My Host Parents

This past weekend my host parents came to visit. I am so happy they were able to make it!! We had a great weekend…and they even helped me pack. Uwe and Andrea arrived Friday afternoon, about the same time I got back from Stavanger. I met them at Amsterdam Centraal, which was perfect, and we stored our bags and went for a canal cruise. The weather was fantastic, and quite warm, so we enjoyed the city from water level then dined on some Dutch pancakes. We were all tired so we decided to call it a day and head back to Haarlem. Upon arrival at the train station, I offered for them to take the bus, but they wanted to walk home from the train station. On that walk, I ran into some upper managers who were here for work. I didn’t even realize they were in town, but it was good to chat a bit with them.

On Saturday we decided it was a Haarlem day. We saw some sights that I had not yet seen (churches and markets) then headed to the beach. We didn’t get there till around 3 but it was probably just as well because it gave enough time for the mass crowds to leave. It was still busy since the weather was so wonderful but the traffic and parking was tolerable. I also managed to suffer my first sunburn of the season on my back side so now my back and back of my legs are about 2 shades darker than the front side. I guess I will have to try and correct that while at the lake for a few days. After the lake, we made it back to Haarlem in time to see America loose our soccer game. What a sad 2 hours of my life.

On Sunday we headed into Amsterdam. The original plan was the Van Gogh museum, but we decided to take a bus tour of the city and see some other sights and learn little known facts. One of these facts: on average 1 car per week ends up in the canals. We were also able to go to another big market that is open every day. I went to more markets last weekend than my entire time here, combined. They do sell some pretty good things! After touring the city for awhile we came back to my apartment to pack and watch Germany kick England’s butt in soccer. The packing has gone so easy thus far I’m worried. It seems too good to be true. I guess I’m not done yet, though.

Me, Uwe, and Andrea on the bus during our tour around Amsterdam. It was a double decker.

I am really going to miss this country!


They definitely know how to support soccer! It is a ton of fun watching it in this country.

The crowded beach at Zandvoort. Only a week before it was stormy and full of foam. This is much better!

Uwe & Andrea in front of the St. Bravo church in Haarlem. I had seen pictures of this place but this was the first time I had "found" it.

Cliffs of Dover

Since we had 3 days in England, we decided to take a day trip. I had a book “The 25 Best Day trips from London” so I tossed it to Boyd and let him pick. We all figured he was more of the history person than the rest of us so he could make a good decision. He had a hard time deciding between Battle, where the Battle of Hastings took place and Dover, where the big white chalk cliffs are. It turned out to be a great decision on Boyd’s part.

We jumped a train for about an hour and a half ride down to Dover. We talked to the man on the train selling refreshments and he gave us the hints on where to go. We followed around the city map and went to the tourist information booth and they told us take the bus up to the castle because it is a long walk and when Europeans say that, we listen. After waiting a few minutes and staring into a pretty stream, we caught the bus up to the castle. When we paid the entrance they asked if we wanted to sign up for the War Time Tunnels tour free of charge. We said yes and then set off to explore the castle. The castle was really neat because everything was open. There were no rooms roped off and they had a lot set up like it might have been back in the day. The castle has served a lot of purposes over the year ranging for a place for royalty to stay all the way down to a prison. We also learned why a bathroom is called a W.C. (Water closet) because they kept their clothes where they used the restroom because the ammonia would keep the moths away. I’ve always wondered that, and now I have the answer.

After exploring the castle, and purchasing a bottle of mead, we headed to the tour meeting place to explore the tunnels. The tunnels were expanded and used during WWII and were going to be a backup plan during the Cold War in case nuclear war. Considering the cliffs are chalk, they determined that it wasn’t the best idea due to how porous the rock is. The tunnels were also used as a make shift hospital during the wars and offered suffered condensation buildup that would drip on the control rooms that helped communicate to the rest of the world and run missions for evacuating soldiers from France.

It was a great day exploring another part of England and drinking the mead on the train ride back. It was terribly sweet, but if someone offered me another glass, either iced or warm, I would take it. Room temperature wasn’t the prime drinking temperature. I don’t have any pictures because I let Karla the photographer take the pictures and we haven’t all exchanged pictures yet but trust me, they are great. If you want to know more about Dover, you can click the link HERE.

York & Newcastle

After a brief week of working and recovery from Copenhagen and Sweden, I headed off to England on Saturday, May 22. I arrived very early on Saturday morning and caught a train up towards Newcastle which is located in north east England towards the Scottish border. I met a friend and fellow NOV employee from there during a seminar I attended in Houston. We really got along and had a great time and I threatened him that if I was ever in the area I was going to visit. He accepted that threat so I figured I better follow through with it. I bought a book that contained the 25 best day trips from London and York was one of them. York is about an hour south of Newcastle and is a precious town. It still has about 3 miles of medieval walls that line the city as well as small cobble stone streets that wind around the buildings. York has the largest gothic structure in Northern Europe so that was pretty impressive. I didn’t pay to go into the church because I didn’t have the time but it would have been neat. The city’s tourist website can be seen HERE. I did manage to do some shopping while I was there though. That was the most fun! It was just a splendid afternoon. I caught the train around 2:30 and headed into Newcastle to meet up with my friend.

My hotel was located right across the street and conveniently right next door to a Starbucks. I figured what better way to implore American irony than having him meet me there around 5. We walked down to the Quayside (pronounced Keyside) to look at the river and their famous bridges. He gave me a brief history of the area and then we decided to have a beer outside (with ½ of the town) and enjoy the amazing sunny, warm weather. We migrated to a few pubs and just caught up with each other’s lives and discussed a bit work in there. He caught the train home around 9 and I retreated to my room for a restful evening. My room over looked the street and the train station and it was very warm because I could not open my window but other than that, I slept like a baby. I had to catch the morning train at 9:30 to head back to London to meet another friends so I welcomed the early night and a long rest. If you would like to learn more about Newcastle, you can click HERE.

The bridge in Newcastle connecting it to Gateshead. It is a smaller version of the bridge in Sydney, Australia

The cute little streets of York


Inside the church in York. Over 1/2 of all the stained glass in England is in this church

The outside of the church in York

Cute mideval buildings in York

Prague

Mom and I arrived safely in Germany on Thursday afternoon just in time for a dinner with Doris' family and a small celebration for my birthday. Doris' mom makes amazing food and cakes so we got treated very well. My mom also got to meet Klaus' (Doris' brother) new fiance. They will be having a wedding in September, I hope I can make it back!

Doris looked up the Prague special online and called the train station to confirm. You can buy the tickets at the automats and they leave about every 3 hours. We decided the 9:20ish train would work perfectly for us so we headed to the station with a good 30 minutes extra so that we had time to buy the tickets. What the lady didn't tell Doris was where to find the tickets on the automat. Since it was a holiday, hardly anybody was working and the train station was packed. Time was ticking away and we still hadn't found out how to get the tickets. They were tucked away in some odd little area on the machine and we couldn't find them. We were on the verge of missing the train and about to give up hope but I found a nice man helping stranded travellers and he showed us how to get the tickets. We had about 7 minutes till the train left, it was already waiting up on the platform. That started our 5 hour journey on a cramped, hot train to Prague.

Minus being squished between people, we were happy to have a seat. The train was an older one with cabins that contained 6 seats each and a hallway that ran the length of each car. There were 3 of us travelling and there wern't a lot of seats open in 3s. We got lucky and found some but that didn't leave much room. We were happy though, because as the train went on it only got fuller and people were camping out in the hallways by the end of it.

We finally made it to Prague!

Doris, Mom, and I in front of the Charles Brige, the Vtlava river, and the city's Castle.

We checked into our room at the Olympik hotel. It wasn't in the main part of the city so that we could keep it cheaper, but the hotel also lacked a bit of "elegance." The hotel was a bit out of date and after looking at 2 rooms we chose the "suite." We got a room with a king (two singles pushed together) and a couch that pulled out into a bed. The cute little bell boy that helped us didn't speak English or German so we were left to basic words and actions. He split the king bed apart to two single beds and told us "No Sex!" We all laughed. Then he pulled out the couch and showed us how that worked and how "soft" that was. Mom tested it, it wasn't soft. The little man went and got some cushions (similar to couch cusions but the size of a twin bed) to put on top of the couch bed. He put 2 side by side then informed us that that bed was the "Good Sex!" bed. We were happy to have that clarified, it was a very confusing fact we were pondering. Mom gave him all her change as a tip and he seemed happy.

We decided to head off into the city. You could buy tickets at the metro stop or the lady sold them. Well she only sold day tickets and wouldn't give us change for buying gum. I actully wanted gum! So I bought a bottle of water and gum then she had to give us change. We finally got enough for tickets and headed into the city to see the bridge and the old plaza. Everything was packed! Not just busy, but unpleasantly, elbow throwing packed. It was aweful! We made it 1/4 of the way across Charles bridge then decided to turn back and headed to the square where we just fought more crowds. We wanted a restuarant and tried to find one but it was booked up the whole night and asked for a recomendation and he sent us to one around the corner. It was quite tasty!

My mother and I on the Charles Bridge. The weather was amazing the whole time!

Doris and I on the old plaza where the Easter market was taking place

Doris and I with our duck

For dinner at the restaurant we had a started with duck. It's quite popular here and Mom had heard that it was tasty so we got a plate. I have never really had it but it was very declicious! We all had traditional food consisting of goulash, potato paties, sausages, and cabbage.

We wondered around the square more and saw the historical astrological clock. We couldn't handle the crowds any more so we headed back to our hotel. Since it was out of the city we had to take the subways everywhere. Their system is pretty good but they decided to build it 6 miles under the ground! These were the steepest, fastest escalators I have ever seen.

The tunnel going down. It would have made a great ski slope!

On Saturday we headed up to the castle. It's a bit of a hike up and Mom and Doris were a bit tired we we took it slowly. We apparently had the same plan as the rest of the tourists and by the time we made it up there it was packed with lines coming out of every which way. There was a HUGE line for the info office! Last time Doris and I went there were no crowds. We visited the castle at night and were the only ones there. It was almost creepy. Not this time, people after people after people. We didn't go into the church or museums or anything with a line. It wasn't worth it.

Doris and I at the castle.

A view of the city from the castle. It was so beautiful!

Doris and I with a view of the Charles bridge and castle in the back ground.

After fighting the crowds at the castle we walked down and headed the direction of the Charles bridge. We had to walk across it at least once for mom. On our way we found a cute restaurant near the water with a great view of the bridge. The sun was shining and we wanted to take advantage of it and sit and enjoy it. We had some wine, beer, and hot coco and wanted to split a cream brulee. Well minus the fact it took an hour for the desert, it was very enjoyable. We then walked across the bridge and headed to the plaza for a look around. Doris wanted to take us to her favorite restaurant but it turned out to be closed down. There was a place in my book, 1000 Places to See Before You Die, called U Fleku. The book said to go, that the beer was brewed and only served there (not bottling or distribution) and they just serve you. You don't order, or have a choice. You sit down, get a schnapps (similar to Goldschlagger) and have a beer. It is a dark beer but light and tasty.

We made it to U Fleku!

We all ordered something for lunch and it turned out to be pretty decent. Mom got more duck, and I went for sausages. Doris munched off our plates. There was more than plenty of food for all of us! An older man came and played old classics from different countries on the acordian. It was a great time.

An ancient Jewish cemetary

After lunch we wanted to see an old Jewish cemetary in the Jewish quarter but since it was Saturday, everything was closed (Sabbath). We did get a glimpse of it though, from a museum window. It was an odd museum that had old clocks and clothes, and advertisements from hundreds of years ago. There was also and exhibition of the lady who created plastic blow up toys such as pool rafts. Yup, somebody had to invent those, and she was from Prague.

On Sunday we just hung out in the square. We wanted to go see the cemetaries, but there was a line so we just went and had some ice cream instead. It was a great time. On the train ride back, we got there early and was able to secure a cabin for ourselves for the entire journey home. The window worked so it never got too warm and we were able to snooze and read and enjoy the company.

Doris' mom had dinner prepared for us on Sunday evening when we returned and we got a sneak peak that the cake she had prepared for Easter lunch. It was a great trip and I'm glad Mom finally got to see Prague, after Doris promising to take her there for 10 years. It has become more expensive since it has become a tourist destination, but definitely still a place to see before you die!

Halle, Deutschland

On Friday afternoon I jumped on the train and started my journey towards Halle, Germany. For those of you who don’t know, Halle is where I spent the year as an exchange student. It is about 20 minutes from Leipzig and an hour and a half south of Berlin. It was very interesting and educational living there for a year because both of my host parents were raised under communistic rule. I got to hear their stories and learn a little piece of history first hand. When I spent time there over New Years I mainly hung out with my friend Evi and her family and didn’t spend much time with my host family so I wanted to make this weekend all about them. It was really nice to be at home again and I’m very glad I took the time to go see them.

I didn’t arrive until late Friday evening, just in time to go home, eat a snack, and then head to bed. Since I can’t sleep in anymore, my host mom, Andrea, and I got an early start Saturday morning. Uwe’s, my host father’s, dad has passed away a few weeks ago and he was meeting up with his siblings and friends to clear out his apartment. I guess the young guys never showed so the “old men” had to do it all by themselves. I told Uwe it’s just the kid’s way of making sure the “old guys” stay young. He wasn’t too amused.

Andrea and I just walked around town poking our heads into shops and enjoying the time to catch up. It was rainy and rained off and on all morning. Andrea found a beautiful shirt and then she insisted on getting me a birthday present. I’m not one to shun presents. I was still jealous of Kelly’s big LL Bean bag that she uses for weekend trips and since I had brought all of my stuff to Halle in a canvas shopping bag I figured I needed a weekend bag. We went to the store and found a cute brown and white one. It looks like this:

Now, Kelly ain’t got nothing on me! And…I won’t be asking to borrow her bag anymore. I’m sure she appreciates that. I love my new bag and it will be so useful. In this country the roller bags aren’t always the easiest because there are so many stairs everywhere and cobblestone streets. It makes trying to roll things a little less fun. Which I also wonder how and why rollerblading is so popular around here.

Anyways, Welcome to Halle! The church in the below picture is the only 4 towered church in Europe. It used to be 2 separate churches but then was later joined together after one was destroyed. Martin Luther has even given a sermon in this church. It is so neat to be such a part of history. The composure George Frideric Handel was born in Halle and stayed for 17 years of his life.

Halle, the word, is thought to have been drived from the pre-germanic word for salt. The city is officially known as Halle (Saale) because it is situated on the Saale river. The word Saale also contains the Germanic root for the word “salt.” Salt harvesting in Halle has been going on since the bronze ages. The town was first mentioned in history in 806 AD and became part of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. They have Giebichenstein Castle (that is now in ruins) that was first mentioned in 961.

Halle’s industrial heritage (as copied from Wikipedia):

Salt, also known as White Gold, was extracted from four "Borns" (well-like structures). The four Borns/brine named Gutjahrbrunnen, Meteritzbrunnen, Deutscher Born and Hackeborn, were located around the Hallmarket (or "Under Market"), now a market square with a fountain, just across from the TV station, MDR. The brine was highly concentrated and boiled in Koten, simple structured houses made from reed and clay. Salters, who wore a unique uniform with eighteen silver buttons, were known as Halloren, and this name was later used for the chocolates in the shape of these buttons.

The Halloren-Werke, the oldest chocolate factory in Germany, was founded in 1804. Old documents are on display and a chocolate room can be visited at Delitzscher Street 70. The original "Halloren-Kugeln" are sold in a box of eighteen little pralines.
Within East Germany, Halle's chemical industry, now mainly shut down, was of great importance. The two main companies were Buna and Leuna, and Halle-Neustadt (Halle Newtown) was built in the 1960s to accommodate the employees of these two factories.

Halle also has a diverse scientific and cultural history as well. My mind really isn’t working this morning (or I’m lazy) so it’s another copy and paste from Wikipedia.

The University of Halle was founded here in 1694. It is now combined with the University of Wittenberg and is called the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. The medical school there was founded by Friedrich Hoffmann. The university's botanical garden, the Botanische Garten der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, dates to 1698.

The famous Baroque composer George Friderich Handel was born in Halle in 1685, where he spent the first 17 years of his life. The house where he lived is now a museum and houses an exhibition about his life. To celebrate the composer, Halle stages an annual Handel festival every June.

The German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina is one of the oldest and most respective scientific societies in Germany.

Halle accommodates Germany's oldest Evangelic Bible college, known as MarienBibliothek, with 27,000 titles.

In the past Halle was a centre of German Pietism and played an important role in establishing the Lutheran church in North America, when Henry Muhlenberg and others were sent as missionaries to Pennsylvania in the mid 18th century. Henry Muhlenberg's son, Frederick Muhlenberg, who was the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, was a graduate of Halle University.

The Silver Treasure of the Halloren is displayed occasionally at the Technical Museum Saline. It is a unique collection of silver and gold goblets dating back to 1266. The ancient craft of "Schausieden" ( boiling of the brine) can be observed there too.

The Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte houses the Nebra sky disk, a significant (though unproven) Bronze-age find with astrological significance.

Halle Zoo contributes to the EAZA breeding programme, in particular for the Angolan Lion and the Malaysian Tiger. Halle is also known for its thriving coypu (or nutria) population, which is native to South America.

So now that you have the official history of Halle, I'll give you a bit of personal history. On the pictures of the church, you can see the bridge across the two front towers. I celebrated my 19th birthday in Halle as an exchange student and I was a bit home sick so my host parents prepared an amazing party for me. They arranged that the towers be opened for us and we got to climb all the way to the top. When we got up there, there was a bottle of champagne and glasses waiting for us. We got to take pictures on the bridge and watch all the little people below. It was such a fabulous surprise I think of it every time I see the church. The tower and bridge aren’t normally open so it was a very special occasion.

Another cool thing in Halle, they have a paternoster which is basically an open elevator. There is a chain of boxes/cabins that are continuously rotating. So to get on and off, you have to jump on when the box comes by and jump off in time. It’s a bit scary. I’m also not a big fan of rotating doors, so it’s the same concept, just elevator style.

At home, the kitchen is the place to be. It’s where everything happens - food, drinking, talking, laughing, everything. In Uwe’s kitchen that’s not the same. He likes his space. He doesn’t like anyone else in there while he is cooking. I just don’t get it. I always thought it was the perfect time to catch up with him. He isn’t going anywhere and if I was lucky I got to taste test his great cooking. He still wasn’t a fan, no matter how much positive light and happiness I brought into that kitchen. Things still haven’t changed. He was cooking; I wanted to hang out with him. He did seem to resist it a whole lot less though. I guess after 5 years he has given up. It's interesting how “soft” all of these “old” men become. I guess it just takes guys a little longer to realize life is easier if you don’t fight everything. Andrea had to document me harassing Uwe. The picture is evidence that some things never change.

On Sunday, Andrea and I lounged around and watch Little Women (in German) and I cried. I'm becoming such a softie these days! It was so nice to just relax and hang out with my German family and not have any pressures. I needed it since I was going to be tested on the journey home. At least the weekend was good, it made up for the horrible journey home. If you missed that post, it's HERE.

Now the bigger news at hand, Kelly is leaving me :( She has super important stuff to do back in Houston and they finally realized how amazing and smart she is and they can't do it without her. We just don't know when, but the count down has started and we will be out eating all of our favorite things so she gets a nice, last taste of Holland.

Oh Monday...Must you always come?

Oh Monday, why do you always come so fast? I apologize for my blogging absence. This is the longest time I haven’t blog since I started this. Many fun and exciting things have happened since Wednesday. First, we went to Keukenhof on Thursday and on Friday I headed to Germany for a weekend with my host parents. I got back last night.

So about this journey home…..I jumped on a train in Halle, Germany at 2:07 Sunday afternoon. I crawled into bed at 12:03 Monday morning. What should have been a 7 hour journey turned into a 10 hour torture. Apparently, our train had an accident somewhere outside of Amersfoort, Holland. We endured a 75 minute delay full of police walking up and down the outside of the train, Deutsche Bahn (DB) people walking, and the train conductor making announcements out of breath. No idea what happened. I Googled but didn’t find anything. Well after this accident our train is kaput. Yup, that’s what they said, a literal German translation. The English translation: broken; such elegance with the languages. It got a chuckle out of all of the passengers, at least in my car. We also had to wait for an alternative driver. This was fun. By the time our train got going, there was a group standing outside where our engine car would have been (I’m assuming).

Our train was originally headed to Schipol. I’m glad I wasn’t on that train playing roulette with a plane to catch! I just wanted to get home. I’m also glad I brought a 600+ page book with me to read. It’s almost finished. I started it on the journey. The trained ended in Amersfoort, well before the place where I was supposed to get off. So I get off (I don’t have a choice) and another train headed to Amsterdam Centraal is set to arrive at 10:29. All sorts of trains had delays. I don’t know why or how much was the domino effect or if something was going on with the train power grid. I finally arrive in Haarlem at 11:30. I have to figure out the busses. Now, I know how one bus line works. The others, no idea. I ask around and I’m told to wait for bus 140. Ok, I can handle that. The bus is parked there, but the driver is nowhere in sight. It isn’t schedule to leave until 11:44 so I way the 10 minutes. The driver shows up and I ask to verify and he tells me to ride till Tempeliersstraat. I can handle that. It’s only about 3 stops and takes 4 minutes. The good part of this journey, I discovered the Tempeliersstraat stop. The stop we knew about only 1 bus goes there. The other, about 10 different lines swing by. When headed to the train station, any of them work so it was nice to know that we have so many options at our fingertips.

I was so tired by the time I got home last night. I really wanted to wake up early and say good bye to Kelly’s mom but I didn’t hear a thing until my alarm went off well after they had left. Whoops. I’m sorry! I hope you have a safe trip home and it was so nice to meet you!

I am now exhausted today and don’t really want to get into a recount of everything just yet. It is too overwhelming for my brain this morning. I do want to leave you with a teaser picture though.

I believe my mom will be here this Friday in celebration of my birthday. I'm excited. Another fun week and weekend of touring!!

Rotterdam

Saturday was a bit rough. I was looking forward to my tour of Rotterdam, but I had a small headache. In America, I think all college students have some form of aspirin/Advil on hand. In Holland, they apparently rough it. So I roughed it. Erik showed me the local ropes. He also helped me get my OV Chip Card so that I can use all forms of public transportation so we walked around down town to the local Albert Heijn (the grocery store). Their Albert Heijn is A LOT bigger than ours! It was so nice and wide open. They also had a great deli/bakery area where we bought fresh croissants filled with ham and cheese and a bottle of fresh juice and had breakfast watching the birds in the little plaza. After nourishing our bodies, we headed off on our day trek around the city.

***A brief history on Rotterdam: It is Europe’s largest port and it is the worlds 2nd busiest port after Shanghai which surpassed it in 2004. Rotterdam is the Netherlands second largest city behind Amsterdam followed by The Hague. On May 14, 1940 Rotterdam was blitzed by the Germans flattening the entire city. The only remaining structure which was reminiscent of the city’s medieval architecture was the Laurenskerk (Lauren’s Church). Up until this point in the war, the UK only bombed military targets. While they recognized that civilian lives would be lost, they tried what they could to keep them to a minimum. The day after the Rotterdam blitz, where a suspected 30,000 people died under the rubble, the Royal Air Force gave permission for their bombers to bomb any target that aided in the Germany’s survival regardless if they were civilian or not. These targets included oil plants and blast furnaces. ***

Erik took me by the local market that was selling everything from fresh fish to furniture to bike locks and razors. Anything you could possibly need, you could find on the market. It was fun to see, but I’m not a fan of big, pushy crowds so we just buzzed our way through there. There was a local church (the Laruenskerk) in Rotterdam that was the only building standing after the city was bombed in WWII. It was an impressive church and had that much more meaning knowing it survived being flattened by the war. After the market we came upon the famous cube houses that helped make Rotterdam’s modern architecture so prominent. I’m not sure how I would like to live in one of these. They were pretty mind-boggling staring up at them. It sort of made me dizzy. Here is a picture.



The next part of the tour included some of the old harbors. I don’t think these boats leave. Erik was saying that they have been converted into houses or restaurants and enjoy their lives in the safety of the harbor. The big white building in the back ground was Europe’s first sky scraper. Pretty small in today’s comparisons.


The below picture is part of Rotterdam’s sky line as well as their novel train stop. The roof looks like a flying saucer. There are also lots of cranes in the sky line. There is a ton of building being done on Rotterdam; new metro/train stations, sky scrapers, and apartments. I guess they are expecting big things out of the city.

The next picture is another old harbor. Around all of these old harbors are restaurants and cafes where one can sit out and enjoy the old pirate looking ships and good weather. I didn’t really want to sit outside; it was still quite chilly out. I can see the beauty of it though; I could have looked and dreamed about those ships too. I think one of them really used to be Captain Hooks!

The next picture is of Rotterdam’s statue De Verwoeste Stad (The Destroyed City). It was donated to the city from a private warehouse in the 1950’s I believe. It is supposed to represent the heart of the city being bombed, just as the heart of the statue is gone. A very interesting piece of art work-so many sculptures in cities nowadays don’t seem to portray the emotion or recognition that the artist says they do. This one, there isn’t too much to debate about.

After walking through the city we made our way towards the water way. There was an old maritime museum we passed as well as an old harbor museum we didn’t go into. The harbor museum looked neat though, and if I happen to go back, I might try to visit it. There was an old steam engine outside though that represented how freight used to be moved along the harbor ways from one ship to the next. I thought it was a cute train so I had to take a picture!

As we continued our walk, we came across the Walk of Fame. It is a knock off of Hollywood’s star studded walk but it was cute none the less. There were all sorts of famous people including the Tour de France star Jan Janssen. I was unaware that the Tour de France started in Rotterdam, but it does. All of the squares were different colors of pastel reds, yellows, greens, and blues. Jan’s square was yellow, just like his jersey color. Shrek’s square is green, like him. Evidence is in the below photo!

I had to take a picture of Johnny Cash’s square! It was the most American square I saw. Now, I didn’t exactly scour the path to find some, but his happened to be pretty prominent and therefore deserved a photo.

All of this walking had taken a toll on Erik and I so we decided it was time for a break. We stopped at the old Holland America cruise line office for a drink. The building is now called Hotel New York because that was where the cruise line ended, in New York. It was a fun café, and a very happening place. There was a nice pier/port area with grass and wide walk ways. Pictures of the rejuvenation efforts made this area look quite enjoyable during the warm summer months.

The below photo has several things I want to point out. First is the Erasmus bridge, nicknamed the Swan because of its bend in the pylon. It was built in 1996 and is a 2,600 ft cable bridge that connects the north and south sides of Rotterdam. The pylon is 453ft tall making it one of the tallest structures in Holland. Another interesting fact about the spot where this picture is taken is how the sidewalk/pier just ends. There are no signs, no fences, or armed guards, just the end of land and beginning of water. I don’t even know if there are ladders to get out if you fall in. Apparently, the Dutch are much smarter than the American’s in the fact they don’t need all sorts of signage to tell someone something so obvious. Their legal system is probably less busy with frivolous law suits also. I didn’t fall in. I used my brain to stop walking and realized the potential danger of swimming in the world’s 2nd largest harbor.

Some other tall buildings in Rotterdam:
• Rotterdam has the tallest residential building in the Netherlands: the Montevideo Tower (160 m (524 ft)).
• Rotterdam is also home to the tallest office building 'Delftse Poort' (160 m (520 ft)) which houses Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company, part of ING Group[13][14]
• The city also houses the 186 meters (610 ft) tall Euromast, which has long been a major tourist attraction. It was built in 1960, initially reaching a height of 101 meters (331 ft); in 1970, the Euromast was extended by 85 meters (279 ft) to its current height.


After our break and looking at the pretty harbor and watching taxi boats go back and forth as well as a tug boat pulling a crane, we headed back to Erik’s apartment so I could grab my things then catch the train back to Haarlem. I didn’t think it would be too difficult since there is a direct train. Well, the Netherlands are revamping several of the country’s main train stations and Delft happens to be one of them. So not only do these people have to worry about road construction, track construction is also pretty inconvenient. The lady told me I needed to catch a train to Gouda, and then switch direction of The Hague, then switch direction Haarlem. That seemed like a lot of work and a lot of switching. So we asked about a train to Amsterdam. Sure enough, there was one that left a few minutes later, a sprinter. Now when I think of a sprinter I think fast. I forgot to think short distances. This is exactly what the train does, goes fast between EVERY LITTLE STOP between Rotterdam and Amsterdam. It took longer than normal, but I didn’t have to change trains 3 times. So in Amsterdam I just jumped onto the next sprinter headed to Haarlem. Usually the train we take stops 3 times, once in Haarlem, Amsterdam Sloderdijk, and Amsterdam Centraal. This one stopped many more times, including the stop where Kelly and Stu got lost at. If they would have ridden one more stop they would have made it to the Central station. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I eventually made it home around 6:30 that evening, in time for dinner with Kelly and the girls at XO on the square. We all split a wonderful bottle of champagne celebrating their arrival and their week of excursions. On Monday they went to Brussels, Tuesday and Wednesday they are in Paris (returning tonight) and I believe they are headed to Germany tomorrow and Amsterdam on Friday. Their flight home is on Saturday where they will have one day of rest before school starts up again. They are going to need it with the schedule they are keeping!

Sunday was filled with an exciting trip to The Hague. Check in tomorrow for those adventures, big and small!

Oh No.....

I’m in the process of getting sick, and fighting it. I hope I curb this with my planned mass amounts of hot tea drinking and Emergen-C consumption. I will be miserable if I don’t. I also know why this all started….

I had planned to go visit Erik on Friday. I hadn’t heard from him for a few days and was a bit worried about our plans. He ended up emailing and he told me he would be in Delft till about 10:30 pm so I should just go hang out with his family until then. I love his family and I didn’t see anything wrong with that suggestion but it was just so late! My parents hardly stay up past 8! I call their house and get the youngest daughter on the phone and she tells me to come around 8 or 8:15 pm. I still think its super late to be showing up but she assured me it’s Dutch and I shouldn’t worry. I say OK! Erik had emailed me instructions on how to get to his parents house from the train station. This thought was overwhelming but I figured I’d give it a shot!

I took the bus for the first time in Haarlem to the bus station. It was raining and I had a big bag with me. Lazy won out. But the bright side, I figured out how to use the bus in Haarlem!! Not so difficult, but still, the ice has been broken! So I jump on the train down to Delft and sit back and enjoy the 40 minutes that I have. I thought I had synced my Ipod so I could watch my show, but it didn’t work so I read my book instead. I have started reading “The Blind Side.” While I’m not generally one for football books, I really like it. I get lost in the football talk but I like the characters and the story behind it.

Anyways, I get off in Delft and follow the signs to the new bus station and jump on the bus that Erik says. I look at the bus driver a little lost, I tell him where I need to go, he confirms that stop is on his route and I pay the €1.30 and sit down. A few stops later, I get off the bus. I was a bit worried about how I was going to find my way from the bus stop to their house, but Gina (Mark and Erik’s mom) was waiting for me. I was so HAPPY to see her!! I was so proud of myself for getting there totally Dutch style too. Full use of the public transportation system! She led me back to their house where I settled in for a few hours to wait for Erik. It was so nice to spend time talking with their family (and their American exchange student). She performed Lady GaGa at the school’s talent show and they had filmed it. I was super impressed!! She is really good! And it took a lot of guts to get up there and perform. I never would have! Americans are quite competitive so my first question was “Did you win?” I was informed it wasn’t a competition; it was just for fun for the students. What is funny, when Mark called later that was his first question as well. Apparently America is rubbing off on him also!

Ton, the father and husband of the family, is really good at finding cheap air fare. Kelly and I have a few trips up our sleeves and I started talking to him about them and he started looking online. I had ran into an issue when I was looking because I couldn’t book them on a budget European site because I don’t have a European billing address for my credit card. This is just another issue that I have with the Dutch monetary system. I ended up not booking anything yet because I have to verify my holidays but I do think I’m going to try and open a bank account today after work. Maybe tomorrow, we’ll see how the weather is. It snowed again last night so we are back to white.

Another issue with this credit card/chip card thing is the OV chip card. This OV card is for use on subways, busses, trams, and all other public transportation systems in Holland. Basically, you scan your card when you get on public transit vehicle and then it charges you €4. You scan it again when you get off at your destination and it credits you back the difference of your travels. Pretty handy, right? Now I’ve seen signs for this card but have no idea how to get one. I even asked the train station lady and she didn’t really know either. I asked Erik, he knew! So that was his mission, to help me get an OV Chip card. The downfall, I can refill it unless I have a bank chip card. Another reason I need a local bank account, the stupid chip card!

So anyways, at about 11 pm Erik and I headed off towards Rotterdam. His parents were perfectly fine staying up so late. I guess it really is Dutch style. Ton took us to the train station where we intercepted the train and took the 20 minutes (or somewhere around there) down to Rotterdam. Erik’s fraternity house is only about 10 minutes from the train station but it was kind of drizzling and ruining my cute “party hair.” It was my first Dutch party; I had to have cute hair! We arrive at his fraternity where they are having a bit of social hour and I get to meet a few of the other members. I found the cute, tall Dutch guys!!! They are still in college…and not living in Haarlem! Dang. But at least I know they’re out there.

After I drop my stuff off in his room, and he promises me the mice won’t get it, we head out for the evening. You will have to tune in tomorrow to find out how it went!

A Historical Sunday Funday

After a late evening rocking out to Q.E.D. none of us really wanted to get up Sunday morning. We wanted to get on the road about 9:30 but I don’t think we left until about 10:30. Such is life. It’s nice to have a bit of flexibility. We figured since it was still early, we better t go to the Anne Frank house before the line gets long. We figured a cold, rainy Sunday in February there wouldn’t be a line. We were wrong. The line went out the building and around the corner, half way down the block. Well, we were going to see this piece of history no matter so we go to the back of the line. It moves at a slow but steady pace but it does get longer faster than people are let in. We’re glad we decided to bear the line. It did take about an hour or so but we didn’t completely freeze. The “fun” part of standing in lines: people watching. I found a car that if I follow it, will take me to Texas. I don’t know a lot about mechanics and what not but I’m pretty sure this car can’t swim.

You aren’t allowed to take pictures in the Anne Frank house so I have no evidence that I was there (besides the ticket stub I threw away) but it was such a great experience. This was the 2nd time I’ve been to the house but it was still emotional and humbling. I’m really glad Kelly and Stu got the opportunity to see it and experience a small part of history.

When the Germans found the hiding place, they cleaned everything out. When Anne’s Dad, Otto, came back after surviving Auschwitz he said that all the rooms should remain empty as a memorial to his family who all died in the concentration camps. There is a glass building built up and around the house so you can’t see it from the outside which is disappointing, but at least it has been preserved. The tour takes you through all of the rooms and artifacts left behind such as the actual diary and other hand written letters. It’s amazing the insight that she had at such a young age and going through such difficult things in life. Compared to what those people had to go through, our society has become a bunch of “sissies.”

Well, being the sissies that we are, we were hungry after the Anne Frank house. We were walking back to Dam Square to catch the tram over to the Heineken Brewery when we came upon a Dutch pancake house. Well, we are on a mission to make sure Stu gets to experience all things Dutch, so we decided this was a great lunch place. I love the simple Dutch pancakes with cheese and ham but I thought I’d get a bit crazy and order the Mexican Pancake. It wasn’t bad, I don’t think I’d order it again, but it had a nice kick and lots of veggies.



We finally made it to Dam Square where I’m walking with a map in my hand looking at it when we see a giant crowd of people standing around. Well, I decide to walk around the crowd towards the tram stop that we need and I get yelled at by some clown looking man. “YUP! YOU FOUND ME. I’M RIGHT HERE. THE SEARCH IS OVER!” I was, to say the least, a bit embarrassed and confused. I just got yelled at by a clownish man in front of a crowd of people for wondering around slightly lost.

Anyways, we get on the right tram and head off to the Heineken factory. This was our first time using the trams because usually we just walk (and get a workout in). The weather was cold though and the factory was pretty far away from everything so we figured we better suck it up and figure this out. It wasn’t too bad. You can get a day pass for unlimited rides for €7 or for €7.60 you can get a strip that has 15 “slots” on it. Each ride, though, uses 2 “slots” per person. We had 30, that’s good enough for what we needed to do. We even have some left over for the next person. They don’t expire in the calendar year. Each tram you get on, the driver stamps them and away you go. We arrive at the brewery with little issue to start taking some pictures of the outside. You can see my excitement.


They have recently re-done their “museum” so that now it is the Heineken Experience. And boy was it! When you walk in the first thing is a digital bar and bartender giving you the rundown of the history of the company and its founders. It is still to this day run by a Heineken family member, and a woman! We had to take advantage of the photo op that was available:


The next room had all of the huge copper vats where they used to heat up the hops and malt and all sorts of other stuff. They had a great idea and you could look into the vats and on some of them they had little projections on the dark insides showing what would have been going on. I thought it was such a neat idea! There was also a station where you could help out the brew master by grinding the barley and helping stir them. I couldn’t go without putting in a bit of hard labor:

Now, we thought it smelled like horses in there but we figured it must have been the barley oats that give it the horse-ish smell. Nope, there were really horses in the next room. It is where their stable was for the real Heineken horses. Apparently, they will still pull the wagons around town and deliver kegs. Another great marketing/promotional scheme. The horses were so pretty! You could only see them through the glass partition so I couldn’t get a good picture but thankfully Stu was along who happens to be in the 6’3” range and could hold the camera above the glass to get a picture. During my photo op Charly decided to scratch and Freddy thought it looked like a good idea so he wanted to copy. They are such pretty animals!


After the horses we got bottled. Yup, we as humans got bottled. Well, via the 4D experience. It was a lot of fun that people of all ages could enjoy. You walk into a little room where you stand on a little platform that moves and shakes as you go along the bottling process. The moving platform is complimented with spray, heat, and wind. I now know how beer feels while being bottled.

After being bottled we got to go have a little taster. They had neat star shaped bars where we all stood around and answered questions and got some more beer drinking tips and lessons. Since I paid attention another exibit I learned that the foam head on beer serves to keep the beer carbonated and fresh by keeping the carbon dioxide in and the oxygen out of the beer. It is also the lightest part of the beer, primarily made from hops which is why it tastes bitter. American and England aren’t big on serving beer with the head but I learned it is better; you just have to take bigger drinks to get below the foam head. I figured that wouldn’t be too difficult. So because of all of my great new knowledge, and not being afraid to speak in public I answered the questions right and got an extra sampler of beer. I knew paying attention would pay off someday!

The next stop is where we got to bottle our own beer. Well, I’m sure it wasn’t the exact beer, but we got to create a label that has our name on it. I now own a beer that says “Brewed in Amsterdam by Amelia Christensen.”

After that there was more interactive areas where you could create your own music video and send video messages. What a fun idea! There were also crazy chairs that you could sit in and watch commercials from the past 50 years. Such simple things, but so neat. They also had a bit of a museum set up that displayed all of their old beer bottles and labels. At one point Heineken wanted to make recyclable bottles so they created the WOBO, or the wall bottle. They are square bottles that basically interlock with one another so that poor people could use their empties to build a house! Now, if that isn’t helping out the world, I don’t know what is. I am standing in front of a small WOBO wall.

What makes Heineken beer so special is that “A” yeast that is used to create it. It was one of the first beers to come out with standard yeast so that no matter where it is made, it will have the same taste. A student of Louis Pasteur developed it. Those smart people seem to hang out together!

After the tour we got to enjoy 2 free beers. That’s worth half the admission cost right there! They have a great atmosphere created for the bar area and throughout the entire Experience. I wanted to post a picture of Kelly and I drinking, but I forgot and it’s so hard to do after the fact. Kelly’s blog has plenty of great pictures! After the Experience we wanted to take a canal cruise. I also needed to get my train tickets for my trip to Halle, Germany so that I could still get the cheap price. I told Kelly and Stu to go try the food in the wall (to continue Stu’s Dutch food experience) and I’d get the ticket. Well the ticket took forever and I ended up missing the canal cruise, but Kelly and Stu went and I take it they had a good time. I will have to go one of these days! I took the train back home, bought some groceries, and settled in to call my German host parents and tell them I am coming.

After a while into my call to Germany my cell phone rings and it is Kelly. I have no idea why she would call, but I figured it was important so I answer. She needs me to go pick her and Stu up from the other train station/stop in Haarlem. There is 2??? Apparently, there is. It’s by IKEA. Do I know where IKEA is? Nope. So I get in the car and pull out of the garage and try to find it on TomTom. TomTom can’t find it. I start to worry and the thought of driving towards the giant IKEA sign sounds slightly promising but I’m still worried Kelly and Stu might freeze to death. I have the bright idea to Google the address! Sure enough, Google has it and it gives me the proper address I enter it into TomTom and head on my way. I pull into the giant black, empty parking lot and wonder where in the world they are hiding. I call Kelly and she starts shouting that she can see my headlights and gives me turn by turn directions to their side of the parking lot/bus stop. I could hardly see 2 silhouettes’s jumping up and down in the darkness. I found them! They thoroughly enjoyed the warm car and we headed home. They grabbed their bags out of the car and I see a blue Doritos bag. Now, Kelly has been on the search for “Cool Ranch” Doritos since we’ve been here but she hasn’t had any luck. She finally found a bag of “Cool American” which is the Dutch version of “Cool Ranch.” There is some minor debate around the apartment whether they are made with real “American” or not.

It was an adventurous day. Monday and Tuesday we have taken it pretty easy. Monday we had ravioli at the house and watched some Olympics and yesterday, we went out for another 4 course meal. We wanted Stu to experience the Dutch 4 courses. The only downside, the Dutch are so slow! We were there almost 2 hours and none of us were prepared for that. Kelly and Stu still had to pack for their trip to Munich and I was just tired. They got home and managed to pack a bit and get to bed at a decent hour. This morning still came very early though! Their flight left at 7am which meant we left the house at 5:15. I gave them a ride so I had to be up too. It was really early! They are off and I’ve received the BBM that they made it and I haven’t heard anything bad, so I guess that means everything is good! I am happy they are getting the experience. They are going to have a tour of the Hofbrauhaus, Neuschwanstein Castle, the concentration camp Dachau, and a day trip to Salzburg, Austria. They are going to have such a great time and I’m happy they can see those amazing places together. I’m just going to be left alone for 4 days so I have to find something to keep my busy. I guess I can watch Olympics and start a new book. That should be enough. And sleep, I can always use more of that!