Inside Our Dutch House: The Living Room

I started a series called "Inside Our Dutch House" back in January in which I show you pictures and talk about each room in our house. Unfortunately, I only completed one post in the series in January, but I'm ready now to buckle down and show you the rest of our home.

I thought since I started in the kitchen, the next logical room would be the living room. Recently, I joked with one of my friends that we were being trendy by having an open living plan or a "great room". What this really means, is in our small home we have to make do using the same space for a living room, an office, a dining room, and a guest bedroom. Oh, and did I mention this space is no larger than a small bedroom? If we were going to be here longer, we'd probably invest in some furniture more suitable/versatile, but here is the living room as is:

From the Front Window

In the picture you can see the office (to the left), the dining room (straight back) and the living room (to the right). The rug in the middle of the floor marks the space where the air mattress lives when we have visitors. The queen size mattress nestles perfectly between the sofa and the desk, allowing just enough space to still use the desk chairs (provided you are flexible enough to maneuver in and out). In the picture above and the ones that follow, I've used a fisheye lens. It's just impossible to capture the room with a regular non-wide-angle lens. You would be able to see only the dining table or only the desk. The one thing to note, however, is a fisheye lens does make the area seem a little larger than it is.

One challenge I've had with the living room is find a place to work on projects. Since Mr. Traveler occasionally works from home and often has to check in on his projects in the evening, the large table (which was originally the dining table) has been transformed into his desk. Originally I had hopes of sharing this space, but there is really not enough space for both of us.

Desk Area

Since the dining room table became a desk, we rescued a small table from the corner in the kitchen. Originally it was covered in a thick tablecloth and served as extra counter space. The problem was it was too low to be used effectively as counter space and it really just took up space. We moved it to the living room, where it became our two person table. I guess it's done its job because we sit at the table nearly every evening. Sometimes I use the table as a laptop desk or spread out a crafting project, but whatever is on the table always gets put away stacked somewhere else when it is time to eat dinner.

Crafting on the Dining Table in January

I've already mentioned that we moved the table from the kitchen to the living room. We also did another bit of rearranging in this space after we'd been in the house a couple months. We moved the sofa from facing the TV to facing this room. This helped open up the room, but made watching TV a little less comfortable.

View from the Kitchen

The sofa wasn't all that comfortable to begin with, though. It's lumpy, feather filled cushions make for an inconsistent sitting experience, especially when you have the pleasure of the sharp end of a feather stabbing you in the leg. While it is tolerable for the time being, I'm looking forward to our larger sectional at home, where Mr. Traveler and I can sprawl out and cuddle with the dogs.

From the whole room pictures above, you probably won't be able to see one of the other irritating things about this room that we are just tolerating. At first glance, the room seems to have nice hardwood floors. Well, they would be nice if they were installed properly without large crumb-catching gaps between some of the slats. (They could use a good polishing, too, but I'm not complaining about that!)

Crumb and Dust Catcher

One thing I really love about this room is the lighting during the day. Even on cloudy days, plenty of light streams through the windows on both sides of the room. The first thing I do when I wake up is open the windows to let in the natural light. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can even spot a cat sitting on the window sill.

Rainy Day Hideout

Overall, I've gotten a lot of use over this room for the past 10 months. It's served as my main hangout when I'm at the house, whether I'm reading, spending time on my laptop, watching TV, crafting, eating, or playing a game with Mr. Traveler. While I probably wouldn't choose to have a multipurpose room like this long term, it has served its purpose for our short stay.

A Night of Baseball and the Balloon of Doom

Last night, Mr. Traveler's baseball team, the Domstad Dodgers, played an evening game in Leidsche Rijn against UVV-3. Even though it was technically an away game, I rode the bus over to watch since Leidsche Rijn is just on the other side of Utrecht. (Plus Mr. Traveler promised to ride home with me, so I wouldn't have to wait in the dark at the bus stop.)

UVV Club House

As I left home, I noticed it was getting chilly, and I grabbed a sweatshirt to pull on if I got cold later in the evening. When I already needed the sweatshirt at the bus stop, I should have realized it was going to be a cold night. I got to the field just before the game began and found a spot on the bleachers. Immediately, I could feel the cold breeze rushing through my sweatshirt, long sleeve t-shirt, and tank top. As the game started, however, I tried to forget about the wind and focus on the game. After all, Mr. Traveler was up to bat first.

The first half of the first inning wasn't too eventful. The Dodgers didn't drive in any runs, and soon UVV was up to bat. UVV managed to get 2 runs before the Dodgers could get the third out. At this point, it felt like UVV was the better team, but the Dodgers were only down by 2 so I tried not to lose hope too quickly.

Baseball

The second inning wasn't too eventful and passed fairly quickly. In the third, however, the Dodgers started to power up. When Mr. Traveler grounded out as the second out of the inning, I thought the inning was over. However, the Dodgers were just getting started. They drove in run after run (some, the result of awesome hits and others, as the result of UVV errors). At one point, a third out seemed imminent, as a UVV player stood directly under a popup. However, the ball fell right out of his glove. Mr. Traveler even got a second chance to bat in the inning, this time walking and eventually making it home. At the end of the inning, I'd lost score (since there isn't a score board and I was slightly distracted by one of the player's daughters who was running around, climbing up and down the bleachers, and having a blast), but I think the Dodgers had about 9 runs.

Mr. Traveler Waiting to Bat

At this point, I started to feel cold again, and my concentration wasn't too strong. I knew that UVV had scored 3 runs, but I lost track of the Dodgers' run count for the next couple innings. However, going into the 6th, an update from the scorekeeper let me know the score was 14-3, Dodgers. If the Dodgers could maintain this lead, we'd all be headed home at the end of the inning since the league has a run rule that they will call a game with a 10 run difference at the end of 6 innings.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers were unable to extend their lead in the first half of the 6th, and it was up to their defense to get us out of the game (and out of the cold). Unfortunately, the UVV bats were warmed up by now, and the inning ended with a score of 14-5. So much for a short game.

I'm not sure if it was in the 7th or the 8th, but the real turning point in the game seemed to be the arrival of the balloon of doom. Ffffpppt. Ffffpppt. Everyone heard the loud noise in the sky. As those of us watching the game looked back, we saw a hot air balloon seemingly headed straight towards us. Those in the hot air balloon seemed to be frantically trying to shoot more heat into the balloon to prevent it from landing on a tree, in the bleachers, or in the middle of the field. Ffffpppt Ffffpppt. The players tried to concentrate, but the Dodgers, who were in the field were in ideal viewing position to see the balloon closing in on the field.

Oh, a Hot Air Balloon!

Eventually, the ffffpppt ffffpppt of the balloon came with shouts from the riders in the balloon, presumably attempting to warn us of their landing. Even if the players were only half as distracted as those of us in the bleachers, I don't know how they continued to play.

Getting a Little Too Close for Comfort

Eventually the balloon passed but not before it seemed to rattle everyone's concentration. UVV-3 picked up a few more runs and going into the 9th, the score was 14-9.

At this point, everything seemed to fall apart. What had seemed like an easy win was now looking more like a need for damage control. The pitcher was especially rattled, and the UVV players started walking one after another. The bases were loaded when the ball sailed past the outfielders. The score was 14-13 in the bottom of the 9th. The Dodger's other pitcher was playing outfield, but something needed to change. The pitchers switched positions, but the new pitcher hardly had a chance to warm up. Soon the bases were loaded again. There were no outs in the inning. And, the inevitable happened; UVV drove in the winning run.

At the end of the game, I was just happy to get of the cold, but I knew the players were feeling down. As we walked towards the parking lot, the players talked about the win that could have been, the meltdown, and the balloon of doom.

A Weekend in Maastricht

This past weekend, Mr. Traveler and I decided to take advantage of our free weekend (i.e. no baseball games) and head down to Maastricht.

Statue in Maastricht

Before leaving, I did a bit of online research about the area and decided I'd like to see what some some sources called "the underground" of Maastricht. From what I could gather from the various websites using Google Translate, a series of passageways run under and around Maastricht. In the past, these passageways were used to store valuable items during wars, as a hideout, and as an avenue for smuggling. When we arrived in Maastricht, I was still a little confused, however, about where these passageways were located and why they were originally formed.

The tourist information center (or VVV) was one of our first stops in Maastricht (after grabbing a great lunch at Cucina 50). When we walked in the door, the room was packed from wall to wall with tourists. Even though summer is high tourist season in the Netherlands, I didn't expect this type of crowd. Soon, we discovered the reason for the additional bodies. Andre Rieu, a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer with the star power only big name pop stars garner in the States, was performing that evening only blocks from our hotel. I'm actually kind of surprised we found a hotel for the weekend at all. Anyway, the crowd was quite overwhelming and I couldn't make heads or tails of the "underground" options from the brochures, so finally Mr. Traveler offered to ask for help.

The VVV employee told us there was a tour to "the caves" leaving in 10 minutes. We needed to hurry out the back door towards the water. There, we would find the boat and be able to purchase combo tickets for the boat and the cave tour. This sent me into a bit of a panic; leaving the building, we didn't know exactly where the boat was or if we needed to get cash. Luckily, we found an ATM (or geldautomaat) pretty quickly, even though we ended up being able to pay with our PIN card.

Even though it seemed like a hassle getting on the boat, once we were on, I realized how much nicer the ride was than taking a bus to the same area. The boat had a bar, which offered both hot and cold drinks and a variety of snacks. We also heard a little about the area and specific sites during the ride.

View from the Boat -- One of the Few Moments with Blue Sky

Soon we got to the first and only stop on the boat's route. We climbed up a hill... Let me pause for a minute. You see, if you are reading this and you don't live in a country with no changes in elevation you might not realize the significance of this statement. However, after walking on pretty much exclusively flat land for the past 10 months, the presence of a hill was actually quite remarkable... Anyway, we climbed up the hill, past a vineyard that was labeled as the first vineyard in the Netherlands (I have no idea whether this is the first continuously operating vineyard or just the oldest), and to an area of picnic tables that was labeled as the waiting spot for the cave tours.

When the tour began, we found out that "the caves" are not actually caves at all. Instead, the underground passageways are the result of mining. Large blocks of marlstone have been harvested from the area for hundreds of years. In fact if you click on the picture below and look at it in its larger form, you should be able to see signatures from the 1600s.

Old Signatures in Mine

Over time, as the miners chopped out layer after layer of marlstone blocks, the tunnels have grown deeper and deeper. The writing on the walls also became more elaborate, in the form of advertisements and artwork.

Dinosaurs

In addition, facilities were created to make stays (like the ones of several residents during the end of the Second World War) more comfortable. Wells were dug in the caves, a loud speaker system was installed, and a bakery, a chapel, and a hospital ward were built.

At one point, our guide asked if we were all feeling brave. "Sure," a couple people said hesitantly. Our guide led us to a large column, set the lanterns to the side, and let us walk around the column guided only by our hand on the wall.

I actually found the tour even more interesting than I thought I would. Although I was extremely glad that we caught the only English language tour of the day. Without our guide's extra information (even though she did say sizzle instead of chisel, which I thought was quite funny), the tour would have been pretty humdrum.

After the caves, we took a few pictures in a local field, overlooking the city, before returning to the boat.

Maastricht

As we walked towards the dock, we saw the boat pulling away. Since we didn't know how long it would be before the next boat arrived, we decided to just wait on a bench by the water. As time passed, a dark storm cloud seemed to be getting nearer and nearer.

Storm!

I hoped that the boat would arrive before the storm, but we didn't have that sort of luck. Instead, we pulled out the umbrella and huddled up just in time for the clouds to let loose. By the time the boat got there, my left leg and arm were completely soaked, but we were able to keep the cameras and most of the rest of us dry.

The storm blew over as we rode back, and when we got to the city, we were able to continue our sightseeing sans umbrella.

Our first stop was the Selexy Dominicanen bookstore, a large bookstore located in an 800 year old church, used only a few years ago as a parking garage for bicycles.

Selexy Dominicanen

The rest of the evening was spent wining and dining around the city and trying to avoid the Andre Rieu crowds.

In the morning, we woke up to a steady drizzle, but by the time we had finished eating breakfast, the rain had almost completely abated. Since I had left my camera in the hotel after our bookstore visit the night before, I wanted to walk around and take photos of the city. Even though most shops and some sites were closed since it was a Sunday, I still enjoyed walking around the city.

Aftermath of Andre Rieu Concert

Random Waterwheel We Happened Upon

Statue with Grasshopper

Odd Architecture

Despite the rain and the clouds that seemed to hang in the sky threatening to pour down at any moment, I really enjoyed our little weekend away. I was able to relax and take a little time off from thinking about our impending move. Of course, now that we're back, the countdown has begun. Right now the thing I'm looking forward to most is seeing our puppy dogs. I hope they remember us.

A Week at a Time: July 16-22, 2011

On Saturday, we took the train into Tilburg to meet up with Mr. Traveler's friend and her husband. They picked us up at the train station and brought us back to their house, where we chatted over delicious cheese and wine. Later in the evening, we took the bus back into town and had an amazing dinner at their favorite restaurant in Tilburg.

July 19 - Tilburg

Sunday, we ventured out for lunch and found that a huge market was set up on the main street by our place (Nachtegaalstraat or Burgemeester Reigerstraat... most streets here seem to have two, three, or more names; this one actually has several.) In the picture below, you can see one of the book vendors. Notice the tarp at the top of the picture, ready to cover the books in case of rain.

Later, Mr. Traveler and I saw The Hangover, Part II, which was actually quite a bit better than I thought it was going to be.

July 17 - Boeken

Monday was a stay inside and read kind of day, cloudy with rain. One of our neighbors cats took refuge on our windowsill and patiently sat as I snapped a few pictures.

July 18 - Whiskers

On Tuesday, I ventured over to the Museum Maluku, which I wrote about here.

July 19 - Museum Maluku

Wednesday, I tried to check some items off of my to-do list, which called for a trip to the mailbox to drop off a few letters.

July 20 - TNT Post

Thursday, I made a chicken and caramelized onion pizza for dinner. It seems like my default end of the day picture always consists of some sort of food or cooking.

July 21 - Carmelizing

On Friday, I ran out to grab some duct tape and came home with some pretty delicious arugula pasta with capers, onions, olives, and cheese from one of the many delicatessen's near us (Tutti a Tavola). I took the following picture on my short walk, and considered whether the storm clouds would bring rain before I could get back home.

July 22 - Storm on the Tracks

(Note: This post is part of my year long "A Week at a Time" series, where I document my participation in the 365 Project.)

Imperfection from a Perfectionist

Before I left the States last fall, I made a promise to several of my friends and family to start a blog about my experiences in the Netherlands. Each time someone asked me to keep them updated, I would mention the blog idea. By making this promise over and over, I was actually providing myself with the incentive I knew I needed to go through with the creation of a blog.

You see, I'm a perfectionist at heart. I hate being wrong or, in the case of writing, careless. I cringe when I reread something I've written and find incorrect word usage, a typo, or a grammatical error. While I've always been a little anxious about having people read what I've written, now that I work (or will return to work) in fields which require correct grammar usage (freelance writing and teaching English composition), I'm even more self conscious about my writing. I worry, "What if a potential client or fellow teacher reads my work and catches one of those pesky typos? Will I somehow lose credibility as writer or a teacher?"

So, when I sat down to first create my blog, I worried about every little detail. Was the title too silly? What about the premise? Did anyone want to read about my time in the Netherlands? Could I publish something that was interesting to anyone but me? Normally, when faced with concerns like this, I wait a while to start a project. Then, when I feel the deadline looming, I put something together out of necessity. However, the task of creating a personal blog didn't come with built in deadlines. I needed some other motivation. Then, I thought back to the promises I made to my friends and family, and I realized I just needed to jump into the blog, or the fear of creating an imperfect product would paralyze me.

Why am I telling you this? Well, with almost 100 posts behind me now, I realize that my blog is far from perfect. Sometimes I end up with typos or string together awkward phrases, unable to come up with the perfect way to describe an experience. I read other blogs in envy (seriously, this is one of my favorites!), wishing my writing style were half as entertaining. And yet, each time I publish an entry, I feel a sense of accomplishment.

Recently I saw a poster on Pinterest, which seems to explain my blogging realization:

Image from Designforfun.com

Sure, I still read back through all most of my entries. Sometimes, I even spend days trying to craft my words into the perfect post, and I'll admit that I have a few entries I started a while back that are still under construction.  However, for the most part, I've tried to let go of my unattainable aspirations of perfection, and instead toss my blog out into the world, flaws and all. If I hadn't adopted this philosophy, it's likely the last 95+ entries would still be only an idea, waiting for the perfect moment (or word) to come along.

So, I guess the take away message here is don't let your fears of imperfection paralyze you. Oh, and if you notice a mistake here or there, feel free to tell me, but also realize that the flaws are all part of the process. 

Museum Maluku Review

Yesterday, I ventured over to the Museum Maluku, one of Utrecht's many museums. Since we purchased Museumkaarts shortly after our arrival, I've made it a personal goal to visit some of the more "off the beaten path" museums around Utrecht. This particular museum focuses on the Moluccan community in the Netherlands. Their mission statement sums up their purpose:

"Our mission is to collect, to preserve, to research and to present the material and immaterial heritage of the Moluccan community in the Netherlands. The museum carries out this mission by organizing exhibitions, conducting or ordering research, producing or co-producing events and shows, workshops and debates."

In case you aren't a geography buff and are wondering where Maluku or Molucca or whatever is, according to Wikipedia, "The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands, the Spice Islands) are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region."

The museum explained the relationship between the Maluku Islands and the Dutch, beginning with the arrival of the Dutch East-Indies Company in the 17th century. In 1951, over 12,500 Moluccans arrived in the Netherlands as part of the aftermath of the decolonization of Indonesia and the Maluku Islands. These interactions, among others, formed a strong connection, sometimes cooperative and sometimes contentious, between the Maluku Islands and the Netherlands. If you are interested, I would suggest reading the Wikipedia article, as it explains the connection much better than I can.

The museum wasn't large, but had a good variety of media, including artifacts brought back from the Maluku Islands, videos of Moluccans in the Netherlands, interactive exhibits using touch screen computers, and a great deal of photography. Even though the museum Web site provides all information in English, Dutch, and Indonesian (the default is actually English), other than a double-sided sheet of paper I picked up on the way into the museum, everything in the actual museum was only in Dutch. Although I was surprised at my ability to comprehend some of the Dutch descriptions (I guess my Dutch vocabulary has improved a little since we got here), I certainly didn't take away the same understanding as a native Dutch speaker.

Even though I didn't understand all of the information in the exhibits, walking through the museum and seeing the various videos and photographs did inspire me to learn a little more about the area. Once I got home, I opened up Wikipedia and tried to familiarize myself a little more with the Moluccan culture.

While I probably wouldn't recommend the museum to someone who was visiting for a week since the descriptions are all in Dutch and there are so many more places to visit, I certainly think it was a worthwhile stop for someone who is going to be in the area for a little longer. Elements of Moluccan culture can be found around the Netherlands, and this museum gives a little more background for those of us not so familiar with the specifics of Dutch history.

A Week at a Time: July 9-15, 2011

Mr. Traveler had to work a little from home on Saturday, so I pretty much spent the day lazing around the house. In the middle of the day, I snapped the following photo of one of the damp chairs outside, thinking I'd probably take another photo later in the day. I never got around to it, however, so I was left with a not-so-exciting Saturday photo.

July 9 - Damp

Sunday, Mr. Traveler spent the majority of the day traveling to/from and playing in a baseball game, so I had the house to myself. I took advantage of the time to clean the house and get ready for our company. I was feeling a little cooped up, so I stretched my trip to the recycling bins into a longer walk, wandering through Wilhelmina Park. I brought along my camera and took a few pictures, including the one below of a bicycle path sign.

July 10 - Path

By Monday the place was completely ready for company, and I made mental plans to head over to the Maluku museum in the afternoon. Luckily I checked the hours before leaving because I had forgotten most of the museums are not open on Mondays. I have yet to visit the museum, but will probably try again later this week.

Instead, I spent much of the day reading and took a few pictures of our clean-ish house since I still need to finish the Inside Our Dutch House series I started in January. With less than a month before we return home, I should be wrapping up the series soon.

July 11 - Simple Living

Tuesday, as I've already mentioned, I went to pick up my friends E and B from Eindhoven Airport. On our walk through Utrecht, I took the following picture in the Domkerk courtyard.

July 12 - Summer in the Courtyard

Wednesday, I snapped a picture of our waffle lunch, as E, B, and I explored Amsterdam.

July 13 - Delicious

Thursday brought a second straight day of non-stop rain. After dropping off E and B at the train station, I returned home for a nap. I didn't wake up until around 11, which left me a little groggy for the rest of the day. Besides taking a picture of my rain boots, I did venture out to grab ingredients to make a Zuppa Toscana copycat recipe. Yum.

July 14 - Rainy Day Attire

On Friday, the sun was shining and I took advantage by walking down to the Maliebaanfestival, a carnival happening just around the corner from our place. (We could actually hear the music from the bands from our house.) I snapped the picture below using a fish eye lens, which I thought gave a nice carnival atmosphere to the shot. Afterward, I walked back through the park, sitting on a park bench for a while to watch the dogs pass by.

July 15 - Maliebaan Festival