Family Day

Sarah and I took Wiesje out in the Bugaboo today. She’s become very accustomed to her sling and doesn’t care much for the pram, so it was a bit of a risk to take her out in it, but I thought that it had been long enough that we should give it a go. Surprisingly, she immediately went to sleep and we had a good experience, pushing her around town.

After lunch at Bagels & Beans, we walked around the Sarphatipark and then on down to the Concertgebouw, where Sarah made enquiries about concert tickets for her folks when they visit later this month. We then continued into the Vondelpark, which was really crowded with people enjoying this very warm late summer’s day. The last couple of days have been absolutely beautiful, with temperatures around 25°C. It’s been real shorts and sandals weather.

Today was a nice, relaxing family day. It was nice to walk such a long distance, taking it easy and strolling at our own pace. Wiesje was in the best of moods, too, fussing very little throughout the day. The canals were scenic with small boats; cyclists were abundant; the cafés had full terraces of people eating and drinking the day away; the parks were full of people relaxing and enjoying life, skating, cycling, picnicing, chatting, drinking, etc., etc.

Yes, today was Amsterdam at its summer best and it felt good to be here again. There were so many scenes of life to be enjoyed, a far cry from anything we were able to witness back in the suburban hell that is Silicon Valley. Today provided a hint of the truth behind many of the reasons why I wanted to move back here. It’s just going to take a little while to build a life here, but there’s nothing new in that realisation.

An Australian ice-cream rounded out the afternoon nicely.

Dinner this evening was at Casa Peru. We met an Argentinian woman there and exchanged baby stories. Her latest child had a rash on his cheeks; it turns out he’s allergic to her breastmilk. Imagine that!

I bought Eloïse her first bedtime story book today: Over een kleine mol die wil weten wie er op zijn kop gepoept heeft by Werner Holzwarth & Wolf Erlbruch. It’s actually originally a German book, with the title Vom kleinen Maulwurf, der wissen wollte, wer ihm auf den kopf gemacht hat or, if you prefer, ‘About a small mole who wants to know who pooped on his head’. It’s a fun book and I’m going to enjoy reading it to her, but she wasn’t in the mood during my first attempt this evening.