Staycationing

A little pause

It’s my school hols, the Krokusvakantie. How good of a name is that?? The vacation when the crocuses are popping up, the early early sign of the spring hovering on the horizon.

Somehow Dylan ended up being the one with the big trip planned, skiing in St. Anton this weekend with some guys while I hold down the fort with the Bug. He’s been trying to get this sorted for months and it just coincidentally ended up being over my break.

Since we knew since since the fall that he wanted to plan this trip at some point during the winter, I preemptively negotiated a staycation for yours truly. I figured I could go somewhere solo for a few nights, but to keep to a budget if I had to fly or train I’d have to stay in a less nice hotel and honestly that wasn’t the vibe I was going for. I capitalized on a Black Friday deal and booked through my friend Isabella (huge shoutout @travelwithbella !!!!) at my favorite hotel in Amsterdam, The Pulitzer. One night in a luxury hotel without any babies or husbands or teenagers asking me questions?? A dream!

I said bye to the most stylish Bug in Amsterdam and headed out!

I started off Tuesday morning doing a little float. Sensory deprivation floating is good for everyone, but I first heard about it when I was pregnant as a way to relieve the tension in the lower back and hips that pregnant women often deal with. I made an appointment at this place Koan float, in Amsterdam west-ish, for week 36.5 of pregnancy in 2023, when I was doing one activity per day on my pre-Bug mat leave (truly the dream). We live pretty deep in Amsterdam Oost, but Amsterdam is such a small city I figured I’d be fine to catch a tram and enjoy it. However, on the day of my appointment I felt so pregnant and so huge and the thought of trekking across the city was the worst thing in the world, so I called them crying and explained and they couldn’t have been nicer and let me postpone the treatment indefinitely. 15.5 months later, I finally made it!!

Meems and I have done a duo float before at a spa called Renessence here before - if you can’t get on board with floating silently in a miniature pool of warm water totally nude with your best friend, idk how to explain to you that you’re missing out on one of life’s great joys. But this one was in a slightly terrifying little pod all alone!

I bravely soldiered on and relaxed in the dark with the slightly creepy but also deeply comforting chanting vibes music. The salty water is so viscous, it almost feels like you are covered in lotion. The thickness of it is really soothing, and they give you this little halo thing to rest your head on so you can fully relax.

After an hour of this, I meandered through Amsterdam’s Negen Straatjes, eating at Fou Fow Udon for lunch before heading over to the Pulitzer way before my check in time in hopes of getting lucky with my room being ready.

The Pulitzer is such a cool hotel - they basically bought up a bunch of canal houses along an entire block and renovated it to keep the integrity of the facades but inside it they all are linked together to make it a hotel. It’s got lots of little hidden hallways and staircases and surprise rooms, and the service is impeccable. If you’re ever visiting Amsterdam, it’s my #1 recommendation!

I checked in and might’ve overplayed the fact that this was a staycation away from parenting for a night. This very much paid off due to the loveliest man working reception ever, and I got upgraded not one, but two room levels, and was taken to a top floor room overlooking the corner of the Keizergracht with a fabulous bathtub.

Then, they brought me presents!!

When I originally booked this, one of the main reasons I chose the Pulitzer was because it’s my favorite cocktail bar in Amsterdam and I had visions of sitting at the bar alone, drinking a fabulous whiskey sour. Unfortunately, the Pulitzer decided to close the bar Mondays and Tuesdays this winter, and I booked a nonrefundable room so I couldn’t change it to a different night this week. As a result, I decided instead to not leave my room the entire stay. And it was fabulous!

I believe with my whole heart that room service is the absolute height of luxury. Truly nothing. It is hilarious to me that I married someone who believes that the height of luxury is a breakfast buffet included in a room rate.

Because I am still myself and things don’t change, I slept sort of terribly because I hate sleeping alone, and I woke up at 6:30 as always, so I watched the sunrise over the canals.

And then, because I couldn’t help it, I Facetimed with Dylan and the Bug as she ate breakfast.

Dylan took her to daycare and headed to the airport, and I checked out and headed back to real life with five days of solo parenting ahead of me.

It was an excellent way to recharge. It’s lovely to have a luxury hotel stay.

But turns out, it’s even better to come home to a pot of homemade soup waiting for you to get you through the week.

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What I Read

I have been in a huge book rut recently. I listened to The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, which had a very interesting premise but was about 200 pages too long. Then, I listened to The Essex Serpent, which was definitely not for me but the premise seemed like it was going to be so I kept listening and it never got better.

I DNFd a book that I’d downloaded forever ago which I’d forgotten the plot of - turns out, it was set during the second week of November 2016 and I could not handle the exploration of the “what ifs” of a Trump presidency right now. So then I downloaded Emily Henry’s Funny Story and immediately hated it - why were two characters who were together named Peter and Petra??? Like come on!

So I picked up a classic, a collection of Agatha Christie’s short stories called The Listerdale Mystery. It was a delight! It is definitely a collection of its time, with a few terms that are definitely not acceptable today, but having never read anything of hers I had a lot of fun. Honestly, it would be a fun collection to read with a middle school aged kid I think!

Now I’ve started High Dive, set concurrently in Brighton and Bristol in the 1980s and am liking it! I’ve also started listening to Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend which is supposed to be genius.

What I Watched

On my staycation I watched a truly terrible Netflix moved called La Dolce Villa. It’s mind boggling how bad it was.

What I Loved

Two main things - Dylan made themed cocktails all weekend, a blood orange French 75 and a blinker. And the Bug’s language skills are popping off - she says “bloo-bs” for blueberries, and can make a monkey sound when she sees one in her book!