Curtain Call

Ok, you need to sit down with a nice cup of tea (or glass of champagne) for this one, it's a whopper.

Last time I left off just before we went to Berlin. Berlin was nice, especially with the streets decked out for the festive season and christmas stalls everywhere. It was very cold and foggy the first two days. The first day, we mostly shopped - Berlin has a huge number of malls and department stores and we couldn't resist. Having only had four hours sleep the night before (Matt was working on a job application until very late and we had to get up at 4am for the flight), we weren't in the mood for anything else anyway. The second and third days we visited the usual tourist attractions, such as the Reichstag, the Brandenburg gate, the delapidated remains of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, etc. The TV tower provided nice views of east & west but the very high winds made it sway ever so perceptively, but enough to freak me out. I really liked St Matthews church for it's external decadence. We had some great meals, including one in an Italian resutarant, and the hotel we stayed at near Kurfurstendamm was a beautiful 5 star luxury - our last hotel for a while.

We arrived back in Amsterdam late on Thursday night (the 15th) and the next morning we returned to our old house to meet the removalist and see off our boxes, which flew home the next day and arrived before us. We were a bit disconcerted when only one guy turned up and seemed surprised by the size and weight of our boxes as well as the number of stairs (all of which I had warned him about), but with Matt's help he got it all in the truck, leaving the two of us with a couple of suitcases and a couple of days to kill. After that I visited our landlord at the market where he sells books to say goodbye.

In the evening was finally what I had waited months to see: The Nutcracker and Mouse King ballet. It was given a bit of a Dutch flavour - the house was a canal house and they had Sinterklaas and Zwart Piet instead of Santa Claus. It was a magnificent production, a wonderful conclusion to my dance experiences in Amsterdam.

Our last full day, Saturday 17th, I was absolutely delighted to awake to the sight of the first snow of the season. I had really wanted to see snow again before we left and so was very excited. We didn't have much planned for the day other than catching up with one friend to say goodbye and spending the evening with our hosts. However, Matt decided he wanted to go to Leidseplein to get some last minute souvenirs, so we hopped on a tram. Suddenly he decided to get off a stop early and asked me if I had a camera. I did and so he said that he wanted to take a photo of the house we lived in in 2000 where our relationship first started. I thought that was a good idea, so we walked to the house and I took a couple of photos from the front, next to the canal. Suddenly Matt started reminiscing about how that's where our relationship started and talking about the future. Next thing I knew, he was proposing - right there next to the snow, the canal, a car and a house! Of course, I said "yes"!

Then Matt told me that we had to go diamond shopping, so we did! What a dream. We thought of all the diamond dealers in Amsterdam and first went to Coster Diamonds near the museum area. The lady that served us was so nice, she even had champagne brought down to us to celebrate, and we found the perfect diamond so we decided to buy it there and then. Matt's idea was that we would buy the diamond in Amsterdam and get the ring made in Melbourne but I wanted to wear it and not carry the diamond home so I chose a temporary ring which I can buy a different stone for after we get the final ring made up.

After picking out what we wanted we went off to Matt's favourite cafe (De Bakkerswinkel) for a late lunch, then briefly met our friend and told him the good news. Then we picked up the set ring and went to meet our hosts for dinner and dessert, where we also told them the news.

The next morning we left Amsterdam early for the airport, and our last views of the city were of the sunrise and a fresh layer of snow on the ground. It was very sad to leave but also very exciting because of what lays ahead. However, Amsterdam will always be our second home.

Homeless

Once again, Matt and I are homeless. The past week has been a flurry of activity and stress, beginning with a viewing of our apartment by a potential tenant. It turned out she liked the place very much and wanted to move in 8 days earlier than our departure date. So, we very quickly had to organise removalists (seg way: I just realised that that is a very Australian word: removalists), purchase boxes, pack, clean and get out. We managed all of this by Saturday and moved once again to our friend's place, where we stayed when we first got here - bringing on the sense of déjà vu. Except this time, we know what we're doing and where we're living next.

Today we have a few errands to run and I will be attending my last ballet class at Amsterdam Dance Centre. Tomorrow we're going to Berlin for 3 days. The day after we get back, Friday, we will be seeing off our boxes (which are still at our old apartment, by the way) and going to the much anticipated Nutcracker and Mouse King performance by Het Nationale Ballet in the evening. On the Saturday we will be doing some last minute catching up with friends and running errands (like informing the foreign police of our departure) and we leave on the Sunday. Back to sunny Australia. We will be living with my parents in the suburbs until we find our own house. Something Matt is dreading (the suburbs, not my parents), but at least it's comfortable, and free.

So, I expect there will be one more entry in this blog after Berlin and then it's curtains! Sniff.

End of an era & Paris

Yes, it's official. Matt and I are winding up our time here in Amsterdam and returning 'home' in the middle of December, just in time to catch Sinterklaas and a bit of winter here but also in time to spend Christmas with the family and get some summer. Speaking of winter, the mercury has really dipped the last few days, I was caught in a hail shower last night and it's getting down towards the freezing mark at night.

So what are we going to do with our time? Well we have tickets to 2 ballets (The Nutracker and Mouse King and also Lines 2, both by the Nationale Ballet), flights booked to London, lots of packing and arranging to do and we'll probably also go on another trip and visit a few museums around Amsterdam and Den Haag that we haven't been to. Matt's also being very boring and doing lots of job-related reading.

On Tuesday we returned from a short trip to Paris, as mentioned in the last post. Despite the riots, we decided to go anyway. We went by the Thalys train, which took about 4 hours. It was much nicer than flying, I have to say door-to-door was almost the same time. Since we'd already been to Paris before we didn't have to rush around all the major sites so we took it easy. We did some shopping, visited Chateau Versaille, spent some time in the Musee Louvre (seeing some of what we missed last time), went to the top of Monparnasse and walked around the Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower areas. I actually liked Paris more in autumn than I did in mid- summer as it was more atmospheric, less crowded and more comfortable.

So, for those of you in Melbourne, we look forward to seeing you soon!

Change of plans

Well, it seems that Matt and I have suddenly found ourselves out of a job - our project was cancelled and our contracts terminated prematurely. So much for staying here until March. So, what are we going to do? Right now the likelihood is that we'll stick around another month or so, do a few trips (we're going to Paris next week), hang out in Amsterdam, catch up with friends and then head back home to Australia mid-December for good. Just in time for summer and Christmas. I don't know whether to be sad that I'm leaving Amsterdam and the rest of Europe, or happy that I'm going back home - I'm both really.

I took this as I was leaving work yesterday for the last time. It about sums up how I feel: the sun is setting on our time here and there's a big empty space ahead... :D

Autumn in Amsterdam

Autumn has well and truly arrived in Amsterdam, despite the glorious warm, sunny weather making us feel like it's summer all over again. And now that daylight savings has ended we are plunged into darkness by 6pm every night so winter is definitely on its way. Thank goodness we got that hot water system fixed in time.

Since last time I posted we have had another trip on our friend's boat. This time we spent a little time on the inner canals of Amsterdam before passing through one of the locks into North Holland. It was a beautiful sunny day and with the autumn colours, very picturesque.

Also since then we have had a cousin of Matt's visit. He has been backpacking and touring Europe for 3 months and was glad of a nice rest with us old-timers.

A couple of days later we attended a concert by the China Symphony Orchestra in the Concertgebouw (Concert Building) with a couple of Matt's ex-colleagues. They played a mix of western and chinese symphony, all very good. It was a beautiful night. The last piece they played was Romeo & Juliet, my favourite.

This weekend we walked down the famous Spiegelgracht, nearby, with it's antique stores and art galleries. It was another beautiful day and I took my camera along (see flickr).

Well, right now I'm getting over a cold but I'm very excited because I'm starting private ballet lessons with one of my teachers and she's going to start me dancing on pointe shoes (in case you didn't know, this is a big deal to ballet students).

Well that's it. No travel this month but it hasn't been boring.