We have a friend…Hallelujah!

As many of you know our social circle over here is quite small…or non-existent.  For the past 9 months I have said all I wanted was to find another English mom that I could hang out with.  I have tried to make friends, walk around daily smiling and trying to make conversation, only to be left with someone who either doesn't speak English, doesn't want to smile back or flat out doesn't engage with me.  So the days can be very long and lonely with no one to talk to.  The nights and weekends we have adjusted to and learned to appreciate the time we are getting to just the 3 of us.  The days when Andy is at work, all I want is one day to have someone to meet at the park, go to lunch, or interact with to break up the long weeks.

Our complex has been under construction since we moved in last Fall, but they recently started doing work on the unit right next door, which makes for some loud jack-hammering and sounds ALL day long.  Furthermore makes for a loud house and short naps for Annabelle.  It had been a long day and I needed to get out of the house.  We normally go to the park in the mornings/early afternoons, and seldomly head down in the late afternoon, but Monday we needed to get out.  So we went down to the park and were playing when this nice woman started talking to me.  She had heard me talking to Annabelle in English and asked if I was living here.  We started talking and found ourselves in very similar situations.  Every question we asked one another we both would respond with the same thing and we clicked…I was like, "Oh my God, where have you been the past 10 months?"  So we exchanged phone numbers and have hung out A LOT since meeting.  She is an awesome Swedish gal, has a son Ture who is 3, Annabelle calls him Toodles because she cannot pronounce Ture and they are great.  It is amazing what it does to the weeks having someone who we can call to meet at the park, go to lunch or just walk and talk.  I feel so fortunate to have met her and find it so odd how much we have in common both from our lives back at home and our situations abroad.  I never thought my first and only friend would be from Sweden, but thankful that we have found someone over here…finally!!

Annabelle and Toodles. She loves to hug him and hold his hand and he's not into the affection yet.  We are working on personal spaces and not invading his constantly :)

Gouda Holland

Annabelle and I got to tag along with Andy to Gouda, Holland for a long weekend.  Andy needed to go there for work, yet again, so decided to take us along.  After his first trip to Gouda he raved about how much he thought I would like the city, so fortunately got to see it with my own eyes.

We flew into Amsterdam and had to take a train into Gouda.  When we were about 15 minutes outside of the city the train stopped and we sat on the tracks for awhile.  The conductor kept coming on the intercom, speaking in Dutch, notifying us of the issues.  After sitting for about 25 minutes we noticed people getting off the train and fortunately asked some young girls if they spoke English and what the deal was.  They had sent a new train because ours had broken down.  Glad we had NO clue what was being said the whole time we were on there.  

Other than our arrival and departure hiccups, we loved it!  It is such a quaint, picturesque city.  I think having already been to Amsterdam, a much larger scaled Gouda, made me appreciate the uniqueness of the city.  Canals wind themselves through the city that bikers rule and once again felt more at ease with the amount of people that spoke English and ability to get around.  Andy had to work during the days, so Annabelle and I spent our days exploring the town and snacking our way through…on cheese of course.  Gouda cheese represents about 60% of the Dutch cheese production and is pronounced "How-da"…FYI.

Their food was delicious and even got a true Mexican meal that included guac and a margarita.  A cuisine we cannot find anywhere in Porto!  We stayed right by the Market Square, the town's main attraction, so spent our days exploring the market, visiting the Waag House (where they would weigh the goods to levy taxes), Church of St. John (famous for its stained glass windows created in 1530), Stadhuis (oldest Gothic city hall in the Netherlands, built in 1450) and a little shopping of course.

We had a close call getting to the airport on time as Andy thought our flight left an hour later than it really did.  As we were awaiting our first train Andy realized that our flight in fact left in an two hours instead of three.  Thankfully after sprinting through the airport with a sleeping Annabelle in arms, our flight was delayed a few hours and we had plenty of time!!

And we are off…this girl loves to fly!  Glad someone does :)

Our day at the market.  Every Thursday from spring to summer, the square is filled with vendors selling a variety of goods, but the coolest thing was seeing the men actually sell the cheese.  The cheese is brought in weighed, tested for quality and then sold (as shown above).  The gentleman on the right got is cheese wheels loaded them up in his cart and rode away on his horse.

Beautiful gardens set between people's homes throughout the city.

Dinner out…can't seem to get a good pic of the 3 of us anymore…so this will do.

Hoppy Easter

Easter was definitely not the same for us this year being away from the family, but did our best to make the most of it and give Annabelle the Easter experience.  We had been talking about the Easter Bunny for a couple weeks prior, more as leverage for us to bribe AB to be a good girl, so she was excited when Easter morning came around.  Fortunately Easter is a BIG holiday over here, so the store decorations and city was preparing for the holiday way in advance, which allowed us to get in the spirit.

We had ourselves a little egg hunt, watched church online and had great day as our little family of 3 over here.  Here's to hoping we'll be back to celebrate with the big family next year.  Holidays are just not the same without everyone.

Northern Portugal

We took a day trip to the northern part of the country and got to see two beautiful cities and Spain all with in one day. The beauty of northern Portugal is it's a mountainous region filled with medieval castles, monuments, churches and every little town has its own story to tell.  Thankfully we were with the Pintos, who navigated us through the country seamlessly and showed us some incredible towns.  Our first stop was Minho, which is bordered by the Douro River in the south and divided from Spain by the Minho River in the north.  We visited a town that was bordered by brick walls but filled with narrow, cobblestone streets lined with shops selling linens, towels, pottery, kids clothes and a variety of Portuguese collectibles.  Within the town there was a magnificent church that was built in 1271.  Yes, 1271, that was so beautiful.  We dinned at a hillside restaurant overlooking the Minho River and Galicia, Spain.

Next stop was Caminha, which is located in the Viana do Castelo region, where we parked along the river in the city center to see the beautiful views.  The kids had fallen asleep so did not want to wake them and make it to the next stop peacefully.

We spent the back half of the afternoon and evening in Viana do Castelo which too was so beautiful.  Viana is located at the mouth of the Lima River, located between the ocean and the mountains.  Being seaside, the city holds so much history as a crucial point of departure during the Age of Discovery.  And yet today is a happening fishing port. Andy had been there before, as they have a plant in Viana, but were able to walk around the city and see one of the most magnificent churches I've ever seen live.  We hiked our way up this huge hill to Sanctuary of Santa Luiza which sits atop of the Santa Luiza hill and overlooks the city.  We loved seeing more of Portugal and so glad we made the trip!

 This was the walkway and driveway to get into the town that we spent the afternoon at.  The road is so narrow our car did not have a centimeter to spare on either side and thought for sure we would not make it through.

 One of the beautiful churches inside.

 Built in 1271.

 After lunch standing hilltop with Galicia, Spain in the background.

 Maria, AB and Afonzo.

There were these shrines all throughout the town and open for the weekend in preparation for Easter.  Typically they are closed, but they open them during Easter weekend as Easter is a very sacred holiday in Portugal.

 Viana do Castelo and Santa Luiza church.

 Looking down from the top of the church stairs.