My Last Day

Today was my last day in the Beverwijk office. The upside was that I won a7 Euros in a bet on what the score of the Netherlands – Slovakia game would be, so that little stack of coins met. Other than that, it was so sad!! I can’t believe 6 months have flown by so quickly. I am not ready to leave. It will be wonderful seeing my friends and family, but I am really going to miss the beautiful landscapes and water. I won’t miss fearing my life from bicycle riders. I cleaned out my cabinets and belongings last night and took anything with value to the office to give to whoever wanted it. It was a mini yard sale. I also borrowed the scale so that I could weigh my bags and make sure I’m not overweight. Nothing is worse than dealing with that at the airport while everyone is staring at you and you’re holding up the line! I will hopefully have all my bags mostly 100% finished by this evening so tomorrow I can enjoy seeing the last 2 sites that are on my to-do list in Haarlem. I need to go to the Corrie Ten Boom house and the Frans Hals museum. It will be a wonderful last day out on the town. At 6pm tomorrow I have my final walk through with the apartment owns and real estate agent then bright and early at 7:30 Thursday morning my ride will be here to shuttle me to the airport. I will not cry……

Liberation Day

Yesterday, May 5th, was Liberation day or, as the Dutch say, Bevrijdingspop. It is celebrated once every 5 years and I’m not totally sure why but I was told because they were in habited for 5 years by the Nazis. Wikipedia says they celebrate every year with a 2 minute silent memorial every year on May 4th for those who have died in war but I know they only get off work once every 5 years. I got lucky. So, it is a big deal and another reason for the Dutch to party so that’s what goes on. In Haarlem they have the biggest celebration in the whole country. It turns out; it all took place in the park across the street from my apartment.

I had a lot to do/see since we got the day of work and I had to go see the flowers again before they are out of season. I decided to start my Liberation day with flowers. As you can probably tell, this day will be stretched into multiple postings. First, you get happy flowers. I went to Keukenhof again. I just love that place! It closes May 18th and I’ve got a lot of plans between now and then so I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it over there again or not. I had to see St. Basil’s cathedral in bloom since I had seen it at all of the other phases. It was beautiful and I’m glad I went. Maybe I’ll try to get there one more time before they close. I forgot my camera so I had to take pictures with my phone. Most of them turned out pretty well considering the circumstances, but some of the pinks look like purple. I’m not a fan of purple flowers, nor do I see them a lot. So picture them a vibrant pink and it is more accurate. Enjoy the happy flower pictures!!

St. Basil's Cathedral in bloom...finally!

She's Gone.....

The past few days have been busy and exciting. It is all, now, overshadowed by the fact that this morning I took Kelly to the airport. I hated having to take her, but I’m happy for her to be able to be with her family and Stu these next few months. She has a fantastic wedding to plan!! I’ll keep touring Europe (just alone) and she’ll keep me updated about her new exciting life in Houston.

Over the weekend Mom and I went to Keukenhof (again) and then to The Hague to see “The girl with the pearl earring.” The flowers were blooming even more so than last week when Kelly and I were there. I have taken PLENTY of pictures and will put them up soon. I forgot my camera today. After spending several hours ogling over the flowers we headed just down the road to The Hague. I am slowly learning my way around this country! We parked and headed to the Mauritshaus. They have an amazing collection. It is a smaller museum that used to be a house. Each corner of the building is a room which houses the pictures. They have 3 Vermeer paintings and I think one of my favorite is his townscape of Delft. He really is the painter of light! You can see a picture of the painting HERE.

Mom and I had fun wondering around the museum and hearing the histories of the paintings from the audio guide. After about 2 hours we were art-ed out and our parking meter was about to expire. We also had a dinner date with Kelly so we headed back. Mom was a bit put out by me that we didn’t go to the beach since we were so close but I told her we would go before she leaves. It’s not exactly warm around here but I guess it is beautiful to see.

On Sunday we headed to the Van Nieuwkoops’ for Erik’s confirmation at church. It was neat to go to such an old church. The royal family is buried in the church, dating back to 1584. The service was extra long due to the confirmation and the benches are of the true, medieval style of hard wood and straight backs. I can see why all of the children wanted to go off to Sunday school during the service. I expected the church to be cold since it is rather old but they had installed heaters under the benches so it warmed your legs and tush. It was quite a nice little treat. I will admit though, my upper body was a bit chilled and it was terribly early (and we just had our time change to make it worse) and I wanted to curl up and the floor and take a little nap. My mom and I had headphones so we got an English translation of the service which was nice to know what was going on, but it wasn’t the best translation ever done. We found it rather entertaining at times.

After the service everyone headed over to Ton and Gina’s (Erik’s parents) house for coffee and tart. There were so many people!! It was multiple generations and cousins and aunts and uncles and friends. It was a lot of fun to see all of the people and be able to put faces to names that we have heard from Mark about his family. They were all very nice and Mom and I had a very enjoyable Sunday. We were exhausted afterwards though! I met some great people and they invited me to visit them so even though Kelly is gone, I should have plenty of things to do and people to see.

After we got home from Delft, Kelly had made us reservations for Wilma and Albert, our favorite place. We thought it was appropriate for her “last supper.” She had the garlic butter steak, I had the spicy ribs, and Mom got the salmon. We all traded a bit and had a super tasty meal. I also learned that they have little portion of the ribs which is ½ of what is normally provided. A great discovery!! We all also had a bowl of French onion soup to start. That is the best soup! Kelly is determined to learn how to make it and I keep warning her I might move in if she isn’t careful. I’m sure the newlywed couple wouldn’t mind!

On the walk home we stopped at the newly opened ice cream shop. This place is always packed so we had to try it out. None of us needed it, or really had room for it, but we couldn’t let Kelly leave without one more taste of the country’s amazing treat. After that Kelly and I curled up on the couch to watch one last episode of Grey’s Anatomy together illegally over the internet before we called it a night.

I got Kelly to the airport this morning with no major incidences and she got all of her luggage check in and had no problems. I headed to work where I claimed a new desk so I wouldn’t have to sit in the office by myself. It’s interesting to be back in the middle of the office and around everyone. I now hear a lot more Dutch so maybe I’ll pick it up a bit faster! I also get control of the radios since it is on my desk and I threaten to make country CDs for everyone to listen too. I might be kicked out then!

The rest of the week Mom and I are going to be travelling so I’m not sure how much I’ll be updating the blog. I will do my best to figure out mobile blogger but I won’t make any promises. If anything, you will have so much to look forward to next week!!!

I hope everyone has a great Monday!!

Last Day

Today is Kelly’s last day in the office; our last day to share our glass aquarium like room/office. We had to go out for one last lunch at our Neighbor’s Wife. That’s the English translation of the restaurant. We can’t remember it in Dutch. But they have great food and a wonderful chicken and pesto sandwich. We each had a bowl of soup as well. Kelly opted for French onion, I went with the mustard soup. Mustard soup is popular here and Kelly’s dad told her about it and that she had to try it. The first time I had it was a few weeks ago on our trip to Utrecht. The soup there was better, but this wasn’t horrible. Kelly’s French onion was delicious though! It seems to be such a safe bet in these parts, I might just start having to opt for that.

My mother arrived this morning. I went to get her from the airport. It was an interesting challenge. Not that I haven’t made numerous trips already, but I parked in the bus lane (since I wasn’t going to leave the car) to keep an eye out for mom. A young police like officer on a motor cycle came up and knocked on my window and told me to move. He was a bit nicer than that, but not a lot. So I make another lap around the airport worried I’m going to miss mom but then I find a new road to a new parking area. Now, I don’t know if I’d be able to get there from how we usually come in, but maybe. I now know where to look. I was able to park the car and get out and stand looking for mom. I didn’t have to wait too long and out walked my mother! I was so happy to see her! She had her stuff on a little luggage stroller and pushed it over to the car. I eyed the 3 larger suitcases and got a bit worried. I also eyed the instructions on how to lay the back seats in our car down. I figured now would be a good time to try it out. Turns out, Its pretty easy! Just lower the board thing that covers the “trunk” when in normal use and pull the little handle and they flop forward. The car has some pretty spacious luggage room when there are no seats in the way!

I got mom to the apartment, showed her the direction of downtown, and the windmill, and any other sights she might want to get out and see. There isn’t a lot open in the mornings so I figured that would be a good time for her to sleep and unpack. Hopefully, she’ll make it out for a stroll this afternoon. The weather doesn’t appear to be great, but I haven’t seen any precipitation fall from the sky yet either. I guess we have to count our blessings. If she doesn’t make it out, I guess that’s alright too. Before we left I wanted to give her some money in case she does get out but I left my purse in the car. Kelly was nice enough to shell out the cash for my mom. Such a good roommate! (I promptly paid her back when we got to the office!) For dinner we are going to head down that way anyways for dinner at XO and a glass (maybe 2) of champagne.

On Saturday my mom and I have planned, well, I’ve planned for us, to go to Madurodam and Keukenhof. I feel bad leaving Kelly since she only has a few days left but I know she doesn’t want to re-tour those places. Sunday, mom and I are headed to Delft to visit the Van Nieuwkoop family (the source of two Christensen family exchange students) and to catch up with them and see how their life is going. Mom also brought several things for them as well as hauling some of their son Chris’ belongings back. My mother is a bit of a pack mule on this trip, I hope she doesn’t mind! I guess that’s what happens when you start having children.

I’ll work on Monday then on Tuesday we are headed for a tour of Belgium. On Thursday we fly out to Nurnberg, Germany to visit Doris and her family and then go to Prague for the weekend. I’m not sure how much blogging I’ll be able to do during the time but I’ll try to keep everyone semi posted. This is a forewarning if I fail at my attempts.

For beer Friday Kelly and I (but mostly Kelly) brought stuff to make guacamole and queso for the chips. I have to take note of Kelly’s ability to make these simple things since I will be on my own soon. I knew I should have been paying attention to all of those fabulous meals she made. Now I’m going to have to try and figure it out by trial and error….hopefully not too much error though. I might starve. If worse come to worse, I can always count on the Albert Heijn premade section. I don’t have to worry about it for a few more days though.

I See The Sun!!!!

Oh the weather outside is….AMAZING!!! Yesterday after work Kelly and I decided to go out for dinner. Since she is headed back to Houston soon (we still don’t know exactly when) we figured she needs to go out to all of our favorite places for “one last meal.” This was the first time that I have been excited to walk around after work. Usually, it’s a necessity for food, but yesterday it was quite enjoyable. The people were out in masses. The ice cream shops were filled with customers. A few weeks ago we didn’t even know those buildings were ice cream shops then one day POOF! Apparently, the one by our house is quite delicious because there are always a ton of people there.

On our walk to dinner we had to walk through the Grote Markt and it was full of people and tables and chairs and beer. Everyone was just sitting around having a great time enjoying the warmer weather and sunshine. By warm weather, I mean mid to upper 50’s. I never thought I’d be so happy to see such low temperatures but it really does feel like a day in the summer. I mean, we only wore 1 layer of clothes. I am wearing the lightest jacket I brought. It’s just so enjoyable!! Today’s high is supposed to be 59F it was 55 when we woke up this morning! I slept with my window open last night! Spring time really is a happy time. The buds are popping out on the trees and the birds are singing. I just can’t get over the great weather.
Last night’s dinner choice was tapas. Their bread with aioli is just amazing along with their empanadas. What’s best about the place…the quick service! We were in and out in less than an hour which is just unheard of here. We usually don’t get out in less than an hour if not an hour and a half. It was only our second time to visit so it hasn’t big such a big “repeater” but I have no idea why! It might have to become a more frequented establishment. After dinner we went to the other ice cream man, he isn’t as nice but the ice cream is still great and got a little treat. I got a scoop of apple tart and it tasted just like apple pie with little chunks of crust and a nice cinnamon flavor. Kelly got a waffle with sugar. We sat on the bench and enjoyed people watching. A man asked us for directions, we had no idea according to the map (we would have if he would have said the name of the restaurant!) but we felt special because that means we didn’t look like tourists ourselves.

This morning Kelly and I talked about weather again so I looked it up online about what it is supposed to be like this weekend. Light rain, highs in the upper 40s. Dang. Back to the cooler wet weather that I was so happy was gone. One of the guys told us a Dutch saying about weather and it basically translates to “April will do what it wants.” That is pretty true for a lot of places around the world. I know April can offer some crazy weather back home as well. I guess CO is getting hit from what I hear……

My mom will be arriving tomorrow morning, first thing. I can’t wait to see her. It will be so nice to have her here and spend some time with her. It is also a great birthday present!!! We have a busy schedule planned with lots of things to do and see. I hope this warm weather means more things will be in bloom at Keukenhof! I also have planned to go down and tour a bit of Belgium and see a few cities I’ve wanted to see. After reading and hearing about Kelly’s trip to Brussels, we might have to see how to fit some of this in. I can’t run Mom too ragged since she is still recovering from Africa. I’m just excited to have her here!

Madurodam

Welcome to Madurodam! It is a neat little village that shows the highlights of all Holland in 1/25th of the original size. It is so cute! It is like a miniature country with mini people and mini cars. This is the dream land for any model builder. They have ships, planes, houses, towers, flowers, cheese, horses, trams, busses, and the high speed Thalys train. They have it all!

When you walk up the first thing is they give you an idea of where you’re located in comparison to the rest of the world. I love these signs; I always think they are fun. I also learned mom and dad are approximately 9,000+ km away. I waved, I doubt they saw.

The next famous Dutch boy…Hans Brinker the boy who stuck first his finger, then his whole arm in the dike so that it wouldn’t break and flood Haarlem. Yup, Haarlem. If it wasn’t for little ol’ Hans, Haarlem wouldn’t be a town.

Madurodam was opened in 1952 as a war monument and a charity foundation. One of the initiators was Mrs. Maduro. Mr. and Mrs. Maduro wanted to erect a monument in memory of their only son, George, who died of typhus while in the Dachau concentration camp. The Maduro’s met Mrs. Boon-van der Starp who wanted to raise money to help support a sanatorium who helped students with tuberculosis recover. The costs of running such an institution are high and she had heard about a miniature English city who’s revenues were so high the owners were able to make large donations to surround hospitals. An architect was approached about helping to build the miniature city and drew up some plans for a scale of a happy Dutch city to be 1:25 of the original size. Everyone that was approached about this project was very enthusiastic about it, including the mayor of The Hague who donated the piece of land in the ‘Scheveningse Bosjes’ in the form of a long lease. Students from the Delft Technical University helped to clear the land and so began Madurodam. The visitor center was built in 1996 and the Schipol airport received a complete renovation in 2003 to include space for the planes to taxi via magnetic fields. It is pretty cool!!!

The detail they have in all of the buildings/models is amazing. This church looks just like the real thing, just 1/25th the size! It had mini stained glass windows and everything. I'll have to track down the real one....

Below, the little people are trading cheese the traditional way in the Gouda market. I have no idea how cheese is traded today, but I'm sure they have a much more "sophisticated" way than this. I would love to see this done though! The mini people just work so hard!

Kelly and I had to take a picture next to the Frans Hals Museum. The real museum is located in Haarlem. We have not yet been, but maybe with our next visitors. The museum contains works of art from the 17th, 18th, and 19th century along with works from Frans Hals himself. It looks to be very interesting!

Its not the Netherlands if Anne Frank's house is not part of it. They have mini representation of it at Madurodam. Such an important piece of history cannot be left out!

The famous Dam Square. I don't know how many times I have walked around, and around, and around this square. The Royal Palace is also there along with the church we have not yet been inside. One of these trips.....

Since Kelly and I are being offered this amazing experience through work, we figured we better take a picture with the creation of our livelyhood. The offshore rig in the North Sea. It was a pretty big model and to imagine it as 25 times as big is very difficult! I would love to visit one, someday!

So, its official. Tulip season at the Keukenhof opens next week on March 18th. I cannot wait to go see the gardens. This year's theme is "From Russia with Love." The pictures on the website make it look pretty spectacular! The official opening will be on March 17th by Mrs Svetlana Medvedeva, wife of the President of the Russian Federation, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands. I would love to see Princess Maxima!! She is my idol! Sadly, though, duty calls and we must work that day. Definitely plan on hearing a review about the place next week though! I'm so excited for tulip season! Here is a picture of the mini version:

If its this pretty out of plastic and glass I can't wait for the real thing. Luckily the tulip fields are not too far away so it will give a whole new meaning for taking a cruise through the country side. Yay tulips!!!

Tomorrow I will finish telling about our Sunday tour of The Hague. After starting it off with Madurodam, it had to be a good day! I was just so happy Kelly and the girls like Madurodam so much. I am 2-0 for good travel reccomendations.

KELLY'S ENGAGED!!!!

I now have permission to finish my blog. You will soon read what happened, but the involved parties wanted to blog about it first, together, so I had to wait till today before I could spill the beans.

Thinking nothing of the random event Kelly wanted me to meet her at the bar and celebrate; I kept on reading, watching the clock, thinking how I needed to get ready for dinner. I hear the keys in the door and Kelly and Stu ended up coming home. Kelly comes down our little hallway and asks if she can come in…she hands me a Stroopwaffle McFlurry (My new favorite) and I thought that was so sweet! I have been trying to get one for a few days now and McDonald’s Holland has been against me because every time we go look for one, their ice cream machine is broken. I thought that was so nice of Kelly and then I catch a glimpse of her left hand…I proceed to squeal! I can’t believe it!! I let her out of my sight for one afternoon and she gets engaged!!!! I also got to sneak in an “I told you so!” because Kelly and I had a few debates if he was going to bring the ring or not. She said “No” since he kept giving her excuses of how he didn’t want to travel with it and things like that. I went with “Yes” because he was actively ring shopping with his female family members and any man that I’ve ever known doesn’t ring shop….and if he does, he is not going to hang on to it for a few months until the timing is just perfect. I was right. He brought it and I’m so happy he did!!! I get to be the only member on the sidelines for their perfect Dutch fairytale!

After they tell me the story of how Stu romantically proposed under our windmill and I squeal some more I figured I better hurry up and get ready. They had to call all of the family members so I let them be as I worked on my beautification process. I figured since Kelly got engaged, I better look cute; maybe I can hook myself a cute Dutch boy. I hear Kelly and Stu talking to their family. It was super cute though because most of the Houston family knew what he was coming over to do so they were just waiting for the call. I loved being able to over hear their conversations because everyone was so supportive of the event. The little nieces have been practicing how to say “Aunt Kelly” and all of the brothers and sisters were so welcoming to the both of them. I don’t know how many times I heard “Welcome to the family! We’re so happy for you two! Congratulations!” It was just the way everything should be. I think this is my first experience with an engagement that has gone by the fairytale books. I also informed Stu he owes my man (whenever I find him) an apology because he is now going to be held to very high standards. I know this stuff happens in real life, not just in the movies. I am so happy for them and so happy I get to be a default part of this. I like living my “relationship life” through Kelly, it’s a good one!!!

***This story can be read from firsthand experience at Kelly’s blog site HERE***

So as you can see this was a major event that filled up most of our weekend. Our dinner at Wilma & Albert’s was fantastic, as expected. We each got something different and we shared so we could get a taste of everything. I got the spicy ribs again, Kelly got salmon, and Stu got a great steak with garlic butter. The steak and ribs are now my 2 favorite things there.

One of our co-workers is in a band. The guys always give him a hard time and call him the “Rock Star.” We decided we had to go find out for ourselves how “rock star” he really is. His band was playing in Beverwijk Saturday evening so we decided to drag Stu along (and have him be our man protection, if needed) and head out to the bar. We got a bit lost, but we ended up finding alright and we were about 20 minutes late. Well, sticking true to “Rock Star” standards they didn’t start till an hour late so we didn’t miss anything. Their first song is an original and called “Love Me (a.k.a. The Stalker).” Now, we couldn’t hear the words (it sounded if their acoustics were off) but I really liked the title. It still makes me laugh….I wonder if I could get the lyrics from him? Anyways! We stayed for about an hour and a half, which covered the first and part of the 2nd set. Kelly and I were asking him what type of songs they play so he printed us off the set list and I told him I was going to bring it with me and make sure they didn’t mess up. I did bring it, but we really used it more for reference. The most important fact though, was that there was a “costume change” between the two sets. Now, this was not included in the set list, we were taken by surprise!

They have a cute little drummer, and by cute I mean short, kind of mean looking, a picturesque beer belly, and a blue tooth in his ear. Well this stud changed from a black shirt to white. I know crazy rock stars. Well the lead singer (our co-worker) changed from jeans and a dark t-shirt to SHINEY BLACK LEATHER PANTS and a T-shirt that has scrolling letters that said “Welcome to Q.E.D. Have fun” I couldn’t help but to laugh my head off. Really? Black leather shiny pants! When we first saw them I thought they were covered in sequins. I had to get some pictures!

These pictures don't do the pants justice, but you can see the shine! This is "Sally" (we can never remember his real, full name)

I had to take a picture with him and his scrolly shirt. They were taking a short pause and I grabbed him on my way out. Oh, the clothes!!!

At one point they were singing the old American classic “Sing-a-long” “Brown Eyed Girl” and when he was doing the “Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da” part he came over and let me and Kelly sing. Yup, we have now sang with/in a Dutch band. Cross that off my life’s list of things to do! It was a lot of fun but we had a busy day in Amsterdam planned so we had to get home. After a short drive home we were all in bed, ready for our exciting day touring the Anne Frank house and the Heineken Experience. Be ready for that recount. It was a fun time!

What a Weekend!

I’m not sure really where to start, but as you are aware, I will drag this weekend out into several posts. It keeps my excited throughout the week.

For Friday dinner, Kelly had made chili the previous night with some chili seasoning her mom sent. It was quite tasty for chili made in Holland! I was very impressed and had a great dinner. She also made some guacamole to go with it. We had tortilla chips and decided nachos would be a great dinner. It was a lot of fun to sit and eat our nachos watching the Olympics. I’m sure the store doesn’t know what is going on with their inventory because I’m sure they don’t sell as much Mexican food ingredients normally. We take a small delight in messing up their inventory forecasts and buying them out of salsa (a very mild version of Pace Picante).

Bright and early Saturday morning Kelly and I head to the airport for the 2nd time since our time here. We went to pick up her lovely boyfriend, Stu. We also learned a very important lesson; there are 4 main areas of Schipol. Areas 1 and 2 are not by 3 and 4. After only a minor incident and Stu having to wait 10 minutes for Kelly (I waited in the car so it wouldn’t get towed), they came walking out. It was great to finally meet him. I’ve obviously heard so much about him, and have mentioned him once or twice in my blog. He is a really nice guy and pretty laid back. He also brought with him some sun shine. Saturday was the first sunny day we have had in a while. It was also decently warm! Stu thought it was normal, his judgment would later be changed. We took him home where we had some birthday cake Kelly made for him. His birthday was last week and Kelly was sad she didn’t get to celebrate with him and his family so she made him her own cake, a sopapilla cheesecake. She baked it Friday night and I really wanted to eat it then, but she made me wait so it could chill. It was delicious!!!! The bottom crust is croissants then the cheese cake goes in the middle, with more croissants on top sprinkled with cinnamon and butter. It was amazing! Kelly didn’t think it baked right, but I enjoyed it immensely none the less. Happy belated birthday Stu!

The rest of Saturday was pretty lazy. I watched re-runs of the Olympics and ready my book. I ended up getting completely absorbed in it and couldn’t put it down. I finished it by the end of the night. Kelly and Stu kept to themselves as Kelly came into the kitchen once a bit teary-eyed she was so happy he is here. They got ready and head out into the city for an afternoon walk around town. I was still reading my book and wanted to take a nap so I figured they could enjoy the alone time. Kelly later BBM’d (BlackBerry Messaged) me and told me to come meet them for a drink at the wine bar for a celebratory glass of wine. I figured we already celebrate Stu’s arrival with sopapilla cheesecake (and I was still in my PJs reading my book) so I told her to have a glass for me and I’ll be ready for dinner at 7 (we had reservations for Wilma & Albert’s, the great rib place). If only I had known……

Sunday Funday!!

Kelly and I had every intention to do another walking tour of Amsterdam today, but I woke up and looked out the window and this is what I saw:

This is trees snow covered with a slightly frozen lake which equals coldness. Not my dream weather for a day of walking. So we decided to take it slow and have breakfast and enjoy our morning but we wanted to get out. We decided that touring a bit more of Haarlem would be good so we set off in search of the big windmill that we saw from the train on our way to Amsterdam. This is the De Adriaan windmill which was used for grinding wheat and other goods into flour. The below picture is the griding stones they use. The wheat comes into the middle of it and is slowly pressed out of the stones by the grooves on the inside of the stones which grinds it into flour and then travels out a little whole down stairs where they bag it and send it out.

They also have a lot of windmills they use to displace water, which is how they originally removed all of the water to extend the land masses. We also learned that the Schipol airport lies in low area so if any of the dikes break....we're not flying out of here. We'll probably have bigger worries than the airport anyways.

This is a model of the De Adriaan windmill. The windmill was built in the late 1800s but burned down in 1952. They rebuilt it and it still works to this day, although they don't use it except for show. They also have windmills that saw wood. They use no extra engery, strickly wind. Talk about being green!

This is a view of the church from on top of the windmill. I never realized how close everything was....or how big that church is! It only took 200 years to build as well. But as we learned later today, thats just a drop in the bucket!

Kelly and I for a photo op. The people who ran the windmill were SUPER nice and friendly. He took a picture for us so we didn't want to criticize his finger in the corner. They were all older people, but very helpful and talked to us and told us stories. Very nice experience. All of our visitors will be sent here, so be prepared!

After the windmill visit, we to to Teylers museum. It too is just down the street from the windmill and our apartment. They are the oldest museum in the Netherlands and they have a huge fossil collection. I have never seen so many fossils, its what you see in pictures. They have a fossil that is 200,000,000 years old!!!!! There in front of your face.....you are looking something so old. It makes you think about how little of a role we humans really play in the scheme of things. Very humbling!

They also has a great art collection including many Michelangelo drawings and Rembrandt sketches. They collected art from the current day Dutch masters. This only reinforces my belief that if I start collecting art today, maybe in 200 years it will be worth something :)

This picture is of the oval room. This museum has a huge collection of tons of different things. They have some original telephones, radiation equipment, books from Charles Darwin, and neanderthal skulls. History is just laid out in pretty shelves. It is mind boggling that these people dreamt of these inventions hundreds of years ago and then other people had the idea to start collecting them. The forsight of our ancestors!

On our way back, we decided to stop and have an early dinner. We were walking along and found the Nobel resteraunt. It looked cute so we thought we should explore. When we walked in, we realized it was for Nobel peace prize winners. I think the paper said that they have had real nobel peace prize winners visit there, but it was all in Dutch so I'm not sure how much I really understood. Anyways, they had the Obama burger.

My favorite part of this is that the burger is a veal burger. It made me mad, again, that Obama got the prize anways, but to know that they gave him the veal burger made me feel a bit better. We also wanted to get a desert but we asked if they could put it in a doggy bag for us so we could eat it when we got home. This seemed to be an unusual request, but they were nice and improvised something for us. I got the rubarb cake and Kelly got the cheesecake. They also were worried about putting ice cream with it, but we knew it wouldn't melt on the walk home!

The cheesecake is on the left with ice cream and the rhubarb is on the right with ice cream. The presentation of it made us laugh and everybody stared at us when walking home. Apparently, take home isn't normal in the Netherlands.

I enjoyed seeing another side of our new city today. Not good weather, but there were hardly any people out on the streets. Much better than the masses that were in Amsterdam. It was peaceful and cool, I couldn't ask for more. This place just keeps growing on me!

Our Town

Kelly and I were finally able to venture out yesterday during daylight hours. It was a blast! We finally got to see our cute town for everything that it had. And boy did it smell good!! ALL of the stores were open, as well as little flower stands and donut shops that we didn't even know existed. There was a stand that sells oliebolin and Kelly had never tried one so we split one. She's hooked. Oliebolin is a giant donut hole type treat that is traditional for the Dutch New Years, often times covered in some form of sugar and having nothing, apple, or rasins inside.

A picture of some traditional houses and the flower stand.

We were also able to bo a bit of shopping for a few things we still need. I had to get new black boots because my feet were freezing in my flats. That mission was accomplished as well as a new pair of running shoes bought. The funny story with this is that it was at a running store and the guy who was helping me started asking me how much I run and what not. Well considering I didn't bring any running shoes with me, I tried to play it cool and be like "Oh, about 3 times a week usually, but I haven't ran in awhile." So he finds a pair of shoes and I try them on and, of course, like them. He then asks if I want to try them out on the treadmill. Now, I've read about "test driving" shoes in magazines, but this was the first time I've been offered this. Not wanting to reveal my lack of running knowledge I try to play it cool and agree to this test run. I climb on and he cranks the speed up to 8. Now the first thing that goes through my mind is 8mph. My mind starts racing with how horrible its going to be that I, the cool, awesome runner that I am, cannot run 8 mph how embarrasing its going to be run I crash through the shelf behind me. After these thoughts of total destruction, I realize that I'm in Europe and it probably means 8 kmh. So I thouht I should ask before I crash through anything and sure enough, it was in kmh and I didn't crash through any walls. Close call though!

The main street right by our apartment (also the street with the bank, very important!)

A pretty building on the square. I have no idea what it is, but pretty none the less!

The church in the city center. Haven't been inside yet, but it looks beautiful!

After shopping and running around around all day trying to finish up our loose ends, we were both exhausted. We decided a glass of fine would fix everything. We found a really neat wine bar with gold walls and decided that was the perfect place. It was so cute! The wine was amazing too! The ambiance was wonderful. A great date spot if I ever find my dutch prince :) We also wanted some food and we had seen a tapas bar so we went in serach of that. We finally found it and it was great! We were able to get a bunch of little different things that we split. Not too much food, but super tasty! That place is definitely on our "return to" list!

All of our different tapas. Calamari, meatballs and tomatoes, patatas bravas, kroketten with spinach and cheese, chicken with garlic, and empanadas.

The washing machine works!

First off, this morning, bright and early at 7:30 a.m. the doorbell phone thing starts ringing. Kelly and I are shocked at first until we figure out what is going on. So I answer our little phone and the camera shows a picture of who is ringing our door bell. It's a youngish looking guy with long hair. I'm a bit skeptical, but all I get out of the phone call is "washing machine." I decide to let him up. We are both running out of clothes. Our landlords told us someone would be stopping by this morning, but none of us knew it would be this early! I didn't think the country started working until after 8, but you learn something new every day. I guess it works we just didn't know how to use it. Through a rough translation we learned you have to turn the knob 3 times (to crank start it?) then press the start button and it should go. We shall see this afternoon!

Back to Monday: Work was fine. We got in 20 minutes early because we left early for fear of traffic. There wasn't any. Dang. So it turned out to be a bit of a long day. We are still trying to learn what everyone does and how we can help. The time difference is also a bit of a hassle, especially when were waiting on people from America to help us out. I think you all need to stop sleeping and just sit by your computers and be ready to help us at any given time :) Now that I know everyone is laughing at me, I'll continue. Well we get off work at 5 and the shops close at 6. We have a 20 minute drive home. So it was a race home, change quick, and off to the city to see what else we can buy.

We're speed walking through the streets until we see a store that has possibilities for us. We need steak knives, hangars, lunch bags, Tupperware, a pitcher, and running shoes (for me). Well we see some kitchen like stores and find the knives. We continue on down and find another store that has EVERYTHING. We get the lunch bags, and Tupperware. Totally forgot about the hangars. We also saw that they have fleece throws. I was complaining this weekend about not having any blankets around the house (Mine was taken out due to weight issues at the airport). Nice to know for next time! By the time we made it down to Footlocker, they were closed. Maybe today or Thursday (they're open late). We also did a quick peek around for any people that alter clothes. Supposedly they exist on the street, but we haven't found them yet (I may be sending them to Doris' mom, she's great!). We decide that's enough shopping, and they're all closed, so its time for the important dinner.

Now, for dinner last night we went out for Mexican. My general rule of thumb is to not eat a food outside of that country's speciality. Well, I went against my instincts and was pleasantly surprised! When walking around Saturday evening, we saw a cute little restaurant painted in all of the vibrant Mexican colors so Kelly got online and did some research, got the menu translated, and decided that's where we should go on a Monday. I agreed. The restaurant is called Popocatepetl. Since it was Monday night, we figured guacamole and an order of margaritas were in order so we ordered a 1/2 liter to share. They were AMAZING!

Yummmm and cute!

I asked the waiter what his favorite meal there was and he informed me he is a big fan of meat. Not exactly helpful, but I was on the fence between the burrito or ribs. I'm not generally a rib fan because I don't like to get my hands dirty while eating but I asked him how they were and he started gushing about them. I figured for that much enthusiasm, I better try them. Apparently the "spicy" are better than the "sweet" so I went for "spicy."

Lovely food!

Now, they weren't spicy as defined by a native New Mexican and someone who spent many weeks in the last several months acclimating to habanero sauce, but they had great flavor! I even got the traditional fries and mayo...I asked for a side of ketchup. Its best when mixed (personally). I have to give it the "Best Mexican Food Outside of a Boarding State" award. It was that good! We have every intention of going back!

Monday Morning

Good Morning! It's early and I am still trying to get my brain working. Kelly and I left early to avoid the traffic this morning. Turns out, there was no traffic so we were here 30 minutes early. Well, that didn't sound like much fun being so early so we decided to go to McDonald's and grab a bite to eat for breakfast. McDonald's doesn't open until 9am in Beverwijk. How helpful is that for breakfast or killing time? So in our journey to try and find our way to work from McDonald's we took a slight tour/detour around town and realized the entire town is still asleep. To bad we weren't also! I guess there are still some things we have to get used too!

After our detour we were still 15 minutes early and the 2nd ones at work (first car in the parking lot). We talked to another early bird and got the run down on all the good places to go in Haarlem and how to take the train to Amsterdam. Maybe we'll master that this weekend or next!

I really need to take some pants to the dry cleaners and purchase a pair of tennis shoes. While these don't seem to very big tasks, all of the shops close at 6 and we don't get home until 5:20 or so. This leaves a very limited time to do errands, especially when there is 5-10 min walk involved (through the snow and ice). We walked by a Footlockers the other night, I just have to remember where it is! And our super nice and helpful landlady gave us info on where to find the dry cleaners/alterations place. Maybe tonight we can make it.

Our washing machine is currently out of order. I just thought I wasn't smart enough to work a Dutch one, but I am slightly relieved to know it isn't me. I wish it was just me though, because I have a limited clothes supply and things don't seem to happen to fast around here in that department. Maybe I'll be surprised.

I guess it is time to get to work. Hope everyone has a great day!!

First Saturday

Pretty Christmas lights!

Studio pub where we had our drinks.

This was the weird man who normally rides his bike from Amsterdam to come and DJ but since the weather is so bad, he drove for the first time. He DJ'd out of his briefcase with 3 disc man looking contraptions on which he played Cd's. I haven't seen anyone DJ with Cd's in a LONG time. We were also amused by his mini lamp, flashing flows, and neon flamingo (all which was also brought on his little briefcase carrier).

My first experience in a Dutch pub. This was at the highly recommended Studio.

Kelly, My roommate.

A dutch street with Christmas lights and snow flakes!

Across the street and (frozen) canal from our apartment. It is so beautiful!

Our shopping street, filled with bicycles and people.

Kelly and I had a wonderful first Saturday. We both slept until about 1 (I blame it on the fact that we are still adjusting to the time change) and had a relaxing afternoon. It was so nice just being able to relax. I finally finished unpacking and got things mostly organized. It is hard due to the lack of closet/(non existent) drawer space but I think I have it mostly handled. Kelly did brave the cold and run across the street for a converter. I give her credit for being so tough. It was freezing cold and windy ALL DAY today. It was nice to see the sun though...even if the snow was blowing off the trees and you could hear it through the windows! We decided it would be good to get out of the house a bit and go out to dinner. We finally found the town square that everyone keeps telling us about. We wandered our way there through various streets and found a neat bar/restaurant to have dinner at. It was very hip, called XO, and played great music with simple food, but amazing. We are definitely going back! After food and a glass of champagne for me (wine for Kelly) we moved on to Studio. It was a pub one of the guys at work told us we had to go to. We ended up there for a few more drinks (more wine for Kelly, Weiss beer for me) and it apparently is a happening spot! It continued to get fuller the longer we stayed. I am so thankful that everyone knows English so well. It makes going out and ordering a whole lot easier! It would be a nightmare if there was a larger language barrier. Next week our goal is to learn the alphabet so we at least know how to pronounce words. That will be a good start :) It is time for bed, and a relaxing Sunday tomorrow. We asked our waitress and she said the shops are only open on the first Sunday of the month. Guess we'll have to wait another month before we venture out on a Sunday. Good thing we have plenty of groceries to eat here. It will be another relaxing day. No complaints on this end!

Our Apartment

Our dining room and balcony.

Living room, smaller TV, and a very comfortable couch.

This is the frozen pond behind our house.




My room, as usual, with clothes on the bed.

Behind our apartment, frozen pond included.

Our washer and dryer. I wish I could figure out how to work them.....

Our bathroom.

Dining room and kitchen. Perfect for us.

The cars outside of work on our first day. We got lucky enough to experience the worst snow in 10+ years. Woo Hoo.

Our fashionable car. I am slowly learning how to drive in Holland on snow and ice. Lucky me.

Outside our office building. Ger is coming to scrape the snow off our car.

Our apartment is perfect for us and plenty big. There is a ton of available floor space for air mattress for anyone who wants to come visit!!!! Luckily there is a ton of TV in English so it makes it feel a bit more like home. That is always helpful!

Friday after work We had our beer and chips. They were very tasty and it was nice to be able to talk to everyone in a less formal setting. The beer, we had Amstel Pilsner, was very tasty. I am a big fan of the tradition, I am thinking America needs to adopt it! Hopefully we will be able to learn more and more dutch so the conversation is a little less strained. Although everyone knows English quite well, they are still hesitant to speak openly with us. I'm sure it will come in time!