Afternoon Bike Ride

Matt got home early from an out of town class today, so we took a bike ride to the park to feed the ducks. While not quite spring yet, we could tell it is on its way with the wild flowers starting to bloom. I can't wait until the end of the month when we can take rides through the tulip fields.

Christmas Day 2

Today we bundled up in our new long underwear (courtesy of Anna) and headed out for a midday picnic at Delft Midden.

Making my new favorite drink - Prosecco and fresh juice from the Albert Heijn - like a fancy mimosa. This juice happens to be the special "Feest Dagen" flavor of raspberries (64), apples (9), lime (1), and mint. Since it a seasonal flavor (and my favorite), I bought 4 bottles on Wednesday at 35% off and we are trying to drink them before leaving for London tomorrow. Needless to say, we are definitely getting our vitamins this week!

The smaller canals are starting to freeze; they have a very thin layer of ice floating at the top. While no one officially declares the canals safe to skate on, the general rule is 3 inches (10 centimeters) of frozen ice. The locals say they won't freeze this year, but I still keep hoping. (Mom, you might want to check and make sure your health insurance covers international spills in case they are frozen when you get here.)

We brought all of our stale bread and loaf ends to feed to the ducks, who are usually over anxious to gobble it up. Today instead we were greeted by a pair of hissing swans, who wanted nothing to do with our bread. In addition, they chase away the few coots that were interested in eating our bread. We brought our bread back home with us...