Amsterdam Finale

As the days and weeks continue to fly by, I can't believe we are hitting the one month to go mark at the end of this week.  In an effort to make the most of our remaining time here, I wanted to make sure to spend one more day in Amsterdam.   Every time I visit, I'm reminded that it really is one of my favorite cities anywhere.  And even though we've been up there quite a bit, I still feel like maybe we should have gone more.  Anyhow, we traveled to Amsterdam on Saturday, with the specific purpose of visiting the Rijksmuseum, which incredibly we hadn't yet visited.  The Rijks has been under construction for the past 10 years, just reopening last spring.

The exterior of the building is gorgeous.  It was designed by Pierre Cuypers and opened in 1885.   One fun feature is that you can bike through the museum, rather than needing to go around it.

The interior is also stunning, thanks to the millions of euros renovation. We didn't take many shots, but here are a couple.

The museum did not disappoint in terms of content either.   Many famous works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, and other artists of the Dutch Golden Age are displayed.  It's amazing how prolific these artists were and how much of a world power the Netherlands was at that time as well.

The rest of our day was spent having a nice lunch in the Jordaan area, which is my favorite part of town, followed by a bit of shopping.  I spent some of my birthday gift money on a new purse and wallet at a shop called Smaak.

I admire these purses, bags, and wallets every time I've walked by the store, so it was a perfect birthday gift.

Last weekend, I also got the chance to catch up with an old friend from my time studying in France.  Blaire and I were on the same program together way back in 2004 (that makes me feel old).  She's now living in the Netherlands as well, so she popped down to Eindhoven for a visit. It was wonderful to see her and reminisce about our time in Aix! 

Blaire brought along photos of our shenanigans in Aix.

In baby updates, we had our 20 week ultrasound last week.  We managed to abstain from finding out the sex, so there's no turning back now.  We're excited.  The ultrasound went as well as it could have.  All is looking normal and average for Baby R, which is exactly what we like to hear.  Of course, getting to see our little one was emotional (and I'm no stranger to tears in normal life), and the part that got me the most was when we were shown the bottom of the feet.  They were so tiny and perfect and I can't wait to kiss them in 4.5 months.

This week is a big one for me, since I'm turning 30 on Friday.   We've got a fun weekend planned, and of course I'll be back with the details next week.