Boats, Bikes, Brother!

Amsterdam is my favorite city so far this trip! For the last few days, I have had this song stuck in my head. FYI.

Meet Stephan.

He grew up in this house near Rotterdam.

And he went to this school.

He was part of the Rotterdam Boys Choir, which rehearsed in this building. You can't really see it but it's there - use a little imagination!

Sometimes the choir performed in this beautiful church: 

In 2002, the choir traveled to Utah to sing in a cultural event in celebration of the winter olympics, and Stephan stayed with my family. During the next school year, he came to live with my family as a foreign exchange student. While he was there, I remember him saying that I should come visit him in the Netherlands sometime. That seemed very far-fetched to me at the time, but here I am 10 years later visiting him in Holland!

He studied hospitality in college, and let me tell you, he is a hospitable guy. Not only did he let us stay in his apartment, he went completely out of his way to show us around town and give us a unique traveling experience. He is awesome!

On our first day in Amsterdam, Ale and I visited the Anne Frank House. When it was opened as a museum, Otto Frank (Anne's dad, and the only survivor of the 8 people in hiding) insisted that the rooms be left empty to symbolize the emptiness left in the world from those who didn't survive the war. I recently saw the play "The Diary of Anne Frank" at BYU and it was really impactful, so walking through the actual house was pretty cool.

We then went on a boat tour through some canals. I LOVE the canals in Amsterdam, and I love all the boats. I also love the laid back atmosphere. No one seems stressed or hurried.

I also love the fresh flowers. In America we usually only buy flowers on special occasions, but people in Europe often stop by a flower shop just to put some flowers on the table. Love it.

That night, Stephan made us a 7 course meal (yes I counted) composed of things we've never tried. It was really impressive. His girlfriend came over to join us, and it took us about 3 hours to eat it. It was fun!

View from Stephan's flat.

The first thing we tried was clams. I helped open the shells...then later found out that they were alive before I opened them. Ewwww. We tried them raw, and then cooked with Hollandaise Sauce. I definitely prefer them cooked! They were actually really good.

Next, we tried some raw steak. As part of Hotel school, Stephan learned about cooking, and it shows. Look how beautiful this plate is! 

Escargot! I liked the tast, but was not a fan of the rubbery texture.

Next, we tried duck liver with caramelized apples. It tasted a lot better than this photo looks, trust me!

I forgot to take a picture of this until I was almost done eating it, but you get the idea. It was beef with amazing stew sauce, and little tiny potatoes. I love the potatoes and I don't think we sell them in the USA, but I want to keep my eye out for them because they are so cute!

We tried 5 kinds of cheese from one of the best cheese stores in the world. We went with Stephan to pick out these 5, and the cheese shop was really awesome. The guy who was helping us knew everything from where the cheeses were made, to how long they had aged. The cheese smelled pretty bad, but tasted pretty good. I've never really been a lover of cheese, but I am coming around. The rectangular one was my favorite!

For dessert, Stephan baked individual (and amazing) molten chocolate cakes.

The next day, we went to the small fishing village of Volendam. I loved simply walking around that place. The main street was lined with shops and restaurants on one side, and a seashore on the other side.

While there, Stephan and I ate poffertjes (mini pancakes).

All of us took a picture together. Priceless.

No really...it is priceless.

Before heading back to Amsterdam, we visited this dike. It was created to prevent flooding in nearby cities, and it resulted in one of the world's largest man-made lakes.

I can take as many pictures as I want, but photos can never capture what it was like to be there in person. Water and air seemed to extend forever. It was simply beautiful.

 

After returning from the dike, we rented bikes!

 

Amsterdam is the city with the most bikers per capita in the WORLD. 40% of all commutes are made by bicycle. Even the Prime Minister rides his bike to work! The city has 400 km (about 250 miles) of mike lanes, and bikes are everywhere. Parked bikes, driven bikes, old bikes, new bikes, colorful bikes, boring bikes. You name it!

Mama bike!

This is hard to see, but there is a 3-4 story bicycle parking garage, much like you would find for cars at a mall in the United States. It is packed full of bikes at every time of the day, and still every street in the city is lined with bikes chained to anything and everything.

Mom, I saw lots of black milk crates tied to bikes. I forgot to take a picture for you, but they were everywhere. Also, we ate Laughing Cow cheese with Stephan! We probably ate some at the same time, half-way around the world.

Random pictures:

Karen, Stephan's sister! We met up with her at a "Kitchens on Wheels" event.

Another picture form "Kitchens on Wheels."

Love the street lights.

Kroket, the food mom tried to make when Stephan lived with us.

Stephan's new business, Tante Bep!

This is his delivery scooter. Pretty Sweet.

Hot stroopwaffle!!! One of my main goals of the trip.

On our last day there, we went to the Hague and I got to see where Stephan went to hotel school. It's one of the top three hotel schools in the world. Booyah! He showed me and Ale around the city, and even took us into one of his old student apartments, which used to be a butcher shop. That's one thing I love about Europe - there's history everywhere you go.

On the way to the Lems' home, we stopped by the LDS temple.

While Stephan and his mother cooked a meal for us, Ale and I met Stephan's dog. Let it be known that the dog loves me more than Ale.

This is his backyard!

This is the meal! You can't really see the white asparagus very well but it's on that plate. Remember how I discovered it in France? Well it's a really big deal in Holland. It is only in season for a few months and it stands as a symbol for summer, so everybody loves it. I'm glad that I was able to try it before leaving!

Part of Stephan's generosity must come from his family. His dad was out of town, but it was so sweet of his mom to make us a meal and chat with us for a bit. I'm glad that I was able to see the house where Stephan grew up. I just loved it! I enjoyed every minute I was there.

After seeing his house, Stephan took us on a tour of Rotterdam city, where I saw his old stomping grounds, and we walked through a shopping center. Then Stephan dropped us off at the airport. It's very small and very nice. It was my first time walking out to the plane from ground level. I felt like a rockstar.

I loved visiting Stephan and getting a taste of Holland. I LOVE AMSTERDAM! Thank you Stephan for everything! We had a lot of fun and we hope you did too!