Netherlands nostalgia

Today I'm wearing my boots for the first time since getting back from the Netherlands and it's making me miss that place, even with the cold and all the rain and the annoying roommate. It's nuts to think it's been more than six months since I got back! I cannot believe it's been that long and at the same time, it feels like a lifetime ago.

Some of the things I loved:
-Going down the street with my coworkers to Blooming Cafe for coffee/cake instead of working.
-My mom laughing at a joke during the all-Dutch tour because she knew it was a joke even though she didn't know what the joke was.
-Watching Will eat a nieuwe (raw) herring (and hearing him speak Dutch).
-Never having to get gas.
-Comparing sayings in different languages.
-Albert Heijn.
-Train rides to other countries.
-Fries and mayonnaise.
-The Hague.

Holland's tulips (and other flowers)

I know I'm back in the States now, but I can't not post photos of the huge garden in The Netherlands: Keukenhof. It's only open from the end of March to the end of May, so I was just barely there long enough to see it.

Pretty, right?

Flower fields.

JJ and the giant tulips.

Don't you just love springtime?

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.

Leftovers

There were a couple days while my parents were here that I didn't bring my big clumsy SLR camera because we were staying around Den Haag (and my mom was taking plenty of pictures for both of us). So here are just a couple I took with my phone on those days. My poor little iPhone was excited to just see some action now that it's been on airplane mode for 6 weeks.

This is in the Ridderzaal, or Knight's Hall, at the Binnenhof. We took a short tour, which the guide and other Dutch guests were nice enough to do in English. On Prinsjesdag (Prince's Day) each year, the queen comes and sits in that throne and says what the government policy will be like for the next parliamentary session. 

And apparently the Dutch are a little cheap, because when the next monarch (it'll be a king next) takes power, he won't even get a new throne. They'll just use the same one and change the B on it (for Beatrix) to W for Willem-Alexander (which will actually be a recycled W from a previous Willem). What a tough life.

On Monday, we went to Delft because it's too charming (and close) to miss. And my mom bought a genuine Royal Delft plate, double wrapped in bubble wrap for the plane ride home.

Ok, I think I am officially done with my parents' visit. Now back on to boring everyday Dutch life.

Stereotypical Holland

I know you all have been waiting anxiously for this entry since I got here, so here it is. Windmills and wooden shoes (also known as the only things you know about the Netherlands).

On Sunday, we took a train to Amsterdam Centraal (our 3rd Pierre Cuypers masterpiece in as many days) and then had a little trouble finding the right bus. We're just not good at buses. Of course, my mom, who spent her time looking at postcards instead of trying to figure out where we were supposed to go, was the one who ended up seeing Bus 91 and saving the day.

We took 91 to the complete opposite end of the line to a little village called Zaanse Schans where tourists' wildest dreams come true.

At the klompenmakerij. If anyone wants some wooden shoes (and wants to pay for the weight they'll add to my suitcase), I know where to get them now. Or I could make you some since I now know the secrets of the trade.

At the kaas farm. We got to try lots of different cheeses, cut by girls in funny lace hats. I tried to find a picture of the hat on the Internet, but to no avail. Next time I go, I'll just have to buy my own cheese-cutting hat. (Edit: A lovely friend found some photos and posted them in the comments) 

And then the windmills.

We went in one that still works called De Kat where dye is made.

This was one of those "at your own risk" kind of places, so we were free to stick our hands in any gears that we wanted. 

We also got to go out on the little deck by the blades. 

And climbed around on a bunch of ladders.

Except for my mom. She only went on a couple because she's afraid of heights and fun.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures because you can expect to see basically the same ones in a few weeks when I drag Will there. Don't forget to put in your wooden shoe order before then.

Day in Delft

I've been feeling like I should use my weekends wisely since they are limited, so Saturday I went to Delft, a little town about 20 minutes away by tram. It's famous for Delftware, that blue and white pottery, and the guy who painted "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (which is actually in a museum in The Hague that had a line down the block on Sunday). And it's adorable.

That's the Oude Kerk in the background. That just means old church. And by old, they mean built in the 13th century. So pretty darn oude.

Just looking down the canal the opposite way, because you can really never have enough pictures of European canals.

I think it's crazy how these houses are built basically IN the canals. And what are those doors for? The door on the right has a little bit of a porch, but the others? If I had ungracious house guests, that's the door I would make them exit through.

This is the Nieuwe Kerk. Guess what that means. This one was JUST built...in the 15th century.

After walking around the city a bit, listening to street performers playing accordions and a calliope(!), I decided to actually go in the churches. This is in the old church. Both had great stain glass windows, but I wasn't interested enough in reading to find out what stories they all told. 

This is in the new church, on a memorial at the tomb of some prince. There were lots of dead important people underfoot. Doesn't this lady look like she's holding a cowboy hat? OK, it's more of a Speedy Gonzales hat, but still makes me feel a little closer to my side of the world. 

And then some artwork on the street. I have my guesses of what it is, but I'd be interested to hear anyone else's take on it.

I also ventured to the beach on the other end of the tram line, but it was gray out and cold and nothing like a beach should be, so I won't even bother showing you either of the two pictures I snapped. And no, there weren't even any topless Europeans there.

Escher museum

I've finally made it through a full week here! This one dragged by, but I have a feeling the rest will go a bit faster now that I've started my internship (and have actual human interaction!).

On Tuesday, my last day of freedom, I visited Escher at the Palace, a museum about artist M.C. Escher housed at some old palace in The Hague.  I felt like I had to do some kind of sightseeing (because what kind of tourist doesn't sightsee?), and Den Haag has about a million museums. One down, a million minus one to go.

Just another run-of-the-mill palace around here.

Escher's probably more famous for his tessellations (I remember having to try to make one in 5th or 6th grade math. It was ugly and we used no math to draw it) or his crazy reality-bending drawings (like below), but I really like his wood cuts, like this one. I'm not entirely sure why; it's something about the 2-D-ness of it and the bold shapes.  

This is one of those trippy ones. So trippy, in fact, they used it in Labyrinth. 

I may not be able to make tessellations like Escher, but I can make self-portraits in big shiny balls like him.

These next ones aren't pieces by Escher, but I just thought this museum had the craziest chandeliers. I don't know if they were in the palace originally, but they're just nuts. 

An umbrella...

...a pipe (in the background)...

...and a skull. Not to mention a wine bottle, a guitar, a bomb, a globe and an artist's palette. 

I'll have another picture post in a day or two, and then maybe something about my internship, depending on how interesting I think I can make it sound.