YA MON

I can't say we have any complaints about Jamaica. We started our trip by spending four and a half hours in the Virgin Atlantic lounge at the London airport. As the lady next to us said "it's the most beautiful lounge in the whole world" - I couldn't agree more. Everything was complimentary, including massages and pedicures, which I gladly partook in while Adrian enjoyed five different meals. (I have a small video I can share with you all later.) Our flight itself was uneventful. We've been here four days now and we spend our days eating, drinking, and relaxing by the multiple pools. We've gone down the waterslide more times than I can remember and floated in the lazy river just as many. It's so great to see all our friends and spend quality time with them.

TOT ZIENS

We're packed and ready to go. At least physically, maybe not so much mentally. It's hard to leave a city you've fallen in love with, even with great things and places looming on the horizon. Amsterdam is a great city and we made the perfect choice in deciding to live here for two months. Even with the slight drizzle, we spent today wandering our favorite streets and having dinner at our neighborhood Italian place. We bid our landlady good-bye and were pleasantly surprised when she gave us back our full deposit. (I guess she didn't notice the seven or so houseplants that have taken a turn for the worse under our supervision.) We're leaving a small library behind - both novels and guidebooks for the next lucky tenant of 48 Marnixstraat. Maybe they'll learn what we did...that there is no need for a "Best of Amsterdam" book because it's all pretty wonderful.

IT'S ALL 50/50

With only so many days left here in Amsterdam, we've been trying to eat at as many new places as we can. This would be a great strategy if we could guarantee a good meal at each place, but we haven't been so lucky. For every good meal we have, we also end up having a really bad meal. And that's never fun. Here are two examples for you. 1. Right down the street from our house is a Chinese takeaway restaurant that opens when it feels like it. Last week, we grabbed dinner there and brought it home. It was very good, and so when Adrian was craving Chinese again a few days later, we headed over but it was closed. There was, however, an Indonesian takeaway place open just a few doors down. Since only Adrian was eating, he ordered two small dishes and almost fell over when the total came to 14 Euros - then the food wasn't even good. 2. Yesterday, for lunch, we headed to a Greek deli Adrian had read about online. It was a little hole in the wall, but it was excellent. The food was so yummy - and it was run by a nice couple who made everything from scratch. Dinner was a different story. We went to a Thai place that we have walked by many times and it's always been crowded. The first thing we notice when perusing the menu is that the dishes range from 15 to 20 Euros (let me convert that for you - that's like 18 to 25 dollars per dish!). Ridiculous - even if that does include the rice. We order two dishes and one is so bad (Adrian said it smelled like elephant poo), we barely even touch it. Luckily, earlier in the day, I had bought some enormous chocolate bonbons and we immediately commenced eating them there in the Thai place. The moral of the 50/50 blog then is simple - always have chocolate on hand for emergencies.

QUICK

Yesterday it rained, so we stuck close to home. We did make it to The Pancake Bakery for our last hurrah there. Today, however, we toured the whole city, even with the windy conditions. We headed east first, stopping at a few stores and picking up a pair of sneakers each. We then headed south to the Taco Shop for an early dinner. We walked in the door literally five minutes after they opened. We are happy to say it was well worth the trip back. It was definitely the best Mexican food we've had in Europe. We each got a super burrito "smothered" style and I had the fresh guacamole. Delicious. We headed home, but found ourselves pulled back into stores and picking up another pair of sneakers each. Here they are in all their glory.

IN OFFICIAL COUNTDOWN MODE

We have six full days left in Amsterdam. Tonight at dinner we discussed any last things we wanted to do, places we wanted to visit, restaurants we wanted to eat at. We will have our days full and we pray for nice weather to do everything. Being the psycho that I am, I even started packing today. I simply rearranged my suitcase so that all the summer stuff is now on top and the heavier articles like jeans and sweaters are on the bottom. I won't be needing any of that in 82-degree-but-feels-like-97-degree weather. Tomorrow, if the weather holds, we plan to explore eastern Amsterdam as this is the side we have been to the least. Then we will attempt to eat dinner at the Taco Shop - we hope it's open this time. On the way, we will look for Adrian's sneakers - he's looking for some by the Dutch brand, Quick. I might even have to get some. They are pretty cute.

HUP HOLLAND HUP

We're home from our mini-vacation. We're happy, but tired. Still found the energy to post some of my photos at Flickr. Enjoy.

GOING BANANAS

Okay, so while enjoying the new and utterly amazing Banana Creme Frappaccino at a Starbucks in Vienna, I started to compose a blog in my head about how I'm on such a banana kick right now. I've consumed everything from frozen yogurt to gelato to the aformentioned blended drink in the tasty flavor. Then I thought of the great title for this blog you see before you. But then I heard the most exciting news of the year - and it literally is making me go bananas.

Katie is engaged!

I found out yesterday via email. I hadn't checked my email since we'd been in Vienna without hotel internet access. I was dying - so yesterday, Adrian and I headed to an internet cafe and there before me was the happy news. I'm sure I startled a few internet users with both my screams of delight and my flowing tears. I called Katie and Noah as soon as I could and was able to bask in the glow of their happiness and joy.

Congratulations again, Katie and Noah!

PRISSY DIVA

We're in the midst of one of our vacations within a vacation. We've just arrived back in Prague after four days in Vienna. Being that we are not museum nor architecture fanatics, four days was a tad too much for us. Vent: plus, our hotel was not the greatest - and that affects a lot in my book. Granted, I was the one who booked the hotel in Vienna and I was limited to very few options since it was so last minute and everything was booked. The hotel wasn't sketchy or anything - it just wasn't very modern, and that's fine in European hotels if you have a little character. This one had none. Our room was one of the most boring hotel rooms I have ever stayed in. There were no free toiletries...and I'm not trying to be prissy (okay, maybe a little) when I say that if you're going to have a dispenser in the shower that triples as soap, shampoo, and conditioner, your hotel better have other amenities to make up for it. This one didn't. Okay, vent over. Vienna itself was good and it was fun to find all my old haunts and show Adrian around. I have a ton of pictures and will show them to you when we return to Amsterdam on Sunday night. We are staying at a new hotel in Prague - and this one is more my speed. Toiletries, pictures on the walls, modern door locks...signs of modernity. Adrian gets the props for booking this one - plus, he booked us the wellness package which includes massages for each of us and a free drink each at the bar. I am happily partaking in both very soon.

GOOOOOAL

Futbol mania has taken over the continent. In line at the airport today, we were behind a very rowdy group of Dutch fans (why they were on their way to Prague, we don't know). They continued to be rowdy on the plane and had to actually be told by an attendant to quiet down. Wandering throughout the city tonight, fans everywhere are showing their national pride in both clothing and cheers. It's quite a spectacle. The World Cup lasts for a whole month so this is just the tip of the iceberg. In other news, we're in Prague and have so far enjoyed a wonderful stroll and dinner.

SUNNY DAYS

This morning, we woke to the Amsterdam we know and love. Sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s. We bid farewell to our houseguests, who are on their way to Germany and beyond. We made plans with them to meet for lunch later this month when our trips overlap in Prague. Not wanting to waste such a gorgeous day, we ran out the door to do our power walk in the park. We'll head out again soon to buy snacks for our trip tomorrow. We're off to Prague and Vienna - and hoping the nice weather holds throughout. Finally, our Flickr sites will have some new and exciting photos for you to view.

WE'VE GOT FRIENDS

We headed to Centraal yesterday to meet my friends, Analie and Mike, who were coming in from Belgium to stay with us for four nights. On the way, we kept an eye out for Adrian's friends, Akshay and Rollie, who were arriving from the airport around the same time. Amazingly, we ran into them steps from the station and said our hellos before they headed to their hotel to crash. Analie and Mike came in a little late, but we found them just fine. It's so great to see old friends and realize that you haven't seen each other in two years, but have it feel just like yesterday. We spent the night catching up and introducing them to some of our favorite things (the Italian restaurant in our neighborhood that we frequent and our favorite card game, Quiddler). This morning we lunched at the Pancake Bakery and sent them on their sightseeing way. We're planning to all have dinner tonight as one big group - friends meeting friends.

Sidenote: Analie and Mike brought us some chocolates from Paris to thank us for hosting them. They are, without a doubt, the best chocolates I've had on this trip. The company is Jeff de Bruges and they seem to be the McDonald's of France - in the sense that they are a franchise operation with over 270 stores, but they are wonderful. We will be on the hunt when our cruise docks in Nice.

COMIDA MEXICANA

As you can imagine, Amsterdam isn't bursting with Mexican restaurants. That being said, there are actually a few - ones with big, splashy signs called La Margarita or Rose's Cantina. We've walked by these places and looked at their menus. Sure each place proudly beckons you in with the promise of "real margaritas" - I think it's so that you drink enough alcohol to not notice that they don't serve beans with the entrees or that the enchiladas you're eating have chicken and pineapple in them or that the fajitas for two cost over forty dollars. It's like these places think they've cornered the market on a hard-to-get cuisine, so they can do crazy things like extremely overprice the food or put fruit where no fruit should ever go. That's why we were so excited to hear about a place way out of town that was supposed to be excellent and inexpensive. It's called the Taco Shop and according to the internet opened for lunch at noon. Yesterday, we (along with our empty stomachs) headed south of the Old South - so far south that we actually got lost for a bit. After over an hour of walking, we finally stumbled upon the Taco Shop only to discover that it was closed. It didn't open until 4pm. To say we were disappointed would be barely describing how we felt. Of course, we plan to venture over there again before we leave this city, but for now we're going to try a different place we also just found out about that is closer to home called Madre Pacifico. We're having dinner there tonight - and you can bet I'll start with that promised margarita.