Watching the Super Bowl in Amsterdam

February 1, 2009

One thing we definitely miss being in Europe is going to football games in the fall (and hockey, baseball, and basketball). Once Football season rolled around this year, we were feeling a bit home sick; missing the tailgating, and the atmosphere of the game. We can't complain, though, because at least we have Slingbox, so we can watch any game we have taped. If we had moved to Europe 5-10 years ago, we wouldn't even have that. But, it's not the same as being at the game, or in a pub in the home city.

So, wouldn't you know it, the year we move overseas the Steelers go to the Super Bowl! Not that we would actually go To the Super Bowl even if we were still living in Pittsburgh, but when we won it 3 yrs ago, we were in the South Side, and it was the best place on earth to be next to being at the game itself. People were cheering and pouring out into the streets after the game. I'm really glad we were there for the One-for-the-Thumb!

This year had it's own unique experience though. Since the game started at 12:30 AM in the Netherlands, we had to find a bar that would stay open late enough, until about 4, to show the whole game. With a quick search online for Steelers bars, we found Coco's Outback, an Aussie bar in Amsterdam. It's true what they say, Steelers Nation extends around the world. Coco's has a Super Bowl party every year. Bingo! So, Chad and I got a cheap hotel room next door to the pub, so we could stumble home after the game. We arrived in AMS around 4 PM, checked in… and the waiting began. We had planned on walking around the city all day, as we normally do in AMS, but it happened to be freezing cold this day, and a bit rainy. Not tolerable walking weather. So, we went to grab a bite to eat, and then just laid around in the hotel room, relaxed and had a couple beers. You know… resting up for the big night. ;)

We decided to go to the bar around 7:00, so we could get a good seat. And I'm glad we did because we found an awesome spot with our own table, and about 6-8 TV's surrounding us. Picture this, though, you are at the pub at 7:00 PM, ready for the game, and it doesn't start for 5 hours! Sort of reminded me of the first Super Bowl when Kyle, Karen, Chad and I went to the South Side at Noon for an 8:30 kickoff, and still barely found a table. Ahh, the things we do for our team.

The rest is history, as they say. We all know that Sixburgh won the big game! Yeah! It was definitely the most exciting Super Bowl I have seen in my life. There were about 150 people there watching the game, and Chad and I were the loudest ones in the whole pub (you're shocked, right?). The Australian bartenders got such a kick out of Chad, that they started to offer him free shots at the end of the night. As if he needed any encouragement. We had a blast. Not many people can say that they watched the Steelers win the Super Bowl while in Amsterdam. Hopefully we can do it all again next year! -S

New Years Eve in Amsterdam - 2008-2009

New Years Eve in Amsterdam with Christy & Vegar

After our trip to Norway, Christy and Vegar came down to spend a few days in the Netherlands. They stayed in Rotterdam for a couple days, and then went up to Amsterdam to stay with their friend, Jurian. It was nice to have my sister visit, because it made this place feel more like home. :) Plus, we had an opportunity to go shopping for wedding dresses, and, wouldn't you know it… she actually found her dress! It was really fun to be there with her when she found it. We were so excited afterward that we had to keep ourselves from talking about it all night in front of the guys.

We had booked a hotel in Amsterdam for New Years eve, but other than that, we didn’t have any real plans. We weren't sure if we wanted to go to Dam Square, or Museumplein, or one of the other major squares, because they tend to get really crowded and crazy, much like Times Square. As things usually happen, everything worked out just perfectly. We went to Jurian's apartment to hang out, relax and have a few drinks. He was such a wonderful host that he even cooked us a pasta dinner, which we were not expecting.

A few minutes before midnight, we went outside and walked down the street to the local plaza area in Jurian's neighborhood. There was a good size crowd there, but it was not packed. So, we could comfortably stand around, and drink our beers. We had a couple bottles of champagne, too, so we popped the top on those. Even before 12:00, people had started to set off their own fireworks. For the next hour solid, there were flashes, cracks and booms all around us. People setting off fireworks from the ground, from balconies, and even from rooftops. And not everyone was shooting them straight up in the air, so people were literally ducking out of the way.

In the center of the square was a clear, paved area, so people would lay out long strips of sparklers and noise makers, or set up some of the large flaming volcano type of fireworks. Over the canal next to us, there were some larger proper fireworks. The alarms on the motorcycles and cars were going off all around us because of the loud blasts of some of the fireworks. People even set fireworks in the middle of the street, and cars and fire trucks were driving over them while they were on fire! What I'm trying to describe here is a scene where there is something going on literally all around you and above you. You always have to keep your head on a swivel, and watch your eyes. After most people had set off what they had, people started sweeping all of the leftovers and papers into piles and setting them on fire. They would also throw handfuls of whatever small noise makers or firecrackers they had left right into the fire.

Afterwards, we went back to Jurian's. He brought out a huge cheese tray with several types of cheeses, hummus, sausage, & crackers. The Dutch really know how to be good hosts! After seeing how everything actually happens on NYE in Amsterdam, we were glad that we did not go to one of the main squared. I can imagine a bit of chaos when people are shooting fireworks and bottle rockets into a crowd of thousands of people. The next day, as we walked through Dam Square, the aftermath of the night before was still all around. Trash and broken bottles were everywhere. Broken bikes were left locked to light posts, and cars were driving over broken glass in the road. Hardly anybody was out yet at 11:00. I would definitely go to Amsterdam again next year for New Years. It was an experience that is hard to find anywhere else.

-S

More pics from New Years in AMS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanickmoses/sets/72157612405876527/

Christmas in Norway - December 23-28, 2008

Spending Christmas in Norway with Christy, Vegar and his family

We felt very fortunate this Christmas. Not only did we get to see Christy and Vegar, but we had the extraordinary opportunity to travel to Norway to visit Vegar's family and share the holidays with them. Naturally, we did miss the rest of our families. Though, fortunately, we were able to Skype with both. This was the first year that I was not in Morgantown at all for Christmas, and I think the same goes for Chad with Wheeling. But, if we couldn't be home with our families, this was the next best thing. Meeting our new extended family, and seeing the beautiful country of Norway.

I can't say enough about Vegar's family. His mom and two sisters, Siri and Marte, were very gracious hosts. They have a lovely, comfortable home that was decorated beautifully for Christmas. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome and at home, and we really did. There was never-ending, delicious food; Christmas cookies, rice porridge, beautiful spreads of cheese, meat and fish (very Norwegian) for breakfast, and even reindeer meat for Christmas dinner. It was delicious! I'm not sure I'll describe it correctly, but I believe the meat had been dried and salted, and then to cook it they slowly steamed the meat to get the salt out. It was really tender and had a wonderful flavor.

Vegar drove us (his dad, Christy, Chad & I) up the coast to a beach that had old Viking graves. Shiva, their beautiful dog, came along as well.

She had a cute habit of resting her head on the back of the seat right behind you. Her eyes would just move around following the people who were talking. The graves were interesting. They were essentially piles of rocks on the beach (which was a rocky beach). There were a couple very large piles, but most were smaller, in a row. I am really fascinated by the history of the Vikings, so it was neat to see these graves and to imagine what lies underneath.

The next day, we went down to the port of Larvik and met up with some of Vegar's HS friends. There is a park area where you can walk out on huge rocks, or boulders, that run out into the water. It is a beautiful view from on top of these rocks. Since we were so far north, and it was the middle of winter, the sun was only up for about 4-4.5 hours a day. This meant that it did not rise very high in the sky, but rather slowly crept from one side of the horizon to the other. The light always made it feel like it was dawn or dusk, when really it was 3 PM. But, the sunlight from this angle made a beautiful reflection on the sea and the rocks.


For lunch on Christmas eve, it is tradition in Vegar's family (and maybe others, I'm not sure) to eat rice porridge. In the porridge is one white almond, and whomever finds the almond in their bowl wins a prize. Christy found it this year, and she got a marzipan pig! We sliced it up for everyone to share. Really tasty. Vegar swears that one time when he was younger, he had the almond in his bowl, but he accidentally swallowed it before realizing what it was. Nobody would believe him, and they wouldn't give him the prize. Though I don't think anybody else found the almond, so maybe he was telling the truth. ;)

Another Norwegian custom is to exchange gifts on the evening of Christmas eve. This was a really wonderful experience. We all sat in the living room--Christy, Vegar, his parents & two sisters, and Chad and I--and Sori handed out gifts one by one. We took time to watch each person open their gift. It was nice to make the process slow and thoughtful, instead of a mad rush to rip open everything as fast as possible. Dinner that night was, as always, extremely delicious. That night Chad and I were laying in bed and talking about how thankful we felt to be there. It is really humbling and heart warming to have another family welcome you with such open arms. We were also happy to be learning about the Norwegian culture, and where Vegar came from.

We then went to Oslo for two days. Chad and I stayed in a Hostel, and Christy and Vegar stayed in a friend's apartment. The first night the four of us walked around the city for a bit, and went to a huge sculpture park. An artist had made dozens of large marble and bronze statues of people in their most primal emotions. All of the statues were unclothes, and had a different facial expression or body position. It was incredibly moving.

We went to the Viking Museum just outside of Oslo. They had two full size Viking ships that had been excavated and preserved. How cool! It was interesting to see the details of the woodwork, and to read about how the vikings built these ships and what they were used for. You could even walk up some stairs and look down inside the ship. At night, Vegar took us to an area of town with a little plaza that had several restaurants and bars. We went to a pub that had some really nice local micro-brew beers. Chad was in heaven, as we can't these in NL. On the way home that night, Vegar took us to a place in the city where the small river, or creek, had a big waterfall. There were lights shining on it, which gave it a neat atmosphere. It was so cold (probably 20 degrees F) that all of the water that splashed out of the waterfall was freezing on the tinly little tree branches and bushes along the side.





The next night we took the ferry across the inlet to Vegar's Aunt's house. We met more of his family, and they were just as nice and welcoming. We had a delicious dinner with the reindeer meet (yum!). For desert, they had the usual spread of sweets on the table. One cool thing was a cookie tree made of cookies shaped into round circles. The circles were large on the bottom and got smaller and smaller, stacked on top of each other.

We really loved our time in Norway. It is a beautiful country, and it was nice to have a local "tour guide" to show us some of the neatest areas. But, our time spent with Vegar's family was really the most memorable part. It will be nice to see them all again in August for the wedding! Hopefully we can go to Norway again, when it is Warm, and go further north to see the mountains and fjords. Will have to add that one to the list.

-S

More pictures from Norway:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanickmoses/sets/72157612398149003/

Glasgow, Scotland - November 25-30, 2008

Thanksgiving in Glasgow with the Pittsburgh Expat crew

As most of you know, the same time we moved to The Netherlands, our good friends Kyle and Karen moved to Glasgow, Scotland. They had an added adventure with their move, which was that they had a baby in August, after they arrived. A beautiful, healthy girl, named Brennan. Ever since she was born, we had been eager to make a trip up to Glasgow to meet her for the first time. We finally got our chance in November, for Thanksgiving! To make things even better, Joel & Jill were also able to make the trip up from Cambridge, where they now live. So it was really a Pittsburgher-Expat reunion. For starters… Oh Man!... Brennan really is such a cutie! Even at only a couple months old, she had such a little personality (no idea where she gets it!). She was also making a lot of faces already, and smiling quite a bit. We even got to hear some of her first giggles. How cool!

OK, I could spend this whole post writing about Brennan, but, we did really enjoy seeing Scotland, too. It's such a beautiful country. Very different than Holland because everything is green, with rolling hills and even mountains in the distance. It reminded me a lot of WV, actually. Our first day there, Karen took us around to see the University buildings, and some other interesting areas of town. There were some really nice buildings in Glasgow. The architecture is very old, and sort of midievil/gothic. Karen did a good job navigating the stroller (or pram, as they call it in the UK) up and down the hills & cobblestone streets.


We also went to a really neat museum in Glasgow, and had dinner across the street at a fabulous Scottish restaurant, where Chad and I tried haggus for the first time. It wasn't as bad as everyone says it is. We tried it a couple times during our trip, and some are better than others, depending on how they serve it, and the sauce that it comes with. Another day we walked around the main shopping area, and got to see a different side of the city, including a festival they had set up for Christmas time. It was a cool atmosphere with all of the holiday lights and decorations. It was also freeezing out, so we couldn't spend too much time outside. We did see a really cool Scottish Highlands band performing on the street, though. They had kilts, bag pipes, drums, the works. We liked them so much we bought their CD.

The last day we were there, we took the train to Edinburgh (pronounced Ed'nbura). This city is sometimes described as the "pretty sister" to Glasgow. It really is a beautiful city, and I would like to spend more time exploring it (but maybe in the summer!). At the top of the main hill is the Edinburgh Castle, which is impossible to miss. We lucked out and happened to be in town on a holiday, so entrance to the castle was free. Once you are inside the outer walls, you realize that it's not so much one castle, but rather a whole tiny village. There were several different buildings you could go in, and a display of the crown jewels, but the best part was the view of city. You could look out on the city from all sides of the castle, and it was beautiful, especially at sunset.

The Crew at Edinburgh Castle (can you tell it was cold!)

Of course I said we went there for Thanksgiving, and no Thanksgiving would be complete without a big feast. Kyle and Karen had prepared an awesome menu for Thanksgiving, that Thursday. We all chipped in to help with the preparation and cooking. It was fun to have everyone together, and the food was excellent. We even managed to make some pumpkin pies with the pumpkin filling we found at the American food store. Yum! The best part was really just being able to hang out with our old friends from back home. There never is enough time when you are visiting good friends. I feel like our trip was so short, even though we were there for 4-5 days. It was great to be able to see Brennan when she was so small. When we see her next time I'm sure she'll be crawling or walking around. At least we can keep in touch via Skype. Thank goodness for technology!

-S

Pics from our fabulous trip to Scotland:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanickmoses/sets/72157610555343567/

Viva Ikea!

Nothing gets a European's blood pumping like saying the word Ikea (pronounced e-Kay-a in Holland).

Seriously, they are not shy about their love affair with the cheap semi-disposable Swedish furniture. If you go on a Sunday, expect there to be a long line of cars on the highway next to the Ikea exit. I don't know if it's because it is one of the only stores open on a Sunday, or because they sell 75 cent ice cream cones, or because it is just a great place for a family outing, but they flock here by the thousands. And if the weather is bad, forget about it. You can wait for up to an hour to get into the parking lot (unless you are smart and take the tram).

No matter how you look at it, this store has revolutionized home design in Europe. Almost every 'modern' apartment and home now has the sleek, designer lines of a space ship.  Personally, it is not my taste. Give me an antique oak cabinet over a white square box any day. However, I am forever grateful to this mamouth size store for furnishing our Dutch apartment for 3 years for less than 1000 euro. So, I guess they have a little something to meet everyone's needs.

When I am able to assemble almost all of the furniture myself, that tells you something. ;)

And, I don't think it looked half bad in the end (although the couch leaves a bit to be desired when it comes to comfy movie watching).

I'm waiting for the monster-truck rally-style show down of Ikea versus Wal-Mart. My money is on Ikea, because Wal-Mart will be so distracted trying to pronounce the names of the furniture in Ikea that it won't even see the fork lift until it's too late. Those sneaky Sweeds. ;)

-S

Kanick Parents Visit Holland

October 17-27, 2008

Steve and Sharon made the long trip overseas to visit us!  We had fun showing them around, and having family visit us overseas really made it feel like more of a home to us.  We walked all over Rotterdam, showing them Het Park, and the bridges and canals. 

We went into the Cube Houses, and to our favorite restaurant, Bazar.  One of the things that I think was the most shocking to them was how we were able to walk up (and carry groceries up) those steep stairs every day! (second to that, maybe the 'coffee shops' on every corner) ;)

They really enjoyed one of our favorite little towns, Delft.  It's character is so well preserved, it feels like you're stepping back 300 years.  They liked the large "New Church" in the town square, which had tons of shops where you can find tons of the blue and white pottery and souvenirs.

We spent a day exploring Amsterdam.  We took Steve and Sharon to our favorite Dutch pancake house, where we sat outside along the canal.  They like the Dutch coffee!

We toured the old church, which had an interesting photography exhibit.  We took the touristy, but actually really informative, boat tour, to see all of the various parts of the city.  And, last but not least, no trip to Amsterdam would be complete without a trip to Wynand Fockink to sample the liquors.

One day while I was at work, Chad took his parents to Antwerp, in Belgium.  There are tons of cute pictures of them, but I just love this one. ;)

Then we were off to France. We spent a couple nights in Paris, then rented a car (which is quite an experience) and drove up to Normandy.  Paris was amazing, as always. We walked for miles and miles, to see the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Arc, and the Eiffel Tour.

We also explored The Cimetière de Passy for the first time, which is a beautiful cemetery up on the hill that has views of the Eiffel Tour in the background.  There they go again... I love it.




We rented a car and drove up to see Normandy.  Steve's uncle is buried in the American Cemetery there, having died during the early days of the D-Day invasions.  We stayed in a lovely little town called Bayeux, at a beautiful bed and breakfast.  We went to a museum, to brush up on our history, then drove to Omaha Beach.  It was stunning to see the steep cliffs that flank the shoreline, and to imagine the task of all of those men trying to get up the hill to overtake the foxholes.  Really sobering.

The American Cemetery was one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have every seen. It is so pristine, and so peacefully quiet, overlooking the ocean. It was strange to see a white cross with the name Kanick on it.  We were all silent, and crying.  It was a really meaningful and memorable.  Chad's Great Uncle Walter has a beautiful view of the ocean.

We are so happy that the Kanick parents got the chance to make the big trip overseas.  It was probably a once-in-a-lifetime trip for them, and it meant a lot to us to have family visit us so far away.

-C

Pictures from their visit:
Holland: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanickmoses/sets/72157608414834136/
Belgium: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanickmoses/sets/72157608415276392/
Paris: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanickmoses/sets/72157608421661577/
Omaha Beach: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanickmoses/sets/72157608426625107/
Bayeux: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanickmoses/sets/72157610554227055/

Football Game - Netherlands vs. Iceland

October 11, 2008

One of the advantages of working with a lot of Expats, is that everyone is always eager to organize a party or activity. Most people are away from home, and they don’t have families or friends nearby, so it is fun to hang out with each other. This is how we landed tickets to the Netherlands vs. Iceland football game (a.k.a. soccer for us Americans). About 15-20 people from Maersk (Simo, Marianna, Saif, Rusa, Perry, etc) got tickets to the game. We met up at Cabrinus (the "office" pub) for a couple drinks before the game, then hopped on the tram to go to Feynord Stadium, home to Rotterdam's local football team. We wore our orange shirts and orange Holland scarves that someone had given us at a pub during the Euro Cup that summer. It was very funny riding the tram to the game because everyone had crazy orange hats on, their faces were painted, and people would spontaneously burst into a chant or team song.

We had a really good time at the game. It was nice to be in that sort of atmosphere again, since we weren't able to go to any American Football games this year. :( But, I liked seeing everyone get excited for their team, and cheer when they scored. People took their game programs and tore them up into tiny pieces, and when their team scored, they would throw the paper in the air like confetti. They also had some chants/songs that the whole stadium would start singing. The Netherlands won the game 2-0. It was good to go to a game with other people who knew where they were going. Now, if we go again, we'll at least have a slight idea about what is going on. Hopefully we get to see another game while we are here.

-S

Some pics & a video from other football fun in Rotterdam watching the Euro Cup:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanickmoses/sets/72157606890762990/