Leiden, Holland

Yesterday night we went to the best fish place in Holland- it's a local joint with fish you can't find more fresh- it is on the harbor and the warehouses where the boats bring in the fish and they get it ready to ship is across the street.  Charlotte and I had Kipling.  I was so full when I walked out that when I got home I ended up laying down, playing "Flow" (check it out- a great iPhone game) and falling asleep dismissing all my plans for the evening.

Today was my Leiden day.  The day looked as if it could rain at any point, but luckily it held off.

I walked around a market that was by the canals downtown- everything sold from shoes, lace and thread/ sewing materials, cheese, dresses, toothpaste and toiletries, small clog shoes, fresh produce...a little bit of everything!  I went to Stedelijk Molenmuseum de Valk (a windmill you can climb up into the different levels and see the rooms in the bottom where some people used to live).  I got to go out onto the terrace part as well! The stairs, that is a story in itself.  I thought the stairs in the houses in Holland were steep, well these were killer! You had to go down backwards and no joke the angle was probably about 5 %.  Also, after climbing in front of where you would step off the stairs there was a trap door- not literally, but they used to open them to move things to the top or top to bottom with a pulley system.  It made even me a little nervous to step on and I usually don't mind those things.  Very interesting though!

After that, I went to the National Museum of Ethnology/ Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde (which had displays for Korea/ Japan, Asia, China (including a Budda Room- filled with 5 large Buddas), Indonesia, and Afrika.  There were artifacts (pots, jewelry, clothing remains, trinkets, etc.) that dated back thousands of years.  Also, there were 3 stone samurais that were borrowed from China- 7,000 were found and they are displayed in different museums throughout different countries.

I saw their Town Hall (Impressive Italian style building), as well as Hartebrugkerk (I went inside as well) church, and one on the corner of Rapenburg.  There were a lot of people about depute the weather and also it being a Thursday.

The train ride was only about 10 minutes, and I lucked out with the transportation because I arrived to the train station in the morning with a 5 minute wait, when I left a 3 minute wait, then home on the bs about 5 minutes.

When I was back in Den Haag I visited the Peace Palace.  There was a half hour audio tour and I learned a lot. Andrew Carnegie built about 300 libraries and also donated a very large check that covered the designing and the start to building the Peace Palace.  They had a contest to see whose design would win and a frenchman won.  They altered the design a little so that it wasn't so strongly french influenced, but still it is lovely.  It has the largest law library in the world, and also I found it interesting that countries from all over the world send gifts to decorate it (even now) as well as when they were building it different pieces were donated to the building of it- for example Germany built it's gate.  Unfortunately just after it started ruling the World War broke out but it still remained.  To this day it has help settle a lot of cases, and also outside it there is a peace flame where 5 countries flew fire over to put it all together to light the World Peace Flame that still burns.  The first World Peace conference was held in the Hague!!

Tonight we had dinner with Loti- Charlotte's babysitter. She is a very lovely girl who is getting her Masters and is working with the organization of the elections (very busy as Europe has around 50 different political parties where as the US has about 2 that are the big runners).  We had a deluxe salad dinner with everything you could think of and then watched some of a famous concert afterwards.  The weather is still super rainy/ windy (the worst summer for Holland in 35 years).  Tomorrow I will start packing for France this weekend!! :) Also, I was told tonight at dinner that we are going to Bruge to see that on our way! I have heard that is an amazing little town (Belgium), and I didn't make it when I was there before so I will be happy to be able to go!

Koln/ Cologne

This weekend I went to Cologne with my friend Ellie. We took a noon train and arrived about 3:00. We went to her hair appointment that was right down the street, then all met (her boyfriend, her and I) and we got some pizza for dinner and some Kolch (a popular German beer). We watched some episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and then Ellie and I started out getting a drink at a little corner pub. We then all met up and went to a place called "Max" for a drink (nice interior- lit with red lights, decorated with a disco ball, and a nice drink selection). After this, we decided to skip a party we had tickets to because it was about 30 minutes away by tram then had to transfer to the private bus to the event and we decided to just hang close to the house the first night). We ended up going to "Cubana" (a latin music bar) and randomly started talking to (then dancing with) a group of Belgium guys that were on a group trip for the end of college. They were nice, and pretty funny in general! We stayed out until about 6 am then walked home with the sunrise and fell asleep until noon.

Saturday we walked the "love lock bridge"over the Rhein River. There are thousands of padlocks across the fencing of the Hohenzollernbrucke bridge. When couples get engaged (or married) they come here and lock in their love (with their names or initials on the locks) then throw the key off the bridge into the water symbolizing everlasting love, a very sweet idea.

I made a joke about finding my name on a few different ones- apparently I am going to marry a "Jan, Frank, or Jose" hah! We also saw the outside (and inside) of the famous church named "Dom" and also saw the Cologne Cathedral, near central station which is quite impressive as well.

After this, we grabbed some snacks and then got ready for the 14th annual Lights Festival that was to take place later that night on the Rhein River, under the Lock Bridge. There were a lot of people who attended the festival- the bridge was packed, as were the walls and rivers edge below. We luckily managed to squeeze into the front to see the parade of lit up boats cruise along the river under the bridge, and it was a sight to see all the sparklers on the bridge too. Along with the boat parade and tons of food vendors, there were two sets of fireworks- a very nice display too! I thought at one point it was the finale but we had only reached the middle! ...And low and behold, who did we end up running into within the swarms of thousands of people? Yep, the Belgians from last night!!


Round 2 at Cubana bar, again a 6am ending but this time complete with chair dancing, our own "VIP" table per the owner, and it was a night for Hogs (a drink w champagne and mint).  Lots of memories made!


Sunday it was drizzly all day so we had a lazy afternoon and watched more of "How I Met Your Mother" which, yes, is one of my new favorites.  Also, a great little Italian restaurant, small, crowded but excellent food right around the corner from M's house.  

Belgium and Assen

First, correction from the last post: El Nino is the place Elie and I went the other night. Also, we went to Delft and it is such a lovely little town, even through the misty rain that potruded through the skies while we were there. Last weekend I went to Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium. I arrived by the Rotterdam international train Saturday and Moji and I enjoyed the afternoon ( by the time I got there and averted the no cell p hone credit crisis that I was unaware about until I got there and tried to make a call, and then also I learned that if you have a Holland phone number for some reason the cell providers see itfit to only allow you to recharge in theircountry andnot any other of its European neighbors for the sole purpose of, oh, I dontknow...making yur life difficult for travelers and trying to force them into buying a plan over there when economically, financially, and all the other ways just not a smart idea. I saw Mannekin Pis and Madamme Pis ( yey for sexual equality), had some drinks at Delirium pub which boasts in having along with 3 floors a grand selection of 2,000 microbrews it carries. No, that was not a typo with too many zeros- two thousand, and a book of the selectns to prove it. Then, Out Loud! Club and then Cafe Central where I had some amazing dance memories. Then in Antwerp I had Belgian waffles, some chocoaltes, one of the greatest hot chocoaltes I have ever had (they let you choose what kind of chocolate you want, very dark, dark, melk, or white) then they add the other ingredients and mix it all together), Het Steen, the skyline, the statue of the man that eats drunk people, and also the central station which has been named one of the best architectural central stations worldwide. Wendy and I found a biug stone hand we got a picture on, as well as a nice little 16th century passageway that was very beautiful and an old church where we each lit candles for people in our lives. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Assen was a great trip as well, the town is in North Holland and very green. I visited Else's parents and the hou she grew up in. It reminded me a little bit of upstate New York. The clouds were amazing, to say theleast andsomething that you may think is a small difference but it is amazing how they differ from how I have seen them before. One tiem they looked like a quilted blanket with a lot of ripples on top of each other and yet a different time you could see about four layers of them and looked wispy and like soft cotton. I saw the 'Old Pond' where Else grew up ice skating, and it actually was one that I had seen in a reoccuring dream before as well, amazingly beautiful and serene. We saw baby ducks too and it was so cute to see them swim to thelilly pads and when they were there they would walk across the top of the flaoting leaves. I also saw a few rock formatioins that were left randomly, usually in fields, of large boulders. Some of them balancing on each other like little tables. It is a bit ofa mystery how they got likethat and also how they can remain balanced like that as well. We saw at the town square where they were setting up a sand volleyball court in the middle, complete with sand transport for the 2012 European volleyball championships that will soon take place. I have been in luck to see theareas of different big championships onthis trip. A week before I arrived They had the World Kiteboarding Championship at a beach about 10 minutes away from us. We went to a nice resturaunt and had poufajes with slagroom and the best hot chocolate melk I have ever had (with the Belgian hot chocolate coming in a close second). Wimbledon was on in the afternoon and prefect time with the rain to end our tour and watch it. I also factored in a nap with myself falling asleep to the tiny beating raindrops as the window was cracked open. Very nice train ride back, including seeing the hint of the last of a rainbow as the backdrop to the green farmlands!