The exhibition was fantastic – especially the large collection of Ai Wei Wei’s video art. Very political and controversial but puts the state of China and the Chinese people in a different perspective. As such I think the exhibition accomplished its job.

The famous sunflower seeds, a very different set up:

The museum’s permanent collection was also cool (or should I be more specific?)

A mirror piece by Anish Kapoor (who did Cloud Gate in Chicago’s millenium park – aka The Bean):

After the museum we took the train to Antwerpen. We stayed at the coolest hotel – probably the most perfec hotel I’ve ever stayed in. The interior design was HEAVEN. If you’re ever in Antwerpen, be sure to stay at the Hotel Julien. There’s also a private spa in the renovated cellars beneath the hotel that’s just amazing.

Love the black faucets

Great sofa, bad hair day

Perfect mix of natural and modern

A conference room at the hotel

The gorgeous train station

See how excited I was??

The DJs set up on the bridges:

Little kids on sleighs? Yes!!

Boats that were frozen into the canals became bars – with music and lights!

Peace on the Keizersgracht

Saxophone for listening and gluhwine for sale

B-ice-ycling…get it?

They were handing out these little light headbands. It was so fun to see a bunch of glowing red dots skating around on the ice in the distance!

The following night there was a big race on one of the canals with a lot of very fast Dutch speed skaters of all ages. What a blast!

Here are some photos from our trip (mostly I chose the weird and/or goofy ones!)

First day in Amsterdam: a trip to the Albert Cuyp market for fresh stroop waffels

While I was at work my parents and brother took a “hop on hop off” canal boat cruise around and around Amsterdam and saw some of the terrible D

utch weather and beautiful Dutch canal houses:

Plus, some lunch at one of our favorite little cafes near Museumplein:

The Nieuwemarkt, with all of the lights (and a Christmas tree stand out front)

One of the highlights: a gaggle (?) of swans gathered in a canal near the red light district (notice the “Sex Shop” in the background)

We also took a journey out to Marken, a small old-Dutch style fishing town with the traditional green and white houses. It was…freezing!

Then took a long (and actually quite relaxing – first chance I’ve had to read books in such a long time!) train ride to Stratsbourg, France. It is a beautiful French town near the German border. The evening we arrived was just magical – cold and clear and Christmas eve eve! All of the shop windows and people milling around and cozy restaurants.

The cathedral in the middle of town:

A shop window full of husky dog stuffed animals. Husky dog stuffed animals are something of a controversial tradition in the Chen family, so had to capture this one on film:

The next day a beautiful outdoor market and gorgeous CHEESE!

At the Christmas markets, stand after stand of crafts and delicious PRETZELS (carbs and cheese – heaven, right?)

This little cutie was hanging out in one of the stands and enjoying the people watching:

A pre-Christmas dinner drink in the hotel bar, practicing for our Chen Family album cover

And the perfect Christmas eve meal in a traditional restaurant with a very lively singer and a guy dressed up as santa.

Beautiful Stratsbourg at night:

And the adorable nearby town of Colmar during the day:

After a great time in Stratsbourg, on to Munich! I was so impressed by Munich, we had a great time there. I think much of that is due to the clear blue skies, really lucked out with the weather. The museums, shopping, and walking were all quite fun.

Near our hotel was a little gathering area with a huge fire pot and gluhwine sellers. There were lots of “young people” (as my parents said) there at night. “Young people” are so fun!

One big highlight of the trip was the Hoffbrauhaus. It’s such a cool building and full of people from all over the world drinking delicious beer and talking with each other. We sat next to a fun couple from outside of Munich who come into town frequently for Hoffbrauhaus and season tickets to FC Bayern Munchen and talked about the luxury of 6 week standard vacations for chimney sweeps (his profession).

Also in Munich  I took some time to walk around by myself and was so impressed with the quality of the street musicians. The dedication involved to have a grand piano in an open square? Impressive!!

Also on the list of things to do by myself, fantastic contemporary art at the Brandhorst museum. Particularly compelling were the Cy Twombly rooms – built specifically for his series.

After Munich another train ride to Salzburg! Up to the mountains. The air felt so fresh and the town was so clean and lovely.

To celebrate Mozart’s birthplace we took in dinner and a concert. Tourstic, but nonetheless a gorgeous setting and a really fun one.

There’s another fantastic contemporary art museum in Salzburg, up in the hills. It has a very cool cafe with great views. The exhibit was bizarre and crazy and if it is ever in a town near you, you need to see it. Google: Evan Penny. Nuts.

On the eve of New Year’s eve the main square had a great funk/jazz/soul cover band. Some gluhwine, a bratwurst, and a light dusting of snow at the perfect moment made it a great night.

Then on to Vienna for New Year’s. They really do New Year’s well. Though it got very cold, we still had a nice time walking around the city and taking in the beautiful sights. The fireworks display at midnight was also completely breathtaking.

Overall a magical trip! And Willy came back with me to Amsterdam to stay for a while so we had some good bonding time. Now I miss my fam!

It was a winter of excessive squash consumption. Delish!

And also some falafel. Homemade pita, tahni sauce, and falafel? Nothing like it.

Also enjoyed Jopen Bock beer at one of our neighborhood restaurants, Vooges. It’s great fall beer – kind of reminds me of the Harpoon Oktoberfest that I really enjoyed in Boston.

Had a great dinner at the very cool and contemporary restaurant Beulings. Check out this dish:

And the not so elegant and refined brunch of pannekoeken:

Followed by a bike ride to see…

Sinterklaas Intocht! Sinterklaas comes into town with his boat full of swarte piets to Amsterdam to scare all the children (and if they are good, give them gifts).

He rides a white horse and waves. The usual parade fare.

A great dinner of mexican food with Timo’s classmates:

Fave dessert: Pavlova!

It was divine

Another highlight of the winter was ice skating at a typical 400m racing track on long skates – it was so fast and fun! This picture is unfortunate – I really did not knock that guy behind me over, just a coincidence.

Also did a thanksgiving at our place with Timo’s family. Timo carved the turkey like a pro!

Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, cranberry sauce, cheddar mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing with apricots and pecans, carrots with ginger, roasted brussel sprouts, salad with candied walnuts and gorgonzola, and sweet potato biscuits. Guess what it tasted like? AMERICA!!

Oh yeah – and plenty of karaoke and Jazz/blues/soul music and clubs. What a winter!

It was a REALLY good one. One of the highlights is that we rigged up this cool thing to clean our windows from the outside. I know that doesn’t sound super exciting, but the result was incredible – quality of the light improved a bit and just made me really happy. Clear windows clear head? I think so

Other highlights include:

Sunday was spent in Blaricum at an area called the heide with Timo’s mom and brother – it is basically a forest/meadow and you can have a nice walk around. They also had cute animals. So bascially, a perfect place to spend a Sunday.

Afterwards we had a small refreshment at this gorgeous restaurant, a beautiful setting and so cozy inside.

We sat outside with this little puppy. Aww!

Break ton Neck from Alex Yde on Vimeo.

Bike ride in the morning: sunrise! It’s already getting darker in the morning and I think it will be pretty tough for a completely dark morning commute but for now, the sunrise is inspiring.

Here’s the building -the Ij tower, right on the river.

We’re now on the 4th floor (that’s actually 3b, more aligned with the feng shui principles of our business group leader)…and her’s my desk! That’s an Edward Hopper Print of a lighthouse in Portland Head Maine (from the MFA in Boston), a cute little wooden kitty from a dear co-worker at litl, and most excitingly, a Mac – which technically is not protocol, but I was becoming severely depressed using a windows machine. Now, staring at a computer for far too many hours a day is a bit more tolerable.

View from my desk! We’re right by the cruise ship terminal and sometimes there are huge ships outside. I’ve seen tourists with binoculars very interested in our work…they all get friendly waves of course. Haven’t seen anything wild or scandalous yet, but when I do I will report back. I’ll take a good photo when there are no boats – much more picturesque.

Typical work outfit, photographed in the bathroom mirror. Black pants, a crewneck sweater of some sort or white oxford shirt, heels to feel less insecure around all the super tall Dutchies (typically transition to flats by 4:30pm), a scarf – this one is really special, Timo brought it back from Denmark for me! Or you’ll probably find me in a black dress, skrit/turtleneck, and my absolute favorite accessory, black tights!

One of the new stars of my blog, Yvette!! Love working together.

But it really wouldn’t be possible without you, Douwe Egberts. Excellent coffe and cappuccinos from the canteen upstairs.

Tuesday nights is this awesome Ashtanga yoga class from 6-7:30 and we get home feeling energized and exhausted and starving and satisfied all at the same time. It’s pretty sweet. It also results in an enjoyable dinner. For the past couple weeks it’s been all soup all the time. This is one of my favorite varieties so far with intensely flavorful tomatoes and peppers, and goes perfectly alongside grilled cheese sandwiches. Sharp british cheddar and whole wheat sourdough. Beautiful leafy salad with a light balsamic vinaigrette. Comfort, nostalgia, perfect textures, and great after a damp bike ride home from the studio.

Based on this recipe, but really inspired from Smitten Kitchen. Adapted to add red peppers, and not pull out the food processor.

1. Roast three red peppers by cutting them into strips laying them skin side up very close under the broiler. When the skin gets black, pull them out and put them in a plastic bag to help steam the skin off. Then when cool, peel off all the black bits.

2. Roast a bunch (6-7?) of halved tomatoes (cut side up) in a 400 degree oven with olive oil for about 30 minutes, or until they get soupy and burnt around the edges.

3. In a dutch oven, saute 3 or so cloves of chopped garlic in a couple teaspoons of olive oil until fragrant (1 min). Add a big pinch of dried thyme and stir.

4. Throw in all those roasted veggies and stir to combine.

5. Add about two cups vegetable broth or whatever feels good.

6. Remove from heat. Using a handblender, liquify!

7. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low with top on for about 10 minutes so all the flavors meld. After this you could also add in a 1/2 cup of cream or so if you want something richer. And then, DEVOUR! Don’t burn your mouth though.

And customers who bought items in this category also bought….

I think we need to do some focus groups on this topic to get new consumer insights. Meow meow meow meow!