Attempting Amsterdam, Better Belgium

Hi jerry, I attempted amsterdam saturday afternoon with alex. Needless to say it didnt go over that well, with him or me, for different reasons. Still I thought you might like to see Tjins is still busy as ever, as is our little cafe. I walked past it a half hour before and couldnt find a place to sit so we had to have a cup of joe on the corner. Krull, the place we never sat at but always wondered. Wonder no more, it was dirty and clueless.
Some paper out there just named Amsterdam the hippest city?! (it was either the ny times or de telegraph) tee hee

The weather is still warm enough for ijs! that says a lot here. Usually they are packed up and headed south by now. Again I thought you might like to know that scarves are alive and well in Holland, even in warm weather.

The Frood. Fruit is food too! I guess thats a new discovery...

So why not try our luck in Belgium. This is the following day. brilliant weather and the city was open. Antwerp proved to be a lovely day out. However we werent the only ones out and every seat on a terrace was taken. Nevertheless, facilities were needed so we decided to stop into this lovely gem. It was tiny but cool. we drank a Rodenbach, yummyo, and headed out into the sunlight.

I dont know what happened in this city but the statue is holding up a severed hand! Openly brutal, the Belgians.

Luckily the Virgin Mary is around just about every corner. Now I know why!

Spot the cool tree shadow

It was one of the top ten best spring days this year, possibly the last 10 years. The sun was warm, a slight cool breeze in the air, and NO humidity. Heaven. Just like the lemon taarts at vlaamsch brood huys.

This is my acquaintance and client Pam (dressed in black and white). She is working at our newly opened L'Occitane. I'm glad she is working there, it's nice to see a friendly face when shopping. I bought the Amendel shower oil. It does wonders for the skin.

They also have a new Riz or Rice face regimen. It is made with wonderful organic red rice in the Camargue. I am trying it out, my skin changes in the warmer temperatures. I will keep you posted.

Pluk is the new juice bar in town, don't forget a broodje. I love the idea of a juice bar finally hitting the mean streets of Haarlem, but I havent been able to cross the pepto-bismal pink just yet, im sure it will neutralize, the eyes just have to adjust. the price one must pay for pressed and/or blended fruit.

Among a slew of new winkels recently opened is Cook & co. The store is two floors of magnificent neat & clean with plenty of space to move and turn. It is stocked with everything a kitchen could possibly need and something for every price range. I definately liked it and someday I hope to purchase a few things.

I guess I havent been to enough cocktail parties lately because I didnt know about the prefab appetizer spoons. Depending on the taste this may be one of the cooler things i have seen, put a bit of fur around it and it's art!

And last but most definately not least, an explosion of color. Not that there's anything wrong with it...

Real Strawberry flavor

"Sweet strawberries with flavor" It is a sad day when supermarkets have to advertise that a strawberry is sweet and actually tastes like it should.

I bought some earlier in the week and indeed the tips were very sweet. These seemed to need to ripen a bit more. I pray for a day when strawberries lose a bit of size and gain much more flavor. Come on 2012!

After shopping for wax fruit Jack and I played ball. I have to throw the ball high because if he stops to short he hurts himself. This often results in a few blows to the head however. He's manic!

A happy Jack coming back for more.

Ready for the next round. He tries to toss it back to me. He is great fun, I am privileged to have him in my life.