Yesterday morning, I was just getting ready to blog about bikes but I ran out of time.  Feeling like SUCH a local with 6 weeks of city biking under my belt, I planned to talk about all the ins & outs of biking, bike paths, the rules & safety & etiquette & ways you should & should not PARK your bike... funny!  Funny: haha?  Funny: weirdly ironic?  Or funny like you just hit your funny bone & want to cry?   All of the above.

So... I had an appointment to get our iPad fixed at the Apple Store & parked in the very crowded area out front where all the bikes were jumbled up in a quasi-organized fashion.  Since I have a basket, it is often difficult for me to squeeze in when it is really tight.  I looked around & moved to a nice clear spot so I wouldn't park in a way that would prevent anyone else from removing their bike.  I was also quite proud that I had used one of my locks on my bike's frame, front wheel & also around a sign post so that it would not get stolen as I was in a pretty touristy part of town.  After the appointment, I walked to meet my friend for lunch & left my bike because we were potentially meeting a couple others that had no bikes.  All in all, my bike was going to be in front of the store for about 2 hours.

After lunch we walked back over to Apple & I could not see my bike anywhere in the sea of chrome & rubber.  I was certain where I had left it too, so it was puzzling!  I then noticed a LOT of neon orange tags on bikes all over the area... my friend Barry noticed a LOT of clipped chain links on the ground!  We were still totally baffled!  A really nice Dutch guy told us "they" had just been there!  And "they" had removed a LOT of bikes!! Who are THEY??  I looked up at the exact sign to which I had locked my bike & read several dutch words in red...with exclamation marks...and pictures of bikes... and bike racks...ooopsie...! The dutch guy explained that if your bike is not inside the white lines on the pavement, the city will take it away.  Apparently they took quite a few bikes & there were still many with the warning tags.  Who gets warning tags & who gets impounded?  Why were there some with warning tags that were parked inside the white lines?  It was a bit of a mystery but the guy gave me the phone number to call & the address where the impounded bikes go.  He also informed me that the place was way outside the city - about an hour away by public transit!! 

Of course, when this all first started to sink in, I had the 'funny like you hit your funny bone which is not at all funny' feeling!  And I used all my best sailor words to express my feelings!  Mostly I was worried about getting my kids from school that day.  I was panicked until I remembered that I have the keys to Bryan's bike which is parked in front of our apartment.  At that point, I took a tram home and proceeded to make calls & inquiries & arrangements for getting my bike back...and made sure I could reach the pedals on Bryan's bike!  OK readers, stay tuned...

Today when I was walking behind Kai into the school area I noticed that he was wearing a pair of pants that I *started* to hem... and only got finished with one leg.

(not pictured)

Good Friday morning!  U.S. readers are in bed while I'm enjoying the sunniest morning in a while, having dropped kids at school on the bikes, (Almost flawlessly by now!  Not so many oopsies & whoopsies & near misses...) completed my run in the park, had my lovely decaf latte in my kitchen while listening to the new iTunes Radio. (side note: I'm a fan of the iOS 7 update - this will sound so archaic when I re-read this blog in a year... #timecapsule...#hashtagsareabigjokerightnow...)

This week went so well.  Both kids are THRIVING in this atmosphere.  They are so confident... Sabrina and two girlfriends rode home from school & then around the park, stopping for fries & a soda, getting home promptly at the appointed 5:30.  Yesterday I met her at the cafe by school where she & a friend did homework over you guessed it fries & a soda.  ((At least when we are together she's making *forced* better choices!!))  She's also been invited for a real sushi lunch with a geniune Japanese family on Sunday.  International flavor!!  Kai is going to be sleeping over at a Spanish family's home tonite so surely he will get to see how I lived in Spain...dinner at 10:30, bedtime no sooner than midnight...joined by his British friend who, when shown a photograph of Incline Village, told Kai he must have simply printed a picture of Alaska...

This week I expanded my cultural horizons!  An old high school friend was here in town & we visited the Rijks Museum... although on Monday they evacuated the building for some unknown reason so we managed to find some fun sipping vino at the Conservatorium Hotel cafe!  That place is beautiful & we spotted some interesting people there... Then on Tuesday I returned to complete my tour of the museum with headphones, chill music, my gorgeous new camera (OK so long as you don't flash) and some comfy walking shoes. Complete with a viewing of masterpieces such as The Nightwatch & a Van Gogh self-portrait, it was awesome. 

Yesterday I visited the Fashion Institute of Amsterdam as they are promoting some extension courses which I would love to try.  I am looking into options!  In the evening I attended an open Knitting Night at the local yarn shop & it was fantastic!  Only a knitter might understand how the "family" swooped me in & made me feel so at home.  About 25 international men & women gabbing in English, Dutch, German, Spanish & French filled a tiny back room & spilled out into the store.  SUCH a fun & interesting group of everything from moms to international travelers to photographers, published book writers, financial managers & small business owners!!!  Some knitting celebrities were there but I hate to name-drop!  LOL!!

Oh I need to get going!  I am going to see this amazing photography fair today http://unseenphotofair.org/  I will post how it is when I get back!

THANKS FOR READING ALONG!!! 👍