Costanzo's bring Snow

What's the Connection: Long time buddy from Atlanta, Cole consistently delivers a great mix of intellect and comedy topped off with the perfect amount of sarcasm. Cole also has a lot of enthusiasm for the democratic party...ahem...that's an extra large dose of sarcasm.

Why the Visit: Cole has a really cool gig that takes him all over the world, so he had the chance to come through Amsterdam, and decided to bring his fantastic wife Lauren. I wish Cole could have brought the rest of the Costanzo family with him, they are a great crew.

McGees Roll Through

What's the Connection: Kel and I met freshman year in college...so let's just say we go way back. Kel and Casey (Seattle folks) are for sure big favorites in the Willis house as they were a close drive for us from Portland....we even did annual camping trips (with their awesome kids!) ....we miss those.

Why the Visit: Casey (who is in our top visitor category thanks to Microsoft travel) had work in Amsterdam, and in France. He brilliantly cashed in on miles to bring Kel out for a weekend celebration....which we did, and then some.

At last, a Willis visit!

What's the connection: Well, see, about 35 years ago a couple in Atlanta had this kid, and they thought it would be fun to see what he and his wife have been up to in The Netherlands.

Why the visit: This was so long overdue, it also received a posting on our main page, and of course it gets another mention here. I think this was helpful to prove to my folks that we aren't living in the Red Light District, and that Amsterdam is a beautiful city to live in. Of course, they also had a chance to see about a months worth of sites in 10 days. Thanks again for coming Mom and Dad. Click here for all the pics.

Doctors Swing By

What's the Connection: Leanna is my cousin - daughter of my dad's sister - can you see the resemblance? Same height and all, makes for perfect clothes swapping.

Why the Visit: Leanna and Paul (boyfriend) are now both Doctors! To celebrate graduating from Optometry school, they toured all the fabulous parts of Europe ... Greece, Italy and ended in Amsterdam for a visit.

Return of Ma and Pa

What's the Connection: Again, pretty straightforward.

Why the Visit: Mom and Dad get the award for being 2 time visitors. While we'd like to think they only came just to see us, the real truth is Annette and Marc were getting married in Switzerland (see blog). But it was rather convenient we're close by. They took a train via Cologne Germany to go down the Rhine and eat sausage and then hit Amsterdam. And that they did - we took the little boat out and they even got on bikes....such locals. We want to thank Delta for sponsoring their free trip over - lucky us!

P-town Cruises through Amsterdam

What's the Connection: Adam and Gina run the best public opinion firm in the Pacific Northwest (along w/2 other equally cool partners). I was lucky enough to work with them from the start of my Chalkboard days. We bonded quickly while traveling all over Oregon for focus groups and spending weekends going back and forth over email ... ah the good 'ol days. They kept it fun:)

Why the Visit: They are masters of cool cruises...this one stopped in random magical places throughout Europe. The ending point was Amsterdam, and since they did an extensive trip over a few years ago, they were able to feel right at home. And they were our first official visitors in our new place - good times!

Sue, we'll be seeing you soon

What's the connection: Where to begin with Sue? We bonded immediately my first few months in Portland after discovering we both lived in Sevilla. At the same time, she bonded with Geno in a whole separate world. (It took us a few months to figure out we kept talking about the same Sue.) And now, look out Croatia - we're all coming in June!

Why the visit: Well, thanks Nike setting up their European headquarters here, we end up with many cool visitors that we pretend are just her to see us. Sue is one of those. While Geno was gone for work, it worked in my favor cause I got more bonding time.

Switzerland in Town

What's the connection: Annette was a brave 16 year-old who ventured over from Switzerland to study abroad ... in Reedley! Boy did they trick her when she marked "United States" on the application. But lucky for our family, she spent a fabulous year with us.

Why the visit: Annette is now living back in Berne, Switzerland (and is laywer, wow!) and always takes any opportunity to travel with her fiance Marc. It was her first visit to Amsterdam and they covered more ground in 3 days than we have ... even checked out the Tulip Gardens outside the city. Great for us to meet Marc since we're off to their wedding in May - we approve!

Finally, a friend tall enough to be Dutch

What's the connection: Met in Portland, but as a fellow suthana' (Jaime's from Kentucky) there was an immediate connection. Her husband Matt is a great dude, and if they decide to have kids together, they will eat every other kid on the playground for lunch.

Why the visit: Jaime too works for the Swoosh and was in Amsterdam for the week we were in Portugal, but we had one night together where we grabbed some messy ribs to eat, and then tried to go to a bar that was supposedly had a bluegrass band, which is is just slightly less rare than a baseball game in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, we got the address wrong, way wrong - but that's another story.

Sister in Town!

What's the Connection: Pretty clear here, same mom, same dad, same small town memories of growing up in good 'ol Reedley.

Why the Visit: We love each other ... and she proved it by purchasing a ticket ... to Europe while the dollar hits the all time low. That's love. It was Chelsea's first trip to Amsterdam, and she tore across town on a bike like a local. She also cooked up a storm of fabulous food we couldn't resist. In addition to exploring Amsterdam, we also we zipped over to Paris for an amazing weekend walking (and eating) the entire city, click here for pics.

Mike Welsh confirms even German food is better than Dutch food.

Why the Visit: Because Mike needed a break from German dubbed television, EasyJet flies to Amsterdam, and the Band of Horses were playing a concert at the Paradiso ( that we went to see.

What's the Connection: Mike was a classmate in grad school, and now he works for Adidas at their global headquarters in Germany.

World Traveler Arrives

What's the Connection: Shantel goes back to our Portland days ... part of our early crew of friends. She's since left PDX to give Minnesota a shot....but keeps her ties to PDX.

What the Visit: Thanks to her new gig at RedWing, Shantel gets to travel the globe as the head of their casual line. We were lucky enough to be included in her whirlwind trip that started in China and ended in Paris. Not bad huh? She didn't bat an eye with the bummer rain that hit the weekend she was here ... I think the apple pie made up for it.