Wanderlust and Words

I was only in Amsterdam for 3 days and it was a mixed experience, perhaps because I was tired and perhaps because I was expecting too much of myself. Spending 5 months living in Europe is very different from a two-week holiday. I may not see all the sights, but I have the opportunity to participate, at least to some degree, in the local way of life. I really enjoyed being located in the suburbs and seeing something more of the city than the central tourist areas. I was staying in a 6-storey apartment overlooking a canal and I loved watching hundreds of gulls circle above the water outside my window and the lights coming on at dusk in the apartments and canalboats. Living in a canalboat must be very different from living in a house or apartment. There was a very multicultural population and a huge market on the Saturday where I picked up all sorts of fresh vegetables – okra, green beans, and broad beans. I went for a walk on my first afternoon along a series of waterwa...

Seedy Saturday/ Sunday  Seedy Saturday/Sunday events are always a welcome reminder that spring is on the way. There are two events in Saskatoon this year on Mar. 10 and 18 , but be sure to check out the other events around the province . Pierogi Making with Chef Jenni, Mar. 6  Try your hand at pierogi making on Mar. 6 with Chef Jenni at The Local Kitchen. Middle Eastern Pizza  A visit to Rotterdam’s Markthal was one of my main reasons for visiting Rotterdam . The architecture is interesting, but the market itself is, unfortunately, disappointing. It’s all tourist fixings and quick lunch stands – not a vegetable in sight. I had lunch at a Lebanese restaurant (it had seating unlike most of the others!) and enjoyed the manakish , which the servers described as Middle Eastern pizza. Food Docs  “What the current glut of food documentaries and series proves, in its own backward way, is that the conversation has shifted from celebrity chefdom and heavy...

I was beginning to feel very comfortable housesitting in France and Great Britain, so I decided to stir things up a bit and accepted a 3-day housesit in Amsterdam. The only trick was I had an 8-day gap between housesits, so I added in some holiday days in cities I’ve always wanted to visit. First up was Rotterdam. A port city, Rotterdam was bombed heavily in World War II so there’s lots of exciting modern architecture – and I’m an architecture geek. I stepped out of the train station and was immediately blown away by the size and scale of the surrounding buildings. There’s also lots and lots of public art. Don’t get any mistaken ideas – this is a statue of Santa Claus! I took a boat tour of the port in the morning and was amazed by the size and scale of its activity. Let’s face it – I live in landlocked Saskatoon, where shipments are by truck or train! I’ll try not to bore you with facts, but 300 million tons of goods enter and leave the port every year with 32,000 ...