There's a first time for everything

I grew up in one of the Northernmost cities in Canada, so it's a bit of an understatement to say that I've experienced my share of snowfalls. I thought I'd seen it all. Not much about snow that is gonna phase me, no sir.

I was wrong. It's been snowing a lot in Amsterdam over the last week or so. In what seems to be a sort of rotational schedule of twenty minute increments, it is either hailing, the sky is a beautiful clear blue, ominous grey or pouring out huge fluffy storybook snowflakes; neither the hail nor the snowflakes stay on the ground but rather melt right away.

It was during one of the soft, fluffy, pretty snowflake moments when it happened. There was thunder. Thunder and snow. Crazy. I still can't wrap my mind around it.

OCD Showdown

I'm from Canada, so you know that I'm used to the weather being a topic of concern, conversation and consternation. I can remember snow in July, and t-shirt weather in March. You just never know which extreme is around the corner from moment to moment, and as such, it's a force of nature that everyone pays close attention to.

In contrast, the Netherlands has one of two conditions : windy, cloudy and rainy, or just cloudy and windy. Either which, in a nation where biking and walking is at least as common as driving, makes it perhaps even more imperative to know, at any given moment, what the weather is likely to be doing on your commute to and from work, your walk to the grocery store or a casual stroll.

On any given day, in my parents home, at any given time, you can find the Weather Network on the television. The Dutch have taken this even further. At Buienradar, you can find a real time map which shows exactly where rain clouds are over the country and then click on links that will show you, in five minute increments, where it will be raining for the next two hours. Beat that, Weather Network!

Simple pleasures

This weekend was a wonderful confluence of almost everything I love in life (beloved friends and family across great bodies of water not included, unfortunately). Friday night found us out in Haarlem to catch the Dutch band Voicst put on a show in their home-town, full of crowd-pleasing antics such as local kids playing backup on the horn section, crowd surfing in a dinghy, a quiet sit-down section (not my favorite part - the floor was dirty...ewww), caped roadies...while the word over-compensation might come to mind, the antics were certainly fun to watch.

Saturday, we went to the local garden centre; a place quickly becoming my favorite part of Amsterdam. It smells pretty, it looks pretty, we get to buy fun things like plants and plant holders and soil, and it's only a short 5 minute ride away. The rest of the day was short because we had to be at the Paradiso by 6 pm to catch Islands, a Montreal band. I wasn't as familiar with them before the show as Jason was, but I have to say that I really enjoyed them. Anytime watching a band inspires me to rush home and learn an instrument, I consider it a great show, and Islands had me wishing I had stuck with the violin back in grade three.

From there, it was a quick hop down to the big room to catch two openers and then Band of Horses. Unfortunately, they did not inspire me to learn an instrument and become a rock star. Mostly, they made me realize that I have to accept the fact that I'm getting old, and that I need to start wearing practical shoes. Four and a half hours of rocking out was almost too much for my antiquated back, feet, eyes and lungs.

Sunday, we were up early and off to explore the city. It was sunny and cool, the biking and walking around was a nice remedy for my stiff old back. We saw a part of the city that I hadn't been in much, had a delicious Greek lunch (mmmm, tzatziki) and then went home to watch a Wire marathon fueled by pancakes and popcorn.

So, to recap, my weekend consisted of:
-5 bands,
-a garden centre
-walking
-biking
-sunshine
-pancakes
-popcorn
-The Wire

Throw in great company to share it with, and I really can't think of better weekend.