Neighbourhood Tour!

We moved in to our permanent place in Amsterdam in July. We were 100% settled by early August...by 100% I mean we had all necessary furniture to be comfortable. We still have quite a bit to get as we need more lighting, tables, and stuff to put on the walls...but we are comfortable and are enjoying our new home.

We have gotten the opportunity to tour our neighborhood a number of times whether it be through running or biking so I thought I would share that with y'all....

This is the view from our backyard...if you follow me on instagram you've seen this (if you aren't follow me now and holla so I can follow you back)...but this happened on Wednesday, and I couldn't resist taking a photo! The park back there is always full of kids playing, people taking a walk, pets mulling around it is quite a nice area to have right behind us.

Now, let's hop on my bike and we can see the rest ;)

If you bike directly across the street and park your bike, you cross a bridge and come to this! I would never have expected to see this behind the bridge....we are so lucky!

As you wind your way through the trails you come back on to pavement and will find this gorgeous garden:

Lots of lovely flowers and well groomed bushes....

Then we have this area near the water with a small bridge and lots of lovely flowers that are highly water dependent (I assume) since they grow in the water! haha

As you keep wandering there are several places that have animals in them:

In this pen there are kangaroo's....

In this one, there is a, well, a cow...he didn't look very happy to see me...

In fact, he looked slightly frazzled...I wonder if some tourists were getting to him? 

Eventually you wind your way around to an open field...

This is a fantastic area with lots of trees for a picnic....

Now, in the park on select Sunday's we have the Pure Market:

You can get all sorts of delicious things but some of our favorites are the rotisserie chicken on this open flame cooker...how awesome is that?! I've never seen anything like it!

There are guys using a wood smoker and serving up fresh food....

Here are some other things you can get....

Fresh juices, pepperoni, butter whipped with edible flowers, dried cherries, and dried mango, and the Nanaimo bar ;)

Now, if you ride your bike behind the park and go toward a town called Amstelveen you will come to this:

I love this windmill! It is a huge tourist attraction too. I took a picture from the "ugly" side because there were too many people around it the day I tried to photograph it. But, it is a gorgeous piece. It has dates on it from 1600 something to 1960 something. I'm curious to know exactly what the dates mean. I do believe someone lives in the windmill also, it is very well groomed and there is always the same car out front.

If you keep going down this road you come to these:

Behind these gates there is a little play area for families...then a little farther down...

You can meet Rembrandt. He's always looking very stoic. 

Now we will hop back on our bikes and ride over to the train station:

This is just a five minute bike ride from our house, a brisk 10 minute walk or a slow 15-20 minute walk. The station allows us quick and easy access to a number of buses, trams, metro's, and trains. We can get all over the city here or all over Holland! We are lucky to have it so close to our house between this and our bikes we really have no need for a car (which I hate driving so I am so glad!).

If you take the metro down one stop and get out...you'll find this sign outside the Amsterdam Zuid Station:

Does this mean it is just a kiss for one ride?! How far is the ride? Is it the same kind of ride I'm thinking of? It doesn't help that the literal translation of "alleen halen en brengen" is "just give and take" haha....

Seriously, I think it means that is where you can pick people up or drop people off...possibly could be where you hail a cab but those are usually marked with a giant blue "T" much like the universal blue "P" for parking...but still pretty funny translation. This gave us a good chuckle when we were making our way home one night!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little tour of my neighborhood! We are really loving our area, there is so much to see and do...we really lucked out!

Cartas Al Cielo

Wow, do I have a post for today! I tell ya I love being a runner because I discovery so many new and interesting things I may not see if it weren't for try to get those miles in during each session. On Tuesday I went out for an easy 30 minute run. I just wasn't feeling it so I told myself when you see something that inspires you stop and take a picture. It will be worth it, it will make the run more fun, and you never know what you will find. Sure enough...I had no idea what I would find.

I crossed the bridge over the canal that divides our neighborhood from this area of Amstel Park and found this:

A very pretty, well maintained little trail. It leads out on to a road that goes throughout the park (I have never seen any vehicles aside from park official ones) and throughout the park there are several graveled areas and little islands of trails. 

So, as I ran and explored I came upon this:

I took one look into this sphere and immediately felt very small. It absolutely took my breath away at how big I realized the world was in that one little moment.

I backed up, looked around the sphere and just enjoyed the view for a moment thinking about why this was here. Who else had been here and felt what I was feeling...a sense of wonder and amazement! Then, I noticed the little slit in the front there and made a mental note to google this when I got home. But, as I continued to run I did not have to wait:

I came across this board that, lucky for me explained the piece of artwork in not only Dutch, but English. I hate being illiterate in Dutch (although my typing skills have gotten tons better from using translate lol), but am glad things like this come in English too so I actually know sometimes what is going on around me! This piece is done by Alicia Framis and is called Cartas Al Cielo, which means "Letters to Heaven".

The way I interpreted this is the thought behind this is it is a sphere that reflects the world around us, capturing the enormity of all we inhabit. Allowing us to reach those that have gone on to their heaven. 

The board basically says the reflection of the sky, which many believe to contain the afterlife, is a place where we can look in moments of hope, desire, or desperation. Many times we look to the sky to talk to those we have lost...so, the thought of this enormity being reflected in a mirrored sphere led the artist to create a postbox to reach those we miss that have gone to the heavens above. When you visit you can slip a letter in to someone you have lost and the thought is they will get your letter delivered in heaven.

I will admit this actually brought tears to my eyes. It is an unselfish piece to share with the world and allow others, especially people like me who love to write letters, a way to "contact" those they have lost and are looking down on us from heaven. 

Such a beautiful piece and I am so glad I live just a block away from it!

Have you ever come across a piece of artwork that just took your breath away?