All Categories

Van Gough and Strolling Through the City

10/4/2025

It is our first time seeing Amsterdam and decide to take our time, usually planning only one activity a day and allowing ourselves to relax and soak in the city.

On Friday after a good breakfast we wander through streets lining the canals on our way to the Van Gough Museum. I hadn’t realized that Van Gough painted 35 or 36 self-portraits, mostly as a way to refine his skills and try out new techniques. There are perhaps 20 on display at the museum all in one gallery - an evolution of the painter himself. I am struck by some of his later paintings, including The Dance Hall in Arles (1888).

Saturday is a good day for strolling around the city. We start at the Floating Flower Market which is mostly about selling bulbs and seeds. In any season you can find some tulips, but only because of the greenhouses at this time of year. Then it is off to Dam Square to see the exteriors of the Royal Palace, the Niewe Church and then the National Monument.

In the afternoon we wander through the 9 Streets area, looking at small shops, walking along the canals and stopping for a pint of Heineken and glass of wine to “rest our feet.” It is fun to see the houseboats parked along the canals. Originally they helped relieve some of the housing crisis after WW2, but now they are some of the most desired properties in Amsterdam.

0 Comments

First Day In Amsterdam

10/2/2025

0 Comments

We fly from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Amsterdam direct on an 11 1/2 hour KLM flight.  It would have been nice to fly in business class, but Economy Comfort has to do.  As I waited for confirmation of our permanent residency status the cost for the flight more than tripled!  At least we have the nicer seats with more leg room and foot rests.

I knew the weather would be a little cool when we arrive the afternoon of October 2nd, but we settle in just as a storm turns the lovely autumn into cool, rainy days.  Oh well, we just bundle up and take our umbrellas.

Our hotel, Boutique Hotel Albus, is near the Munttoran and the Floating Flower Market and our priority the first evening is to do a small walk through the area and find a good restaurant.  We quickly see that bicycle riding a significant form of transportation as hundreds of riders swoop past us on their way home from work and to do errands.  We learn the protocol for where to cross the bike lanes in order to not fear for our lives!

After a great steak dinner we take a stroll and stop at one of the famous stroopwafel joints. The super-thinly sliced waffle with filled with caramel and topped with oreo is WAY too sweet. Glad we decided to share one!

As we walk through the streets we cannot miss the sweet smell of cannabis. It is everywhere, and as we find out during our trip it doesn’t matter the time of day - it lingers around the city.

0 Comments

A Trip From Ecuador

9/30/2025

0 Comments

In 2022 William set a goal of changing his diet and lowering his weight. He said if he hit a certain weight and was able to maintain it he would celebrate by having a Guinness at the bar on the rooftop of the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, Ireland. He made his goal, losing 65 pounds, but we moved to Ecuador and started our residency process. So after we are approved for permanent residency I surprised him with a trip to Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Dublin.

0 Comments

Enjoying Cuenca & Pushing Paperwork

9/17/2023

2 Comments

The weather has become very pleasant. Rain is infrequent, and occurs during the evening while we are sleeping. Temperatures are 22-24 C (72-74 F) in the afternoons. I enjoy going on late morning walks around El Centro, along the Tomebamba river and to the El Vergel area. Besides enjoying the beauty and the neighborhoods I add some purpose for my treks. This week I search out food products of interest - specifically Italian sausage and wine. Bocatti is a local cafe and deli started by Italian immigrant over 30 years ago. It’s just a 30 minute walk away - perfect! Unfortunately I find that they do not sell Italian sausage and that their small assortment of wines are not inspiring and are $30+ per bottle. Another day I walk to Laguarda for their liquor / wine selections and then to Salumeria Vecchia Modena to see if they have Italian sausage. I buy a bottle of wine and try out 3 Italian sausages. Both are better than what I have found in other stores, but still leave me wanting and thinking about our travels to Italy last fall. Oh the fooood!

On my walks I enjoy the bustle of the city, the street art and the interesting foliage.

We continue the process of becoming “legal” for an extended stay in Cuenca. On Wednesday Maria Elaina drives William to the Immigration office in Azogues for his appointment at the Immigration Office. While I waited 45 minutes to be called to a desk, William waits over two hours. Even Maria Elaina becomes impatient and begins questioning officials as they walk past the waiting room. Finally William is called to a desk, provides his signature on the paperwork and is told to watch his email for the visa approval and appointment to receive his visa. Alas, by the end of the week he still has not received an email.

On Friday I meet Evan, an assistant to our Attorney, at the Registro Civil Agencia in Cuenca at 8 am. This is the agency which processes cedula’s , the Ecuadorian identification cards (similar to US social security cards). The attorney warns that it may take two to three hours to complete the process. I meet up with Evan and another expat a few minutes before 8 am. I chat with the expat who is doing a renewal and by 8:30 she has her renewed cedula in hand. I am processed a little later, but by 8:50 am I also have my cedula in hand. Yay!! Evan declares that this is record time - last week he was at Registro Civil Agencia for over three hours with two other clients. Evan walks us next door and helps the two of us to obtain laminated copies of our cedula’s , which he advises us to carry and use for everyday transactions. Seems like a good investment - especially at a cost of $3 each. 😊

Old Photo's and Symphony

On Friday we meet with friends for wine and appetizers at their condo before going to the Symphony. We enjoy meeting new friends as well as old and then walk to Teatro Pumapungo for the music. Tonight the Symphony has a guest conductor from Puerto Rico and a flutist from the U.S. Very enjoyable! On Saturday William and and I walk to a photo exhibit at Museo de la Cuidad. It has photographs from the late 1800’s through the 1960’s. It’s fun to see the old photographs from Cuenca.

Sunday is another great weather day with warmer temperatures and blue skies. After watching some of the Green Bay Packers game on YouTube TV we go for a late lunch at Cafe del Museo, dining al fresco.

2 Comments

Visa Emotional Rollercoaster

9/10/2023

2 Comments

Cuenca Street Scenes

We spend two weeks on an emotional rollercoaster related to our Ecuador Professional Visa’s.  William’s degree still not been accepted by Senescyt.  In the first rollercoaster week we receive information on Wednesday from our attorney that the Immigration Office does not have any appointments available until November, and that perhaps our appointments will not be until the end of November.  Also, we should not leave Ecuador until the visas are issued or we will need to almost fully restart the documentation from the US.  No way we should go to our niece Lydia’s wedding in October in the US.  Oh noooo!  We decide to postpone signing the lease on our next condo until we better understand our situation.

We send an email with questions/concerns and set an appointment to see our attorney late Thursday.  We inform friends of what sounds like our bad news.  As a result our friend JJ sends a personal note to our attorney.  Thursday at our appointment our attorney says she is going to the immigration office in-person on Friday and will plead for us to receive September appointments.  We agree that since Anne’s degree has been approved by Senescyt I will move forward with the Professional Visa and William will become my dependent.  Friday afternoon I receive an email from the attorney’s office that I have an appointment Monday morning and a list of documents I must provide.  Yay!  Next week sounds like it is going to be a lot better.

Monday I ride with Maria Elaina, an assistant to the attorney, and Janice, another expat, to the immigration office in Azogues, a 40 minute drive.  Maria Elaina has assembled all of my necessary paperwork and I provide my passport.  After a 45 minute wait I am called to a desk.  I sign a form in two places, receive back my passport and I’m done for the day.  On the drive Maria Elaina tells me that I will be informed of my next visa appointment via email, but it will be on Friday.  I receive an email that afternoon that I am approved and must reappear on Friday to receive my Professional Visa.

In the interim William must extend his tourist visa, as his processing will not be completed before his standard 90 day tourist visa expires.  He waits for instructions from our attorney on Tuesday, but nothing arrives by late afternoon so we send her an email and a WhatsApp message.  Wednesday morning William receives an email to go to meet Evan (another of the attorney’s assistants) on the second floor of the Cuenca airport at 2:30 pm and to bring his passport and $151.  The second floor of the airport is half food services and half government offices, an interesting arrangement. Some forms are filled out, Evan takes the $151 to a bank 20 minutes away, receives a receipt and returns to the airport.  He and William turn in the paperwork and the receipt, hand over William’s passport for a few minutes and when it is returned William is told that he has a 90 day extension.  If he leaves the country within the 90 days he may not return until next year.  No issue - he is planning to have his Professional Visa in the next few weeks.

Friday afternoon Maria Elaina again drives me to Azogues.  She takes my passport to a desk along with the confirmation of my 2:45 pm appointment.  After a 30 minute stop in the waiting room I am again called to a desk where I sign a form in two places and collect my passport.  I am told that the actual visa is now electronic and I will receive it via e-mail.  Nothing is physically placed in the passport, though it’s advisable to print a copy and take it along when traveling.  The visa pdf is in my in-box before we are back in Cuenca.  I need my visa before William can apply for his visa as a dependent and Maria Elaina tells me that William’s appointment will be next Wednesday.  He will receive instructions from her next week.  One down, one to go!

The two weeks finds us meeting up with old and new friends. We celebrate our visa progress with David and JJ. We meet up for coffee with Heather, our upstairs neighbor at the Airbnb. We also have breakfast at Las Nomads Bistro with Nikki (who will be our upstairs neighbor at Casas del Nogal) before we go off to sign our six month lease. Her breakfast “toast” looks amazing.

I decide that it may be time to try out an exercise class both to help me get in shape and to meet new people. I do some research on Pilates and Qi Gong studios in the area, but am drawn to a new fitness gym that is just opening in El Centro. The owner is bi-lingual and claims that he will have classes aimed at gently building strength for expats and Ecuadorians. It’s his diplomatic way of saying he’ll have classes appropriate us old people. He offers four free classes and after that it’s $5 a class. The first class is just myself and Judy, another expat. By the fourth class we have five expats and one local women. I am sore after the Tuesday and Thursday classes, but I am enjoying them so will continue.

Making Chicken Nuggets

The rest of the two weeks is filled with walks enjoying the local activities and watching college football, the Rugby World Cup, NFL games and some shows/movies on TV. We finish out all 20 seasons of Midsomer Murders! For fun William tries out several carnivore recipes thanks to the loan of a food processor from our friend Burt’s kitchen. They’re a success.😀

2 Comments

Tummy Troubles and Pleasant Walks

8/27/2023

0 Comments

On Sunday William comes down with a stomach bug. Happily, David, JJ and I do not develop any issues. William starts by handling it with standard flu treatments, sipping liquids and minimizing his food intake, but moves on to medicines after a couple of days. I do some shopping at Supermaxi for soup, and I’m successful in finding one can of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. It’s imported and costs $3.50, oh well, when you’re sick you want comfort food).

While William is house-bound I go out and about for daily walks. One day I run into a street performer near the central plaza (Parque Calderon) whose “performance” is posing as a business man rushing to his appointment. The fun part for me is that it is not culturally appropriate in Cuenca, I don’t think I have ever seen a “rushing” business man. On rainy mornings the city’s cobblestone plazas take on a glisten under the grey skies while tourists linger a little longer in the cafe’s but those who venture out are awarded with great photos.

By Thursday William is feeling well enough to try his first restaurant meal. It helps that Sunrise Cafe has it’s steak and eggs special on Thursday’s. In the late afternoon Casa Yangoe has a musical performance by Flute and Pepper, talented artists from Venezuela and Colombia. Since we haven’t eaten since breakfast we order a charcuterie board to snack on during their performance. It works out okay - William enjoys the carnivore-friendly meats and cheeses while I love the olives and nuts with bites of cheese. After a bit one of our neighbors at the Airbnb comes into the venue and joins our table. We have a good visit during a break in the music.

By Sunday William is feeling 95%, good enough for an adventure on a beautiful day. We take a taxi to Jardin Botanico de Cuenca, our first visit to the park. It’s a newer park and we can see how it will be very lovely as the plants mature in a few years. William is up for the walk home, 2.6 km (1.6 mi), including going up the steps and hill to El Centro. A cheeseburger that looks like it is in an advertisement at Restaurante Barranico rounds out the week. As a carnivore it’s a pity that William is not able to eat the bun and fries (but I can 😁).

0 Comments

Friends, Bureaucracy & Celebrations

8/20/2023

0 Comments

On Sunday we are invited to our friends David and JJ’s for dinner.  They live just a block away from our Airbnb so it’s a very easy stroll.   JJ prepares a delicious meal and we have great fun talking and laughing.  David has a renewed interest in playing cribbage so after dinner he and William sneak in a couple of games.  Perhaps David will join us at Tuesday cribbage in one of the upcoming weeks.

Tuesday’s cribbage game has six players and is very enjoyable.  It helps that I win my first game and that we change players for each of the three games.  Between hands we talk about life in Cuenca.

Wednesday’s morning is very full.  At 9 am the building maintenance man arrives to fix our master shower door, which literally has a screw coming loose.  Also at 9 am Cecilia, the maid arrives.  Something I didn’t realize when I booked the Airbnb was that weekly maid service is included. 😊 Last week she spent 3 1/2 hours here.  Soon after their arrivals we head out the door.   Today we walk a block or so to Kolo Restaurant for breakfast.  It’s on the first story (one floor up) of a lovely old colonial building which has been converted to a hostel on the ground floor.  The waiter explains that today’s special is cinnamon roll french toast with two eggs.  I can’t resist.  William is good and sticks to his carnivore eggs and bacon.  The food and service is very good.

A property manager has told us of an available three bedroom townhouse in the new town. Our plan is to walk to the neighborhood to see if it’s within an acceptable range. The day is sunny and the temperatures are warming up. Although Google Maps says it’s an 18 minute walk, we conclude that the distance and route from El Centro would mean that we would likely take more taxis rather than walk. Oh well, we’ll pass on this townhome.

We do some other errands, including a haircut for William. He stops in a barbershop he used years ago during one of our previous visits to Cuenca. The cut looks good and only costs $4, $5 with tip.

Our major activity for Wednesday is the meeting with our attorney to discuss next steps for our visas.  We are disappointed to learn that William’s education documents are not yet approved by Senescyt (National Secretary Of Superior Education, Science, Technology and Innovation).  We are further disappointed to learn that we do not yet have an appointment to actually submit all the paperwork for Anne’s Professional Visa.  No appointments are available in August and the appointment calendar for September will not be be released for weeks.  In addition we will need to apply for an extension to our tourist visas if we do not submit the paperwork for the Professional Visas by September 5th.  Oy!  This causes lots of potential issues with our plan to travel to the US for our niece’s wedding in October, as once we leave the country on the extension Visa we cannot return until our Professional Visas are approved or until January, 2024.  Oy! Oy!  Sara, our attorney, attempts to make us feels good saying it is still possible all will work out, but we leave the office a little depressed.

Thursday we decide to just proceed believing all will work out with the visas.  We meet an acquaintance who lives in the condo building where we first saw a unit (Casas del Nogal).  Over a light breakfast we get further acquainted and she provides her perspective of the condo building and neighbors.  All sounds good.  An hour later JJ texts that she and David are going to have breakfast at Sunrise Cafe, where the Thursday special is steak and eggs.  William says it’s a perfect opportunity for second breakfast!

Given the positive information about Casas del Nogal we re-look at the available condo on Friday afternoon.  We find some things we would like changed or repaired and agree that we will rent the condo for six months beginning October 2nd.

The other big activity of the week is the celebration of our wedding anniversary.  It seems impossible that it has been 45 years, especially since some days I still think of myself as 37 years old!  David and JJ are invited for dinner on Saturday.  William wants to make his spaghetti sauce from scratch, and he takes several days to prepare and then cook the sauce.  We buy 36 Roma tomatoes at the Mercado which he blanches and processes into juice and pulp.  We can’t find decent mild Italian sausage, so I buy ground pork and various spices which William makes into sausage.  It’s not the same as in the US, but will do.  Thursday is sauce day, where William makes meatballs as well as sausage torpedos which are floated in the seasoned tomato juice and pulp and slowly boiled for 3 hours.

Our meal on Saturday includes penne pasta in sauce, meatballs and sausages, roasted pork loin and broccoli. Everything is made from scratch. David and JJ are very generous and bring a beautiful strawberry cake for dessert. We enjoy good conversation, good wine and good food. A wonderful celebration with friends.

0 Comments

Sadness, Easing into Life in Ecuador

8/13/2023

0 Comments

This is a period of sadness for the country of Ecuador, when it should be fun and happiness for Independence Day. On Wednesday Fernando Villavicencio, one of the candidates for President, is assassinated in the city of Quito. He was outspoken about battling gangs and corruption, and unfortunately it looks like it cost him his life. In addition to a period of mourning the current President declares a state of emergency in some areas of the country and cancels the Independence Day celebrations planned for the weekend throughout the country.

For us in Cuenca, life goes on as we ease into a new rhythm and search for long term housing. Sunday is turning into one of my favorite days. I am greeted by smiling runners, walkers and bicyclists along the Tomebamba riverside path during my morning walk. Supermaxi is fully stocked with a wide variety fruits, vegetables and meats awaiting the families who will shop in the afternoon. The afternoons are a pleasure sitting in Parque Calderon or grabbing a snack in one of the restaurants in the courtyard next to the New Cathedral, its impressive domes soaring into the sky and providing inspiration.

Our search for long-term housing starts with a lovely condo in a relatively new building a few blocks from our Airbnb. It’s very nice, but we would love a little bit of private outdoor space. The next day a realtor drives us around to look at four properties. They include a house in need of work, a house with a circular staircase without handrails (but a good backyard area) and two apartments in a newly completed building outside of El Centro. This helps us to start to narrow our desired area within the city. We will continue looking. Ecuador does not have the equivalent of a MLS - each realtor or rental agent only represents the properties their company has listed/managed. We use the network of expat friends and acquaintances to get the word out on what we are looking for in a rental.

The cribbage group should still be meeting at a cafe on Tuesday afternoons at 2 pm. It’s always a bit of a pick-up group, people show up when they can. William and I arrive 15 minutes early and there’s no one there. We sip our coffees and wonder if the group has disbanded or if this is just a week when people are busy. A little after 2 Robert strolls into the cafe, cribbage board and deck in hand. The three of us play three games. We chuckle through the first game - paced 15 pegs apart.

Cathedral Domes at Night

0 Comments

Return to Ecuador

8/6/2023

0 Comments

Cuenca's Cathedral with it's Iconic Blue Domes welcome us back again

On Tuesday at 4:30 am our limo driver Everett pulls up in front of our Knoxville home. He loads our five suitcases and us into the car and sprints us off to Mc-Gee Tyson airport to begin our journey to Ecuador. After clearing security we grab some seats at the gate and then go for coffee. William comes prepared with his own coffee mug! Three flights and 13 hours later we land in Guayaquil. William has been really dreading the day, but aside for some frustration in checking our bags (United was having system problems) the flights and connections go very well.

After deplaning in Guayaquil we join a queue of easily 500 people awaiting immigration control. Ouch! The line is moving, but slowly. A uniformed man is walking through the crowd and he seems to be directing some people to a faster path. In English I finally ask the group around me what he is saying and a woman says “elderly and children.” In Ecuador elderly is anyone 65 or older. Woo hoo! I guess that there are some advantages to getting old. William and I join the fast track line of old people.

We spend Tuesday night at the Marriott Courtyard and on Wednesday Klever picks us up in his new dual-cab pickup. The three and one-half hour drive to Cuenca takes us along fields of bananas, cocoa, coffee and rice. Then we climb the Andes going through twists, turns, grand vistas, fog and some stretches of road recently repaired from landslides. The Cajas National Park is beautiful, but there are few places to pull over to snap a photo.

The Airbnb condo we have rented for 10 weeks is in a lovely new building located in the center of Cuenca’s UNESCO old city “El Centro”. The new living room furniture is cushioned, but has the typical Ecuadorian 90 degree angle where the seat and back join. Some back pillows make it closer to what our North American bodies prefer. We love having a courtyard right outside our door and private patio area, complete with a humming bird feeder. The condo includes modern conveniences such as an oven and dishwasher, but like the vast majority of homes in Cuenca it does not have heat or air conditioning. It is the winter here now, and temperatures range from 45F at night to 72F during the day. A small space heater takes the nip out of the air before bed and we snuggle under blankets. As we snuggle in for a good nights sleep we are delighted that we do not hear any of the cars, busses or nightclubs that are omni-present in El Centro. It is a very, very nice condo.

We spend the next few days unpacking, buying groceries and generally gearing back into life in Cuenca. On Wednesday we invite friends David and JJ for some wine at the Airbnb before going to dinner. As we leave we pause to enjoy the music in the courtyard of our condo building. Thursday we have a leisurely start to the day then walk around the corner to Sunrise Cafe for their steak and eggs breakfast special. $6.50 for 2 eggs, steak, potatoes or fruit and coffee or tea. The steak is consistently one of the best we’ve had in Cuenca. Can’t beat it!

The Cuenca Symphony Orchestra offers concerts several times a month. Friday’s performance is at Casa de la Cultura, just 3 blocks from our Airbnb. We enjoy the concert, but the seats in the theater are old and uncomfortable. We look forward to future performances at Teatro Pumapungo.

0 Comments

Birthdays and Ecuador Prep

3/26/2023

2 Comments

Fischer Emmett

On March 15th our son and daughter-in-law become proud parents of their second son.  He comes into this world at 5 pounds 13 ounces and he is so precious in the photos!  We will be able hold him in a few weeks when we are scheduled to spend nine days in Charlotte.

March 26th is William’s birthday. To celebrate I make a reservation at Brazeiros, a Brazilian restaurant complete with gauchos and all-you-can eat meats. There’s also a nice salad bar, but William chooses only some cheese and salmon before flipping his marker over to green to tell the gauchos to bring on the meat!  Oh my - they rotate the choices between 15 different cuts of beef, pork, lamb and chicken.  We leave stuffed, and spend more than a few hours reclining on the couch and living room chair digesting all that food.

Alongside the birthdays we tackle some tasks needed for our Ecuador visas and preparation for living ~ two years primarily in Ecuador.  While we were still in Cuenca we pursued two avenues to obtain the letters needed to accompany our diplomas and transcripts.  The advisory office at UW-Milwaukee is very disappointing - William receives a field of study letter which doesn’t address the requirements, we’re sure it is because the head of office is tired of William contacting her.  After strategizing he appeals to the Dean of the Architecture school.  She is very helpful and sends a letter which our attorney says should work.

My experience with Northwestern is fantastic.  The Registrars Office is very helpful both in e-mail and on the phone and process my transcripts and diploma as needed.  My request for the mode of study letter and field of study letter is forwarded to my masters program.  The current director of the program responds the same day letting me know when she can complete the letters.  When she ran into issues finding a notary for the letters on campus she made visits to bank and had them notarized there.  Definitely a huge attitude difference from William’s advisory office!

With the aid of William’s sister all the needed documentation is packaged and sent to the two different Secretary of State offices to be apostilled.

We also research and find a mail handling/forwarding service, iPostal1.  They have 2,500+ service centers they contract with in the US, four in the greater Knoxville area.  We visit the Postal Annex service center and we're comfortable with what we see, so we sign up for their 30 pieces of mail/month plan to try it out.  We receive a Knoxville address for us to use and fill out a form to tell the US Post Office that iPostal1/Postal Annex is allowed to receive our mail.  I send four pieces of test mail to our “new address”.   I’m notified by iPostal1 when the mail is received, and each envelope is scanned and uploaded to our portal for us to decide how to handle.  I instruct them to discard three of the letters and to open and scan the contents of the fourth.  We are able to download the scanned contents in pdf format and then instruct them to discard the envelope and contents.  I could have chosen to have them shred for an additional fee.  So far so good!  We will use the service more while we are in the US to further test it out.

2 Comments

<<Previous

Van Gough and Strolling Through the City

First Day In Amsterdam

A Trip From Ecuador

Enjoying Cuenca & Pushing Paperwork

Visa Emotional Rollercoaster

Tummy Troubles and Pleasant Walks

Friends, Bureaucracy & Celebrations

Sadness, Easing into Life in Ecuador

Return to Ecuador

Birthdays and Ecuador Prep

Author

Archives

Categories