I'm Melting!!!

This past week has been a blur. Business has been slower than preferred, but I will say it is a bit of a nice break. Things have been pretty crazy since the day I got here so a quieter week was very welcome.

Last week I was on call for the first time ever. I would love to say it was uneventful and boring, but I'd be lying. There were "misunderstandings" that resulted in one of our customers "hating" us and somehow I was in the middle. I was mostly a casualty of war, but it was still frustrating and I still get mad about it any time any one brings it up. Most people don't but there is this one fellow who does. I would like to say he tries to be ornery but he just doesn't pull it off very well. My grandfather is much better at it, which is probably also why I seem to handle this fellow pretty well compared to others. I've had a life time of practice.

I spoke to the poor on call guy today, he was lucky enough to be running around all night and didn't get home until 7am this morning. He then has to work all day but hopefully he will get tomorrow night off. The way they do on call around here is interesting. Sometimes people alternate, such as one guy does it Monday and Tuesday, the other guy handles Wednesday and Thursday, the other one Friday, both on Saturday, then the last one on Sunday. That seems pretty complicated to me. The other way that people will do it is that one person handles the phone calls the other person drives. This only seems semi fair, but I don't think any one person should have to do all the driving. These rigs can get pretty spread out and you can easily travel an hour and a half in one direction for a single rig. I know it is part of the business, but I think trying to keeps peoples continual subjection to such trips should be kept to a minimum. It makes it a little less painful if people trade off.

The upside to all of this hard work is the wonderful weather. Yesterday the thermometer across the street on the bank like building read 101 degrees. Thats not counting the humidity. The radio has been saying that the heat index has been up around 114 degrees which is insane. Blond haired people who freckle and sweat a lot are not made for this climate. That translate to "I hate it." The upside, people pay good money to sit in saunas...all I have to do is walk into the warehouse. It's almost like a day at the spa....almost. Today there appears to be a bit of breeze out and the humidity doesn't seem to be so bad. I thought I would go lay out for a bit and see if I can get some color. I never last long, which is probably for the better since there is nothing worse than dealing with a sunburn. I better take lots of water with me!!

I hope everyone is doing well, and I will keep working to get better about my blogging. I do enjoy it and I have missed it.

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.

Stavanger, Norway

Javan and I arrived around 1 pm in Norway. We had a direct flight from Amsterdam and since it all seemed so simple and Javan was checking his bag, I figured I might as well check mine. BAD IDEA!!! I have a fear of checking bags, I never do so unless absolutely required and I remember why…especially when flying KLM. Well, upon arrival we wait, and wait, and wait for my bag. It never arrived. Turns out, it never caught the flight, or the next one. It finally caught the last flight over and was delivered to be at 12:30 am by the biggest burliest Norwegian I have yet seen. Most are tall and elegant and pretty, this one stepped out of the NFL including tattoos on his hand. He was nice though, and I did feel safer knowing he was guarding the hotel during the sinister hours.

The work day was pretty normal, but their hours of 8-4 with a 30 min lunch are pretty awesome. It is a combination of many of the great things I have learned throughout my experience in the corporate world. I miss getting off at 4 so it was great to have some free time in the afternoon to do things. It also helps that this country never really gets dark during the summer. Carean also met us in Norway so we did more culinary exploration. This is another country that isn’t starving and knows the finer things in life. They also know how to price gouge on EVERYTHING!! One evening I had venison, then the next we had fantastic Italian. On Wednesday night, June 23rd otherwise known as Midsummers Night, there was a special cruise offering. It went into the nearby fjord and underneath Pulpit rock. Next time I am hiking up to the rock and looking down. Javan and Carean didn’t want to go so I was on my own. As I was sitting there, a guy walked by with an NOV back pack. I figured he worked for the company and didn’t think much more of it. When he came back up for picture taking I started looking at him and thought he looked familiar. Turns out, I had a seminar with him back in October in Houston. It really, truly is a small world. This was the last place where I thought I would run into someone. When we arrived back on shore at 11 pm the harbor was hopping!! There was live music playing and people EVERYWHERE! I could have stayed out and enjoyed the party and atmosphere for a long time had I not needed to work the next day.

On Thursday, Javan and I headed to the oil museum after work. It was a great museum and very interactive. They had samples of crude oil from different parts of the world so you could compare, examples of rocks which make up the different formations in the ground, as well as all the different tools involved in drilling. Turns out, NOV even donated a driller’s chair. Javan drove it, I don’t know how his well drilling went, but he didn’t blow anything up. We did learn, though, that his ROV driving wasn’t too hot. They had a simulator of what it was like to steer an underwater remote operated vehicle and I can only imagine what the engineers in Houston are going through with the well a mile under the water in the Gulf. I give them props for doing what they have done. If it were left to me, that well would still be gushing full steam ahead and my ROV lost somewhere in Venezuela.

After the museum, we had sushi for dinner and Javan headed back. We were both heading back but somehow I got left behind and then left to my own devices. I found an ice cream shop then wondered the old streets of Stavanger. After getting back to the hotel at 9:30 pm I saw some big dudes in the lobby. I turned the corner and who is standing there giving autographs? None other than my dear friend Snoop Dogg. He had a concert the same evening that started at 9. Considering he was already late for it, I’m glad I spent my money on a fjord cruise rather than his concert. I heard today (Friday) he didn’t even do an encore and was a total of 1.5 hours late. Dang him…disappointing his fans. I am currently at the air port waiting for my flight back to Amsterdam where I will meet up with my German host parents Uwe and Andrea for a weekend of catching up and packing my life away. Maybe Snoop will be on my flight…he has a concert in Berlin next. Google told me.

A small town on the waters edge outside of Stavanger. This picture was taken aroun 11 pm. The advantage of living so far north.

A view from where our bbq was held. It was only accessible by boat and the guys were building a bon fire for after dinner.

A small harbor area and apartments in Stavanger


The Lysefjorden which is popular for hiking...

...mostly because it contains Pulpit Rock which is 1800 ft above the water. Next time, I'll be looking down from it.

London with Americans

So, finally updating my blog. London with Tabatha, Karla, and Boyd was crazy fun. We didn’t do a lot of museums, but we did tons of walking and saw all the major sights. We were even sure to ride the London Eye since I didn’t get to do that last time I was in London. My other “to-do” thing was Westminster Abby. The others waited for me outside and I went in alone. I couldn’t take pictures but it was absolutely amazing to see where such great minds were buried such as Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespear, T. S. Eliot, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, Isaac Newton, and Charles Darwin.

Another amazing activity we got to do was go see Phantom of the Opera at the London theater. I saw it in Vegas once upon a time but it was definitely the abridged version. Seeing in London in its original theater was truly amazing and gave us all the chills. Their singing was unbelievable and we all enjoyed it so much. It was funny though, that all of the dancers had burnt chests just like every other citizen of the UK because of the great weather. Good to know they are human too!

Every evening we generally went and got a drink (or two) at a local pub. We always tried to be back by our hotel before midnight for fear of getting stranded when the Tube shut down. It was just enjoyable being able to catch up with the girls (and Boyd) about what has been going on in their lives, reminiscing on old times, and debating our futures. We have all changed so much since graduating college not to long ago, but yet we are all still so much the same. I was so glad to meet up with them in London and be a part of (and reason why) they made the trip over the pond.

Tabatha, Boyd, and I at Leicester Square

Us girls having a drink. So good to be back together.


Outside of the theater after the show

All of the people enjoying the amazing weather at Leicester Square

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

Stockholm

After jumping on the train in Malmö and traveling through the beautiful Swedish country side that alternated between evergreen trees, lakes, and cute cabin/houses I arrived in Stockholm. My 2nd cousin Melanie met me took me to one of her favorite restaurants for a late dinner. Since I had family in the area, I figured I better take advantage of them while and I could and her and her husband were nice enough to let me stay with them. They have a wonderful place out on an island outside of the city. The island has about 20,000 people total so it is quaint, but large enough. Melanie’s husband also plays in a semi professional soccer league and they had a big game on Saturday with their local rivals. Melanie and I went first to Drottningholm Palace where the royal family lives and took a tour of the beautiful estate. Since they still live there, only a small portion of the palace is open for tours but you may wonder the grounds at will. We got lucky and had great weather so there were people laying out all over with feet in the fountains and boats on the water. There was a yacht pulled up to the dock by the palace so I would guess it belongs to the royal family, but I didn’t stop to ask anyone.

After the palace tour we went to the soccer game where her husband’s team ended up winning. Everyone was in a great mood after that which always makes things more enjoyable. Saturday evening we headed into the city for a walk around Stockholm then eventually dinner at an American favorite, TGIF. On our way though, we...well, more I, saw a beautiful sight. It was a tall, muscular Swedish man lifting heavy building materials at a construction site. He had longish blond hair and was wearing a tank top with perfect jeans and boots. He had the look down. Luckily we got seated outdoors in eye shot of this beautiful creature working. Melanie and her husband had a great laugh over my entertainment with, what we call, “the sexy Swedish Viking man.” After dinner we went out and experienced a bit of the Stockholm night life and had a lot of fun. Those Swedes know how to get down and sing those 80’s songs!

My flight left late Sunday evening so Melanie and I took an enjoyable and slow Sunday. We had some great discussions about politics, history, family, and business. It was also neat because Melanie gave me a run down on the other side (my dad’s side) of my family that I don’t know as much about. We headed into town to do a bit more sightseeing but all we ended up doing was hanging out at the train station drinking wine and having a muffin. The conversation was just too good to pass up and it is always very enjoyable to have an intelligent conversation with friends.

I fly quite a bit, especially with the way my life has been going. I never get lucky. On the flight home I got seated in the exit row AND next to a tall, cute, Dutch banker who was 32. I had more intellectual conversation over politics, history, and books. I felt like I hit the male jackpot over the weekend.

In the city. Stockholm is basically made up of a bunch of small natural and man made islands connected by bridges. Don't fall in!

Melanie and her husband

The view from Melanie's porch. Since we had such great weather, we ate breakfast out here. When they moved in, they had a view clear out to the water. Those pesky neighbors!

Stockholm and the wonderful weather we had

The Royal palace in Stockholm

Småland

Today was a rough day. Nothing major happened, it was just long. The fact that it’s been raining the past 2 days probably doesn’t help much either. I guess that’s why everything is green and pretty, but I still don’t like the grey drizzle. I went to yoga again tonight. It was pretty intense. I really enjoy it though. It is fun going to an actual studio because she has all these “contraptions” that help. Like a little stand that mostly balances you to do a head stand. That was fun; I hadn’t done one in years!

I walked into the warehouse the other day and there is a page from a magazine torn out and put up on the magnet board. I didn’t notice it until my boss brought it up. He kept saying “Amalia wil graag worden opgehaald uit Småland.” Now, I have no idea what that means, and my one possible Swedish reader would understand “Småland.” That doesn’t leave much hope for the rest of us. Well, after a confusion round of “Whats” and repeats, I figured out “Småland” is basically IKEA’s day care area and Amalia wants picked up from there. I had to admit, after I figured out what it meant, it is kind of funny. So now, every time I’m in the warehouse they ask me how I’m liking Småland and if I’m sure I want to leave. They do spell the name differently, but it seems to be that most languages pronounce my name that way. I’ve gotten used to it.

I apologize this is a short one, but it is late and the morning will come too fast. I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Koninginnenacht

I’ve been wanting to do something outside of my apartment and start some sort of Dutch socialization process and I decided on yoga. Last night was my first class. I found a studio right across the canal from my apartment, not even a 5 minute walk. It was really nice. There are lots of young people who were there and the instructor was nice too. She said everything in Dutch though so I was a bit lost, but I just followed everyone else and it wasn’t too bad. I plan on going back, and hopefully continue 2x a week until I move home. We’ll see how that works. I am a bit sore today. Nothing major, but I can feel a few select muscles. I consider that a good thing.

Tonight is Queen’s night or koninginnenacht as the Dutch say it. It is the start of the celebration for the Queen’s birthday. It is actually the date of her Mom’s birthday since the weather tends to be better on April 30 compared to January 31, her actual birthday. This celebration continues right on through till tomorrow night. I am planning on going out tonight, alone, for the first time EVER. I have never been out to a bar or party or anything of the sorts totally alone. I have met people there but this time I am flying solo. The guys at work have given me all sorts of advice and tips, only half of which I feel safe listening to. The other half I would have been better off never hearing. I did make two of them in charge though. One is responsible if anything should happen to me, and the other is responsible for searching for me if I don’t show up to work on Monday. I should survive, but you never know.

Tomorrow, Queen’s day or Koninginnedag, I am headed to Amsterdam to see what the party there is like. It is going to be wild. They say over a million people come out and celebrate in the city. There aren’t even that many full time residents! I am meeting a few people from work who reluctantly agreed to be my friends. I still don’t own any orange, which is a prerequisite to wear but I figured I can buy a big silly hat on the street or something. I’ll manage one way or another. The weather isn’t supposed to be that great though, rain in the mornings and a high of 59. Oh well, maybe there will be less crowds? I doubt it. I will keep you posted about the crazy antics of Dutch partying. Hope I live through it!!!

Nina!

Last weekend I visited Nina in Germany. Google maps said it would be about a 3.5 hour drive but ended up taking a bit over 4 hours due to traffic. She actually lives in a little town about an hour away from everything (Autobahn, Bremen). It is a super cute little town though, about 12,000 people live there and they have a great ice cream shop! I arrived on Friday evening and we just spent the evening snacking and catching up.

On Saturday we decided we didn’t want to rush ourselves so we slept in and ate a wonderful breakfast. Nina ran to the local bakery for some fresh rolls and we enjoyed the sunshine and more girl talk. We had so much to catch up on! Then we decided we would head to Bremen for the afternoon/evening. Bremen also had a “Body” exhibit where they display bodies and show how the muscles/veins/nerves/ligaments/organs work. It was really interesting to see. It all looked so fake! They had a normal brain compared to an Alzheimer’s brain and regular lungs compared to smokers lungs. They really did look like they were dropped in tar. We ended up spending about 2 hours in there looking at all of the different things. Another neat exhibit they had was of “The Beginning of Life” and they had all things dealing with pregnancies. They also had example fetuses ranging from about 4 weeks all the way until due. They really do look like a little bean pod. It was so weird to see. We also learned that humans live a long time in relativity to their heart size/function. If it was solely based on our heart size and how often it beats compared to our mass our life expectancy is only 27 years but obviously there are other factors at work here. It was just so neat to see “life” in that way.

After the exhibit we followed the crowd into town. We didn’t get very far before Nina spotted a store that sells the brands of jackets she wants. Well guess who ended up buying a jacket? Not Nina. They ARE really nice jackets and water and wind resistant. I found a nice one that can be used for work or play but it is longer (mid thigh length) which I really wanted. It is also light weight so it will be nice for a variety of seasons. It will be perfect for the trip I’m planning to Stockholm and Copenhagen in May! Here is a picture:

I don't get the joys of showing off my new clothes to friends or family, so this is my substitute :)

Since we went shopping first, I then had a giant bag to carry the rest of the day! We found a beautiful windmill and stopped and had a coffee under it for a little break. We then headed to the city center and to take a look around. We found the bronze statue “The Town Musicians” based on one of the Grimm Brother’s stories. We wondered down the Böttcherstraße and looked at all of the cute shops there. We found Eddie a cute birthday card as well as a shot glass for Mark. There is a candy manufacturer there that makes little Bon Bons (little hard sweet candies) by hand and we got to try some that were fresh off the cooker thing. I’ve never had a warm one before! I ended up getting 2 little jars and bringing them to work since everyone loves candy so much here. In this street is also a little brewery so we stopped for a happy hour drink. You can’t turn down a beer for 1 Euro. It’s just wrong! So he a beer…or two….then asked our super nice waiter where a good place to eat is. He recommended Italian but I wanted German since I was in Germany so we decided to just eat there. We wanted to go walk around a bit more since the weather was FANTASTIC so we figured we would just go back. In Bremen, they have little wharfs where the old harbor used to be. You can walk around along the water on a nice path, close to water level. There are also beer gardens and restaurants that have set up shop along there as well. Since the weather was still so great, we stopped for another beer along the river. After enjoying the sun and watching it set we decided to head back to the brewery where we would have dinner. It was busier by then but sadly not with any young, youthful guys. We ordered and I went for the traditional Bremer Knipp which is what poor people used to eat. Now, apparently it is a specialty. Our waiter didn’t sell it very well with the poor people aspect but I figured I would give it a shot anyways. It was definitely very fatty. I took a picture, but it didn’t look very appetizing so I skipped including it. After hanging out there for awhile, we decided to head home. We were home by about midnight and then went to bed.

Nina and I in front of the windmill and flowers Bremen, Germany style!

The Town Musicians from the Grimm Brother's fairy tale

The town hall and market full of people enjoying the amazing weather

On Sunday we had another wonderful, long breakfast and figured out how nice it was outside. Nina mentioned helping me get some of my tickets booked for my travels so we figured we could sit outside on her balcony and do that. I read a bit of my Kindle while Nina surfed the internet. Although it took 2 of us, I did get my ticket booked to Copenhagen and Stockholm. Now, this darn volcano needs to stop erupting so things can get back to normal around here. I’ve got lots of travel plans in May and they can’t be interrupted by Iceland. After we figured we had been lazy enough for one morning we decided to head out on the bikes for a tour of her town. I didn’t have any major bike accident but we did have a little run in. I would have loved to post pictures from our excursion but we both forgot our phones and cameras so it was good there were no emergencies. After wondering through the little wooded parks and ponds (and watching ducks speed land on the water) we figured we deserved an ice cream.

When I lived in Germany one of my favorite ice creams was spaghetti ice. It is ice cream that is pushed through a mold so it forms spaghetti like noodles on a pile of whip cream covered in a berry sauce. It is still one of my favorites and I haven’t had it in forever so I figured I would get that. The foreign girl slightly insulted my German but since I KNEW she was a foreigner I figured hers had to be just as bad or worse for me to hear it. At least, that’s what I told myself! After ice cream we headed back to Nina’s and enjoyed the last hours on the balcony in the sun. We were discussing all things life and work and degrees and all of the stuff that probably shouldn’t be discussed on a Sunday afternoon sitting in the sun. The exciting part of all of my sun sitting is I now have the beginning of a tan in the form of a light sun burn….but it is only on one half of my body. I ended up leaving her place around 5:30 and got home around 9, true to Google Maps time with limited traffic. It was such an enjoyable weekend and I hope we can do it again before I leave!

Ouch!

This morning I burned myself…..twice. The first was with the hair straightner/flat iron on my forearm. It is not a bad burn, just a little blister. But the other one! Now, it is more serious. I happened with my egg steam my mom got me when she was here. I was taking the lid off and instead of tipping the lid over; I grabbed one handle and brought it over the steamer to the other side. Of course, when my hand was over the steamer, all the steam came rushing up and burned the top sides of my pointer and middle fingers. Now this one hurts! It hurts when I move my fingers, or look at them, but not when I blow on them. Now, that isn’t real constructive to sit at work and blow on my fingers, but I think it will happen from time to time today as well as hold them against my cold water bottle.

This weekend I will head direction of Bremen, Germany to visit Nina for a few days. Nina was the exchange student of my aunt and her family, so she is my exchange cousin and only lives 3.5 hours away. We have to take advantage of the short distance and I have never really been to that part of Germany. So far the weather is cooperating but I’m sure it will rain on the weekend just to spoil our fun. The country seems to me against me in that way.

Work is going well. I got myself involved with a project that I can work the wonders of Excel that Kelly taught me. It is fun feeling like the smart one, even when a few months ago this VLOOKUP function was a complete mystery to me. Hopefully, I will now be able to pass on the knowledge as well to make everyone’s life a bit easier. Technology does have its advantages, if you know how to use it!

Since I am not happy this morning, and slightly crippled, I wanted to put up pictures of Keukenhof from my visit there with Mom. I don’t think I blogged about our afternoon there, but it was very enjoyable with tons of great flowers. I was there again last week with a man and his wife from work. They’re Americans but living and working in Scotland. I knew the wife would love the flowers, but he ended up enjoying them as well. It is just such a neat area! I have more pictures from there but I don’t have my camera to upload them. The tulip fields are slowly starting to bloom so we took a little canal tour so we could get a better look. Upon returning, our boat had a stall out when the driver tried to put it in reverse so we were stuck, in the middle of a small canal, about 20 feet from the load/unload dock. Those boats always seem to give people trouble, it doesn’t matter what country your boat is in, and they all seem to have their own personalities. Luckily, though, we had a handsome young Dutchman as the driver so he got us fixed up with only minor delays and successfully back to the dock.

So, enjoy the pictures, be happy like the flowers and I’ll try not to bore you with more flower pictures for awhile.

Belgium

On Tuesday (March 30) Mom and I headed to Bruges, Belgium for a short excursion. Kelly and I had wanted to go see this medieval city for awhile now because it was the only town in Belgium that any Dutch person recommended. We left around 8:30 Tuesday morning and started our journey. We got into a bit of traffic and road construction but for the most part it was an uneventful 3 hour drive. TomTom took us right to our hotel and we had picked a wonderful centrally located hotel. It was right on the Burg which is the big historic plaza in the middle of the city. Right outside our window we could see the town hall. It was such a beautiful building! See below…

The city hall

The canals, buildings, and bridges were just so beautiful and old!

The most famous/pretty point in Bruges. Canals and buildings and my Mom! A girl can't ask for much more......

I had downloaded a walking tour of the city so we set off on our destinations and tourist book recommendations. The tour took us along the old canals and buildings and bridges. It was such a quaint city that was very peaceful. The streets had people, but not obnoxiously full like in Prague (future post). We met some teachers from Virginia who were visiting on Spring Break. We had to go to at least one museum so we hit up the Groeningemuseum which was a neat place with many old paintings. Many museums start to look the same so we didn’t spend a whole lot of time there. We were on a schedule! After the museum our tour took us to the Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan, a local brewery. Now, THAT is an important stop! Mom and I had a beer…or two….and let our feet have a break. After we had built up our energy we headed off for more walking and touring. After the break we headed to the Church of Our Lady in Bruges for a viewing of Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. It is the only statute to leave Italy during Michelangelo’s life time. It was bought by a family of wealthy cloth merchants who were from Bruges, one of the leading commercial cities in Europe during the time.

The detail of the statue was amazing! The way the cloth draped and the faces were formed. He was really a talented artist!

After that, Mom and I were tired so we made our way back to the Market and we wanted to take a carriage ride around the city. It was reasonably priced so we hopped in. Now, our driver was not an animated happy man which led to a slightly less than amazing tour and explanation of the city. He also over emphasized his “Rs” so he sounded slightly Scottish and like he might have been from a cartoon. As it turns out, though, that Mom and I had hit most of the city highlights on our walking tour. The few that we missed happened to be right around the corner of where we turned around and headed to the Market. The horse stopped to take a break by the beguinage ‘De Wijngaard' (the vineyard). The flowers were blooming so it was a beautiful sight.

The Beguine

Shops along the Market square

The sun was setting and we were tired and getting hungry. We headed to the room for a little break then re-gathered our things and headed to the Market for some mussels. The skies had taken a turn for the worse but just as we had reached the Market it started to poor rain and the wind REALLY kicked up. Mom and I hurried to the protection of a restaurant and ducked in just in time. We sat there in the warmth and dryness and watched people scurrying across the square and umbrellas blow inside out. We were happy where we were. We had ordered the local style of mussels which meant they were cooked in some sort of garlic curry broth and they were AMAZING! It was such a nice treat! After that Mom and I headed to another restaurant for dinner. It had stopped raining by then so we figured we should make a go of it while we could. Well, the book told us about this nice place that cooked all their food with beer and served complementary beer to the food choices. We figured anything with beer was a safe bet so we headed that way. Turns out this place is pretty fancy and coveted! It was a Tuesday night and we only got in by luck. They originally said they were full so we turned to leave and then she happened to find a table for us. We know why they were full; they only serve each table once per evening. I think we had a 3 hour dinner with 4 courses, which included 4 glasses of beer. After that we were stuffed and really tired so we waddled our way back to the hotel and rest up for Wednesday.

On Wednesday we had planned to head to Ghent and Antwerp because Ghent came as a recommended city as well and I wanted Mom to see Antwerp and the cathedral (and diamonds). Well, they weather was still nasty and windy and cold. We were both drained from the long day in Bruges and Mom was a bit toured out from all of her previous excursions in Africa. We stopped in Ghent and walked downtown to see the St. Bravo Cathedral that houses the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, which is considered to be their most famous works. The church also housed paintings from Peter Paul Rubens. We didn’t last long wondering the city fighting the wind and rain.

We skipped Antwerp all together and headed back for a relaxing afternoon in Haarlem where the weather was considerably better. Mom and I did a bit of shopping after a nap then had a small bite to eat. I also got a pretty watch for my birthday. It’s big, shiny, and has a pink watch band, my new favorite. It is also automatic so it charges itself by movement and you can see all of the gears in it. Pretty cool!

On Thursday mom and I had tickets to fly to Germany to see Doris and her family and take an Easter weekend trip to Prague. Those stories and pictures to come later! Stay tuned!

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!

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.

Utrecht

On Sunday, besides playing fantasy in my future castle, we visited Utrecht. It was such a quaint little town, that was closed for the most part. We wern't able to do a lot of shopping but we had fun walking around and seeing different things.

Utrecht is the religious capital of the Netherlands dating back to the 8th century. Until the Golden Age, Utrecht was the most important city in Northern Netherlands until Amsterdam became the cultural and populous capital. Utrecht is also home to Utrecht University, the largest university in the Netherlands along with many other higher education establishments.

There is some evidence of habitation of Utrecht dating back until 2200 BC although the founding date is generally considered 50 AD. As far as I’m concerned though, the town has been around a LONG time! In Medieval times Utrecht was a popular area for transport because the Rhine river used to run through the town. Since it was a religious place, it was previously a walled, fortified town. After the mid 1800s the walls came down and the town was allowed to expand. Since the Rhine had moved (oddly, but apparently it did) the arm that was left as well as the moat became more canal like which made moving goods via water ways still possible. To support this tradition people began building wharf like basements at water left. This basically created a 2 level street system. You can still see them today!

Since Utrecht is considered such an important religious place, many churchs are still intact. Dom tower (in the photo below) is one of the highest buildings in Utrecht. It used to be connected to the church, but the nave collapsed in 1674. There is now a tree and a pleasant court yard type area seperating the two.

Below is the rest of Dom Church. It was a beautiful church. Online, it said it wasn't opened but when Kelly and I showed up, people were going in so we followed. We wern't the only visitors, but I do believe most people going in where there for church related activities. There were clearly people enjoying coffee after mass but we poked around and took some discrete pictures then went on our way.

Below is a picture of the inside and the organs. I cannot wait till it is summer and there are organ concerts at our local church in Haarlem. I still haven't seen the inside of it, but I did learn that it is Protestant so that is interesting. Usually, the big pretty ones are Catholic.

More pretty, stained glass windows!!! I love all of the art work and time put into these creations so that we can all enjoy their beauty.

Here is a courtyard behind the church. It was so neat. Its uses have transformed over the years originating as a place for meditation. It is now an herb garden. Between the times of meditation and today's herb garden it was used as a gather spot popular for beer and poker, a place to store crops, then later wagons, then later ammunition powder and supplies. At least they don't waste space!

A picture of the outside. So many church's follow the gothic/neo gothic architecture. I still enjoy each and every single one of them though! It still amazes me how people with such "limited resources" built such amazing, beautiful structures.

After walking around town, and before the castle, we got hungry so we stopped for lunch. This place as busy, so we figured it had to be tasty and it was! Kelly's dad reccomended the mustard soup, which sounds a bit scary. They served it and it seemed like a soup day so I sprung for it and a tuna fish sandwhich. The soup was great!!!! Probably one of my new favorites. It was also served in a great little bread bowl which probably didn't help any. The sandwhich was fantastic too. We won again. During lunch we got a bit of entertainment, the resident cat. Can you imagine a restaurant in the US having a pet cat roaming around?? It would never fly. I had to take a picture of the cat sitting on one of the tables, welcoming visitors. This was the 2nd table we saw it sit on, not including the chairs it used as scratching posts and napping spots.

MMM Tasty cat infested tables. I have a pretty high tolerance for "unsanitary" things, but I'm just not a fan of cats on the inside. Private or professional, I think they are dirty. There was also an article I read that supported the argument that cats were dirty indoor creatures. Either way, we found this public restaurant issue interesting compared to standards back home.

Kelly's mom and her friend Leona are headed to Amsterdam today. We filled them full of advice and knowledge to make the most of their trip so I hope they wern't too confused and have a good time! It appears to be sunny outside so that is 1/2 of the battle right there. I guess spring really is rolling in because it seems to only be getting warmer around here. And by warmer, in case you were wondering, I mean 39-45 F. Not exactly a day at the beach. Tomorrow they are headed off to Antwerp to look around and browse the diamond district. How could you not??