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Showing posts from September, 2023

School & Football

A big milestone on our new adventure - the start of school. Sam is in year 4 (3rd Grade) of The British School of Amsterdam.  He is very excited and loves that the school used to be a prison. Sam also started a football (soccer) league.  He has a long way to go but enjoys it.  

Volleyball, Bootcamp, Bikes & Picnics

Now that school has started and we are settling in Amsterdam, we are exploring new activities. First, Ryan convinced me to come out of volleyball retirement and play on the Saturday meetup he found. I haven't played volleyball since before the pandemic.  This is 3 hours of playing with random people on random teams.  This allows for flexibility and no commitment to play every week which is good.  I lasted 2.5 hours which may be the longest I've ever played volleyball since maybe the days of beach volleyball afternoons in Chicago.  It was hot, I was out of "volleyball shape" and my arms were confused by what was happening to them. I was super bruised and sore. Yes, I did this to myself and will probably do it again. On Wednesday I signed up for an expat fitness meetup. This was a choice of yoga, bootcamp or boxing in the park.  I chose yoga.  The yoga teacher didn't show up so they offered me a spot in bootcamp which I reluctantly accepted. Similar to volley...

Spoleto

Spoleto is a small town in the Umbra region of Italy - kind of right in the middle of Italy.  Ryan's dad and stepmom discovered this town years ago and we have visited before.  After spending a couple days in Rome it is a nice reprieve from the crowds. More Spoleto Pictures Here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/wA1gCf1rbemMy93z7 Initially in Spoleto Ryan was working so Sam and I explored the town.  We spent time in the main piazza, walked around the Rocca (fortress), stalked stray cats (there are many in Spoleto), hit a museum and enjoyed the views.   My friend Gretchen who lives in the UK with her husband Jim (see the previous Red Hot Chili Peppers/London/Girl's Weekend entry for more details on Gretchen) happen to have a house in Mogliano which is about a 1.5 hour drive from Spoleto.  They also happened to be there when we were in Spoleto.  So we rented a car and went to visit them.  I have a separate photo album from our short time visiti...