Lisa and Paris!!!!

This week was another good week. On Wednesday went to Leiden with Nomi (friend living in Amsterdam) and Elisheva, who came in from the states. Scott and I had been there before, but looked interesting to Nomi and Elisheva, so worked for me. Though not sure if it was the Starbucks in the train station that was enticing me:-) We first went to the Naturalis museum, which is similar to the Natural History Museum in NYC. They have some great stuffed animals and Elisheva provided good commentary as she is a science teacher. Then we stopped in the botanical gardens to walk around. Was great weather, so was really nice. Then we just walked around the town and had a great time together. Was a lot of fun. I miss spending time with all my friends from home, so was great to spend time with a new and old friend. Then headed back to The Hague to meet up with Scott as we were heading that night to Amsterdam to shop for kosher food and get some pizza in the one pizza place in Amsterdam. We were excited to find kosher cheese, frozen foods and a kosher aisle in the supermarket. Not at all like the selection you may find in Stop and Shop or Shoprite, but grateful that this exists. We did really well getting all we needed to host our first houseguest and shabbos meal in The Hague. Then we headed to the pizza place. Not at all like NY pizza. Everyone gets their own individual pizza, but we enjoyed eating. Scott and I each ate a mini pizza and a half. Was the first pizza I ate in over two months, so was very exciting. Then Thursday spent the day cooking for our shabbos meal. As I had no warming tray, all the food I made had to be served cold, so was an interesting experience coming up with the menu. Lots of salads, cold chicken, apple muffins, etc. Then Friday Lisa arrived. Was so amazing to see a face from home and as Lisa is like family was a great feeling. She brought lots of goodies from home, which was awesome. Saturday we went to the synagogue and introduced Lisa to all the new friends we have made. Then we headed home to host some friends for lunch. Was a great afternoon and felt like being back in the states. Sunday we headed to Amsterdam to see the sites. We started the day in the Portuguese Synagogue, which was beautiful and then headed over to the Jewish museum. Is so interesting to hear about Jewish history in the place we are now living. It is sad to realize how there were so many small Jewish communities all around the Netherlands before the War, but afterwards many did not return and the communities no longer exist. Then we went to the Rembrandt museum to see the place where Rembrandt lived and painted. After we headed to the Anne Frank House. This was an exceptional experience to see the place where Anne and her family hid for over two years. We started the tour with a 30 minute introduction lecture and were lucky to have in the group a rabbi who knew Otto Frank very well. Then we did some souvenir shopping and walked along the canals. Was a great afternoon. Finally wrapped up the day by taking Lisa to a kosher restaurant which has been in Amsterdam for many years and serves classic Dutch food. Yum, yum.

Monday we got up early and headed back to Amsterdam to meet up with two friends, Vanessa from Amsterdam and Elisheva from the states, to start our road trip to Paris. Took us about 6 hours, which included the two stops we made and arrived in Paris in time for dinner. Was great to be in a place with so many options for kosher food. We picked a dairy place, and was yummy. On Tuesday got up early and started on a tour of the city and then to the Eiffel Tour. We walked around to see Napoleons tomb, Notre Dame and then after a great steak dinner back to the Eiffel Tower for a night cruise down the Seine. Was a jam packed day seeing all of Paris' famous sites. On Wednesday we headed over to Versailles to spend the day exploring the palaces and gardens. I had been to Versailles before, but still amazing to see a second time. Then we headed out in search of another great kosher restaurant in Paris. We checked out one street which is known to have many kosher places. We found one place that seemed to have food which everyone liked. We sat down and ordered chicken sandwiches, only to be told they had no sandwiches, wraps, only sushi, salads and hotdogs, which was ok. As we were eating the first course, we noticed the waiter get on his bike and drive off. Then a few minutes later he returned with what seemed was our bread for the hot dogs. Was a funny meal experience. Food though was good, so was all worth it. Then after dinner we headed to the top of the Arch de Triumph. Was beautiful to see the entire Paris skyline from high above at night. Then to top off the night we went for a drink on Champ Elysees. Thursday turned out to be a beautiful sunny day of about 80 degrees. We started the day at Montmartre to see the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur and the surrounding city on the hill. Many famous painters spent time there working on their craft. After heading down the mountain, I went in search of kosher food. I headed over to La Villette and found the Jewish section and starting stocking up on as much as I could carry back such as cheese and some other essential items. I was also in search of a crock pot, and warming tray for shabbos, so headed over to a Judaica shop and there right in front was everything I needed. So now we are all set for hot food on shabbos, which is very exciting. Then after dropping off all my purchases in the hotel, headed over to Rue Rosiers for dinner. I had an amazing schnitzel sandwich and then we started our drive back to The Hague. Was a great trip and had so much fun with my friends. Shout out to Lisa, Vanessa and Elisheva for helping me have such a great vacation. Really had a great time spending the week with you.

The weekend after I returned was the first weekend we had no plans at all. It was great to be able to relax and enjoy the time in our new home. We had pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. Thanks Pincus family. In the afternoon, we headed to a goodbye party of someone we met in The Hague, who is moving to Israel and had a chance to make some new friends which was great. Then most exciting of all was for dinner we made homemade pizza. We had the cheese and sauce, so all we had to do was make the crust. Was actually very easy and tasted good. Now we can keep working to perfect it and by the time we get home we will be pizza experts.