A Week at a Time: Mar 12 - Mar 18, 2011

At the 5 month mark of our 10 month stay in Utrecht, I've found myself feeling more settled and quite a bit busier. I'm starting to pick up on phrases at the grocery store and even understand a bit of Dutch in overheard conversations. Although I'm not brave enough to try holding a conversation, I don't feel as lost as I once did. I've attended several events with the women's group and am enjoying meeting new people in various settings. I'm more comfortable navigating and using the trains and buses. Although sometimes I grow tired of visiting the local grocery store, it no longer seems as overwhelming as it once did. My next step is to be a little more adventurous in visiting local shops, like the butcher and produce store.

In the next few months, we have several guests visiting, a cruise planned, weekly baseball games, disc golf tournaments, and many other one or two day events marked on our calendar. I'm sure this last half of our stay will fly by even faster than the first half.

One of the things I'm looking forward to over the next few months is the increase of day light hours. During the middle of winter, the sun went down before 4:30; however, now the sun sets closer to 7:30. After daylight savings time this weekend, we'll gain another hour of sunlight in the evening. And by mid summer, the sun will stay up until almost 10pm. I'm hoping the increase in daylight hours will allow us to make the most of our visit before it is time to go back home.

Anyway, on to the past week. Saturday, Mr. Traveler woke up with a pretty strong head cold. We had made plans to go to the zoo, but with the arrival of sinus pressure, we postponed the trip for a week. Instead, we caught up on our rest and took a short walk through the park. The weather was beautiful and it seemed a shame to waste it spending the entire day inside. In the park, I took quite a few pictures of the flowers, which seem to be popping up everywhere.

Mar 12 - Bloemen

On Sunday, even though Mr. Traveler still felt yucky, he had his first baseball game of the season. I went out to (silently) cheer on the team and take pictures.

Mar 13 - Honkball

On Monday, Mr. Traveler worked from home (Wasn't it nice of him not to spread the germs at his office?), and I went to meet up with the women's group for coffee at the restaurant in the V&D department store. I met some new ladies and enjoyed hearing about everyone's travel plans and experiences. The view from the top of the V&D is pretty nice, and I kind of regret not taking a picture from there. However, I figure it just gives me an excuse to go back. Instead, I took this picture of an ice cream vendor; along with the flowers, the truck just seems to scream ,"It's spring!"

Mar 14 - We All Scream for Ice Cream

Tuesday, Mr. Traveler worked from home again, but I drug him out for another walk in the park. This time, I let him man the camera for the majority of the walk, but took a few pictures of the fungus on the trees before handing over the photography duties.

Mar 15 - There's a Fungus Among Us

Even though he was still feeling less than stellar, Mr. Traveler returned to the office on Wednesday. The weather was beautiful, so I decided to go for a run. It was the first time I've run in shorts and a t-shirt since arriving in the Netherlands. On my jog, I spotted these Texas registration and inspection stickers and made myself go back later to take a picture.

Mar 16 - From Texas

Thursday, I had lunch at Rechtbank with a girl I met a few weeks ago at an International Meetup event. Since she's Dutch, I enjoyed learning more about Dutch daily life and culture from the perspective of an insider. She also pointed out a couple interesting places to visit and things to do around Utrecht. On the way home, I ran by the grocery store, where I spotted this generic beer on the shelves:

Mar 17 - Beer

Finally, on Friday, I decided to take some time to sit down and write. I headed to the library, set up my computer, and indulged with a chai latte and brownie as I tried to come up with something creative to say. I left just before it started to rain and took this picture of a canal boat making a delivery at one of the restaurants along the water.

Mar 18 - Delivery