DD Utrecht Premiere

Last night was the premiere of Dirty Dancing Utrecht -- and the evening was wonderful. The show was fantastic with high energy, the audience response was excited, eager and extremely positive, and everyone was in fabulous spirits. My friend Abbie and her fiance live in Amsterdam, so they came to the premiere as well. It was great for us to have friends not involved in the theater be there supporting the show and partying with us in celebration of opening. Valerie attended the London premiere as well, so it was interesting to get her reaction and feedback on how much the show has evolved since London.

Here are a few snapshots of the premiere:

(David, Valerie, me, Michael Conlon and producer Kevin Jacobsen in front of the DD photo-op banner)

(Me and Kevin)

(David, Abbie's fiance Derek, and Abbie)

(Abbie, me and Valerie)

(David with the ladies)

(Crazy musicians perform lying down on the floor to get the party started)

(Alice from the London DD office -- without whom I would lose my mind and certainly lose track of time and travel itineraries. She is a star.)
(David rocks out with James, our director)

(David and Michael both sported Paul Smith suits, and were very excited)

(With Penny and Conrad)

(David with Eleanor and Michael)

(Valerie and me)

(Cheesy? For sure... but funny, and priceless)

Party Time!

Really very great day today -- in brief, as we must to bed -- we had a private canal boat ride with the creatives and their families and special others complete with wine, food from one of the top hotels in Amsterdam, a band and a private boat tour guide. Very festive and merry, the ganag's all here.

Our friend Val arrived from London to join in on the festivities with opening night, people are crazily wrapping presents and writing cards all around, there are decisions to be made about outfits and plans about after parties.

It's all happening, very buzzy, but we are all excited and thrilled about the opening. The show is in good shape, at this point the stresses and anxieties have given away to a desire to party as one big rowdy family.

Soon!

It's All Happening

Today is the EPK -- filming the electronic press kit. This means we have no rehearsals in the rehearsal sense, just shooting several choice moments, scenes and sequences.

In the mean time, the London DD office has arrived, every day more and more international members of the extensive Dirty Dancing team arrive in Holland in preparation for the premier on Sunday.

It's all happening!

And here we go again...!

Previews began Thursday night -- and are going very well. Excellent audience reception thus far: attentive and eager. Literally the second the lights go out at the end of the show, they are on their feet clapping and cheering. It's been great for the cast to finally have an audience, to experience such a passionate and responsive packed house.

TOI TOI TOI!

A Look Back: Our Monday Off & First Signs of SPRING!!! in Amsterdam

David and I had a fantastic day off this past Monday, and in great part because the weather was beautiful and we spotted signs of SPRING! Crocuses sprung out of the ground and green buds have appeared on trees. There is more sunlight in a day, it seems, and we can just taste warmer, sunnier times ahead with some green on trees!

We spent Monday morning doing our usual Monday domestic up-keep: sleeping in (self up-keep), grocery shopping at the Natuurwinkel and other local food shops, catching up on emailing and the like. Boring, perhaps, but we find having the time to complete these tasks very exciting and their completion rewarding. These days, we calibrate the "success" -- use-wise -- of our time outside of the theater by the activities with which we fill it.

And we got a lot done on Monday --

(David with an interesting statue near my Indiana Jones Osteopath's office...)

At noon, I had an appointment with an osteopath, whom I decided is like a Dutch Indiana Jones in professor mode: handsome, scholarly (seeming), slightly mysterious. His name is Wijbe Reijenga, which means I will never call him by his full name. I can just kind of pronounce his first name enough to hint at his name. (VEE-BA) He does not speak much English and mumbles various things in Dutch to himself during my examination and treatment, but he is thorough, nice, and has given me an interesting insight into my chronic back problems: my colon is turned in, thus pulling my back muscles. What Wijbe does is to deep massage my stomach (colon, intestines, etc.) -- it hurts a lot, I never knew how tense my stomach was. But I did feel more opened up afterwards, and I don't think one should have a tense stomach, so the deep tissue massage is a good idea, I think. I have seen him twice now, and most recently, I had been suffering some severe stomach aches and cramps. After my appointment with my Dutch Indiana Jones Doctor, I felt much better.

(People eating outside De Belhamel... one would never know from this photo that it is still a bit chilly outside!)

Our day continued on in a lovely fashion -- we had a wonderful late-afternoon lunch at De Belhamel. In Amsterdam, if there is sun and no rain, people come out to eat outside, even if it's still a bit chilly, even downright cold. Restaurants and households alike can be seen lugging out tables and chairs from inside to set them up along sidewalks. David and I did not eat outside, as we did not want our food to get cold... but we had a great table inside that looked out onto the Brouwersgracht canal. We ate basking in the early spring sunlight.

(David looking out from De Belhamel interior... very pensive...)

And then off we went bicycling down Herengracht to the southern part of Amsterdam, to Utrechtsestraat, where there are various clothing shops. Here, we engaged in some retail therapy. Very nice. Then we cycled back home and headed out to the movies, where we saw Step Up 2. The dancing was fantastic in it -- AWESOME, in fact -- we very much enjoyed it. Much better than the first one. We then ate at Restaurant Visaandeschelde, which is a "fish restaurant" -- and so much more. I have decided that this is one of my favorite restaurants in Amsterdam. A little out of the way, but the menu is inventive and delicious, while being relatively light due to the fish-centric menu. The people are nice, and the restaurant is buzzy even on a Monday night. We came to Vissandeschelde last Monday, too, after seeing the movie Jumper. Last week, the Prince of Netherlands was just leaving as we arrived, and we sat where he had been sitting, to the excitement and apparent envy of our waitress. Strangely, we forgot to bring our camera on both of our trips to the restaurant, so we have no photographic records... but it is a fantastic place, and we had a great time both times. David feels that the creme brulee is one of the best he has had thus far in our extensive traveling and eating.

Excellent day off all around! And now it's full steam ahead through previews to opening night!

And tomorrow is...

Tomorrow we have the Family & Friends Night -- which means we have a dress rehearsal with an invited audience, who are, hopefully or, at least to the knowledge of those involved with the production, are either family or friends. Should be a good thing, I think the cast is ready to have an audience to truly get a sense of what they have been working on all this time...

... in the mean time, David and I had a fantastic day off yesterday -- beautiful sunny day in Amsterdam! Unfortunately, photos don't seem to load onto the blog at the moment, so I shall return to post some photos of our Monday explorations through Amsterdam at a later time.

For now -- off to bed (it's 2:20AM)!

photo.streaming

I have begun (or renewed) a Flickr photo site. On this site, I thought I would post more photography-like photos from our travels and life in general. Mostly as taken with my Canon Powershot, but here and there I have slightly adjusted the colors and such. Many will be familiar from this blog, but there will be some new to the blog or with a bit of updating:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tminami/

Ranunculus Blooming

The ranunculus bunch we bought at the markets have opened up a bit... the color is amazing!

A quick stop at the Biologische Boerenmarkt

(A beautiful bunch of orange ranunculus. The colors of the flowers available in Holland are remarkably vivid with brilliant hues.)

Every Saturday from 9am to 4pm, De Biologische Boerenmarkt op de Noordermarkt takes place -- Amsterdam's famous organic farmers' market, apparently one of the largest of its kind in Europe, if not the largest. The market spans over several streets, and farmers and various vendors set up shop.


The market is just over the Brouwersgracht canal from our house, less than a 5 minute walk. We hadn't had the opportunity to go until today, however, because when we worked mornings and afternoons, we were picked up before the market opened and returned home after it had closed. Now that we work afternoons and evenings, we were able to take our shopping bags and have a look in the famous market!

It's a beautiful day today, sunny and mild, so it was the perfect Saturday morning to walk around the market. We did not see all of it -- there are far too many stalls to do, we will have to wake up a bit earlier next Saturday to do a more extensive exploration. But we got a good taste of it.

We are not entirely convinced that everything sold at this market is organic. But I suppose the majority of it are. What I loved about the market is the flower stalls. The Dutch buy armfuls of flowers at the market, and it is a lovely thing to see. The flowers here are amazing -- tulips are beautiful, as expected, but there are numerous varieties of blooms on sale: lilies, roses, amaryllis, branches of cherry and plum blooms, orchids, and, of course, various bulb flowers. And they are all very affordable and fresh. We ended up with beautiful, long stemmed tulips and a bunch of orange ranunculus.

(A market stand laden with fried food items.)

There were some fresh fish on sale, too, so we bought fillets of wild salmon. We also bought a bunch of white asparagus, which David loves, as well as couple of mangoes and avocado.

Pink tulips we purchased for our home.

A nice, simple salami. Very tasty. One can buy wonderful cured meats in Holland. I never buy salami like this -- the cut-it-up-yourself, out-in-the -open-hanging kind -- in New York. Somehow, the idea of eating salami like this seems more natural and rustic in our farmhouse-like Dutch house, instead of our New York apartment. Just slice up and eat with sliced cucumbers or some crumbly aged Dutch cheese. Delicious.

David at the table, eating lunch of organic moussaka, fresh cut organic cucumbers and tomatoes with just pepper and a drizzle of organic olive oil. A lovely Saturday late morning in Amsterdam.

A bike fall, saving bar of chocolate & a funny sign, in no particular order

Because we come home from work past midnight, the mornings our only time to procure any food items for our house. And so this morning, we decided to hop on our bikes and do a few grocery shopping before being picked up for work. It's rainy and slick out, however, which results in slow traffic of cars as well as bicycles on the narrow and busy Amsterdam streets. After leaving the Natuurwinkel, there was a big truck stopped in the middle of the street, which caused a dense traffic of bicycles, going both directions, on the even narrower, remaining portion of the street not taken up by the said truck. As I weaved my way through, a car appeared to my right -- to dodge the car, I tried to ride onto the pavement... but being wet and slippery, my bike skidded down.

My first bike fall! I have not fallen off a bicycle since I was a kid. Luckily, my fall onto the pavement was somewhat broken by a slightly chubby pedestrian -- unluckily for her, but she was concerned and nice and, while shocked that a girl had literally flown into her, she seemed fine. The scrape tore the top of my boots, made a hole in my favorite leggings, and gave me a good knee scrape.

It's an Amsterdam war wound.

My pink bicycle survived with just a slight bend in the handles, which David fixed up. And I didn't scrape anything other than my knee, which was lucky. It may have helped that I was wearing my long, Canadian Goose down coat, which makes me look like a Michelin Woman but keeps me very warm and, evidently, well-cushioned.

Now, onto a random yet important note about our days here in Holland: we have discovered a food item vital to our surviving long work days. We have discovered Vivani Feine Bitter GrunTee. It is organic dark chocolate with green tea. They have been on sale at the Natuurwinkel and we have bought bars and bars of them, keeping them in our cupboard as if they were bars of gold.

I am not a huge chocolate eater, but this bar of chocolate is addictive. David consumes bars of chocolate over a rehearsal period, as they are easy to carry, easy to eat, and provide a lot of energy.

And yet another random tid bit. There was a sign in the theater foyer last night, which gave me a chuckle:

I must say that the toilets in the Beatrix Theater are immaculately clean, lovely to use. And we have discovered why... they get deep cleaned!

An Ode to the Costume Department (in prose)

(The silver Supdance shoes I like to change into on Opening Night -- but in a higher heel, darling!)

Aside from the Dance Department, in which I am an honorary member -- due to my in with the Associate Choreographer -- my favorite department on the show has to be the Costume Department. Of course, there's the obvious: I love clothes, and there are some gorgeous dresses worth coveting in the show. In fact, some of the dresses in our show are very much akin to Prada's 2008 spring line. But I also love the Costume Department because, of all the departments, it has the power to provide me with much-appreciated, real-life solutions.

Here are just a few off the top of my head:

Solution #1: Hair Cuts While Abroad
I have written a while ago about my disastrous experience of getting my hair cut in Hamburg. The experience was a truly traumatic one (as, I think any experience involving a giant, German woman barking "pony, pony!" at you while wielding a pair of scissors and hacking at your hair would prove). Since then, I have vowed never to merely walk into a salon in a foreign city, simply because it looks nice and fancy. Enter: the Wig Department, a branch of the Costume Department. These people do hair, and as our show has tremendous amount of high quality wigs, these people must know hair. And they also know about people in the hair industry in their local city. So, if I must get my hair cut outside of New York and by someone other than my trusted hair stylist, I go to the head of the Wig Department. In Toronto, this brought me to Robert Gage, a legendary hair guru who is so well-known in the right circles that his website merely has a map to his townhouse-turned-salon. When I had my first appointment with him, he even asked me how I came to be sitting in the chair before him, my hair freshly washed. I was a departure from his usual clientale. Here in Holland, I will soon need a haircut before opening night. I have just been handed a slip of paper from the Wig Department with a name and a phone number. A quick search on the web and the salon looks promising.

Solution #2: Loose Bits and Bobs from Clothes and the Rest
Button lost over a work day? A hop skip and step to the Costume Department will fix that right up. In Toronto, they offered to hem up my opening night dress (which was kind of a big job, as the dress was very structured), although I very gratefully declined, knowing how busy they were. They directed me to a tailor instead. That's the other thing -- and knock on wood -- but I have always found the Costume Department to be very nice and accommodating, willing to help. And this giving quality is much appreciated in foreign countries, when little things like finding the right tailor or a salon is more difficult than one expects. The Department also shares with you where to shop, which streets are good, which local designers are worth checking out... valuable knowledge, they impart.

Solution #3: Dance Shoes
Our show being Dirty Dancing, dance shoes are important. And the dance shoes used in our show are GREAT for parties. I particularly love the silver Supadance sandals, not unlike the ones Baby wears in the show. They look great, make your legs look fantastic, and they are extremely comfortable. They are my secret to a good opening night party: attend the show in your best "look at me" dress shoes... and then at the party, put those dress shoes away and change into dance shoes. Your feet will thank you. And you will be able to party on longer without having to take your shoes off and walk around barefoot on what will, by then, be sticky-with-alcohol floor, completely ruining the elegant look you had established earlier in the evening. The only tricky thing is, these Supadance shoes are difficult to find in the US. They are British manufactured. Enter again, for me, the Costume Department: they can order shoes for you! All I have to do is sit with the Associate Costume Designer, look through the Supadance catalog, and choose. Fabulous.

And so, I love the Costume Department. The department is like a magical world of pretty clothes, comfortable yet gorgeous shoes and well-kept hair. And these things are taken seriously, not scoffed at as trivialities. It is the perfect department for a fashionista in the theater.

The Journey to Opening and Its (few minor) Discontents, expressed

View onto the stage from the balcony. The fire safety curtain is down, so set pieces are not visible.

David wanted me to clarify that, contrary to my "bored.bored.bored" blog item, we are not so pathetic. Perhaps. My intention was to be on the humorous side of things -- a flair of melodrama -- but he did not want to alarm our readers, it seems. To this effect he has written an entry. (And posted an even more ridiculous photo of us.) But I confess I do not wholly agree with the Dutch-New Yorker trade being a fair and square one. I tend to think that the a Dutch person in New York is better off than a New Yorker in Amsterdam... or in Utrecht, as we are now, for rehearsals.

I'd also add that *I*, of all the creatives, have been the most positive person about living temporarily in Amsterdam. It's true. You should hear all the other complaints. At least I took matters into my own hands awhile. I roast chickens in small ovens weekly, religiously. I ride a pink bicycle -- the Dutch kind -- and dodge cars and pedestrians in an attempt to assimilate. I've made myself sick with Jonge cheese and Oud cheese. I've sampled Krezip, a Dutch rock band. But even I have succumbed to being homesick.

Maybe it's the work situation, not life in Holland. It's enormously better than life in Hamburg, hands down.

Tech period can be a trying blend of dreariness and stressful pressure. Everything takes a long time, yet we are constantly aware of how little time we have before an audience enters into the picture. We now work afternoons and nights, which means we get picked up at 12:30pm, rehearse from 1:30 to 11pm, have a technical meeting, and come home to Amsterdam... at which point it is 12:30am at the earliest. Long days ahead from here until opening, but it'll also happen quickly!

And so it goes. This process is not new to us, we should be able to do this in our sleep at this point. Stage throws nice opening night parties, though, so I hope all the exhaustion will evaporate with a good party.

Hi All,
Contrary to Tomoko's current assessment of the state of things, we are not THAT desperate and pathetic as to not be enjoying our time in Amsterdam. Of course we will look back on our time here with mixed feelings - but that's to be expected.
This is a wonderfully picturesque city. Day or night wandering (or cycling) through the canals can be breathtaking.
It's just life's little taken for granted conveniences that can make you feel a little home longing from time to time. I'm sure if someone from Amsterdam was to live in New York for a while they would find themselves aching for that little dutch cheese and bread shop they had on the corner of their street (straat or gracht) on Korte Prinsengracht - and so it goes.

David x

bored.bored.bored...

Today is our day off -- and as usual, we did our grocery shopping, rode around the city, trying to enjoy the sunlight that has become so foreign to us as we live most of our lives in the darkness of the theater. Now, in the evening and yet again in the dark, we were trying to figure out what to do about dinner... when we were suddenly hit with an unbearable sense of ennui. As he tried to find an interesting restaurant, David muttered, "I'm just trying to get through until we get back to New York." We are bored at the moment. We've exhausted our bicycling, our restaurant-touring, our wandering around the canals of Amsterdam. English channels on TV are limited. All we have is Photobooth on our computers to take stupid photos of ourselves, to express our longing for New York (see above).

Couldn't spring come earlier this year in Amsterdam?

Valentine's is for Eating Well with your Partner

(Color coordinated couple at Ciel Bleu...we take special occasion dining seriously!)

Last week David and I did some serious restaurant eating, in part due to it being Valentine's Day week. What is a day-long celebration stretched over the course of the week for us, because of schedule changes. Initially, we thought we would not be able to go out the night of Valentine's Day proper due to technical rehearsals. And so we had decided to celebrate Valentine's Day earlier, on Monday (the 11th), our day off. We booked weeks ago at Ciel Bleu, the only restaurant in Amsterdam that boasts two Michelin stars.

And then our technical schedule changed and we did end up having Valentine's Day night off. We tried to swap the Ciel Bleu booking, but were unable to do so, the restaurant being fully booked on V-Day. So we decided to keep the booking at Ciel Bleu for Monday, and book at De Kas for the 14th.

What a wonderful culinary week we've had!

Although Michelin stars do not necessarily guarantee a fabulous restaurant, Ciel Bleu was a singular experience, from the environment (panoramic view of Amsterdam), to the service (white gloves! synchronized waiter service!) to the food -- which was delicate, layered, inventive, and beautifully presented. It is one of those restaurants where buying its cookbook for home is just silly verging on the delusional, because the restaurant's dishes are so time consuming and labor intensive.

As a very special occasion dining, Ciel Bleu did not disappoint.

A few snippets from Ciel Bleu:

ABOVE: David about to enjoy a beautiful dish of a lobster and avocado "cannelloni"... the cannelloni is actually paper thin beet root that has been baked. We could not figure out how the chef managed to put so many plump, juicy lobster pieces with ripe avocado right into such a delicate "cannelloni."

ABOVE: David enjoys a pre-dessert dessert. It consisted of 3 small components all inspired by mojito. The lollipop David is holding is actually mojito ice cream on a stick.

Few days later, on the legitimate day of Valentine's Day, David and I returned to De Kas. De Kas had a special Valentine's Day course, which was lovely. A completely different experience from Ciel Bleu, De Kas being much more grounded, earthy, yet light; the dishes simple yet robust with flavor. There's nothing fancy about the food here -- what's special is how fresh everything is, from the plump, homemade green olives and baked bread while you sit waiting for your first course, to the vegetables on which the simple grilled day-caught fish perches. Everything tastes and feels healthful. One would surely buy the De Kas cookbook... if one could read Dutch.

A few photographic snippets from Valentine's Day at De Kas:

BELOW: David very excited about his lemon tart with a scoop of rhubarb ice cream. All freshly made from rhubarb and lemons harvested from De Kas's own greenery.

BELOW: homemade limoncello! Scandalously delicious.

And then I, too, succumb to homesickness for NYC

Today was a weird and irritating day at work. I hate to blog anything negative about the company, but the cast lacked discipline and were so noisy backstage today during tech, I could hear their chitter chatter house front from the balcony. Then the revolve drum broke, so we finished earlier than usual. Frustrating day for all, really. And I miss New York.

Oh, What a Night!

On Wednesday, a group of 12 people -- creatives and their respective partners -- went to the Supperclub for dinner. The Supperclub is very well summed up in an overviw in Amsterdam.info:

You are invited into the cool interior of the restaurant, remarkably furnished with couches along either side wall, with cushions to lay down on. There are also tables at the centre floor, where you may choose to dine.

The restaurant itself is divided into upper and lower dining areas, lit with changing aerial lights, creating a hip atmosphere. What is quite profound is that the entire decor of the restaurant is white, representing an empty canvas.

This provides an appropriate spot for the large video projection on the white wall above the kitchen. Every night you can expect to be entertained with a different VJ exhibiting their work, along with an in house DJ playing on the floor.

Supperclub has an extensive wine list yet no written menu. What they offer is an impressive 5 course meal at 65 Euro, but what you are eat remains a mystery until it lands on your table or lap, depending on your choice of seat. Simply inform your waiter of any dietary needs and they will provide for you.

After your meal and a few relaxing drinks you are welcomed downstairs to the club, which kickstarts after 11pm. Here the DJ plays a mix of house and dance music, and there is plenty of room for you to dance and relax in.

Down here you will also find the cloak and restrooms. It is important to note that the restrooms are labeled 'homo' and 'hetero' and are thus free for both ladies and gents to use.

Supperclub is a perfect place to chill with friends over a delectable meal, with the opportunity to pamper yourself with a massage at a small price. So for a night without deciding what to eat, let Supperclub provide for you, so you may enjoy your time and company at ease.

Oh, and all sitting on the cushions are required to take their shoes off. Make sure to wear nice socks!


We had the entire top dining area to ourselves and had a blast, despite the fact that we had to wake up at 7AM the next morning for an earlier start than usual. The chill, fun time with the team/DD family was much needed. For a sense of the fun, carefree time we had, one might best perceive this through photographs of David and James, our director. These two often break out into dance together at these festive dinner occasions. Frankly, I think a flip book of their dance sequences are in order:



In the words of the fabulous Ben Mingay, GOOD TIMES!

'sup Supperclub

Tonight a large group of the creative team are going to Supperclub Amsterdam, where the dress code is "Dress to Express." We have no idea what to expect, really. David and I have been to the Supperclub in Rome, which was great fun; we have also gone on the Supperclub Cruise, located here in Amsterdam, and this was fun although perhaps not for everybody. We have never been to the Supperclub on ground for dinner, although we did briefly go once very late at night to discover what appeared to be raw chicken breasts all over one of the rooms. Strange, yes. It should be an interesting event, going there with the creative team (i.e. the "grown ups"). Hopefully it will be humorous, at least, all of us being there together, and not traumatic.

On bicycles, a random act of sweetness, more eating, more working, and coping with a sense of "homesickness"

(Dry-tech -- David demonstrates he has a sense of humor even on very long work days...)

We have begun tech, which means we now commute each day to Utrecht to the Beatrix Theater, where we will open on March 9th. The commute is about 45 minutes by car, if there is no traffic. The journey is much shorter by train, about 20 minutes -- given all our bags, computers, and other myriad of work items, however, David and I have not taken this shorter mode of transport. But then again, today marks only Day 2 of tech, so we may still make the journey by train yet. It's early days.

(David standing in for "Johnny" in dry-tech... this is the moment when Johnny is lifting Baby...)

We have battled with people getting sick in the cast from the start of rehearsals, and this continues. It's winter, after all, and the flu seems to pass along readily. Sickness, thus absences, in the company means rehearsals and tech get compromised -- when cast members are not available to do their own plots and require swings, inevitably the show needs to backtrack to accommodate the people when they come back to rehearsal. David missed 2 days of rehearsals last week, too, having developed a fever from the flu. Fortunately he is all better and healthy now, but as this is the first rehearsal period where he has fallen ill, it was alarming. Other creatives have suffered illnesses, too, along with the cast, which indicates how strained we are with work, how much rest we are lacking and how fragile our health is at the moment. This Utrecht production period is the shortest we have ever done. The pressure for time and its impact are showing in the team. And the winter in Northern Europe with little sunlight doesn't help.

Luckily, I have not gotten sick yet. Very healthy indeed, albeit exhausted at the end of the day. Knock on wood!

In spite of the sicknesses and the time constraints and pressures, the show is taking shape and the set, which has a few new components, looks beautiful. I have gotten used to hearing the show in Dutch, even. We have discovered a nice cafe next to the theater where we can get a hot, healthful lunch, which means I don't have to cook every single day. As much as I like cooking, these mornings, I am starting to want to spend that extra half hour getting more sleep from time to time.

So it all continues.

Surprisingly, David has been suffering from homesickness for New York. Surprising to me because David had always wanted to live and work in Amsterdam. These days, we come home to our Amsterdam house and David yearns for New York. We have been enjoying Amsterdam as much as we are able, but the lifestyle here and the general lack of sunlight -- ever -- is getting to him. Everything is easier in New York, and more plentiful, and it feels like a distant oasis to us in wintry Amsterdam. It's not that it's cold, but it's always dark. The Amsterdam we have come to know is in the spring and the summer, which is brilliant, like a paradise. While the canals, the historic houses and the city still retain its romantic charm, Amsterdam in the winter hardly sees sunlight. Recently, we've heard of several people killing themselves by stepping in front of trains -- and Dutch people tell you this as if it were a natural phenomenon in the winter. I think this must be due to people being more prone to depression with less sunlight.

Also, we have just moved to a lovely apartment in New York, set it up only to leave it, and so we long for our more familiar things. The turn-around between Toronto and Amsterdam was very quick and intense, and we left New York without spending quite enough time at home.

All this being said, I still think it is special living in Amsterdam, if these days a bit more than David. I love our canal house, I love my pink bicycle, and I enjoy the routine of spending our one day off a week doing the grocery shopping. And I found myself the recipient of a lovely random act of sweetness -- someone put an orange flower on the headlight of my bicycle. Behind one of the petals, it says "Write down something that makes you happy and go for it." This made me very happy, and it seems the perfect bloom to decorate my pink bike.

We are still getting used to riding our bikes around Amsterdam. The best time to ride our bikes around, we have discovered, is at night, when there are few cars and cyclists around. (We are currently detoxing and not drinking alcohol, so we ride sober, don't worry.) We rode to a restaurant the other night, along the canals, and it was wonderful. I did take note that I should not wear slim fitting dress when riding to a restaurant... next time, I shall dress more appropriately.

(Looking onto the kitchen at the Restaurant De Kas...)

Food options in Amsterdam, even in winter, continue to be far better than those in Hamburg, which is what we consider to be the bottom of our culinary experience abroad. To point -- we finally made our way to De Kas, where we've wanted to go for sometime. De Kas is a greenhouse-turned-into-a-restaurant, which uses local, organically grown produce as well as vegetables harvested on its own grounds. The restaurant has a set menu created from its daily harvest. For me, De Kas has been the most special restaurant we have been to in Amsterdam, from freshness of its produce to its appealing and bold simplicity -- the dishes are simple, but full of flavor and beautifully presented. It's a little bit out of the center of Amsterdam, but it was well worth the trip.

I still have hopes of spring coming early here in Amsterdam, a spring full of light and bloom that will make us forget just how dark it is at the moment. Until then, at least I've got my orange blossom on my bicycle.