Wait, there are islands in the Netherlands?

Yes, people, islands. No palm trees, coconuts, or sunshine, but real (and manmade) islands. We had our weekend-long team retreat on Vlieland, the largest of the islands. October isn't the best month for Dutch island-hopping, but we made the best of it. 

We were there for a potential assignment, so it wasn't all fun and games (biking and cranberry-picking), we actually worked hard (in Dutch, mind you!). But the landscape was lovely. Long sandy beaches, a variety of lush green, autumn colors, and nature tours by locals. We stayed in the small main town, on the small main street. It was quaint and quiet, relaxing during our off hours. And the sunrise views were amazing! 

Fietsentocht to the fireworks

A very Dutch thing to do in the summer is a fietsentocht, or a bike journey. Usually they last a few days or a month. Ours was a couple hours. And we were fine with that. It happened to be the international firework festival in Scheviningen, the beachside town near Den Haag. We rented bikes when we got off the train and cycled about 15km through the dunes (the long way) to the beach. We got rained on a little (what's a bike ride in Holland without rain??), but made it just in time for dinner and a view of the fireworks. Of course it was pouring almost the entire way back to the train station. But it was warm and we had fun!

A summer sail!

So far this has been a wonderful summer. Blue skies, warm weather, late sunsets, and weekend time for  bike rides and friends.

And sailing! The Dutch have a long, long history of sailing and I've been wanting to sail here for a long time. Finally our chance came!

Tyler was visiting from California and it just so happened we arranged had a little sailing trip--lucky!
Elliot's colleague, Anna, and her boyfriend live in Almere, a small town northeast of Amsterdam that sits right on bay of the Ijmeer. They live in a really cool development project right on the water; basically their backyard is a dock and their sailboat is their guest room. Cool.

We planned to set sail at 5pm after work, so we could make it to Hoorn by 8pm for dinner. We motored for about 30 minutes until we arrived at the lock. This was my first time in a lock. It was pretty cool. Once we passed the lock, the high swells made it very apparent we were in for a good sail.

Because of the wind direction, we had to re-route a bit and decided that Edam would be a better destination. With the mainsail and jib up, all 5 of us had to sit on the edge of the deck--to balance us out. We were cooking! It was super exhilarating, too. The water was warm (22ºC/74ºF), super shallow, and we all had fun tacking and jumping to the other side of the boat.

It took about 3 hours to get to Edam. Max called the pizza place right when we sailed into the harbor. They took our order and by the time we unwound, changed our clothes, and walked into town, our pizzas were hot and on the table. Perfect. What an evening!

⥥Aboard the Findus

⥥Waiting at the lock

⥥The lock filling with water, and the boat rising with it!

⥥Sailing at about 7 knots (8mi/hr)

⥥Pulling into the Edam harbor

⥥Wind-blown and relaxed!

⥥The Findus harbored in Edam

⥥Captain Anna

⥥Anna and Max

⥥ Walking through charming Edam, and finishing the evening with pizza and wine!

The Best of 2012

Well. It's 7pm on New Year's Eve. Elliot and I are relaxing at home, listening to the sound of the rain pound against our windows and slightly (so slightly) drown out the pops! and booms! and whistles of (legal) fireworks. (It sounds like a warzone.)

This year has been incredible. Full of excitement, stress, love, change, happiness, and general emotion! Started the year with a short trip to South Africa to see dear friends. In February we checked out Carnival in Maastrict and went ice-skating on a lake in Rotterdam. In March, Elliot graduated from his MBA program, we packed up our Rotterdam life and moved home to California, via India for 3 weeks (why not?). Back in the Bay, we finished planning a wedding and then we got married, surrounded by our dearest friends and family from all over the world. It was the most wonderful day of my life. A week before the wedding, Elliot got a job offer and a month later, we said goodbyes and moved again--to Amsterdam. A couple Dutch beach trips, many bike rides, a couple boat rides, and 2 temporary apartments later we were 'home' once again. Fall came quick. I took a break from job-hunting and met a friend in Rome, and another in Paris. Leaves fell, my parents visited, and Elliot turned 30 and finished his first running race. As the cold Dutch winter started setting in, we visited friends in Paris and it was my turn for a 30th birthday. After a lot of hard work, I finally got a job and life just got a lot busier! The first snow came, and then Christmas brought Elliot's mom over to Amsterdam. Holy cow, that made me exhausted.

7 countries. 47 train trips. 2 cross-country moves.  1 graduation. 4 apartments. 3 weeks in India. 1 wedding.

 

But here we are! Another year ahead. What will it bring? What new memories will we make? Every year, I think: how did that go so fast? How can we slow it down? Even just a little? Every year I'm utterly perplexed that it's already December 31. I read a great idea the other day: take a large Mason jar and when something happens through the next year, write a quick note about it and add it to the memory jar. Great idea! I still need to think about some projects and goals for 2013. Any good ideas out there?

See you in 2013! Gelukkig nieuwjaar! Happy New Year!