{"id":147,"date":"2009-10-29T13:15:12","date_gmt":"2009-10-29T09:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisabrounstein.com\/blog\/?p=147"},"modified":"2009-10-29T13:15:12","modified_gmt":"2009-10-29T09:45:12","slug":"amsterdam-to-the-hague-and-back-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/?p=147","title":{"rendered":"Amsterdam to The Hague and Back Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

This has been such an extraordinary time for me. \u00a0 I have found myself doing things I never thought I would do. \u00a0 I have tasted foods that I never, in a million years, would have tried. \u00a0 I have forced myself to step outside my comfort zone in almost every way. \u00a0 Whether it is showering in a fish bowl, climbing insane flights of stairs, walking many miles alone through the city or trying venison it has all been really a fabulous stretch for me.<\/p>\n

\"Tabac<\/p>\n

On Tuesday evening, we went back to Tabac for dinner. \u00a0 It is a little cafe\/bar on the corner by the boat. \u00a0 The first night we went there and just had beer and snacks. \u00a0 Tuesday night we had beer, snacks and dinner. \u00a0 I still can’t get over the cheese snacks. \u00a0 To me they are the perfect snack. \u00a0 Fabulous Gouda cheese in a crispy filo like dough. \u00a0 They are served HOT with a sauce that reminds me of a Thai sweet chili sauce that is served with Thai egg rolls. \u00a0 I am not usually a fan of curry but thought I should try something different. \u00a0 I ordered the Xtra Spicy Green Chicken Curry. \u00a0 Oh man, was it hot! \u00a0 It came in a little bowl with a little mound of rice, mint yogurt to cut the heat, a green salad and some odd root chips. \u00a0 It was very tasty; a symphony of loud flavors.<\/p>\n

Sima wanted to take me to a cafe she and Ben love. \u00a0 She warned me that it was very small inside. \u00a0 I wasn’t concerned because I have been pleasantly surprised regarding how small things are here and yet I haven’t had a problem fitting. \u00a0 We walked over to the cafe yesterday for lunch. \u00a0 To say that it is small is a HUGE understatement. \u00a0 It is like a cafe for Lilliputians. \u00a0 No tables. \u00a0 A tiny bar that seats 3 on one side of the door and 4 on the other. \u00a0 There is a tiny counter that holds a cash register and a little glass display case of salads behind which is a small kitchen where they make the sandwiches and coffees. \u00a0 Then there are 3 little cubes lining the only available space backed up \"smallagainst the wall next to the cash register. \u00a0 We sat there and held our plates when the food was ready. \u00a0 We had outrageous sandwiches. \u00a0 Sima and I shared two different sandwiches. \u00a0 I have been so pleased with the freshness of all the foods I have eaten here. \u00a0 The meats have been so fresh. \u00a0 Nothing tastes old. \u00a0 I had spicy salami with roasted tomato and zucchini and some kind of strong white cheese. \u00a0 The sandwich came toasted. \u00a0 Sima got turkey, bacon and avocado. \u00a0 It was a great dichotomy of flavors with my sandwich being hot in both flavor and temperature and Sima’s being cool and fresh. \u00a0 The cafe is called Small World Cafe. \u00a0 It is definitely small literally but very, very grand.<\/p>\n

Later, Sima and I walked to the Central Station to get a train to The Hague. \u00a0 A friend, \"centralwho I have known since I was in Junior High, lives and works in The Hague. \u00a0 The train took close to 45 minutes. \u00a0 It was good to see more of Holland. \u00a0 Being here in Amsterdam it is hard to imagine a big city with the tiny streets and tall narrow buildings. \u00a0 The Hague is more of a cosmopolitan city with some of the same old charm as Amsterdam but with some sky scrapers thrown in the mix. \u00a0 Sima and I found a lovely cafe on a shopping street and had a coffee. \u00a0 Then we poked around some stores. \u00a0 Kristin met us and walked us through the Parliament grounds. \u00a0 Then we went to an old fancy hotel for cocktails before dinner. \u00a0 It was a very civilized hotel…very upper crust. \u00a0 After cocktails we walked over to an Argentinian restaurant where Kristin goes often. \u00a0 The service was amazing. \u00a0 We drank wine and ate great food. \u00a0 \"dessert\"So often, I find, meals are just a way to get fuel to keep going in life, but this meal was an event. \u00a0 We were there for hours. \u00a0 One minute it was 9 and the next it was midnight. \u00a0 In between, which 3 bottles of Malbec were consumed along with a gorgeous meal. \u00a0 When the tray of desserts that Kristin had ordered arrived, Sima and I gasped. It was a tray covered in a decadent assortment of delights. \u00a0 Then came the port wine. \u00a0 Because it was so late we would have had to take two trains to get home. \u00a0 So, Kristin ordered us a car to drive us back. \u00a0 It was a far cry from the Stop\/Go. \u00a0 Nothing short of a miracle, I didn’t fall off or out of anything.<\/p>\n

Sima and Ben have a wonderful cat! \u00a0 It has been so lovely for me to have cat time. \u00a0 We lived with a wonderful cat named Chuck and lost him nearly a year ago. \u00a0 There is something completing about having a pet. \u00a0 I think it makes the day brighter having the love of an animal. \u00a0 Sima and Ben’s cat, Gnamish, is such a love! \u00a0 Every night he comes into my bedroom and climbs up onto the bed and snuggles for a little while. \u00a0 He climbs up on my chest purring like a motor boat, then leans down and rubs his cold wet nose against mine. \u00a0 In the mornings, he HAS to climb into my arms while I am trying to write my blog. \u00a0 Everything \"lisamust stop when he needs attention. \u00a0 He is very demanding when it comes to love and I am more than willing to oblige.<\/p>\n

Today we are going to sort out Halloween. \u00a0 Sima and Ben need costumes for their party on Saturday night. \u00a0 I think I am going to go as an American tourist. \u00a0 Yes, I am going to go as me. \u00a0 I was thinking about carrying a picture frame and going as the Mona Lisa. \u00a0 But I think I will just carry my camera and take pictures. \u00a0 I found a yarn store I want to venture to as well. \u00a0 Other than that I don’t know what today will hold. \u00a0 Tomorrow, I am toying with the idea of a museum again. \u00a0 Maybe Escher. \u00a0 Maybe the Rijks. \u00a0 I think right now I am going to throw myself together and walk over to get a fresh baguette from the bakery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This has been such an extraordinary time for me. \u00a0 I have found myself doing things I never thought I would do. \u00a0 I have tasted foods that I never, in a million years, would have tried. \u00a0 I have forced myself to step outside my comfort zone in almost every way. \u00a0 Whether it… Continue reading Amsterdam to The Hague and Back Again<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trip-to-amsterdam","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}