August Wrap-up

Here's some of the highlights of the last month of Summer in Amsterdam.

• Not really a highlight, but important nonetheless- Nana was diagnosed with cancer, and Samflew back to Australia to spend 2 weeks with her family.  Sam really enjoyed the chance to be with the family during this tough time, and also had a fun weekend in Sydney with friends before coming back to Amsterdam
• Nick and Erin's visit (as featured on Nick's blog)- it was great to see these guys and share Australian impressions of Europe as they spent a few nights with us during their European holiday .  We went out for dinner a few times including Vapiano's at Rembrantplein (amongst the Gay Pride festival) and Toscana's at Haarlemmerstraat, and a nice afternoon in the Vondelpark
• Sam's cousin Kata and her husband Brenton spent a night here on their roadtrip through Europe.  We had a really great dinner at Bazar turkish restaurant on Albert Cuypstraat
• BBQ at Sybran's house, enjoying the summer weather with some friends
• Sanne's birthday party at Almere, which is only a half hour drive but took us almost 2 hours due to sub-optimal public transport.  Almere is a beautiful suburb North East of Amsterdam, across the IJ.  Sanne and Hans' house was really nice and backed onto a canal.  It was very different to the busy and often cramped city of Amsterdam
• Stepping up to help out on the hosting and welcoming team at church, which is not my usual style but they need people and I'm keen to help, so we'll see how it goes
• Small screen highlights- Olympics, Walking Dead, Falling Skies, How I Met Your Mother
• Paper highlights- Finally finished Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, a long and often difficult but very rewarding read. ALso started Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea