EuroLoot: Motorcycle Jacket in Fleece - Amsterdam

There's a striking difference between French and Dutch fashion, though both cultures are utterly stylish: The French dress to suit their sophisticated whims; the Dutch dress for the weather.

As a Canadian, I completely get that.

The first thing I did, on arriving in Amsterdam on a rainy, 13 degree C-Saturday afternoon, was to buy this jacket:



What with it being July 30, I didn't imagine it would come in that handy - but I wore it every day. Seriously, if I never wear this thing again, I got my money's worth.

Cool feature: It's brandless. There is no label on it anywhere. I think there must have been a name on the tag that came with it (long ago discarded), but now it almost feels handmade.

The workmanship is excellent. It's true to form, but for its fabric. I love the zippers and the length of the sleeves. It's very warm. This seems, to me, extremely Dutch - totally practical, excellently designed, subdued and (more or less) water-impermeable - but with a twist you can't see coming.

Here's a (not so awesome) shot of it in action:

Rain and Shine

We had an amazing time yesterday, cycling around. As you may know, Scott uses a bicycle as his main form of transportation in TO. I hadn't been on one for 20 years, but the old saying is totally true! Apparently, many tourists find cycling trecherous here - kind of like driving in Rome. We loved it, but then S has familiarity going for him and I'm a crazy badass. The key is confidence. I mean, they're not agressive. Totally the opposite. They don't even wear helmets - which, in Toronto the Good will land you a ticket - and the open judgement of every observer. I admit to being scandalized by the ommission of safety gear on infants. Especially as parents drive 2 or 3 to a bike...

In TO, everyone criticized Scott for riding M on the rack at the back of his bike for the first 10 years of her life. (What? You ever tried to get a whining kid to school on time on a January morning??) Seriously, people took the opportunity to malign him at stoplights. Here, the practice is commonplace. Note: it also has the benefit of developing an excellent centre of balance!

We had the bikes booked again today but the weather has not cooperated, and I don't have one of those hideous rain slickers people wear and I'm not going to spend the day wet for the pleasure of riding around. Sorry, Scott.

I'm loathe to tell you more about the food - which continues to rock my world - cuz I'm worried you may think I have a disorder. I will say that I spent an enjoyable 30 minutes at a grocery store; I love to see how other people eat. The store is half the size of one in North America. In Canada, we have 200 kinds of cookies. Here they have 20 - and they all look kind of similar. The produce is very expensive, but lovely. The dairy section kicks ass. People, the Activia yogurt comes in glass jars! They have wacky dairy desserts, the likes of which I find very appealing. Everything is caramel - nature's perfect flavour. The chips come in brands we would recognize, but in super fun flavours, like Paprika.

I've learned something new about myself: I'm a hotel breakfast eater. I don't know if this will come as a shock to anyone - as I love eating in hotels, even in my home city - but it has finally crystalized that I cannot bear to wander around in search of food while my blood sugar plummets. I am overwhelmed by breakfast, in general. I can't eat before I drink coffee. I can't eat till I've been awake for at least an hour. I must have 2 fried eggs, 3 slices of bacon and an espresso, without having to work at it. (To the amusement of my workmates, this is what I eat at my desk everyday at approximately 10:00 am.) All of this bread and sweets before lunchtime freaks me out. Pancakes symbolize the worst of it! I can't stand the thought of syrup on bread.

On this psychologically ambiguous note, it is time for me to brave the rain. Lunch awaits, after all. And you may be relieved to note: for that meal, all bets are off.

OMG

The food here is awesome. I bought the most perfect coconut-dusted, Argentinian alfajores. And pumkin soup with crayfish. And Sicilian olives (the excellent light green kind) and ravioli with squid (which tasted like ham, for some bizarre reason, not that I'm complaining). Not to mention that there's really reasonably priced booze everywhere.

Every experience is amazing and it's all bracketed by yummies. Alors, my hedonism is in high-gear. How I wish I were a moderate person... In a moment of alteredness, I somehow ate a box of Dutch butter cookies. 900 calories later, I was devastated to find them all gone. As I write, I'm in my room drinking a Brunello. Makes that stuff I get at the LCBO seem like swill.

The weather was delicious today. I only had to supplement my summer outfit with a sweater and tights! :-) Seriously, it was totally sunny and 20 degrees. Fabulous weather for wandering. I actually packed the tights by accident. Hello? Who packs tights in August?? But how handy is that?

Here are a few photos (bad scene if you hate people who post their vacation pics):






PS: I'd really appreciate it if one of my more solvent readers could stay here and write about it. It was my goal to take the hit for us all, but the 500 euro a night charge surpassed my means.