Will's visit

Will and I went from seeing each other all the time last school year to seeing each other every two or three weeks last semester to this very long semester apart. So after 9 weeks of being apart, Will came to visit during his Spring Break and we had some much needed time together.

The first half of his trip we spent in Den Haag so I could show him around. I showed him my neighborhood and office, the city center and the Binnenhof. We went to Mauritshuis, which is the museum that houses "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and then ate fries with mayonnaise while fending off the disgusting sea gulls (have I mentioned how many birds there are here? It's frightening). We had Indonesian food (excellent here because of the Dutch colonial ties) and coffee and stroopwaffels and pannenkoeken in Delft. And Will of course got the prettiest weather we've had since I've been here. Lucky.

For the second half, we took off for Amsterdam. I hadn't spent any real time there, so it was fun exploring the city together. I've already posted these on Facebook, but here are some again with more explanation.

This is a canal near the building where Anne Frank and her family hid. I have a picture of the building, but it's honestly not much to look at since it was just an office building/warehouse. Photography wasn't allowed inside, but photos wouldn't really have captured it anyway. It wasn't exactly a fun place to visit, but it was worthwhile.

We went to Zaanse Schans the next day, so I have lots of windmill photos.

We went in the same windmill that I went in with my parents (a dye mill), but later found out there was also an oil mill and a saw mill that we could've gone in instead.

I didn't end up buying any wooden shoes (they were too heavy and expensive) or funny Dutch hats but I still made Will try them on. 

And of course, the nieuwe herring, which Will has been telling me he wanted to try since December. It took him all week to build up the courage to eat it. Did I mention it's raw?

After this bite, he made a sick face and discreetly (and quickly) made his way to the nearest trash can to throw the rest away. If it tasted anything like he smelled afterward, I can imagine why he looked sick.

We went some other places where photography wasn't allowed, like the Van Gogh museum (the correct Dutch way of saying it is not so pretty) and the red light district (most of the ladies in the windows just looked bored). But the best part of the whole trip was just being together. Isn't that sweet of me to say? I think that deserves a nice dinner when I get home.