Amsterdam...

Chris and I took a quick flight over to Amsterdam to celebrate my birthday the day after Christmas. The flight took less than an hour! It was a little odd to fly "all" the way to Europe in less than an hour... not what we are used to at all. Our hotel was perfectly situated in the middle of the city and the thermometer was not so perfectly situated around 30 degrees! To put it mildly... it was FREEZING! And I mean that very literally as some of the canals were freezing over! We did our best not to allow the weather to hold as back and went out for a walk in the city the night we arrived. Chris and I spent most of the time reminiscing about our high school and college days. And Chris had fun remembering various places from his semester at sea in 2000. It was fun to remember all the milestones that Chris and I have crossed together... graduating from high school, our 1st year of college, turning 21, graduating from UF, our 1st years as employed and responsible adults, our engagement and wedding, the day we bought our 1st house, the day we bought our 1st dining room table and now turning thirty. This was by far my best birthday celebration ever... except for the year I had a Cabbage Patch Kid birthday cake : )

Here are some pictures from our trip... enjoy!

This is a pretty typical canal bridge.

This is the restaurant we celebrated my birthday at across the street from our hotel. The picture is terrible but during the day the gas lanterns were not lit and the place lost some of it's charm. It was one of the most delicious meals I have ever enjoyed! I had mussels in a parsnip broth as a starter and sea bass with polenta and spinach for dinner. I also destroyed a chocolate tarte with clementine sorbet with a candle! DELICIOUS!!!

There were bicycles everywhere! We would have loved to rent some and tour the city but it was too cold for bike riding.

Workin' hard at Heinekin! We had a great time at the brewery and were able to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

The dome in the left top of this picture is the conference center of our hotel.




Our last few hours in Amsterdam... leave it to us to find a quiet pub with great Belgium beers.