Settling into our Dutch home

Our front yard is a park

We’ve landed a home in Amsterdam. Finally after a long month of searching. And we’re now getting settled in, so yes, going to IKEA and everything.

Even with all the stress we often we remark to each other “Man, life in Amsterdam is great.” Sure, Chiara’s flat-out busy at work, and I’m in the middle of all kinds of paid and unpaid bits of work and navigating Dutch bureaucracy and trying to settle in and find my groove.

But still, it’s great. Above is the view from our bedroom window. Yes, that’s a park on the other side of the pedestrian and bike path – which is the ‘street’ we live on. And beyond that is a canal. And just around the corner is a windmill. An actual windmill.

Just across the canal from where I live

Yep, I live in Holland by a windmill. And not only that: the windmill is actually a brewery that makes delicious craft beer. And just beyond that is a street market with cheese and nuts and fruits and vegetables and all kinds of fish-based products. And lots of junk too.

Slowly, our house is becoming a home, and a room is being designated as my office (or as I like to think of it: “the nerve centre”) where projects are beginning to be conceived and unfurled. And it’s pretty damn pleasant.

The one thing I’ve already learned though is that it’s going to take longer than I thought to get set up and settled in. But the other thing I’ve learned is that life here is actually designed to be mellow and relaxed and take some time.

And, now that I’m actually getting adjusted to the Dutch pace of things, it seems to be working out pretty damn well.

By Liesbeth Smit|2017-09-14T08:43:44+00:00February 6 2013|

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Settling into our Dutch home

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Settling into our Dutch home

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