Spring is (almost!) in the air

Seeing Amsterdam by boat is one of the best things to do in the city. So, as a general rule, when you're invited on a boat in Amsterdam you almost always say yes. Especially when there are pancakes involved!

We met Koen and Alex sort of randomly and it's a good story. Elliot and I had just moved into the neighborhood and we decided to check out one of our local cafés, Gambrinus. This very nice Dutch guy served us at the bar and chatted us up, in English. We talked about California and Holland and why we're here, yada yada. He mentioned his girlfriend from Colorado is moving to Amsterdam in a few months and he was super excited to show her the city. Not knowing what would come of it, I wrote down my email address on a napkin and told him to give it to her, in case she'd want to meet for a coffee when she got into town. I didn't really think about it for a couple months, until she emailed me! We met up in December at some point and the rest is history.

So Koen has a great little boat and they invited us out on the canals for the day. It wasn't a sunny day, but it also wasn't raining and it wasn't freezing. With fresh coffee, orange juice, and (oh ya!) pannekoeken, we all jumped aboard and got cozy. He took us out to the outskirts of the western canals and we made our through the center. We saw some really amazing houses (with yards and docks and porches!). When we got hungry again we just docked up to a café for some broodjes (sandwiches) and people watching. It was a perfect Sunday!