Sylvia weekend

so this is why tim wanted to get martini!! he knew sylvia was coming over from San Diego.....!!! on saturday early morning, there suddenly was someone in our fancy apartment, while i was showering (tim told me i had to get up immediately for a surprise, and i had just heard him talking on the phone). and then... there was sylvia!!! jeeejjj!! we had a swim in "our" pool, we went to boston and got in a heavy rainstorm causing flooding of the subway (later another post on that), and we went to amherst to visit patrick and his wife anne!! we had a perfect dinner on their porch and when we left it was late.. when we got home, a 2 hour drive, it was even later.... :)
on sunday more sightseeing- we took a ferry-, watching the soccer game with yvonne & wouter who were here to apply for postdoc positions! saw harvard square and all, dancing & singing spanish girls in the subway (buuuuuuhhhhh... we were the only orange there), more swimming and then the weekend was gone again, it went soooo fast even though we cut back on sleep... :(
it was a great surprise!!!! :)
(and surely more pics later about everything and nothing)

Liquor store

unlike the netherlands, here you have to go to a liquor store to get your wine. annoying! last friday tim really wanted to get martini. i wondered why, since we had agreed we would make mojitos with the limes and mint we just bought (the rum already waiting in the fridge). but he insisted, and i anyways wanted to go here to take a picture and look inside this enormous store that looks soooo typical american to me! we then ended up with quite a lot of alcohol (gin for gin tonics and the bottle looked so nice!), martini, wine, beer. as if there would be a party... :)
but then at the counter we were both asked to prove we were above 21 (yes, we look young!). i gave my passport, but tim only had his dutch driver's license. and that was not allowed. a US license; OK. a dutch passport; OK. but a dutch license?! no! a harvard-id with doctor on it? NO! even the manager came to tell us NO. since we could not both prove we were above 21, buying alcohol was not allowed. even when i suggested i would again go into the store-alone this time- to buy it, they said: NO. because it was obvious we would drink the alcohol together, and tim couldnt prove his age, and thus they could be violating the law by permitting me to buy alcohol for him...
did you get that? i did not...
we thus went to the next Kappy's, a little further down the road. i went in alone, couldnt find the martini (buuuuhhh!), but the gin etc i did find. and.... the girl at the counter did not even look at me.... and surely she did not ask me to prove i was above 21.....