Arrival in Amsterdam

After a pretty uneventful (though enjoyable; finally got to see "27 Dresses") Delta flight, I arrived in beautiful Holland on Sunday, June 2, and had a whirlwind first 24 hours. At around 8 a.m. Dutch time/2 a.m. EST, one of my Van Luyken bosses, Jan Hendrik Wiggers, picked me up from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport (a Van Luyken client) and away we drove to his home in Rotterdam, which is near the coast.

The Wiggers' home is very nice, with the kitchen and living room opening up into a beautiful little garden, but the staircases are the steepest I've ever seen (picture doesn't do it justice!), and I am still wondering how Jan Hendrik lugged my large suitcase up two flights! Barbara, Jan Hendrick's wife, was as charming and warm as I expected her to be after hearing Bo say, "If you've met Melissa Spalding, you've met Barbara." (It's amazing to me how much Bo and Jan Hendrik are alike, too!)

After settling in, Jan Hendrik, Barbara and I had a delicious Dutch breakfast: eggs with cheese over bacon, coffee and HAGELSLAG -- chocolate sprinkles that you put on buttered crackers or toast. Hagelslag is a common Dutch breakfast item that is surprisingly present at nearly EVERY MEAL, and I love it with all of my heart and soul (hence the name of my blog -- by far my favorite thing about Holland so far... ;) In fact, don't be surprised if I roll back to Atlanta a few "kilos" heavier!).

After breakfast and my two rounds of hagelslag we drove down to Delfshaven, an older part of Rotterdam (Rotterdam was bombed by the Germans during WWII, so most of the architecture is new except in this part). As you can see, Delfshaven is very picturesque, but after walking around, driving some more and a stop by Jan Hendrik's golf club, I was struggling not to fall asleep. So, we went home for a brief nap before Anouk and two other colleagues, Carolijn Goes and Anne Tijhuis, came over for dinner. The company was wonderful and dinner was equally delicious to breakfast (are you picking up on a theme here?)... white asparagus (which they call Dutch gold), boiled potatoes, ham, boiled eggs and lots of butter, along with a salad covered with tiny, tiny, delicious shrimp. For dessert we had fresh strawberries and cream, as Barbara says Holland has the best strawberries. It was a fabulous first day! Because it stays daylight here until about 10 p.m., we were able to enjoy our dinner and a nightcap outside on Barbara and Jan Hendrik's patio, with a lovely view of the garden.