Back home for the weekend...

Some time ago, I thought about going home to see my friends and family in the Netherlands. Combining a long weekend for President's Day with Valentine romance in Amsterdam sounded like a very good option to see Rosario, close family and friends in one weekend.
That's how I ended up in my home town this last Friday, having a great time with friends in Café Gambrinus. Many of them made it to this favorite place of mine in Amsterdam, because of the informal and friendly vibes this café and its inhabitants have. Thank you all for coming, I super enjoyed every minute of the evening!
See if you are in one of the pictures I made...

Saturday evening we had diner at the home of my brother and his wife. Everybody did their very best to make it a delicious diner, full of chatting, joking and catching up, all night long. As a desert, somehow, my favorite cheesecake made its way to Amsterdam, which was a big and obviously highly appreciated surprise. Thanks Ar, Jens, Leur, Daan, Rosario, Pa, Ma and Nicky!

On Sunday, Rosario and I had planned the day for ourselves to spend some good time together and add a Valentine touch to our days together. The Dutch weather didn't really inspire us to hurry ourselves outside, so we decided to have a very lazy Sunday morning with a healthy, anti hang-over brunch and a movie in the bed...how simple and good life can be.
Of course a romantic Valentine diner should be part of this Valentine weekend. This year we wanted to discover a new and trendy place in Amsterdam. Rosario choose restaurant MOMO, part of a hotel in the centre of Amsterdam and at least new to me.
The decor is warm and trendy, the bar and its cocktails (best one sounded like 'Strawberry Carpirossa') worth a visit. The food is good, part of the fun is the 'sharing' concept which means you are supposed to share your dishes with your friends around the table. We had a great evening...

Unfortunately, on Monday I had to return to my Life of a Dutchie in NY...will miss all but the weather!

Ski Sunday @ Hunter Mountain

Yesterday was a day that I will memorize as the first skiing experience in the States! I had been looking forward to it for a while, now the time was there to head for Hunter Mountain, up NY state. This meant an early wake up call and gathering at a Starbucks on the Upper West Side to depart for our adventure. The group consisted of mostly Dutchies that I had met before, during watching NFL games in a sportsbar called "Stout" or other social events...

This trip was my first time going out of New York City and the reason was going skiing, double excitement! After being pulled over by a bored police officer for speeding on our way and a 2 hour drive we arrived safely in the village of Hunter Mountain. I would say the hills (or small mountains) are comparable to the south of Germany skiing experience. The area is not too big with 11 lifts and over 50 different of finding your way down. But absolutely perfect for a day with a couple of Dutchies!

Circumstances were good, although a strong wind and some clouds prevented the day from being called perfect. As you can see in the photo album there was enough snow, we had a great day of skiing.
Everybody enjoyed being outside all day long, out of the big, noisy city, it was super!!

Featured - The start of NY400 celebrations

This year we celebrate 400 years of enduring friendship between the Netherlands and the United States. Four hundred years ago, a Dutch ship called the "De Halve Maen" (the Half Moon) guided to the shores of what is now New York City with Captain Henry Hudson at the helm. This lead to the establishment of New Amsterdam and the New Netherland colony. Some 167 years later, in 1776, the Dutch were the first to salute the flag of the United States of America. NY400 celebrates the free spirit, openness, entrepreneurship and tolerance of those Dutch pioneers.

The "Halve Maen" on the Hudson

Many festivities will be held during this year in light of founding New Amsterdam and 400 years of ties between New York City and the Netherlands. I will be keep a close eye on them and will keep you posted here on my blog!
Last Wednesday, on January 28, mayor Michael Bloomberg (NYC) and mayor Job Cohen (Amsterdam) kicked off the celebrations with a press conference and the unveiling of the model of The New Amsterdam Pavilion & Plein, a gift from the Netherlands which will be built at Battery Park, the spot where the first Dutch pioneers arrived in 1609.

Super Bowl Sunday - Steelers vs Cardinals

American football is BIG in this country. The ultimate battle of the two best teams of the season is called the Super Bowl, always played on a Super Bowl Sunday. The Super Bowl is officially the championship game of the National Football League (NFL). Over the years it has become the most-watched US television broadcast of the year. For the Europeans among you, it's like the Champions League final in soccer, or should I say football..?

Yesterday was that Sunday and in the final were the Pittsburgh Steelers against the the Arizona Cardinals (or 'Cards'), the game was played in Tampa, Florida. Nice weather, very exciting game!

There's two ways of watching 'the Game' (if you're not one of the very lucky few ones sitting in the stadium), at a friends' house or in a bar where they organise a Super Bowl party. My first Super Bowl game I choose the first option. A Dutch friend and I biked all the way downtown (East Village) and went to see the game at the home of one of his friends. We brought some beer and enjoyed the pre-game entertainment while discussing the favourites and the game rules. Together with 8 others we had a great night watching the game in a first row seat...

The Steelers were favourite, the Cards the underdog. I had chosen the Cardinals as my favourite team as they only won the Super Bowl once...the Steelers did it more than 5 times. After an extremely exciting 4th and last quarter, the score was 20 - 23 for the Cardinals. But with 35 seconds to go the Steelers made a fenomenal TOUCHDOWN which brought them the 43rd Super Bowl with a 27-23 score! No matter how disappointing this was, I had a great night with some Budweisers, Chicken Wings and Pizza, the main ingredients for a real American Football night.