Where in the World is Angela Rhodes?

It's been so long since my last update, between work, being knocked out by the flu right after NYE, insomnia, headaches, wedding planning and bleak Amsterdam weather I haven't found the time or the inspiration to update my blog at all lately.

Until I took a little break down Sunny Portugal way. It seems like we retraced our steps and ended up being there almost exactly one year since we were there last. I can't say that my first trip to Lisbon was a pleasant experience, I was jobless, homeless and fund-less, by the end of the trip I had actually wrote it off completely, declaring I never wanted to go back.

This time around I was left in shock at how much I enjoyed it, I'm sure I repeated "what the hell happened now?! Lisbon is so awesome!" several times over and over. Maybe it was the romance of heading down there to book a venue for our wedding in gorgeous Sintra or maybe it was the sun and temperate weather that I have missed for months now in Amsterdam, who knows. 

View from the hotel

Lisbon has an old town (Alfama) that seems to go on and on. It is filled with narrow streets, wrought iron balconies and terra-cotta roofs all of which can be enjoyed from several look out points. The most charming thing (to me at least) is that every so often a palm tree falls into view reminding you how nice it is to be back in a temperate zone away from icy pavements. 

What really impressed me though, was the the Oceanarium (Oceanário de Lisboa), which happens to be the worlds second largest oceanarium. The centre is made up of a huge tank that represents the global ocean and is surrounded by 4 smaller tanks that represent the North Atlantic rocky coast, the Antarctic coastal line, the Temperate Pacific kelp forests and the Tropical Indian coral reefs. The best bit is that the tanks are 2 levels high so you can see the wildlife from above and from below. If you ever head down Lisbon way the Oceanarium is a must see (and take my advice and totally hang out by the cuttle fish tank).

Curious little cuttle fish swam right up to us when we stood outside his tank, then put on a show for us by changing his colours, awesome! Don't eat Cephalopods! 

In between doing the tourist thing we headed over to Sintra to do some wedding planning and venue scouting. Sintra is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of it's exceptional beauty and 19th century architecture and it is definitely the most beautiful little town I have ever visited.

We were given a recommendation to try some queijadas (Portuguese desert) from a little cafe on the road to Sintra's old town, they may have been some of the nicest treats I have ever tried and broke my strictly no gluten rule 3 times in a row :(

In the last hours as we headed to the airport we had a basic conversation in broken Spanish with our cab driver who was keen to know how we liked Portugal, his face filled with smiles when we told him about all the delicious Portuguese sites and tastes we loved. I got a pang of wanting to live in Lisbon, but for now it's back to Amsterdam and back to reality. At least I can look forward to heading back there before too long to show all our friends and family the special little town we've found to take our vows. 

Shots of the wedding venue we finally decided on

Off to Norway

It's that time again...

Time to head off to beautiful Norway for another white Christmas.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

 I will be back on the 27th with lots and lots of photos to share.

One year abroad in pictures

Yesterday morning I compiled a bunch of pictures from the last year to have printed and sent to my mum back in Sydney. After spending almost the entire day at the Albert Cuypmarkt and having no time to print them, Mats suggested I upload them onto an Australian photo printing website and have them sent directly to her house instead, that way she'll get them before Christmas. This morning I was getting ready to have them printed when I saw I could make a photobook instead, I chose that option and  put in the dates; 12.12.08 - 12.12.09 and it hit me, yesterday had been exactly one year since I had left Sydney. One year since we recklessly boarded a plane and moved overseas with no apartment or jobs lined up. One year since I said goodbye to my family and friends, one year since I last crossed Sydney heads on the Manly Ferry. Time has gone so quick.

So here is the book that is now waiting to be printed and shipped to my mum for Christmas, here is my life in one year (click the images for a larger picture).

Christmas in Norway 2008 (Then off to London to look for work - Jan 2009)

Hiring freeze in London, off to Lisbon & Sintra, Portugal Jan-Feb 2009 to look for work and enjoy the sun where it's cheaper, but it turns out it's not that much cheaper. Back to Norway Feb-Mar 2009 to look for work again.

April 1st 2009 we moved to Amsterdam

Spent the next few months exploring Amsterdam and some of the Netherlands, several friends visited and we celebrated our first Queensday.

Mats' Brother visits us in Amsterdam and we all go on a road-trip through Luxembourg, France and Belgium.

We fly to Norway in Aug 2009 for a Summer party hosted by Mats' parents.

Back in Amsterdam we're busy meeting some really cool new people.

Oct 2009 - We celebrate that I finally found a job by spending the weekend eating delicious seafood in Brussels.

Autumn comes to Amsterdam.

Dec 2009 we head over to Germany with some friends for the Cologne Christmas Markets.

This year did not start off easy, as nice as hanging out down sunny Portugal way might sound the truth was we were freaking out about work, money and about where we were headed in life. Deciding to go back to Norway to continue looking for work was a hard decision and we regretted having to leave London, but once we moved to Amsterdam everything fell into place and everything ran smoothly, so smoothly we're convinced it was meant to be.

Drama on the Marie Heinekenplein

Köln Christmas Markets: part twee

There is something special about Christmas in Europe, having grown up in Sydney, the days leading up to Christmas' composed mostly of humidity, bikini's and fake snow from a can on windows. But in Europe you really feel Christmas is... Christmas. Hot mugs of glühwein, the smell of cinnamon in the air, people in big coats and gloves, pepperkaker, and ice skating rinks outside, outside!

So imagine how much I was bursting with excitement on the days leading up to our weekend in Köln a weekend dedicated to checking out Christmas markets! A concept I had only heard of a few months ago. After all the excitement I am happy to report back that I was not disappointed at all. The markets, the food, the smells, the sights, the goods were soooo good and so so Christmas'y.

Doughnut men with cherry hearts

Shot 10 seconds before we all gorged on chocolate covered fruits

Amandaliscious

Assorted spices

The Köln Christmas markets turned out to be an excellent way to start to the Christmas season. And on our return to Amsterdam all the Sinterklaas decorations had been replaced with Christmas ones, this weekend we will pick up a tree and before we know it we will be zooming over to Norway for another white Christmas. 

Köln Christmas Markets: part een

Last Saturday Mats and I jumped into a car with Amanda and Dave and drove to Köln. I was surprised to find that it was not a pretty city at all, being almost completely bombed during WW2 most of the cities architecture is from the 1950's so it lacked a lot of the old charm many other large European cities have. But what it did have were some amazing Christmas markets (have I mentioned markets are my favourite thing of all time?), excellent tastes and a pretty good vibe.

I'm sure my body still hasn't recovered from all the delicious beer and market food I stuffed into it - delicious egg nog, yummy (and probably glutenous) potato cakes with apple sauce, currywurst, chili mushroom stroganoff, jalapeno and mango shots, deep fried brie, chocolate coated mandarin pieces and probably many, many more things my brain has conveniently repressed.

A Case Against Meat

My attention was caught by an add on Facebook today; the head of an orangoutang in cling wrap ready to be sold in supermarkets. I clicked the link which took me to a page that warned meat sold in Albert Hjein was soy fed, soy which is grown in plantations in South America that are not only damaging the environment but are also the cause of human rights violations. 

I googled around a little and found this video which was part of an investigation by The Economist into Europe's cheap meat, click here to read the full article or watch the video below.

Friends of the Earth in The Netherlands has an ongoing campaigning about this apparently The Netherlands is the world's second largest importer of soy.  If you feel as sick as I do right now please read and sign their petition.  

We have already cut down drastically on meat mostly because we've found the quality of meat here pretty shocking, after reading this though, there is just no way we will be going anywhere near soy fed meat and instead aim at organic and free range. Can that even be found here in the Netherlands? Eating for me is getting harder and harder by the day. I am now a gluten free, sustainable fish only, extremely strictly non cephalopod, organic/free range meat eater. Bloody great...