Day One
Wow, day one of Brooks and Bolke vs. Europe went well. We flew out of SLC at about 1:00 pm. On the flight I watched Hotel Rwanda (highly recommended) and Sideways (less recommended). I hardly slept at all even though I only had slept 3.5 hours the night before. So it is now 7:00 pm (in The Hague) and I am totally hammered.
When we first arrived in Amsterdam we got on a train to Den Haag(The Hague). Once there we wandered around downtown while Rob got his bearings. We visited one of Rob's converts who seemed a little bewildered by our unannounced arrival.
So just by wandering around downtown here I have learned the following things about Nederland. (Does anyone mind if I use the names of countries in their own language? Well I am going to anyway.)
~There are Chinese restaurants here, but "Chinese" has its last two letters transposed (i.e. Chinees). I am aware of the uselessness of this fact, so you needn't point it out.
~Dutch people love to fill the rest of us in on the extent to which we are butchering their language. They would much rather speak your language than hear you struggle through theirs.
~Cyclists rule the road.
~The stereotype that all Dutch women are supermodels is not true.
~Conversely, any rumours (can I use european english spellings too? thanks. I knew you'd understand) you have heard about the Dutch eating raw pickled herring are true. I will give a full report as soon as the day comes wherein I try some.
~Chocolate jimmies (you know those rod-shaped sprinkles) are a sandwich condiment here. Honestly. And I apporve.
Anyway we finally found the house of this family, the Bloms, that Rob knows and that we are staying with for a few nights. They are very cool. We had sandwiches (with chocolate jimmies) and then they lent us their bikes to go to the beach, even though it is only like 50 degrees farenheit today.
The ride was awesome. It was a great way to see the city at a different pace. When we finally got to the shore we pedalled along the wet, firmer part of the sand, making a pleasing crunchy sound as we crushed hundreds of seashells under our tires. We tried to play frisbee but it was too windy. Rob had me go ask directions from a pair of girls our age. They told me and then hurried along. It turns out Rob already knew the way before he told me ask. He just wanted me to entertain him. And he wanted to make fun of my atrocious pronunciation of this incomprhensible moon language. Bless him.
Also at the beach: three salty sea captain types (smoking pipes even) who lent us a pump to fix Rob's tyre, exhaustiingly intricate sand sculptures made for a competition, and some guy who we saw successfully attmeping to ride a bicycle while wearing a wetsuit and carrying a big surfboard.
The ride back was brutal. By now I had been hit with the full force of time zone differences, 12 hours of air travel, train and trolley rides, wandering around Den Haag wearing my two packs, and an hour of riding a leaden bicycle to and from the beach. We got home and ate dinner (turkey, potatoes, and boiled cabbage....very nice).
A building that I have not visited.
Rob with a frisbee on the beach at Den Haag.
When we first arrived in Amsterdam we got on a train to Den Haag(The Hague). Once there we wandered around downtown while Rob got his bearings. We visited one of Rob's converts who seemed a little bewildered by our unannounced arrival.
So just by wandering around downtown here I have learned the following things about Nederland. (Does anyone mind if I use the names of countries in their own language? Well I am going to anyway.)
~There are Chinese restaurants here, but "Chinese" has its last two letters transposed (i.e. Chinees). I am aware of the uselessness of this fact, so you needn't point it out.
~Dutch people love to fill the rest of us in on the extent to which we are butchering their language. They would much rather speak your language than hear you struggle through theirs.
~Cyclists rule the road.
~The stereotype that all Dutch women are supermodels is not true.
~Conversely, any rumours (can I use european english spellings too? thanks. I knew you'd understand) you have heard about the Dutch eating raw pickled herring are true. I will give a full report as soon as the day comes wherein I try some.
~Chocolate jimmies (you know those rod-shaped sprinkles) are a sandwich condiment here. Honestly. And I apporve.
Anyway we finally found the house of this family, the Bloms, that Rob knows and that we are staying with for a few nights. They are very cool. We had sandwiches (with chocolate jimmies) and then they lent us their bikes to go to the beach, even though it is only like 50 degrees farenheit today.
The ride was awesome. It was a great way to see the city at a different pace. When we finally got to the shore we pedalled along the wet, firmer part of the sand, making a pleasing crunchy sound as we crushed hundreds of seashells under our tires. We tried to play frisbee but it was too windy. Rob had me go ask directions from a pair of girls our age. They told me and then hurried along. It turns out Rob already knew the way before he told me ask. He just wanted me to entertain him. And he wanted to make fun of my atrocious pronunciation of this incomprhensible moon language. Bless him.
Also at the beach: three salty sea captain types (smoking pipes even) who lent us a pump to fix Rob's tyre, exhaustiingly intricate sand sculptures made for a competition, and some guy who we saw successfully attmeping to ride a bicycle while wearing a wetsuit and carrying a big surfboard.
The ride back was brutal. By now I had been hit with the full force of time zone differences, 12 hours of air travel, train and trolley rides, wandering around Den Haag wearing my two packs, and an hour of riding a leaden bicycle to and from the beach. We got home and ate dinner (turkey, potatoes, and boiled cabbage....very nice).
A building that I have not visited.
Rob with a frisbee on the beach at Den Haag.
posted by T.R. at 9:57 PM
2 Comments:
Dude!!! This is awesome! I can't travel at all this year because of summer school and lack of funds so instead I get to hear about your high flying adventures!!! Wicked COOL! Email me with updates.
the internet is a beautiful thing, no?
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