Again, a visit to Amsterdam, and again to the 9 Straatjes (9 Streets) area, this time with my friend Marjolein. Wearing a pink jacket with jeans and trainers for comfort. When you are walking through a town all day, you need comfortable shoes.

Walking from the station to the 9 Streets, we passed Magna Plaza. It is a magnificent building which used to be a post office. It has been converted into a shopping mall but that never got off the ground properly. I have no idea why not. It is so beautiful and it rains a lot in the Netherlands, so why not shop indoors? Read more about it on Wikipedia.

Below: The back of Magna Plaza. The tower that you see is part of Magna Plaza. The building has a few more towers, smaller ones.

Below: We started at Gastmolenstraat. In this short and small street, you will find an elaborate shop with tights, stockings and many socks. I took two photos especially for my friend and editor Selina, who is crazy about socks.

The shop is called Socks We Love.

Below: Then in that narrow street, somebody was renovating a house and I took a short video. This is how they get stuff to the upper floors without using the steep and narrow stairs.

Below: We did a bit of shopping and had lunch at Koffiehuis de Hoek, an excellent address for good food, delicious cappuccino and cakes and some real hospitality.
After lunch we started to photograph the outfit. It was a bit too bright and sunny for good photos. We tried to find spots in the shade but that didn’t always work out.

 Below: Then we found this house with wisteria and stairs. Good spot.

Below: My hair turned orange in the photo but you know it is not, so I rely on your memory. The pink jacket I found at kpa.haarlem. It is by Les Soeurs, a small Belgian label. It looks great buttoned up with no top underneath but it wasn’t warm enough yet, hence the blue and white striped top. You will get to see the jacket without the top further on in the year.
For more interest I added a green bracelet.

 Below: We decided to do the sitting down pose here as well, after I had arranged my hair again. The trainers (sneakers) are by Vic Matié and a couple of years old.

Below: Why my hair looks orange in the photos I don’t know. Anyway, a close-up for Josep-Maria. The Delft blue earrings are by Lara Design. Very similar ones are on her website and if you want to customise the earrings, just email her and you can discuss it through video calling or email. No extra charge.

Below: Some more wisteria.

Below: In an accessory shop in the 9 Streets this salesgirl had on such a cute blouse, I had to take a photo. She was a good sport and consented.

Below: Close-up of the buttons. It is one of the easiest tricks to upgrade a simple garment: change the buttons.

Below: Another great building. I also took a few close-ups for you to see the details. At the top are two spires and a ship.

Below: Close-up of the ship.

Below: That ship is also above the front door, with its name underneath: “Amsterdams Welvaren” (Amsterdam Prosperity). A little bit underneath and to the right you see: “1e Nederlandsche bewaarschool anno 1830” (First Dutch Kindergarten in the year 1830). And in the middle is a facebrick with a bear and the text “In de Berestraat” (In Bear street), which is the name of the street. There is a great story about the ship and the kindergarten but it is in Dutch. If you translate if through Google Translate, perhaps it will be coherent enough to understand.

 Below: It is a nice backdrop for a photo.

Below: Marjolein was dressed in blue with an adorable puffy blouse.

Below: We stopped for a cappuccino with a madeleine, that delicious French cake which they do so well at Pompadour. They sell cakes and chocolates of the highest quality and are situated at Huidenstraat.

Below: Marjolein enjoying her madeleine.

Below: Then on to do some more shopping. Marjolein is trying on a bright blue jumper here. Alas, it was too big. I bought a silver bag in that shop.😏

Below: Walking back to the station we came across a very wonky and small house. If it weren’t for the two buildings on either side, this house would not be here anymore.

Below: One last old building, dating from 1627.

The end of a very enjoyable day.

What happened in my life this week

Ron is buying more and more plants for the garden and with some rain and sunshine, that garden is coming along beautifully. Here are some photos below.

Below: We have a little waterfall. I am glad we purchased some more plants for the pond; they make it nicer.

Below: Close-up of some flowers growing in our garden.

Below: We decided not to repaint the fence. If we were to buy a house in France, we would have to pay extra for the patina.

Below: On my way to the jeweller last week, I photographed a bridge (Staalmeestersbrug) in Amsterdam.

Below: And the Staalmeesters canal. Such pretty picture. I probably have photographed and featured it before.

Not a lot happened this week. I am sure that getting a pedicure and picking up hemmed trousers from the tailor aren’t exciting happenings.

Marjolein and I were to do a photo shoot on Tuesday but the weather forecast said it was going to be cold and windy so we postponed it to Saturday, hoping for higher temperatures. This spring has been disappointing as far as temperature is concerned. There have been gorgeous days, but not this week. I mean, 11°C at 3 pm on the 11th of May with fierce wind? Not my idea of spring.

Below: One of my outfits this week. You saw it before, now with different jeans and footwear and wearing the cardigan open. Plus a preview of my new silver bag.

I finally got my hairpiece back, and my hairdresser cut and styled it. I think I did pretty well without it, but I am glad to have it back. The hairdresser also did my own hair and I asked her to leave it longer than she likes to, just like last time. I like it longer, it sort of bridges the distance between my head and my shoulders.

Helga and I went out to dinner; her treat, bless her. It was dodgy weather so I decided to go by car even though parking in the nearby garage is expensive. Better than arriving like a drowned cat as we say in the Netherlands.

Below: Helga in a tiered ruffle skirt. I love such skirts, I should wear my black one again.
Helga is a beauty, she is two years younger than I am but looks like 40. Some people have the best genes.

Below: Me and Helga at restaurant Moustique. It is a high-quality restaurant and the food was delicious. The service excellent too. Quite the treat.
And spending an evening with Helga is always great.

Until next week.

Greetje