Dutch Adventures

This weekend we continued our adventures, flying into Amsterdam on Friday night and out again Sunday night. When mentioning our destination to workmates and friends, the response was almost always a knowing look and confiding smile. Descriptions of the place included 'liberal' and 'very different' and 'fun'. So I was looking forward to developing my own impressions.
Thanks to Expedia specials, we stayed at a nice hotel in the historic area of Haarlem, a small city about 18km from the capital. It was a quiet area, one of the major side effects of having bicycles as the main form of transport. We went for a blustery walk in the evening, amongst the fairly tame Friday night revellers, to orient ourselves.


Saturday we walked around Haarlem before catching a train the 15 minutes to Amsterdam to meet Marjolene (Ma-ro-lee-na). I played with Marj on Iceni in 2010, but not this year as her and Henrik's first child is due in June. For the following 5 hours we walked. We:

• Saw inside a Buddhist temple and people doing tai chi, as part of the Chinese new year celebrations;
• Saw the palpable boredom of the daytime prostitutes in the red light district;
• Saw townhouses 5 stories high with a distinct lean, as a result of being below sea level and the wooden foundations not being deep enough to remain solid for more than 200 years (!) in the clay soil;
• Crossing what seemed like many of the 1000+ canal bridges;
• Gawking at the multitude of houseboats on the canals, from sailing boats with improbable (but foldable) 15m masts, to square dongers on floats;
• Explored the private gardens completely surrounded by the houses that share them, gardens being a rare privilege in a country where space is a premium;
• Bought for ourselves fresh stroopwaffel, a thin waffle biscuit that has been sliced and filled with a fudge/caramel/toffee substance - best enjoyed after heating over your coffee/tea;
• Wandered across the nine streets, a collection of streets where the canals are every second street and from above are shaped like a child's rainbow;
• Saw the hooks at the top of each building that allowed people to move furniture out of the top windows, as the interior stairs were almost as steep as ladders and very narrow;
• Passed by market stands selling every variety of tulip bulb and through what was once Marj's local organic market
• Heard about the difficulties of building an underground railway where digging holes makes houses collapse;
• Walked past Ann Frank's house and its associated queue;
• Discussed careers and children;

and that was just Saturday afternoon.


Sunday saw us sleep in and catch the train to Tiel, where we met Michiel and Miki. Lee played with Michiel on Chilly in Australia.
On the train ride we were able to view some of the countryside. The biggest discovery for me was that there were no fences, only gates! The small fields were bounded by a networked grid of streams! Fencing in this country looks a very different affair - you would have to become good at building bridges instead. Plus the fields are all neatly squared - as there's no contours to suggest otherwise.


Water in this country has almost the exact opposite considerations to water in Australia. As you can imagine, if not for their ability to fly away, you would think that ducks and seagulls were being farmed.


Tiel has really fertile ground and had been known as the fruit capital of the Netherlands. With Michiel and Miki we walked around a castle, next to the meandering river that the Vikings had used to invade, and we explored a historical town (name forgotten already) and finished up with local pancakes, before they drove us back to catch our flight.


Perhaps it was the people we were with or the change of scenery, but it was a really chilled and relaxing weekend. It came as a nasty shock to catch public transport back in London (rude passengers) and to come across frustrations at work on Monday morning.


Now that I've related our actions, I can get to the interesting part, my impressions.
Everywhere in the cities were bikes: chained 2-deep to every bridge railing, in two storey bike parks at stations, outside every shop and pub. For me, this begged the question - why? Behaviour change studies have found that people need to see the perceived advantages as much greater than the disadvantages. Us cycling in Melbourne is a clear example of this. We could either catch a tram amongst jostling commuters with a door-to-door of 45min-1h, or we could cycle with a door-to-door of 10-15min - plus health and financial benefits. In the Netherlands, area is prime - not on the premium scale like Hong Kong, but enough that the waiting lists for parking spots is upwards of 7 years. You need to get around somehow - and bikes are convenient, relatively easy (at its highest point 350m) and come with all the accessories you could possibly need (including buckets for up to 3 kids). Together with trains that have priority areas for bikes, you can easily travel anywhere in the country. A possible side effect of all this green travel is that the cities don't have a grimy, dirty feel as found in cities like London.


The clean streets, regions of new buildings, the lack of skyscrapers and old cemeteries maintained in neat, straight lines makes it easy to forget how old and influential the country is. The first European explorers to Australia were Dutch (in 1606). Some areas have new builds because the previous residences were bombed in the war.


As for the 'cafes' where you can choose your own cannabis, we didn't enter one. The red light district was interesting to see the different expressions on the prostitutes' faces: bored, uncomfortable, confined or actively attracting business.


There will be no photos until after we move into our new place (8/3/11), as our 'quality' Internet service provider cut us off early.

The Ear Chronicles

Mid-November, Lee had the hole in his eardrum fixed, care of the NHS.  The Australian and UK governments have fixed a sweet deal where they look after each others' citizens, which meant free assessment and surgery for Lee after first visiting a Doctor with an ear infection in August.  
After waiting most of the day for his 'morning' surgery, he got changed and switched off phone at 3pm.  The surgeon sliced behind the ear and used the fascia from muscle behind the ear to fashion him a new eardrum.
Lee returned to the ward from recovery at 6pm, charming the nurses and was soon scoffing some food, napping and scoffing more food.
The next day, the outer bandage removed, drugs dispensed and minimum instructions given, I could take him home (3pm).


Below are shots I took of his recovery.  As you can see, the ear is quite swollen to begin with, but goes down with time.  The day of the surgery is Day 0.

Day 0
Day 1
Day 2
Day 5
Day 7
Day 9
Day 11
Day 13

A walk in the park

There's something special about a park covered in fresh, powdery snow. The white expanse is like an invitation to run across it, scooping up handfuls, tying to bunch them together and throwing it, trailing white, towards the target, so much that its impact is barely felt.

The large flat expanse is far more inviting than its previous shade of green. Walking through the park in autumn, I did not see the appeal of leaving the path to head in a random direction. Covered in white though, I could not contain myself to the path, following the example of other tracks traced in the snow. The sensation of walking across the fresh snow is like walking across squeaky beach sand, as it gives way a bit at a time with a slight crunching sound. As you step forward, small pieces fly forward and on top of your boots, just like beach sand. And as you look back, you can trace your footsteps imprinted there.

There is often a high-pitched squealing as children run from each other, and the same actions are repeated in small groups all over the park, regardless of age: scoop, threaten, grin, chase, aim poorly, repeat. There is a child-like mischievousness that is revealed in people of all ages in a fresh fall of snow. And what's not to love?

Snow

It snowed pretty much all day yesterday. It is the first time I have ever looked out my bedroom window and seen snow. For someone who has seen snow 3 times in life, it was a surreal experience to see it falling from the sky. Every hour or so I would look out the window and give Lee a snow update:
"It's snowing"
"It's snowing!"
"See that? It's snowing"
"Oo, big snow flakes"
"It's a bit swirly"
"It looks deeper than this morning"
"There's someone walking past with an umbrella - they're walking in the SNOW"
"It's snowing, and I'm here"
"It's cold out there and I took some photos"
"It's snowing"
I think I got a bit predictable.

Beer tasting notes

Inspired by Phil's Beer Diary blog, I decided I should take notes and photograph the beers I tasted in Brussels. Not only will this post make my brother Wayne drool in jealousy, who knows, perhaps this could be my next income. Special note should go to Lee, who drank what I couldn't finish.

Faro: On tap, The Corbeau, 13/11/10. My random pick on our random tour of the city.
A strange tasting beer a sweet , round taste and a dark coloured beer. Smells like apple cider. Wheat beer smell. One glass is enough. Light sourness.

On a Friday and Saturday night, the place becomes packed to the point of dancing on tables. Good thing they are sturdy tables.

Bush beer: 250ml, 12%, 13/11/10. Bottle, with dinner of moules (mussels) for me and steak and chips for Lee, plus a double serve of deep-fried soft cheese (the first one was so good, we ordered a second).
Honey, smooth for 12% syrupy over tongue, finishes with subtle beer kick.
Lee comment, "Beer is good" (this after finishing the 250ml bottle).

Grimbergen (not sure which one?): On tap, a final beer before catching the train home, 14/11/10.
Very wheaty. Starts sweet, long wheatiness and short, subtle tang to finish.

There you go - not the same style, length or detail as Phil's posts, but that's what I thought. Once again, I have added a whole new style of post to this blog - just like a box of chocolates really. I'm really looking forward to tasting the 10 that Lee brought home from Beer Planet.

Waffles, chocolate and beer - a weekend in Belgium

I love Brussels. It has been my favourite European city so far, although our trip to Estonia came close. Saturday morning we set out early on the Eurostar for Brussels. On arrival, we went straight to our 4 star hotel (which was only 15 pounds with the train tickets). From there we headed back into town to explore. Lunch was a delicious fresh baguette with tomato and mozzarella.

The highlight of our trip was found Saturday afternoon, which we chanced upon down one of the numerous disorienting lanes. Use-it was a free space for young visitors. It had 4 computers and free wi-fi plus a bunch of maps annotated by locals. It was completely free and sponsored by the Flemish government. The best part though, was a free tour by a local. The length of the tour was entirely negotiable, depending on the guide's mood and the group itself. Ours lasted about 3 hours including a beer stop on the way. We saw the back end of places, we saw a little known artist market (reminded me of Fitzroy), we were tested on our local knowledge, given tips on where to eat and where not to eat (tourist prices) and were told local advice such as, don't bother going to the Atomium or little Europe (common attractions). The view from the first is no better than the one he showed us, except you have to stand in multiple queues, and it's probably better to get out and see the Real Europe, rather than a fake play size version. Both these places are expensive to enter. We were guided through the streets in the rain (it rained all Saturday), stopping for tidbits of information. The stop at the pub was great as not only did we each taste a different beer, in a mini-..., it was an opportunity for the whole group to discuss politics and history mostly of Belgium. On the tour was a guy from Sweden, Malaysia(?), 3 Aussies, 2 Latvian ladies and a Croatian lady - a real mix. One of the Latvian ladies loved snow, and could not appreciate this wet stuff.


We had dinner at one of the recommended local pubs where we tried more beer and the unofficial local dish of mussels.
It was very different ordering food in Brussels compared to Paris. In Paris there was an English menu/translation, whereas Brussels, where there was already 3 official languages (French, Dutch and German), they were not going to print a third. We got by with some half-remembered guessing and some helpful staff.

On the way home we stopped by
1) Beer Planet and lee made a selection to take home for tasting

2) the supermarket shut at 8, so we ventured into a specialist shop for chocolate (oh, what a shame!)
3) we bought a Tourist Waffle (with cream, strawberries and hot liquid chocolate) to finish the day's trifecta.

Sunday dawned with a little less rain, thankfully. Not willing to spend the €27 each for breakfast at the hotel, we ventured out and were treated to delicious waffles (gaufre sucre) and a toasted ham, tomato and mozzarella toasted herb panini at a little shop opposite the St. Goedele-St. Michiels Cathedral.

Wanting to make the most of our day, we jumped on a train to visit the Talking Tree. The Talking Tree is hooked up to a bunch of sensors (light meter, weather station, air quality - CO2, ozone and soot, it also captures video, sound and pictures of the sky) using this information to post on Twitter and Facebook (selecting from ~1000 possible posts). After 4 days of continuous rain, its message for the day was: "Definitely no shortage of water". Unfortunately, the people we asked had never heard of it, so we spent an enjoyable 2 hours wandering through an autumn-colored park and not seeing any sign of it. We did see big mobs of scouts playing games and building teepees, people walking dogs and children, and joggers.

Our late breakfast meant late lunch and another waffle (of course). We checked out the Grand Place and the Manneken Pis, picked up another waffle from the breakfast place, visited a supermarket for more chocolate and a tasty tapas-style dinner items, the chocolate shop again - as it's impossible to have too much, made our way to the train station and finished off with one last beer.

What a weekend - with food like that, you can't go wrong. Brussels had a friendly and easy-going feel and I plan to return - definitely and soon.

(Photos coming soon)

Some goals and exploring Yorkshire Dales

In order to create some order in our lives, we've had a little look at our aims and goals. One of mine while I was over here, was to learn to ice skate backwards. I'm now on my way, as I enrolled at a local ice rink for lessons. My first lesson was Tuesday night and I can already say I've learned how to stop. Looking around at the people there learning jumps and spins and arabesques, I may need to reassess my goal - it's quite inspirational. An hour of ice skating a week, plus the ride up the hill to get home - I am going to have quads of steel.

Another of our goals was to see more of the UK. After a failed attempt at setting off our own fireworks on Bonfire Night (there was constant drizzle .. and we didn't have a lighter), we set off Saturday morning to visit Nick and Cat in Darlington. On arrival we met Steve, an Aussie mate of Nick's, and following a quick tour of the town on the lookout for Chavs (nearest equivalent = Bogans) we set off to explore some of t' Yorkshire Dales. We set out from Kettlewell with water, camera, lunch and tape ("Tape fixes everything"-Nick, physio).
One of the highlights of the trip, was actually getting to Kettlewell - we took a 'short-cut', which took us down country lanes that don't fit two cars, around blind corners and crests and down 25% gradients, that also happened to have hairpin bends - it was awesome and well driven by Nick.
.. but back to the walk. We made our way up t' hill between stone walls, with a good look at t' valley that seemed to be scooped out with a giant spade (or do I mean shovel?).


We walked across t' top of t' hill, past t' sheep, over little streams of water that were coloured red from being sifted through t' peat, then down into t' little village of Starbotton, where we paused at t' pub for a pint.





At that point it was 3.30pm and t' sun had gone down (!), which made it quite cold, so we made our way hastily back along t' river valley to t' car.
If you have a look at my photo album, you will be able to tell that I was very impressed with t' rock walls. And that t' rock walls were pretty good at growing moss..
That night, we were treated to a dinner hosted by friends of Nick and Cat's, Jane and Greg. We feasted on at least 6 types of curry (all spices made from scratch), papadums, samosas, chocolate/cherry cheesecake slice, what seemed to be Mars bar slice, and toffee apples all washed down with copious amounts of good wine. Did I mention that we also had front row seats for the Darlington fireworks?
We spent a quiet Sunday with brunch a walk through t' park away and some movies on the couch. We're quite pleased that we've managed to find ourselves more Good People to share our lives with.