already, so some good pieces might be gone already and hence there will not be a single clothe for sale.

What do we have then?

I think the best pieces that I have I will not give away easily - due to having two 4-year old nieces; 3 pairs of alpine skis, boots, poles & a helmet for age range 3-10 years. We also have ice skates for almost the same range, particularly hockey skates.

However, I am not giving away my own skates. It took me 39 years to get them and probably another one to give up ice skating...

PS In case you are around, there is likely to be some wine & music around. Of course. It´s Brussels and the event is coordinated by fantastic house wifes ;o)

Busy weekend in Brussels

This weekend Brussels was full on happenings in Brussels.

On Saturday, the EU Day opened again the doors to EU buildings as well as expanded their presence on the streets. Many countries, organizations, companies etc have a booth where they offer or sell their products, activate people or just provide information. Food & drinks are also included. Of course.
There were different performances on the streets.
Some higher quality......and some lower.
Today the inner city was car with loads of events on the streets. Also the annual Avenue de Tervuren street fun was today. The street was closed from Cinquantenaire down to Woluwe Park.
In Belgium style, you had food & drinks to fulfill all needs - here with pizza you can have e.g. wine or limoncello.
These guys offered Thai specialties.
Their chicken noodle portion was pretty good for 4 euros.
Then I also spotted hot shoes - these are wooden.
And these guys were the owners - they were part of a traditional outfit...
Too bad all these happened at the same time, didn't have the energy to go to the city but there will be other events coming...

PS For some reason I saw today lots of Finnish people. In about 10 different spots I heard Finnish spoken - and unfortunately some were also visible due to their "red-neck" type of dressing ;o)

Only in Belgium...

Can you name any other country in the world where you can at elementary school party buy wine? I bet only in Belgium.

A school in Brussels with mainly international students/families arranged a "Family Dance" for elementary school (3-6 grades, kids age around 9-12 years) on Friday night from 7 to 9 pm and kids had ice-lolly, soda & chips to buy - and adults had also an option to choose between red & white wine.

Boy-scouts were selling the kids stuff, an adult the wine and I must say I can´t get used to it so every time it amazes me. And yes, also makes it more enjoyable event for adults. And it´s arranged by boy-scouts who also collect the wins...

Amersfoort in Holland

Amersfoort is 750 years old good size town about 40 min drive (without traffic) east from Amsterdam in Holland. It is situated well in the middle of the country and hence they have there multiple companies from different industries. Since it also has got 2 train stations it is easy for people to commute from nearby towns.

I said the driving time "without traffic", since it can cause annoying delays. A 1:45 hour journey between BRU and Amersfoort has taken up to 3:30 hours from me and that is not even bad.

Back to Amersfoort - It has got a very nice old town centre with canals (of course, it's in Holland), narrow allies and squares surrounded by multiple restaurants. Actually there seem to be as many restaurants than there are shops, and I can tell you there are quite many shops.

One could imagine to do at least some shopping while staying there many nights per week for few months, but no!

There are two reasons for it;
1. Long working hours;
Twice we have been thrown out from the office by security since they were going home...

2. Shops closed;
All shops close by 1800 latest, except on Thursdays when some of them are open until 2000. It is nice to see you have good sales and all, but one gets annoyed when seeing them only closed for the 5th time.

What do people then do in the evenings?
80% of people are home doing nothing and 10% in these restaurants. Since there are so many restaurants, they all feel empty with only handful of people.

One strange thing is that many restaurants do not accept credit cards at all! Nowadays I find it very rare in Europe, but it still exists.

Ah, you still wonder where is the rest 10%? Either cycling or camping ;o)

Wanna hear about Dutch lunch?
Their favorite lunch is sandwiches with milk. Normal filling to the sandwich is to have only plain slice of cheese or ham, not both. And definetely no green stuff (salad etc.) In between. Then they even love to have as a "dessert" a sanwich roll without filling, but some nuts or seeds in the bread...

I can tell you it is no joke for someone to run 3 day training with such lunch, particularly if you are on low-carb diet.

Well, luckily the diet is not a strict one, particularly for the weekends - otherwise I would need to drop my pizza, candy, beer etc.

And that is a NO GO!

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Interested to go? http://www.amersfoort.nl/

I love basketball!

I love to play basketball. I love to watch games live and on tv. I love to watch my kids practices and games. I love to play with them - as long as I can beat them. I even love to teach other kids to play and have patience to explain the game to "beginners" (even adults). So I think it is fair to say I love basketball!

I am also a fortunate man; I have a family that shares - at least partly - my love to basketball.

Due to minor medical reason, I am not able to play myself at the moment but I was today able to convince my family to drive with me 1.5 hours to Den Bosch in Holland - to watch a basketball game.

The game was the first semifinal of Dutch basketball league between Eiffel Towers from Den Bosch and Hanzevast Capitals from Groeningen http://www.hanzevastcapitals.nl/

Why there, don´t they play ball also in Belgium?

Yes they do, but not in Brussels for the past few years after BRU team ran out of money... We have been in local league games and national team games in quite many locations and it was actually quite nice to drive to a new city, walk around the centre, have lunch, check out some shops (yes, shops were open in Holland since it is the first Sunday of month) and then head up to the arena.

The best buy was 1/2 kilo of licorise, just like filled Panda one you can get in Finland!

I was told earlier that you can do in Den Bosch - or formally ’s-Hertogenbosch - nice boat trips in the canals. You rent a boat, steer it yourself and get around at your own pace. You can of course take some snacks on board and enjoy hopefully good weather. Dutch way for such snacks should be cheese, salami and beer :o)

I have done the boating once in Leiden, where it was excellent fun combining a tour at the lake and city canals. There you have many terraces that you can stop by...

Back to b-ball;

The level of the game is pretty good compared to other European bigger countries. Of course high number of non-local players increase the level, but teams are professional and arena at least in Den Bosch was quite good. Like you can imagine, there were not that many people in the audience but the small number of people were fairly loud.

Some court side arrangements were not working as you could expect in pro sports but all and all it was again a pleasent experience.

Except;

- We didn't have a chance to chat with the guy who was the key reason for us going to that particular game.

- "Our" team lost, but it is best out of 5 games so they still have time.

Someone might be interested in ticket prices: Adults 12,50 Euros and kids under 15 yrs 5 Euros. During the regular season prices are a bit lower.

PS Many thanks S for arranging the access!