Bay Area Connections

Our dog walker in California had a client who was planning a trip to Amsterdam, so she gave them my e-mail address. Last night we met up for dinner and had a great time at an outdoor cafe, chatting about the Bay area, Amsterdam and life in general. Though we'd never met before this it was fun to meet a fellow American and to reflect on the tasty food in San Francisco. We may even get together again this weekend after her husband arrives.

So far though we haven't been very lucky finding food here that we love - particularly when you factor in the cost due to exchange rates. Maybe we're just spoiled from living in the Bay area. Some of our favorite places are the $8 pizza place and the $6 donar kebab (meat shavings on a pita with vegetables and garlic sauce). I guess until we find the "gems" we'll keep cooking at home and doing our best to recreate favorite recipes. It can be tough to find all of the ingredients though. Mexican food is the hardest so far but we'll keep up the search.

On another note, we've got some fun travel planned. In early September Brett and I are headed to Brussels for the day for a beer festival. Then later in the month we'll be in Munich at Octoberfest, followed by a work trip to Cologne, Germany. In October we'll head to Ireland for a few days. I can't wait to start traveling :-)