Amsterdam, Full Stomachs, Empty Wallets.

Alright, enough about Amsterdam architecture.You're tired of hearing me talk about it probably. So let's talk about those other things for which you come to Europe. Namely: food&shopping.
Eating in Europe is an adventure, and other than fries&pea soup, I haven't figured out what "Dutch" food is. We've ended up eating Mediterranean most days, which is just fine with us. 

On the first night, jet-lagged and stumbling, we ate here. The man running the restaurant was wonderfully sweet with pale skin and ink-black hair, and he told us to come find him for the best parties when the restaurant closed at 1 am. We assured him we could barely stay awake as we let the leisurely pace of European dinners wash over us. We split Kalamata olives and tzatziki sauce for a starter, and Ian declared the pita bread the best he'd had.  We worked our way through a few more courses and, near the end of the meal, the old couple who had been sitting next to us stood and helped to clear the tables in the restaurant. The waiter explained they were his neighbors and had been eating at his restaurant for 17 years. When Ian and I were finished eating, the waiter poured all five of us glasses of cold white wine. I closed my eyes to the greying dusk of the north and tasted ocean and fresh and springtime.

Fast food before the Rijksmuseum. Bet you can guess which is mine and which is Ian's! I'm trying to make up for all the chocolate I'm eating. And yeah, I'm saving the chocolate post for the end. :)

This was our lunch spot on the second day that we spent shopping (ahem, hence Empty Wallets). It was kosher Algerian and the curried chicken&roastedfennel&chickpeas&freshminttea warmed us up from the rain. It was only one girl taking orders and serving and cleaning up. She had dark curly hair, perfect linen capris, and more than a few languages had combined to give her a wonderful accent that made every word sound like a song. She seemed happy and not concerned whether we paid before or after we ate.  Ian and I were happy to sit on that little blue bench and watch the characters who were floating by on the canal in front of us. Mostly it was groups of Brits who were cheering their national pride in the city-appropriate Queen lyrics, "I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle."

I love Europe's food culture because the best restaurants are the ones tucked away into corners that could be doorways to private homes. Only the shelves of wine bottles seen through a window give away that more than one family dines there, and I always feel like I've had a secret whispered to me when I find them. And even without knowing the language, watching people interact over meals reminds me that, truthfully, we are all in this world for the same things: being happy and spending time with people we love, doing things we enjoy. 

Ah, I know, how philosophical of me. I'll stop there. 

But you know what I enjoy? Gelato... And I'm hoping you guys are beginning to pick up on the fact that "gelato" stands for an idea a lot bigger than just ice cream. :)