Ruined

We're positively ruined for another experience quite like this!  Roman ruins as our playground!  What a blessing to catch up with old friends while on vacation in Provence.  Our little ones quickly becoming thick as thieves.  Thanks for making such a long trip Bonta family!

Olive trees!  Our village is one the main agricultural regions for olive production in France.

Best buds.

On Our Way!

We're on our way!  12 hour drive, over the course of two days, to our house in Mausanne-Les-Alpilles. Our Mini (Latte) is stuffed full. 

We spent last night in Nancy, France, and this morning we've passed through Dijon, then it's on to Lyon before we arrive in our little village situated below Les Baux. 

We stopped for breakfast at a French travel plaza, which are pretty much the same as rest stops anywhere, except perhaps in menu. Would you like a croissant OR a croissant, with that cup of coffee?

Summer Daze

We've enjoyed a week at home after our trip to London, and we head out again tomorrow for a month in France. 

The month in France is positively dreamy, with our entire family together for a month in a beautiful setting. 

For the first two weeks, we've rented a house in the village of Maussane les Alpilles in Provence. We're incredibly lucky to spend the first week with our longtime good friends Diego and Angie, and their two little boys. A house full of kids in a summer daze. Can't wait!

For the second two weeks, we're headed to Saint Raphael where the kids and I are attending a French immersion camp. We go to school for 1/2 day, then we are free to play every afternoon. Not a bad set up . . . going to school in the Riviera!  

But for now, it's been so nice being at home in Amsterdam. Doing regular summer things. Like day camp, swimming, ice cream, and good friends. 

National Day of Mourning

In honor of those souls lost in the downing of flight MH17, flags were flown at half mast today.  It was an official day of mourning, and a minute of silence was held at 4:00PM as the first remains arrived in the Netherlands.  This is a small country.  It's been noted that most people here knew someone on that flight.  It's hard to convey the deep devastation that everyone feels, and how close to home it seems--even for me, an ex pat.  One of the leading AIDS researchers killed last week must have lived near Abby and Reese's day camp as a makeshift memorial has sprouted up along our bike route.  It's all heartbreakingly sad.

This Hilton is near our home, and addition to the flag at half-mast, I was struck by the adjacency of a reproduction of Rodin's "The Thinker" in front of the hotel.  I've passed this sculpture four times a day for over a year, taking the kids to and from school.  The Thinker has always been one of my favorites, but today it moved me to tears.  A human figure--calm, but serious.  Powerful, but non-threatening.  It's how I'd like to imagine the victims of Flight MH17 in the face of violence and terrorism.

More Potty Talk

When I first arrived in Amsterdam, my inner feminist was mildly annoyed at the ubiquity of the male outdoor urinal, as compared to the complete absence of any female facilities.  It seemed as if unusual care had been taken to provide men (but not women) with a way to relive themselves at every turn.  For the outdoor urinal is exactly that:  a urinal placed on street corners, in parks and parking lots, roadside, along canals (I'll add that photo later), etc., which are not not part of an enclosed (i.e. private) restroom facility.

The urinals range is design from the barely disguised urinal, like this one in Vondelpark (easily one of ten along a two-mile loop):

To those urinals intended to blend in with their surroundings or backdrop, like this one in front of the 16th-century Grote Kerk cathedral in Haarlem, Netherlands: 

To urban street-corner urinals designed by world renowned architects, like this one in Rotterdam, Netherlands by Dutch architect, Rem Koolhaas.

 In a strange intersection of chapters in my life, Koolhaas also desgined the Seattle Public Library, where I spent many days on the top floor plugging away at my writing.  It also has an amazing kids section in which Abby and Reese spent quite a few hours exploring. And not surprisingly, cool bathrooms.

Seattle Public Library at 4th & Madison, an easy walk from the ferry.

This corner on the top floor was my favorite nook.

Back to urinals.  I'm less annoyed nowadays, than grossed out.  Truth is, as a woman, I don't feel like using the restroom in such an exposed setting; and it's really odd to pass a man--a stranger--peeing on the side of the street in a 3/4 enclosed vertical tube.  TMI!

Happy Birthday USA!

We had two reasons to celebrate last Friday.  It was, of course, the Fourth of July, but it was also the last day of school here in Holland.

It's hard to believe we just completed our first year of school abroad, and we couldn't be more proud of Abigail and Reese who faced a major swim upstream going to French school in Holland.  Their school is officially part of the French schooling system, so unlike immersion programs in the States where a child is nurtured into acquiring a new language, most children in the Lycee have 1-2 native-speaking parents and already know French.  The school is simply an extension of the public school system in France.

Abby and Reese handled it with courage and enthusiasm. They are my champions!

After school, a big crew of us caravan-ed (on our bikes, of course) to our place for a grand fete to kick off the summer.  Life as an ex pat means that even the most of American of holidays is a multicultural event, and we were thrilled to share an American BBQ with our Dutch, French and American friends.

Many people asked us if it's weird to celebrate American Independence Day outside the US, and while maybe not weird, there are definitely things I miss.  Since the kids were born, we've spent every Fourth of July on Bainbridge Island in Washington State.  The festivities on Bainbridge are small town and reminiscent of a by-gone era.  All of the local businesses and organizations take part in a parade, and the roads shut down for a fair and concerts.  Everyone knows everyone, and the neighborliness of the holiday is idyllic.  It's just doggoned sweet to catch candy thrown by the local insurance guy from his car in the parade.

And since fireworks are legal, everyone invests in professional fireworks that can be seen in the various harbors and bays all the way around the island.  You can even see the Seattle fireworks show over the water.  It's spectacular and sweet at the same time. So much so that the Today Show featured BI on one of its Fourth of July segments this year.

Seriously, here's the septic tank guy:

In the end though, it's friends and family who make any holiday special.  Here's Abigail and Reese with their best buddy, Niko, back on July 4, 2010. 

 Little did I notice back then that the name of the giant slide is "The European."

My dear friend, Ali, and me with Niko and Abigail.

Luka and Doug with Niko and Reese.

And so while I miss Bainbridge, and more so our friends back on the Island, this year's 4th of July also had special meaning as we celebrated with new friends in a foreign land.  It was even sweet and special trying to find the ingredients here in Holland for our all-American menu (e.g. graham crackers were nowhere to be found for s'mores).

Vamonos!

We were there less than 48 hours, but we're bonkers for Barcelona all the same.  And gaga for Gaudi.

Thumbs up at the Gay Pride Parade. 

Santa Maria del Mar