passion...

happy valentine's day! i very recently was a preschool teacher, which is the age when valentine's day is still all about candy and love for your friends and family, so that's how i like to think of it, so please don't unleash the "i hate being single" diatribe on me. 

we started with coffee and breakfast (yes, those are not always linked, so they are deserving of separate listings)

so, funny story. i ordered a latte, and ryan ordered a coffee. he gave me the espresso, which came with some hot milk and sugar on the side, so i made what i thought was my own latte. but actually, ryan drank it, and i had his espresso. 

ryan's breakfast, bacon and sausage and egg on bread...

and i had a grilled cheese with the yolk of his egg. people always ask me how i can stand the fact that my husband is a really picky eater and doesn't enjoy a lot of the same things i do, but i say it works out perfectly, because there's more for me. i am extremely greedy. plus, he gets to eat all my shellfish, and most of my protein, so it works out. 

then we went for a walk behind Centraal Station. did you want a bike?? we were trying to find the ferry terminal to book passage to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in march, but we couldn't find it... 

is it a little sad how excited I am to be wearing a red coat that matches the red bicycles??

peking duck in chinatown...

THE coolest comic book store ever. those are stained glass windows with superhero logos. what if you had those in your house???

spot of tea, yes indeed. 

more dutch gables.

we had valentine's high tea at a bakery near dam square. this was our table:

we started with some really good cava-- so good, in fact, that ryan, who despises sparkling wine, said, "this is really good; let's get more."

and, as should be proper and right on valentine's day for all people forever, we began with desserts. a huge slice of the following: blueberry bread pudding, cheesecake, caramel walnut tart, chocolate cake, and chocolate macademia fudge. plus a cranberry scone for me, with clotted cream and leman curd and strawberry jam, and chocolate scone for ryan. he didn't want clotted cream (muhahahaha), so i didn't have to share. 

it was delicious. I forgot to take a picture of the second course, which was a bunch of tea sandwiches and quiches, but you can imagine it, and yes-- they were also amazing. 

my valentine for ryan. 

dinner: falafel and schwarma, plus coke light and water red (aka gassy)

the bakery where we stopped after a walk through the red light district (you can't take pictures there, they'll take away your camera, but let me assure you that it is not quite how you picture it, unless in your imagination the girls are not that pretty and look bored while texting or filing their nails. in which case, yeah, it's a lot like that. incidentally, all the swans in amsterdam appear to sleep in the canals outside the red light district, but until i can figure out the setting on my camera, you'll have to wait for those. tomorrow, possibly. 

how cute are these valentine cheesecakes? except they kind of look like little faces, which is weird. 

and sweets for a valentine! mine looks like a bleeding wound, but it's actually the best cherry turnover ever, and ryan had a chocolate waffle, which is very very good for you. 

oh, and i did get some flowers, from my love, and we even had a vase for them:

tomorrow we will buy our museumkaarts and tour the rijksmuseum and have a picnic in vondelpark. we only walked 6 miles today, and we're hoping to do double that tomorrow... jet lag's officially worn off, and we're ready to go-go-go!