A little bit of America in the Vondel Park

One thing I love about summertime in Holland is the late, late light. At the height of summer, the sun rises around 5am and sets at 10:30pm or so. That means lots and lots of light. That also means we can start a bbq at 6pm and stay out til 11pm--all with plenty of light.

Being American, we thought it would be fun to celebrate the very American holiday with our gaggle of international friends at the loveliest park in Amsterdam, the Vondelpark.

Alex (from Colorado) and I sewed some very American bunting, she baked an American flag cake, and Elliot and I brought ingredients for beef sliders, coleslaw, and pasta salad. We brought the bbq's and goodies for gin and tonics, too. You should have seen our bikes! Stuffed to the brim for the picnic...

From 6pm til about midnight, we bbq'd and had a blast with friends. So many people brought their friends, and their friends brought others, we ended up with a solid group of 40 or so. In fact, there were only about 6 Americans. And only a few actually knew each other.

Unfortunately, the most embarrassing part of the evening was our rash attempt to sing the Star Bangled Banner...needless to say, we butchered it.  Other than that, great night!

⥥ yay for bunting on bikes



⥥ the Vondel Park


⥥ Koen and Alex (NL, US)


⥥ Li and expecting Laura (US, US/UK)


⥥ Emmy (NL)


⥥ Alex and Maria (AU, Colombia)


⥥ Paro and Nikhil (India)


⥥ Li and Taymor (US)


⥥ Alex and Mel (NL, AU)

⥥ Jordan and Shelby (US)

⥥ The cake ladies, Alex and Nina (US, Sweden)

⥥ Laura and Chris (US, NL)

⥥ Singing the National Anthem
⥥ the Birthday girl!

⥥ Patrick and Nina (UK, Sweden) and a photo-bomber!

⥥ Thank you Rosa, for carrying all our crap!