Barcelona

Brian was sent to Barcelona for work this week, so naturally, I tagged along.

We were only there for two nights, but I really enjoyed it. Ever since I traveled to Spain to volunteer with my mom when I was 15, I have been in love with Spanish/Latin culture, so it was really nice for me to get to go with him.

I've been to Barcelona once before, and think it's a beautiful/interesting/slightly gritty city full of culture and life, and would love to live there someday. On this trip I was on my own for most of the time since Brian was off on a photoshoot, so I mainly just explored the town and beaches by foot. The weather was perfect, about 70 degrees and sunny, so I was pretty happy to just be outside.

We were able to have a few hours to hang out with each other Friday morning, so we checked out the Gaudi Sagrada Família house (check out the Wikipedia site on this, it's pretty interesting) together and took a quick trip to the beach. We'll definitely have to go back soon for further exploration!

I've posted a few photos below:

The famous "La Ramba" street filled with birds, artists and street performers

The beach is easily accessible and right in the city

The Gaudi house is still unfinished (it's set to be done in 2055)

Brian and I on the beach before he had to catch a plane

- Krista

Geneva

We booked our Chamonix trip a little late (the hotels fill up fast with European tourists), and couldn't get a hotel for the entire weekend so we decided to stay in Geneva, Switzerland for a night.

We had a really good time, despite the city. It was really strange! We went out for a nice vegetarian dinner on Saturday night (we had gotten sick of eating only bread & cheese in Chamonix), and then had the whole day on Sunday to explore. We knew there was a possibility of things being closed since it's Europe, but absolutely everything was closed the entire day. We had a hard enough time finding a place for lunch.

What's more, there was no one outside! It was a really nice day - sunny and around 50 degrees out - probably the nicest day Europe has had so far this year. Yet there was barely anyone out. No tourists, no kids, no dogs - even though the weather was beautiful. So we had a nap in the park and soaked up the sun, thankful we live in a more lively city!

A few pictures below:

Standing in front of the famous fountain

At the UN - We still need to find out the point of this big three-legged chair

In front of Lake Geneva

- Krista

Chamonix weekend

The month of March flew by and we finally made it to Chamonix for Brian's birthday vacation. It was a fantastic trip, and was just as fun and relaxing as we'd hoped for (aside from an unwanted trip to the doctor's, but I survived).

We went snowboarding on Friday, and despite not having gone up to the mountain for an entire year, we both did pretty well and had a great time. The snow was amazing, since it had been snowing for a couple of days straight, and even though it was a complete whiteout it was still a lot of fun.

Chamonix is beautiful, and the town itself is really cute and charming. We had a great time just walking around and checking out a few restaurants and bars. We went snowshoeing on Saturday just to get outside and explore the area, which was fun especially because the weather cleared up and it was sunny and gorgeous outside.

Overall it was a great trip - we definitely want to go back next year!

I've posted a couple of pictures below, but if you want to see a few more check out our Picassa web album.

The hotel we stayed in - it was recommended by some friends who have stayed there before. Not so bad, huh?

A paraglider high above the mountains

On the slopes and ready to board

Brian in his snowshoes - we realized very quickly we probably could have just worn our tennis shoes

- Krista

Puppies in Belgium

We're getting a puppy!

I know I know, you may think we're crazy, but Brian and I have been envious of dog-owners for a while now, thinking that it would just not be practical to get one of our own. We notice dogs everywhere, especially since moving to Amsterdam - in the city's hundreds of parks, in the grocery stores, in cafes and bars (there are no dog laws here, so dogs can go anywhere)...

Lately we've been talking a bit more seriously about it and realizing that it would not actually be insane for us to have a dog here. With me currently just volunteering part-time and with better weather in the (semi) near future, we decided it would actually be a pretty good time to have a young pup since I could spend a lot of time with it.

Things moved quickly once we came up with that conclusion. We saw a couple walking a beagle, I did some research, and the next thing we knew we were on our way to Belgium to check out a puppy farm.

It was quite a journey - a two hour train ride with two transfers to southern Holland, a 30-minute bus ride to a Dutch town called Zonder, and then a two mile walk over the border to the puppy place in Belgium. We tried to take a taxi but were informed that no taxi drivers worked on the weekend. But we had our iPhones so it was no problem to find it!

Once we got there we fell in love - the place is run by a really nice family who obviously love dogs. There were a couple of different kinds of dogs there, and you could tell they were all really well taken care of and that the parents were happy and healthy. We met several adorable beagles, but we settled on a five-week old girl we named Rocket (Rocky for short).

We thought we were just going there to look... but who were we kidding, we knew we wanted a dog and these pups were just too adorable and perfect to pass up. We get her in two weeks! Fishstick is going to be very, very excited (he is not a normal cat - he loves dogs!)!

Here are a few pictures:

A few of the three-week old puppies sleeping in their bed

Brian holding our new puppy

Our puppy sleeping with the youngsters

More updates to come soon...

- Krista

Off to Maastricht

We haven't done a lot of traveling within the Netherlands since we moved here, so Brian and I decided to take a day trip to Maastricht on Saturday. Maastricht is a cute little town at the very south point of the Netherlands (you might recognize the name of the city from the 1992 Maastricht Treaty).

The town advertises that it is "located within walking distance of Belgium, and biking distance of Germany." Although we just stayed on the Dutch of the border, we could definitely see the influence of the surrounding countries on the little town. Maastricht felt pretty different than Amsterdam - still on the water of course, but it reminded us more of Brugges than the city we live in, probably because of the architecture and the smalltown feel. But it was really nice to get to see another Dutch city.

We didn't really do anything touristy there - we mainly just walked around, took in the city and had some good Belgian beer and Italian food. But it was a beautiful day - sunny and cold, and there was some great people watching!

It was a fun Valentine's Day! Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Brian walking around the town

Me sitting by the water

Us in the town square

- Krista

Can you believe this economy?

Both Brian and I agree - we've never seen anything like this in our lifetimes.

The news has been filled with dismal facts about the economy, and our latest Newsweek International focuses just about 95% of the entire magazine on the current state of the economy. Many economists don't think the U.S. will recover for years, and some are predicting that a recovery will look much more like the L-shaped recovery that Japan experienced in the 1990's instead of the quick V-shaped recovery that we impatient Americans are accustomed to.

Unemployment is higher than ever (and is severely underestimated according to an article in Newsweek), and every day we hear of new job cuts from traditionally successful companies around the world. The latest: Nike is set to cut up for 4% of its workforce before the end of the fiscal year (See this Oregonian article for more information). We don't think it will affect us here in Amsterdam, but it's bound to hit some people we know back home.

With all this less-than-uplifting news lately, we're starting to feel pretty lucky that at least one of us has a steady job. Although it still surprises me that a year after graduating I have yet to have a "real" job, I'm starting to feel a little less bad about it. I'm trying to keep myself occupied in various ways - I'm still pursuing personal training on the side, and have just started volunteering with Friends of the Earth International, a fantastic NGO that focuses on both environmental and social issues throughout the world. So far, it's great - I get to write, do some interviews, and work with their website. Plus, it gets me out of the house and using my brain again, which is really the best part about it.

And despite being homesick, we're both pretty happy to be here right now. The job market in Portland is pretty bleak, and we both know that if we had tried to come over here this time this year instead of last year there wouldn't be any chance. We do miss everyone though, and hope that when we try to come back things start looking more positive!

Here are a couple of pictures so this blog isn't overly text-heavy:

Me braving the cold Amsterdam weather

A very smiley Brian

Tot ziens!

- Krista

Brian's birthday weekend

Yesterday was Brian's 27th birthday!

Since his actual birthday was on a Monday and he unfortunately had to work that day, we decided to make it a birthday 3-day weekend out of it.

And the weekend was a success! We had a lot of fun - we went on a birthday shopping spree (I can't pick out clothes for him, so he had to pick out his own!), had homemade Italian dinner with friends, visited a few of Amsterdam's cozy pubs, and enjoyed the sunny (but freezing) weather with a few bike rides and long walks.

Presents were fun too - I got him his very own iPhone since he has been so jealous of mine over the past few months, an authentic Asian wok and a trip to Chamonix, France to go skiing in the Alps (we go in early March).

I think that he also enjoyed having more than one day to call his own... I have a feeling the birthday weekend or even entire birthday week is going to become a tradition in future years.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Brian and co-worker Gary at a boat party on Friday night

Brian with his birthday dessert (I only put 4 candles on, 27 seemed like too many)

- Krista