Gay Pride is one of my favorite holidays in Amsterdam. Everyone is in a good mood and the weather always manages to cooperate. T and I made up a picnic and found a great spot by the water early in the day. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the Pride Parade.
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I’d been looking forward to this event all year. I missed out on the Drag Queen Olympics in 2015, arriving too late and with the wrong crowd to enjoy it. This time around I was eager to fully soak in all the rhinestones and sequins, so I got there early, parked myself in a good spot near the stage and […]
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Regardless of what you think of tipping culture in the United States, one of its clear advantages is that the rules are pretty consistent. Expensive, yes, but consistent. Service workers in the Netherlands get paid a livable wage so, in theory, tipping isn’t required. Perhaps if you’re particularly wowed by extraordinary service, you might be moved […]
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As I’ve mentioned before, checking out books from the Amsterdam public library isn’t free. Considering how otherwise literate and progressive the Netherlands is (with a few notable exceptions), this came as quite a surprise to me. But, like the efficient and functional infrastructure, the beautiful parks and the low crime rate that we presumably pay […]
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I’m not a big social hugger. I hug my family and loved ones – and of course there are incidental exceptions – but unless you and I have really gone through some shit, I probably don’t want to hug you. The whole notion of body contact greeting makes me feel like an alien from the planet […]
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It’s a damn shame, but the Indian restaurants in Amsterdam are all pretty crap. Honestly, you can get better Indian food in Louisville. The Dutch have Indonesian food as their go-to takeaway and that, plus Holland’s fairly bland palate and intolerance of spicy foods, means that good Indian food is tough to find. I’ve tried dozens of […]
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I love Amsterdam, but every so often I get a hankering for my home town. Usually it’s not a specific thing I’m missing, more the general feel of the place. Sometimes it’s comforting to FaceTime with my friends and family, but I’ve discovered that nothing conjures up the feeling of being back in Kentucky like engaging […]
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I never would have found this place if my friend didn’t already know about it. It’s one of those restaurants in Amsterdam that’s totally unassuming from the outside with surprisingly delicious food. My theory is that these hidden gems have a higher density along Zeedijk (where WAU is located), but I need to do more research to […]
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shalom, aloha, namaste, tashi delek It’s a melancholic and contradictory aspect of expat life that we’re always eager to connect with people and also constantly saying goodbye. We’re the nomads and the travelers of the world and we’re used to being the ones doing the leaving. But if you live any place where expats gather, at some point […]
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It’s hard to believe that I’m fast approaching my two year anniversary as an expat in Amsterdam. The time has really flown and a lot has changed. We’ve come a long way since that first bleary-eyed morning when we arrived at Schiphol with four suitcases and two cats. The hardest part about adjusting to life in […]
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