our trip to the island begun 5 months AGO!!!

After many hassles, uncertainties and delays, we finally made it to the island of St. Martin, our new 'home'.

As many of you know, we did not know our exact move date till late September, and living out of a suitcase, even if in beautiful Monaco, was becoming painful. Hardest was the not knowing, when we need to pack, what we still have time for and what not, how many more visits home we could squeeze in and which would be the final see you later with family and friends.

Monaco and Cap d'Ail (the actual town our temporary apt was in) were fantastic. I wish there was a way of sharing smells over internet, because that was what I most loved about the south of France... it's indescribable for an amature blogger...so I won't even try. But I can share the zykzykzyk...
The views were spectacular. The blue of Costa Azul (and of the sky!), and the sandy grey of the mountains that literally reached the beaches. Plus the very green and all the shades of pink from the endless bougainvillea and oleanders.
I still remember my first impressions when we were approaching the coast, the first glimpse of the sea...and just 24 hours earlier we had left a very typical Amsterdam June day...partly cloudy...cold...rain hanging in the air...It seemed like a different planet. Below are some pics of our arriving to Monaco. This was, wow the27th of June!

as you can see, there were clouds the day we arrived! but they were so different then the ones we left behind in NL...:)

And just for the record, Amsterdam was not only bad. Now after a while of being away we can look back more calmly and I think most of the sorrow is gone. Everyone knows what made our stay most difficult was the job situation. Both for me and Fili the great opportunities NL was supposed to offer...did not turn up. This was not only hard on our professional egos...which both of us have extremely high..; most of all this turned the whole NLexperience into a disillusion. We had so much hope for that move. We really believed leaving Spain for the Netherlands was going to open so many doors for us, which we felt were either closed, non-existent, or reserved for the Catalans in Barcelona. So it was double painful to learn that the great life we had given up in Spain (great friends, weather, prices, lifestyle) were all sacrificed for no reason...as the one thing we thought NL was better at than Spain (i.e. career opportunities), NL was not better at at all:( or at least not in our particular case.
What we obviously miss the most from Amsterdam, are the people we met there:) Thanks to all of you guys the 2 years there were not only bearable, but fun:) Towards the end of our stay we really felt we had finally gained back a social life! hahah! We hope you are all doing well in the lowlands, thankGod for facebook &co., I feel like we're much more in touch, and I can still peak into your lives:)