Ok Mr. Anonymous...

who put up the Dr. Evil quote?

The Friday Market and The First Dogpark

It seems that as soon as I am getting down about having to be Dutch for a few months something good happens. Right after writing that last post, on Thursday evening, I enjoyed the goodness of the Friday market outside my building. This week I went armed with a list, as opposed to last week's wandering, and was not disappointed. I located pine nuts, raw almonds, avocados and peppers at an affordable price, quinoa!, dried cranberries, and much kindness from the locals. Wandering through a clothing vendor, I mustered the courage to point to, and inquire about, hangers. My apartment came with ordinary shirt hangers, but not skirt hangers with clips. The nice man, who like all the rest spoke good English (much embarrassment we should all experience at home for being unable to speak other languages as naturally as the Europeans speak English!) and offered me as many skirt hangers as I would like -- for free! I took two and then sheepishly accepted a third when prompted.

Then, at the garlic/onion/potato stand, I bought a bag of potatoes and, in stumbling over the word for garlic, "knoflook" which is remarkably similar to the German "knoblauch," received this item as a gift as well! The farmers and other merchants who bring their goods to the open market are such a cheer to me!

Then, on Saturday out for a walk with the ever-patient (as long as I bribe them with food) Joe and Carrie, I followed a local woman and her poodle as she entered an area suspiciously resembling an off-leash area. With trepidation, I inquired, "Excuse me, is this place for dogs?" Again, the wonderful response in English, "Oh yes, they can go from here, over there, and around the corner, and run and play!"

And so, the first dog park. It isn't much, really: a grassy area behind some apartment buildings bordered by the buildings, two fences, and walled train tracks. It isn't perfectly secure; there are no gates, but the entrances are barred by nature so that the dogs are not inclined to leave the grassy pasture. The trains, which are intolerably quiet, are what takes the most getting used to. I have looked at the track wall, and even asked the other dogpark patrons about the tracks, and there is no concern whatsoever amongst the locals. The wall separating the trains is 8 feet high, stone, and is completely impenetrable (so Mom, please don't worry!). Nonetheless, trains go by and I stop all movement and watch, keeping an eye always on J & C.

The area, (photos to follow soon, I promise) is big enough for Mr. Joe to run his loops and act like an idiot. Carrie runs joyously after Joe and returns to me with flopping ears and a happy grin. I was beginning to worry that Joe would not find a place to run; he is certainly a couch potato but he does actually need his burst of speed once in a while. So now we have it, and it will have to do for now.

Joe decided he was going to take his "Euro-trash" identity all the way: today at the dogpark he went over toward the apartment buildings and found something to eat -- an act that earned him a wrenching open of his jaw from yours truly, but he had already swallowed whatever gross treasure he had found.

YUK!

A bit of ranting.

In the past 24 hours I have been yelled at for biking in the street, for running on the bike path, and for taking the dogs into a "kinder" park (for kids, I guess, even though it isn't posted as such, AND I was in the midst of picking up after Joe, which none of the natives seem to do for their dogs). I tell you, I miss the lax quality of the US, with our tolerance for jaywalking and the generosity of grace periods, where a smile, a wave, and an apology get you awfully far. These people here with their RULES! For a people so progressive politically and with the well-known reputation for pot-smoking, I did not expect such rigidity in daily life.

I will do my best to stay within the lines, but I will be none to happy about it.

Apartment details

In response to the inquiry about the painting in the apartment, here it is by itself:
And the artist:
It's a real painting, not a print, and I think its fine, though it isn't anything to write home about exactly!

The things hanging near the backdoor are some sort of old-fashioned pulleys. Here are some close-ups:

And here is the pleasant view out the back door; the weather has cleared substantially, though it is very cold now, frosty in the morning. I was trying to capture the moon, but without a tripod it is but a shiny blur:

Bilthoven and a few law school pics

My front door

The courtyard as seen from tops of stairs

The view of the Planetenbaan apartments ("Kaas" means cheese, the first of the shops beneath the apts)

Planetenbaan from further away

Some views from the neighborhood, a lot of dorm-looking buildings. University Utrecht has a campus here in Bilthoven so a lot of students live here.



The square where the law school is located, in central Utrecht. I stood in one place and took pictures in several different directions for these; it is a very small square. (I will take pictures of more specific law school buildings once school starts.)




That's all for a while; now I actually have some work to do in the next 10 days -- finishing my analytic! (For you non-law-schoolers out there, a really big paper.)

GO PATRIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week, I had been in Frankfurt about 36 hours when the Patriots-Chargers game started, at 10:30PM local time. I was in the very nice Steigenberger Hotel that provided wireless internet in every room (not free, but not too expensive.) I was exhausted and jetlagged but listened to every minute of the game (until 2:30AM!) through my computer and NFLFieldPass, which I had purchased many months ago to catch the Patriots Regular Season games in Seattle.

Listening takes a bit more concentration than watching: I have to imagine how the players are arranged when the announcer says something like "on the near side hash, three receivers wide right, Brady out of a shotgun" without being able to see it. In a way, this makes it all the more rewarding, because I am so engrossed in the game, listening to every detail that I might miss were I at home.

The game tonight against Sissy Payton Manning and the Colts starts at 12:30AM! I will powernap beforehand to prepare, and then turn my apartment into a virtual sideline booth!

I know I have at least one Colts fan in my readership, so here's to a good game, few penalties, even fewer bad calls, and lots of high-pressure field-goal kicking!!!

Oh and my next dog will be named Bill Belichick, no doubt! (I lifted these nice pictures from the Official Patriots Website: www.patriots.com)

The Opel, Gouda, and John the Baptist

I know, you're thinking, "what can all those things possibly have in common?" right...

In between The Hague and Utrecht is nothing other than Gouda, home to famous cheese! So I stopped for lunch, wisely it turns out, it was an awesome little town.

Here's where I parked, can't afford any mistakes here or we'd get shipped to Rotterdam:



I read a bit in The Lonely Planet and it suggested I head towards Sint Janskerk for some stained glass followed by some lunch. The address for the law school in Utrecht is "Janskerkof", so I was curious who this famed person might be.

You got it, John the Baptist, silver platter and all:



I'm not much for the usual touristy activities, museums and such, but I do like a nice gothic cathedral and this, my first on the trip!, did not disappoint. The history of it is fascinating too, it was burned down roughly every 100 years for about a millenium, before finally living in peace. It is very well-known for the immensity of the stained glass works, and their vivid depictions of the life of Sint Janskerk:

Here's the church:







And a little canal outside of it:

The Hague and the North Sea

This was bound to happen: I was almost finished with a fabulous post when the internet crashed and lost it. I am too foiled to recreate such a masterpiece so what follows is the more terse version, apologies!

Today's adventures: not raining first thing so I went for a run and picked up the "new" bike. It'll do, but it weighs approx 200 lbs!

Drove to The Hague:



Saw this sign, parked car and got out:



Not sure exactly what happens here, but pretty sure it's important: Will find out soon when I make contact with the former King County Prosecutor who works for the UN at the ICTY.



When leaving, noticed that the North Sea was just right there, about 8km away: Cold, windy, lots of hotels, but very clean, nice sand that slopes gently into the water. Carrie is learning how to operate the camera so there will be pics of me soon too!

Back stories

Ok so I've been remiss in posting our adventures. This whole blogging/foreign correspondent thing is pretty new to me. I reach the end of a day and I'm so tired I decide to write "tomorrow" but then when the sun comes up the next day (FINALLY! It is 8AM here before it is even remotely light out) then I am so eager for more adventures that still nothing it written. Well no more.

So, the very first night at the new apartment in Bilthoven, outside of Utrecht, we met one of our neighbors. First let me describe the apt: there is an entrance to the stairwell fron outside; I go up one level, the apts are above a market that has a bunch of shops (bakery, pharmacy, veggies, meats, newspapers, cheese, basically everything I would need is right downstairs except the DVD-rental!). Ok, so then on the second floor it is an outdoor courtyard with all the entrances to the apts. I will take a picture soon I promise. The point is, the space is outdoor but confined. There are maybe 10 or 12 apts off the courtyard.

So Joe and Carrie and I went out for a nice walk after dark, this our first night here and we were doing some little exploring before conking out completely. Upon returning to the courtyard, we came across a black cat. This same cat had earlier hissed at us but nothing more. I figured it was scared, after all, Joe is pretty big and Carrie is All That. The courtyard is very dark, the cat is black, I am fumbling for the keys, and all of a sudden, WHAM, HISS, YELP, SCREAM (that last one was me), and we quickly wheeled around. But not quick enough, Carrie was hit the second time around, HISS, YEEELP (really a pitiful sound), more screaming by me (yup, first night moved in, I'm the American screaming in the courtyard in the middle of the night).

I shoveled the dogs into the apt, and briefly explained what had happened to the neighbors (human) who immediately appeared in the courtyard. Then checked out the guys who suffered no lasting scars, only bruises to the dignity. His holiness is pictured here:
Now, this story with the black devil-cat was a few days ago; yesterday I took the guys to a nearby wooded area for a hike. They call it a forest but is isn't very pretty, there is not a glimmer of hill, slope, or rolling anything anywhere, and the trees are young, brushy, and there is a lot of undergrowth as if from a fire or logging. But it was nice to be away from city life so I took the dogs off their leashes to let them get a bit of exercise.

Joe frolicked on the path and did his patented Happy Dance, Carrie and I ducked and enjoyed the scene. We continued walking until a forest ranger type person drove up (I had the dogs on their leashes again) and he stopped his car and got out. I knew this could not be good. He pointed at Joe and started talking in Dutch. I apologized and said I didn't understand. He repeated in English that Joe was a "Hunting dog" and was not allowed in the forest.

Jeepers! Joe isn't likely to hunt much besides the nearest sofa but I did not argue with the man. Nor did I mention his recent battering by the local cat. It seemed to be okay as long as we were on the path and Joe on his leash. And Carrie he couldn't have cared less about. I saw other big dogs off leash, so it was something about Joe being a sighthound I imagine.

Since I am supposed to be writing some useful tips for my dog-friendly-friends who might someday travel to Europe, here are some tips I've picked up:

Dogs can ride busses, subways, trains in Germany. They may also go into many restaurants in Germany, but NOT the grocery store.

In the Netherlands, dogs may also go on busses but they require their own ticket! (Carrie is exempted because she is a "lap dog" yeah right!) but dogs, bikes, and kids all need their own tickets. I'm not sure yet about trains in Netherlands, but I imagine its the same. I don't think dogs go into restaurants here, at least I haven't seen any and I don't plan on trying it.

Ok, now I can move on to current events in the next post!!

The Apartment

Joe and Carrie are settling in well to the new digs (and the weird, white, faux-leather, giant wrap-around couch!):



Here is the living room, with the fresh peach-colored roses on the coffee table:



and the TV to the right (I am joining the local DVD-rental place tomorrow):



Then turning around, the kitchen with counter & barstools (the stove is gas but I have to light it myself, no pilot ligher, but there's a handy lighter so I don't risk any fingers in the process!):



And here is the super-scary, narrow, steep spiral staircase that I already slid down once (the walls were very unforgiving):

Coming Soon...

More pictures coming soon! Check back in a day or so.

A bright new day

The sun has come out this morning and things are decidely looking up here in Bilthoven (the suburb near Utrecht where I am living.) The Friday morning market outside my front door provided me Pink Lady apples, soy milk, and bunches of miniature roses to brighten up the apartment. Also, I discovered an organic/natural food store in Bilthoven center that carries falafel, tofu, natural bath products, and other such luxuries! After a nice yoga practice at home this morning, we are off to locate a dog park.

Nederland Facts

So, The Netherlands is a pretty odd place. Nobody takes a credit card; everything is really expensive; the landscape is totally flat (Mr. Marsden was quite right); public bathrooms in places like department stores and gas stations are super clean because there is a person standing there cleaning it and taking your 25 cents (Euros, so its worth about 5 dollars) and they give you a bad look if you don't understand this right away; there are a ton of people in a very small space (most dense country in Europe, I've read); and, today at least, lots of crazy wind, sideways rain, lightening, traffic, and all that fun stuff. Its been so windy that glass windows on apartment buildings are shattering (like in the stairwell in my apt building) and I thought my little car was going to blow off the highway. At least it is warm, in the mid-50's, and the sun crept out from behind the clouds for a few minutes this afternoon.

Also, everyone is really strict and formal about everything; I sort of "popped by" the veterinarian who does acupuncture for dogs locally; I just wanted to see the office and maybe chat with the staff -- only, there was no office and no staff, she runs the practice out of her house and I ran into her in her yard, and she was not too excited to have an unscheduled visitor. "Call first" is definitely recommended around here. Oh, and driving -- its true, nobody strays from the law, not one little bit. No rolling through a stop, certainly no right-on-red's. I have to watch for bicycles when crossing the street; there are so many bikes leaned up against every handrail, building, wall, road sign, really any space that doesn't involve ingress or egress from a building is taken up by a bicycle.

Joe and Carrie and I drove to Amsterdam today, just for a look, but the weather was so bad that we didn't stay long nor did we take any photos. Definitely a lot of character in that city so I'll go back and explore sometime on foot. On the highways coming home however, we did stay long, over 3 hours to go 33km. Gobs of traffic. Better than yesterday though, when I drove in circles forever, lost!

Utrecht is a beautiful city, and the area around the law school is great. So different from UW: very urban, VERY old, fancy shops, bike stores, churches, gothic, brick, cobblestones, narrow streets. I'll post some pictures in a few days. Tomorrow, we'll explore some dogpark possibilities near home.

Today's conclusion: I like this place but it is certainly foreign and it makes me miss the familiarities of what I'm used to in the US.

The road to Utrecht

German countryside

When the fog lifted!




A little stream we crossed in the car; narrow stone bridge





The hotel we happened upon that was actually open, much to my exhausted delight at the end of the day's journey (and where the artichoke dish may be found by any interested travelers!)

Dude, where’s my Porsche? Oh, here it is…

Escaping Frankfurt in my newly acquired rental car took some luck. Once on our way, I headed West toward Wiesbaden (where the cheese and butter breakfast was discovered). Not wanting to go through Köln, I continued to stay West, though I was stuck on a big highway and not able to see much countryside. Sometime before Koblenz, I took a chance on a road that turned out to be awesome. Road 248, through rolling hills, switchbacks, farms, small towns, all quintessential Europe.

We stopped for a walk along the Rhein in Koblenz but the air was chilly and the water warm so everything was encased in thick fog. Returning to the car and checking out the map, my eye chanced across a destination I had hoped to meet someday – The Nurburgring. Immediately filled with thoughts of BMW’s and fast curves, we headed for it. Getting closer, going up and down switchbacks, through the countryside, my little dumpy Opel Mitreva became a race car in my imagination. (I’m pretty sure Carrie did not appreciate this!) Finally, we arrived at the famed race track only to discover that the track itself is closed during the week in the winter. Not to worry, I went into the museum and swirled around Ferraris, Porches, BMW’s and Mercedes until I felt like one of them. (And since I was nearing the 7 hour mark since my last meal, imagining I was a car was par for the course.) I managed to escape with only two stickers, and not the multitude of retro racing posters that decorated the walls. But I promised my internal race car driver that we would return on a weekend and take the elusive spin around the world’s greatest track.

everybody asks for pictures of me, and not just the dogs, so here's the best I could do, into a mirror at the Nurburgring museum!



Here are some more pics of the cars!!






I really really like this one!


And here's as close as I got to the track: