When you first enter the house, you enter through the old coach house and warehouse. It is filled with various objects and paintings and showcases some of the spices that were acquired and traded through merchant shipping to Spain, Africa, Surinaam, and West Indies. We rushed a bit through this area to get outside and enjoy the beautiful gardens. I love finding little quiet places in the city that make you forget where you are and enjoy the moment. The only thing missing from this garden retreat was my cup of tea. Maybe they will remember to bring it to me next time.
This pond is supposedly the largest pond of an inner garden in Amsterdam.
After enjoying the nice weather and quiet for awhile, we proceeded into the main living quarters. The first room we entered was "The Chinese Room" where Sarah would entertain her friends for tea. The room was a bit of an odd shape and very formal. I can't imagine her tea parties were very fun. I'd rather have an after dinner drink in the library, which I'll get to in a moment.
Fireplace in tea room.
There are 8 of these banners around the room with Rococo decoration. In this one you can also see chinoiserie which was quite fashionable at the time.
Next room on our tour was The Library. This room had a nice relaxed feel and a ladder to access all of the books which I especially liked. With the invention of the e-reader, I will never have enough books to fill a library like this and the books that I do collect are definitely not worthy of their own library but a girl can dream. The floor in this room was also unique in that it was made of pine shelves that came from an abandoned ship. Even back then, the Dutch were re-using.
Relief of a boat on the fireplace that is the emblem of the family Buisman, the present owner of the mansion.
I would love to find one of these bar sets at a flea market.
In the Red room, there is a large piano. It was the one piano in the place that didn't have a "do not touch" sign on it and one tourist wondering through the house thought that the absence of the sign was his invitation to play this piano. He was actually quite good, but the museum docent found it less than amusing. There were a lot of musical instruments, mostly pianos, around the home and the large one that the man took his turn on is played regularly at the weekly concerts open to the public on Sundays. This room also has high ceilings and many fixed mirrors that were meant to reflect the candle light. I'm sure many romantic dinner parties were had here...maybe.
Large mirror over the fireplace.
The last room we viewed was the blue room. There is always something so calming about blue rooms and this one had the same effect. The fact that the windows also looked out over the garden may have helped. This room is done in a Louis XVI style and there are 5 wall panels hung that were painted around 1788 by Egbert van Drielst.
Standing by the windows looking towards The Red Room.
The candle sticks on this fireplace are from Russia and made of melted glass and cobalt. I would love to see these re-used in a new modern application. Maybe even converted into lamps with a nice drum lampshade.
One of the paintings above one of the many pianos.
This last weekend was also another weekend of preparing for baby and getting settled. We were going to just go to Ikea and be done with the crib, which has proved a nightmare to find, but the day before my neighbor emailed me and said that they tried to get the same crib and it was no longer available because they are replacing it with something different at the end of the year. So, I dragged Felipe to a store called Prenatal where I had stopped in one day just weeks after the move. After being to Babypark, Prenatal seemed so tiny and did not have what we were looking for. I ended up ordering a crib from Babypark's website when we got home and, while it is not exactly what I was looking for, it will work and most importantly be here on September 9th. I was also hoping to buy the baby monitor, but again no such luck. We left Prenatal empty handed and Felipe recalled seeing a sign for a "Mediamart" type shop here. We found a directory and saw that we were very close by so popped in to see if they had baby monitors and a step-up for some of our appliances that we brought over. Electronic stores are dangerous. The had baby monitors but not the one that we wanted so again, no luck there. They did, however, have the step up, outlet converters, Nespresso machines, and coffee grinders. We did not leave this place empty handed.
We've went Euro. Our new little machine with a milk steamer/frother. Also loving that I can use my sugar jar since all Europeans seem to like sugar in their coffee. Now we just need some espresso cups.
As for our step-up, it was not such a successful purchase. As soon as we got home, we tried it out with the electric kettle. It immediately started smoking. The kettle uses 1500 watts of electricity and the step-up is meant for appliances that use less than 100 watts.....oops.
I also made my first batch of Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies with walnuts. The first batch turned out a little dark-new appliances. I reduced the temperature and cooking time on the second batch and they turned out great. I've had such a sweet tooth that I needed to make something instead of just grazing on numerous different things and never being satisfied.
Last Wednesday we had our appointment at the hospital to try and turn Optimus. He was not having it! He just stretched out his legs more and firmly planted his position. The doctor congratulated me on my bravery and said that I had put any pre-conceived beliefs that Americans couldn't handle pain to rest. I'm not going to lie, disturbing Optimus on Wednesday, has put me on pins and needles, and I'm constantly counting his kicks and movements to make sure he is okay. Yesterday, I did not need to worry as it may have been one of his most active days to date. I can still feel his head up by my rib cage though so none of the movements involved somersaults. Today, I meet with my mid-wife to discuss the birth plan. Ha!! If only Optimus could talk because I believe he is the one driving this experience, not me.
This weekend we are driving to Bruges for a little rest and relaxation before things get crazy. Well, I guess they are already crazy for Felipe but before my life gets crazy. We are looking forward to really good food and exploring a medieval city. We visited Brussels and Ghent a few years ago and loved them both so I am really looking forward to the weekend getaway. Look for the update next week.
Growing belly update
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