Baby, It's Cold Outside

Slowly easing this blog from its early winter slumber... wake up, little blog, wake up!  There are many edifying tidbits for you to share!

Ed has a new camera.  I have time on my hands.

The aforementioned edification is in the works.  For now, exit this post knowing that I've been eating eggs with yolks that rival the sun itself.

Where were we?

*Ahem.*

Christmastime!  That's really all there is to say about that.  Hosted a friend and some family, went to Germany, cooked everything but the kitchen sink, explored Amsterdam restaurants, won a 10k, stared at the rain, and had a lovely Christmas and New Year.  Let's summarize the holidays with a photo or two and bring this blog back up to speed.

Amsterdam snow in early December.

Monrads navigate Köln Weihnachtsmarkt at the Dom. 

Köln seemed just as cold as it did eight years ago, when I was last there.

Our venue for Sinterklaas and New Years Eve.

All right, fast-forward to 2013.  We've met some neighbors, scoring a once-weekly babysitting gig for me and two new board game buddies just down the hallway.  I've officially, meaning I've paid for it, joined Phanos track club.  I had a great time volunteering as a course monitor yesterday at the Phanos-organized Boscross, the muddiest cross-country race I've ever seen.  We joined our friends for a movie (Argo) yesterday at the oldest movie theater in Amsterdam.  I went for a long run last week with a friend from Running Holland run club who lives nearby.  The boxes sent by my parents and sisters finally arrived in the mail, and I've been eating peppermint-chip chocolate cookies and spicy-cinnamon walnuts and pecans like it's my job.  And, correspondingly, feeling like *ugh* during workouts.  Will work on that.  Next run is a golden opportunity for a new 10k PR... a fast course in the Vondelpark on January 20.

All in all... off to a good January.

Some More Pictures from Sintra

Ed checking in again!

When Amelie posted the pictures the other night, she didn't know that my camera held another cache of occasionally decent shots!  So here's some more!

And by the way, I LOVED Lisbon (or Lisboa, or Lissabon, depending on waar u komt).  I'd love to go back and explore some more.  Or go to the Duoro or Porto regions of Portugal for some wine tasting.  It was a really walkable and pretty city, with lots of hills, and friendly people.  And the cheap food and wine didn't hurt either!

But I promised photos, so without further ado, here they are!

 First, some of the Castelo dos Mouros.  This castle was very well preserved, and best of all was covered in green!  It reminded me of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington:

Amelie's not looking too thrilled with the walk...

The Palácio Nacional de Pena in the background!

 Next, the Palacio Nacional de Pena.  This place was simply jaw-dropping.  The guidebook described the architecture as "eclectic".  That's an understatement:

Look at the Azulejo tiling.  It was all over Lisbon.

Happy snakes!

Plenty of things to take pictures of!

My dream kitchen.  Look at all the copper pots!

 We got some lunch at the surprisingly well-priced cafe in the palace.  Apparently beer is a soft drink in Portugal:

 Finally, some collected pictures from the grounds of the Palacio and parts of Sintra:

This cross was called Cruz Alta, for obvious reasons

The "other" palace in the background, because one isn't enough in a town of 5,000 people.

These tile mosaics were on a lot of houses in Sintra

I'd love to have something like this by my front door

 Hope you enjoyed!

Portugal: Lisbon and Sintra

We took our first out-of-Holland vacation last weekend, choosing Lisbon as the destination based on the desire for warmer temperatures and the fact neither of us had been to Portugal before.  We decided to try Air BnB for lodging, and were wholly satisfied with the experience.  At 40 euro/night, we enjoyed a cozy two-bedroom apartment that was ten minutes from the airport and 15 to downtown.  As a bonus, Ana, one of the hosts, makes awesome jewelry.  Christmas presents, your calls have been answered!  

Highlights of the trip were hiking around the Serra de Sintra, trying to identify Spanish topography from the airplane, eating a whale's weight in bacalau, and drinking awesome wine for awesome prices.  These included, but were not limited to, vinhos verdes (white AND red... why red?  Why not?), an awesome Douro tinto at an equally awesome Alfama wine bar called Arcaz Velho, and delicious Porto and an on-the-house Moscatel at a pretty good Bairro Alto restaurant called Alfaia.  We never paid more than 12 euro for a bottle.  Lowlight of the trip, for me, was not going running for three days (see: wine) and nearly crawling out of my skin as a result on the day we left.  Lesson learned.

It was rainy and overcast until Monday, so we chose Monday to take the train to Sintra, about a 45-minute trip, which we filled with cribbage.  I will hereby post a torrent of rainy Lisbon pictures, such that the sunny Sintra pictures will seem especially impressive:

Baixa district

Lisbon Cathedral, aka Sé de Lisboa

From the wall of Castelo São Jorge

Lisbon was a nice capital city for walking, of which we did plenty.  On Sunday, we focused our explorations on the west end of the city, including the giant Aqueduto das Águas Livres, before catching a bus out to Belém to see the Torre de Belém and the Monument to the Discoveries.

An original Banksy?  We may never know.

Aqueduct, from anear.

Aqueduct, from afar.

Colfax!

Seattle!

Chicago!

Amsterdam?

Torre de Belém, completed 1519, on the Tagus River.

Torre, 3rd Floor.

With all the wonders of Lisbon, however, none compared to a sunny Monday in Sintra.  The pictures tell the tale, except for the part of the tale where it smelled like the Oregon Coast.  Or Western Washington.  Your preference.  Regardless, it smelled fresh and clean and wonderful, and I have to tell you that part of the tale, because pictures can't explain smell quite so well as I can, even though I can't explain it to perfection.

 

Moorish castle!  Like the one we saw in Xàtiva, Valencia... but greener! 

Palácio Nacional de Pena... let's go there next.

Another cat finds Ed.

King Ferdinand II's backyard.

This place was a monastery long before Portuguese royalty lived here ca. 1850-1910.

King Ferdinand II had a very nice collection of copper pots.  Rumor has it he was also fond of warm woolen mittens.

The back 40, looking easterly.  Lisbon is about one frame to the right.

Looking westerly over the Serra toward the ocean.

First vacation out of Amsterdam was a great success!  Back to biking and running in the chill.