Goodbyes!

The first blog! And what better way to start a new adventure with a bit of reminiscing on the past. Saturday 29 August rolled around faster than we could have imagined. The weather was as could be expected for a Dutch summer (torrential rain anyone?) however this did not deter the guests from arriving and drinking the bar dry.

The venue? Cafe Wester. A meer hop, skip & jump from our pad allowing Joep and I to wander happily down the Bloemgracht for one final hoorah in Amsterdam prior to leaving for our newest adventure.

I had planned on writing a great big description of the evenings events however this is unnecessary given that the majority of people reading this blog were there! Old friends, new friends, and a few blow ins arrived for an evening of drinking and a little bit of boogying. The grooving proved more difficult that anticipated given the huge turnout of guests AND the torrential rain outside forcing everyone to remain inside. This all contributed to the great atmosphere though! 

The only hiccup of the evening was the musical battle that continued throughout the evening. Thais had compiled a fantastic playlist for Joep & I to ensure sufficient dance opportunities were presented throughout the night and also to prevent my horrific music taste from ruining the evening. We were very appreciative of this however Joep's friend who was our bar tender for the evening was less appreciative and made an executive decision that his music taste was better therefore continually changing the music. The battle that ensued this was one to behold and provided us with a great deal of entertainment. I am sad to say that Joep's friend came out on top. He had sobriety & the ability to use the switchboard without pressing every button on his side. Lucky man! But Thais gave him a run for his money & we managed to get in a few great tunes as well!

The evening ended in the early hours of Sunday morning at Cafe Nol. Only the hardest core managed to go the distance. Joep & I were impressed! We were also very impressed with the fact that we were able to last that late given our recent reputations as the most likely to go home early. Sunday was a non event as most of us recovered on couches across Amsterdam.

The goodbyes were exactly as they should have been! Fun filled and tear free =) Monday was spent cleaning and packing and packing ... and packing. Tuesday we flew to Ottawa. And here was are. Apartment hunting, learning our way around the city & enjoying some downtime away from the hectic Amsterdam life. Being friendless is quite relaxing!! 

Needless to say we shall miss all the Amsterdam crowd dearly! We anticipate visitors in abundance here in Ottawa and are apartment hunting with this in mind. Until then we will continue to keep you posted on life here in Canada!

Thanks to EVERYONE who came to the partaaaaaay - We loved seeing you all one last time & look forward to similar evenings in the future at various locations around the globe =)