Erica & Andy's Visit

My friends Erica and Andy stopped by Amsterdam a few weekends ago while doing their European tour. They were heading back to San Francisco and were able to spend a few days visiting Amsterdam.
It was so incredibly good to see my friend Erica who I've known for almost 10 years! It was a welcome familiar face making it seem even more real that I apparently really do live here now! We had a great time touring around Amsterdam - I am really getting good a the tour guide thing now with visitors coming every few weeks! I should start some sort of service.

Friday night we went to a fantastic out of the way restaurant in the northern part of the city. It's a tiny little house that has been converted into a restaurant where you share cozy kitchen style tables and dine on the fresh food they've gotten and choose to serve that day. The head chef used to work at Chez Panise in San Francisco and it showed! He came out to greet the fellow San Fran visitors and showed us menus that used to be on hand at the old restaurant.

After dinner we walked for ages back to my place, but first stopping at a local pub for an after dinner drink to catch up more. I have now learned that while Amsterdam is small, that does not mean we can or should walk everywhere!! That was a hike. Easy to fall asleep that night!

Saturday we headed out to see my new apartment that I'll be moving into shortly. Of course since I need input to make any sort of life decision their visit was perfectly timed! We then took a walk through the red light district and by the Old Church.


Here's irony for you - the oldest church in Amsterdam is a gorgeous relic dating to the late 1300s and still stading and operational today. However it also finds itself in the heart of the red light district so those coming out of patronizing one of the many "window" ladies can go straight to confession. Nice. While the Red Light district has a seedy reputation, it actually houses some of the most beautiful old canals and buildings in Amsterdam. We toured them ALL!

We then met up with a group of 10 friends that night at a Moroccan restaurant called Nomads (super Lecker) A very fun time. Eating on loungy couches with a belly dancer and excellent food and drink - all good times! We headed back home again exhausted and very sadly had to say goodbye early the next morning. I loved having them come for a visit - it made me feel like I'm settling in here being able to show friends around the city as I also discover it at the same time. I cannot wait to move into my new place end of November! I can't wait for their next visit!