Owner: American in Amsterdam URL:http://jamesonthecanal.blogspot.com Join Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 04:05:33 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: This is a blog about my transitioning into the most fun, cool city in the world-Amsterdam! Site statistics:Click here
Noordermarkt and Westerpark in Amsterdam 2007-03-31 17:39:00 This morning we took a nice stroll to Noordermarkt. It is a great outdoor market within a ten minute walk from our flat. There was everything you can think of for sale. Flowers, plants, fresh-baked breads, all kinds of cheeses, books, antiques, herbs, honey, fish, incense, clothes, etc. We bought some fresh-made pasta for dinner to go with our vegetarian meatballs. We also bought some goat cheese and a delicious rosemary and sea salt focaccio bread.After making our selections, we continued to Westerpark. This park contains a special dog section where you can let your dog off his leash and he can play with the other dogs. Our Yorkshire Terrier loves to play in the park. We like it, too, because he runs around with the other dogs so much that when we get home he is very tired. He immediately goes to his bed and plops down for hours.It was warm and sunny today. Of course, it could have been warmer, but Spring has only recently sprung. I am looking forward to the warmer days ahead. Here ar Read more:Amsterdam
How I Have Been Spending My Time 2007-04-15 23:19:00 It has been so warm this weekend. Here I am on my balcony located on the front side of my apartment. Notice Jack, my little Yorkshire Terrier.
Read more:Spending
Advice needed: boating in Amsterdam 2007-04-23 17:26:00 This posting is directed primarily at people living in Amsterdam
or the Netherlands, but of course, if anyone else has some valued insight that may be of help, please do let me know!!I am in a bit of a dilemma: as you may know from some previous photos that I posted on this blog, we live on a canal in central Amsterdam and frequently watch the boats passing our house. Having a boat and riding around the canals seem to be the city residents' favorite pastime, and now WE WANT A BOAT TOO! We don't want a big or fancy boat, just something that will hold approx. 4 people, can be easily manoeuvered around the grachten and is sufficiently comfortable to allow for a nice sunny day on the water...The only problem is that we know nothing about it and don't even know where to begin.Well, okay, not knowing anything is not quite the truth, either. We do know, for example, that the Dienst Binnenwaterbeheer levies a tax per year that is based on the length of the boat, something like €16 per met
Queen's Day in Amsterdam 2007-04-30 19:25:00 Today is Queen
's Day in Holland. What FUN this has been so far! Here is a small clip: Type rest of the post here
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We Bought A Boat Today! 2007-06-02 15:40:00 Well, we took the plunge and decided to buy our first boat today. It is 4 meters long, orange, has 4 seats and a 9.9 horsepower engine. We have been looking for months. We decided on this boat because it was relatively inexpensive, it has cushioned seats, it has a steering wheel, and the most powerful engine before you are required to have a boating license here in the Netherlands. Here are some photos from our trip this afternoon:Type rest of the post here
Read more:Today
EUREKA! 2007-07-01 13:22:00 I have finally found the NUMBER ONE Mexican restaurant in Europe! I am truly astounded how delicious and authentic this place was. It is truly the best, real Mexican restaurant I have ever found in Europe.I am almost thinking to myself, "Are you going overboard about food?" No. I am not. I love Mexican food and I have found home. I now know I do not have to move back to the US.You must check out Rose's Cantina located near Rembrandtplein in Amterdam. The address is: Reguliersdwarsstraat 38-40. Here is the map:Type rest of the post here
Time to Zap My Eyes! 2007-07-12 13:34:00 I am finally going to take the plunge and have my eyes zapped by a laser. I am very nervous, but also excited. I have been wearing glasses and contact lenses since I was 12 years old.Those of you that wear glasses know how inconvenient they can be in the sun, swimming, at night, doing anything active, while it is raining, etc. I could go on...I was at the VisionClinic in Amsterdam on Monday, three days ago, and the doctor advised I must have the Lasek procedure vs. the Lasik procedure. My understanding is that my eyes are at such a curvature that the normal, quick Lasik procedure is not an option for me. So I will now have a longer recovery period. They will even have to remove the outer layer of my cornea before they zap it. The surgery is Wednesday next week. Wish me luck!I will be conscious during the whole procedure. They will be clamping my eye lids back so I cannot blink during the procedure. Is it worth it!?? I am thinking it is and I am looking forward to it.Here is more info
Before and After Van Gogh 2007-07-15 13:26:00 Here are some flowers I photographed near Lake Como while on vacation last month:Here is after what I call, Van Goghizing them:
Mexican Food for Dinner 2007-07-14 13:27:00 We made some home-made guacamole and salsa to go with our bean and cheese burritos. We have not made Mexican
food at home in a long time so we decided tonight we would. Here is a photo of the delicious masterpiece:
Read more:Dinner
Recovery 2007-07-23 13:22:00 All is well. I am slowly recovering my eyesight and so far I am very happy with the procedure. I had the surgery on Wednesday and today is Monday. I can see, but not as well as I would like so I am at home recovering. I am thinking, "Why didn't I do this earlier?" :)
Read more:Recovery
Dutch Use Aid to Push for Gay Rights! 2007-08-03 16:45:00 This story is from pinknews.co.uk (click on title of post for original link):Another reason why I love the Netherlands!The Netherlands is to step up pressure for gay rights in countrieswhere it has strong aid ties.Dutch
embassy officials in the 36 countries where the Netherlandsdonates much of its aid will draw up an inventory of gay, lesbian and bisexual rights legislation, according to development cooperation minister Bert Koenders.In at least 18 of the countries, homosexuality is criminalised and gay people face fines, public beatings and even execution.Dutch embassies in those countries will urge governments to scrapanti-gay legislation.Holland was the first country to allow same-sex marriage in 2001.The Dutch public widely supports equal rights for lesbian, gay andbisexual people.
Read more:Rights
Jack in Vienna 2007-08-21 15:30:00 Here is one choice photo from our vacation last week. It is of our Yorkshire Terrier, Jack, sitting on the window sill of our hotel room in Vienna
, the Do and Co Hotel across from Stephansdom.
Netherlands vs. USA 2007-10-01 11:14:00 My partner and I have been contemplating our lives and whether or not we should stay in Amsterdam or move back to San Francisco. There are many factors involved in decision-making process, but I am going to highlight a few of them for you:1. Vacation time.-in the USA: 2 weeks or 10 business days-in the Netherlands
: 6 weeks or 30 days2. Cost of living-in San Francisco: we went to many Open Houses and every place we wanted or would consider buying because of the size of the place or the right neighborhood, etc cost a minimum 900,000 USD-in Amsterdam: we have been to a few Open Houses and we have been receiving regular e-mail updates from www.funda.nl about homes for sale. Most of these places range from 200,000 EUR to 350,000 EUR. Now tell me which one is more affordable?On that note: Groceries are so much cheaper in Europe. You can buy so many items at such a lower costs. For example, beer, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, wine, etc. Almost everything is cheaper here in Europe.How
The Barack Obama Movement 2008-02-21 10:58:15 I never listened to him speak before yeterday, February 20, 2008 and NOW I see why he is winning. He better be our next president! I voted for Hillary. I guess I voted too soon. Good thing he is winning so far...Scroll through to see some very important videos. I think there might be a chance that the US can get back on track and win back the respect it deserves...This one is creepy, but there may be a little truth in there....YES WE CAN:Obama
's Plan for 2008:This is funny:
Read more:Barack
Bush Tries to Bring Fascism from USA to EU 2008-02-11 10:58:37 Just when you though the Bush Administration could not sink any lower! Here is a clip of the article. Click on the clip to go to the story at the Guardian:The US administration is pressing the 27 governments of the European Union to sign up for a range of new security measures for transatlantic travel, including allowing armed guards on all flights from Europe to America by US airlines.The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of a travel clampdown by the Bush administration that officials in Brussels described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see west Europeans and Britons required to have US visas if their governments balk at Washington's requirements.According to a US document being circulated for signature in European capitals, EU states would also need Read more:Fascism
Mark Morford:Columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle 2008-01-30 12:12:23 I must say that there is one columnist in this world, that I am aware of, that writes exactly what I am thinking. His name is Mark Morford and he is at the San FranciscoChronicle
. His has written another gem about the US presidential election. I am going to paste a snippet here that you can click on to be linked to the entire article. While at the Chronicle's online venue, SF Gate, check out his other columns. They are fun reads!Here goes:...does all this excitement over Hillary and Barack mean the nation is finally ready for a female president? A black president? Have we, at long last, come so far that a guy like John Edwards, an excellent, likable, all-around candidate and a classic populist southern Democrat, actually finishes third? The answer, I'm afraid, is no, we are not ready. Not
Amazing! 2008-01-29 11:18:05 If you have Quicktime, you MUST check out this cool website!You can see in full panoramic view many famous sites. This is really unlike anything I have seen online before.Enjoy.
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Interested in Moving to the Netherlands? 2008-01-23 12:26:45 This posting is long overdue. Let me start by saying it is not intended to offend anyone that has written to me separately asking for advice. It has just increased so much lately that I felt one posting should cover most commonly asked questions. I should add that I have sent detailed replies to people that do not even bother to reply and say thank you. So here goes...So you are interested in moving to the Netherlands
or commonly referred to as Holland? Good choice. My partner and I are very happy about our decision. We feel very comfortable and welcomed here. Based on many conversations about the topic with my colleagues (in Europe most people say colleagues, not co-workers as we do in America so I feel strange now saying co-worker), it may because we live in Amsterdam. Studies show that Read more:Moving
Housing in the Netherlands. Rent vs. Buy? 2008-03-13 12:17:34 Disclaimer: I am not an expert, as I am sure you will be able to tell from the posting. I just wanted to share my observations because lots of traffic ends up on my blog due to Google searches, "Amsterdam housing," "Amsterdam apartments." etc.Let me start off by saying, the Netherlands
and especially Amsterdam, is a very active housing market. It it is comparable to the real estate market in San Francisco. I can only comment on San Francisco because that is the only location where I was ever seriously looking to buy. I was never one to settle down. Once I reached the age where I wanted to settle down and when I could even conceivably start to look into buying, I was living in San Francisco.So, back to the point. My partner and I recently decided to embark on this whirlwind of a project, to Read more:Housing
Open Skies Starts Sunday, March 30, 2008 2008-03-25 14:31:07 Here's a clip from the New York Times article (click the text below to read the entire article):When the open-skies agreement kicks in next week, those restrictions will be lifted, essentially letting the open market dictate all trans-Atlantic routes between the United States and Europe. For instance, Continental, Delta and Northwest will be able to serve Heathrow for the first time.This year, San Francisco, Orlando and Washington all received their first scheduled nonstop flights to Dublin on Aer Lingus under a related transitionary arrangement. And Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, the Irish no-frills carrier, has said he plans to start a new airline that will fly from secondary European markets like Liverpool or Birmingham to a half-dozen American cities like Baltimore or P Read more:Skies
, Sunday
, March
Amsterdam Canal Cruise 2008-04-04 14:14:02 If you plan on visiting Amsterdam
, you MUST go on a canal cruise. Check this link out for more info:
Read more:Canal
, Cruise
Where to Live in Amsterdam 2008-04-04 13:11:05 My partner and I have been living just one block outside of the Centrum Ring for 18 months now and love the convenience of being able to walk everywhere, being able to have shopping, restaurants, bars and nightlife around the corner makes us feel like we are right on the pulse of city life. There are a couple of things to know or to be aware of:The main canals in Amsterdam
are the Centrum Grachten, which were built a long time ago (beginning in the 16th century) by the Dutch nobility and merchants getting rich off the Dutch East India Company. These canals are wide but shallow as they were dredged with horses and lots of manual labor. Along these canals, the rich and famous built themselves luxurious and spacious city dwellings, mostly as secondary places of residence in addition to a litt
Gay TV and radio in the Netherlands 2008-04-04 12:34:40 THE NETHERLANDS - Three new gay television and radio channels will be launched in The Netherlands
this year.The presentation of OutTV took place on Tuesday. For a monthly EUR 10, viewers can see gay presenters as well as films and series popular with homosexuals via cable television.
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