Bus Misadventures (or Our First Glimpse of Venice)

As I mentioned in my recent anniversary post, Mr. Traveler and I just celebrated our one year anniversary with a trip to Venice and a cruise through the Eastern Mediterranean. We had an excellent time, despite a little bus mix-up on our arrival. Since I'm still sorting through the combined 1000+ pictures we took, I thought I'd tell you the story of our bus misadventures before diving into our time in Venice, Dubrovnik, Athens, Izmir, and Split. I promise there will be many more pictures in the next few posts to make up for the lack of photos here.

On Wednesday afternoon (the 18th), we arrived at Marco Polo Airport. Earlier that morning, I'd attempted to verify our travel plans online, but something was wrong with the cable and I couldn't connect. "No problem," I though. We have a printout from the hotel. When we get there, we'll just ask someone at the information desk how to get there, and we'll be on our way. We walked up to the tourist information desk, handed the employee the piece of paper and asked for directions. Immediately the phone rang. He answered it and began gesturing wildly as he enthusiastically explained something to the person on the other end of the line. On our paper he wrote, "Line 5. direction: Padova." We waited a minute to see if he'd add something about the stop, but he pushed the paper closer. "That's it."

"Okay," I thought. "Maybe the directions will make more sense once we're outside." We found the stop for Line 5, but there was no mention of Padova on any of the signs. The machine to buy tickets seemed complicated. When I went back inside to ask whether they had a bus map at the transportation desk, I received a flat, "No." At this point, we were both ready to take a taxi, but a couple stopped and offered us their 7 day transportation cards with 2.5 days left.

We got on Bus 5 toward Venezia, since we had no better idea. We arrived on the island, unloaded our suitcase and walked over to the public transportation counter to once again ask for directions. "Take the Padova bus." "Which number?" "No number. Just Padova." Aha! That was our first problem. We were told before to board Bus 5. On the Padova bus, Mr. Traveler programmed the address for the hotel into his Blackberry. Once we got near the address, we pushed the stop button. We dragged the suitcases down the street to the address, but there was no hotel to be found.

Reviewing the address, Mr. Traveler realized that even though he had inputted the address exactly, including the postal code, the phone had used a different code. So, even though we were at 6 Via Colombara, we were in a neighboring village. (Even though the villages have different names, they all Venice for their address.) Scanning the map, Mr. Traveler located the correct address. We had actually ridden right past the hotel on our way. Now we just had to get on the bus going the other direction.

Across the street, I tried to check bus schedules, but it only listed one bus number and no schedule. We boarded the first bus that came our way. Immediately the dot on the phone veered off the desired route and away from our hotel. In a panic (the bus might have actually just made a loop before returning to the other route), we got off immediately, crossed the street, and waited for at least 30 minutes (it seemed much longer) before the next bus arrived.

At the point where the paths converged, we got back off the bus, walked back across the street, and finally asked the bus driver if the bus was headed to Marghera (the village in which our hotel was located -- as Mr. Traveler had figured out). The bus stopped right in front of the hotel. Even though the location of our hotel was a little sketchy (near factories, a truck wash, and a power plant), after over two hours of riding and waiting for the bus, we were just relieved to finally be able to set down our luggage.

Our Hotel

After that, we headed back into Venice for the evening, which I will tell you about soon.

One Year Ago

One year ago today, surrounded by family and friends, Mr. Traveler and I exchanged vows and became husband and wife.

Photo by Mel Cole of  I Heart Photography

That morning, I remember waking up early after spending the night with two of my bridesmaids. I felt excited, but also tremendously peaceful. I had made the decision that my wedding day would be one absent of stress. If the cake didn't show up, it wouldn't ruin the day. If the groomsmen got orange vests instead of pink, the day would continue. Luckily nothing like that happened, but it wouldn't have been the end of the world if it had. At the end of the day, we would be married. This in itself was also a large part of my feeling of peace. That morning the stylist doing my hair and makeup asked several times whether I felt anxious or nervous. I could honestly say, "No." I felt no doubts and only happiness and peace in regards to our marriage.

While reflecting back on our wedding day, I came across the following picture our photographer took, when she pulled us aside during the reception to do a few "couple shots". The expression on my face perfectly captures the joy I felt the entire day.

Photo by Mel Cole of  I Heart Photography

Some people say the first year of marriage is the hardest. There are certainly a lot of challenges I didn't anticipate, made even more complicated by an international move only months into the marriage. For example, combining finances is an awkward process to begin with, but I felt even more pressure since the move left me with no income. I've always been a very independent person, and I've had to learn that sometimes it is okay to rely on someone else, both financially and emotionally. Another challenge that I've faced is developing a stronger relationship with my in-laws. I feel very lucky to have such loving in-laws who immediately welcomed me to the family, but there is an interesting mental shift between "these are my husband's parents" and "this is my family", which has gradually occurred over our first year of marriage. Being so far away from family has also meant that this shift has taken more effort in the form of emails and keeping in touch instead of just dropping in for dinner. Now, especially after their visit a few months ago, I feel much more like part of the family.

Even with these challenges, however, I wouldn't say that this year has been difficult. In fact, if every year of our marriage is filled with as much love and support as this one, I feel confident we have many happy years ahead of us. Our move to the Netherlands has forced us to grow closer, as we are each other's only family on this side of the ocean. While we have gradually incorporated into individual social circles (Mr. Traveler's baseball team and my women's group), most of our time when Mr. Traveler is not working is still spent together. We've eaten dinner together nearly every night since the move. We've explored our new home city of Utrecht. We've traveled to Switzerland, France, and just over the past two weeks to the Eastern Mediterranean (blog entries will be coming soon!) We've made day trips to Amsterdam and The Hague. We've not only shared experiences, but also learned much more about each other. If I had to define our first year of marriage in a few words, I would say full of support, full of love, and constantly growing. I feel so lucky to have married my husband one year ago today!

Happy 1st Anniversary, Mr. Traveler! I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.

Taken a Couple Months Ago

A Week at a Time: June 4-10, 2011

The Saturday before last (the 4th), Mr. Traveler and I headed into Amsterdam to check out FOAM, the photography museum. They were running an exhibit called Antiphotojournalism, which highlighted trends in  photojournalism. I will have to admit that while many of photos were very powerful, I didn't particularly enjoy the layout of the exhibit. The photos were positioned either right above or right below my eye level, which left my neck in a constant straining position. The number of photos displayed was also overwhelming, as each had an accompanying description. I think the photos would have made a much larger impact on me if I could have sat down and flipped through a book containing them instead.

After we finished at the museum, we poked our heads in at the Amsterdam Historisch Museum. It had been sitting on my list of things to do for a while, so it was finally nice to get it checked off the list. The museum depicted the history of Amsterdam through a series of artifacts, artwork, and explanations, divided into centuries. There was quite a bit to see, but going with the museum-light approach (i.e. not reading most explanations), we made it through pretty quickly. Even though Mr. Traveler was a little less than thrilled at the prospect of the museum, by the end even he seemed to think it was worth the stop.

Before we headed back to Utrecht, we made one final stop in one of the many beer stores around the city. Mr. Traveler spotted a rather old bottle of Rochefort, one of his favorite beers. As he pointed it out to me, the guy running the store commented that at 8 years old, the beer was just hitting its prime. (The date on the bottle is actually the expiration date, which is set for 5 years after the beer is bottled.) Mr. Traveler decided to take the gamble and purchased a bottle. After tasting it, I'm still not sure whether I would call it expired or aged. While it still tasted like a Rochefort, it had lost much of it's carbonation, and therefore texture.

June 4 - Expired or Aged?

Sunday, Mr. Traveler had an away game, and instead of sitting around the house, I decided to make another trip into Amsterdam to check out the Sunday Market, which showcases the work of local artisans. While I went in search of some crafty goods, I found that most of the crafty items weren't really my style. I did, however, find plenty to appreciate in the form of locally produced food. I ended up bringing home a few different flavors of fudge, some tapenade, and a loaf of bread. Next time, I hope to bring Mr. Traveler, as I know he would have enjoyed checking out the different wines, olive oils, and other offerings of the vendors.

June 5 - Sunday Market

Monday night, I made the trip into Amsterdam for the fourth time in as many days. This time, it was to see the tUnE-YarDs, a show for which Mr. Traveler had bought tickets months in advance. The show was phenomenal, and I was completely impressed with Merrill Garbus, the singer, percussionist, and innovator behind the music project. I don't really know how to explain the music, so if you want to know more, I would suggest a quick search on YouTube. I didn't want to drag the camera to a concert venue, so instead I snapped a rainy day picture out the door before we left.

June 6 - Rainy Day

Tuesday evening, I went to the IWCU Summer Social in Driebergen at Landgoed Kraaybeekerfhof. I really enjoyed visiting with the ladies over dinner and drinks. However, before that, I spent most of the day cleaning, so I'm left with a sort of sad picture of a sponge for the day.

June 7 - A Sponge

On Wednesday, I don't remember exactly what I did, which to me just says I had a pretty relaxing day. I did take a short walk to snap some pictures and also ordered a new point and shoot camera to replace the one that went kaput.

June 8 - Purple

Thursday, I was excited when a ring at the doorbell around 10am brought my new camera, less than 24 hours after I placed the order. I was pretty excited about the fast delivery, and snapped a few pictures of the new camera to document my new toy.

June 9 - Fast Delivery

On Friday, I brought the new camera along for an IWCU walk from Woudenberg to Amersfoort. I enjoyed trying out the new zoom (my previous camera was a little smaller -- and thus more pocket friendly -- but it only had a 4x zoom as opposed to the 10x zoom in this model) and snapping pictures along the way. For the first part of the walk, we were primarily hiking through fields. While most did not contain livestock, we did encounter a flock of sheep in the middle of one path. We all took a few moments to snap some photos before walking right through the middle of the group. The sheep reluctantly moved off the path and let us continue our journey.

June 10 - Close Up of a Sheep

A Week at a Time: May 28 - June 3, 2011

On Saturday, I went to Mr. Traveler's baseball game despite the high chances of rain. The game was crazy, with one of their players stealing home with 2 outs and them ending the game with the run rule in the 7th inning with a score of 26-0. Luckily we were on the winning side. Right before Mr. Traveler and I left, the rain started, so we had a nice and damp ride home. In the evening, we headed to Amsterdam for a wine tasting, based on the British show QI: Quite Interesting. The host divided the group into 2 sides, and as we sampled the wines, we competed by answering random trivia about wine and related (and not-so-related) topics.

My picture for the day is not really related to the events, but more to the fact that I have no pictures of the events. A few weeks ago, my camera started displaying an error message. I tried everything suggested online to fix it, but nothing worked. As a result, I became limited in my ability to just take quick snap shots since I had to rely on carting the DSL around. (Don't worry. This problem has since been rectified with the purchase of a new camera to tote around with me. It arrived today! I guess I should probably be a little more careful with this one.)

May 28 - Oh no!

On Sunday, I volunteered at the national Dag van het Park event, explaining disc golf and handing out orange discs (like the one below). I've elaborated a little more on this experience in the entry Dag van het Park.

May 29 - Dag Van Het Park

Monday, while many of our friends in the States enjoyed Memorial Day cookouts and trips to the lake, our lives continued as usual, except that Mr. Traveler worked from home for the day. In the afternoon, we took a walk through the park to get out of the house, and I took a few pictures of birds along the way.

May 30 - Black Bird

Tuesday, I spent the afternoon baking bread for breakfast toast and the following cheese and jalapeño rolls to go with our dinner. I loved the rolls and could have eaten one after another (even though they were quite filling). I started out with this recipe, but changed the cheese since cheddar isn't readily available here. I also followed the basic roll recipe in my Joy of Cooking cookbook for cook times and temperatures since the online recipe was aimed at a loaf and not rolls.

May 31 - Cheese and Jalapeño Rolls

Wednesday, I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and spent a few hours in the park reading. While I was there, I spotted a couple who had brought their cat along on their picnic and a lady walking the following Dr. Seuss-like dog. I finally left when a game of Frisbee encroached on my space, the disc flying over me once and landing on my blanket another time.

June 1 - Dr. Seuss Dog?

Thursday was Hemelvaartsdag (or Ascension Day), which is a national holiday in the Netherlands. Most businesses were closed for the day, so Mr. Traveler ended up working from home. In the evening, he surprised me by volunteering to cook dinner. (He used to actually cook for me a lot when we lived in the States, but with the way our schedules are over here, it just makes more sense for me to do the bulk of cooking.) I snapped a picture of the tuna steak he prepared. It was so good!

June 2 - Tuna Steak

One of the people I met at the Dag van het Park event on Sunday sent an email asking if anyone would be interested in catching a round of disc golf at Sloterpark in Amsterdam on Friday. I hadn't played disc golf (other than at the demo) since the Dutch Open at the beginning of April, and I was grateful for a chance to play a full course again. Even though park maintenance had left large patches of stinging nettle covering the fairways of several holes (on some holes it literally covered the entire fairway), I still had a great time. It was a great way to wrap up the week and to start my weekend, which included a few more trips to Amsterdam.

June 3 - Time for Disc Golf

What's Up, Doc?

As I mentioned in my previous Week at a Time post that, I recently went to the doctor for the first time since arriving in the Netherlands. I thought I'd share my experience since it differed so much from my experiences with doctors in the U.S. I'm not sure if the differences were due to the particular physician that I visited, or whether these differences are standard, but at least they make for some interesting reflections (at least in my mind).

Before we left for the Netherlands, my doctor had given me a sample of a prescription that would last me about 9 months.  I realized it would run out before I got home, but I only recently started to research the process of having the prescription refilled. I realized I needed to make a doctor's appointment to get a new prescription, and because I'm accustomed to having to wait to get into the doctor's, I decided I should make the appointment early. I had also heard several stories (via expat get togethers and online forums) of people having trouble scheduling appointments in the summer when much of the country is on holiday, so I was concerned it might take a little longer to get into the office if I waited a few weeks.

When I called to make the appointment, the receptionist advised me that I would need to register with the physician's office using their online form. She told me to fill out the form, wait for an email confirmation, and then call back to make the appointment later in the day. I didn't receive the email confirmation, so I waited until the following day and called back to make the appointment. I was surprised that the receptionist didn't ask for the reason for my appointment, since in the U.S. most of the time you can get in relatively soon if you are sick but normally have to wait longer for something like an annual exam. She went ahead and scheduled my appointment for the following day.

I arrived a few minutes early at the doctor's office and flipped through the Dutch magazines and children's books until the doctor called me into her office. The office was set up less like the American physicians' offices with which I'm familiar and more like a business office. Instead of a bench/bed to lay down on for an exam, the office had a large desk. The physician sat behind the desk and directed me to the seat on the other side. She proceeded to ask my reason for the visit.

I told her about my need for a new prescription, and she asked me a few clarifying questions regarding the brand and my satisfaction with the drug. Then, she found a similar drug in the system, printed me a prescription on the spot, and after asking if I had any other concerns or questions she sent me on my way.

I paid 30 euros in cash at the check out desk and received a receipt to file with our insurance. (Notice that the price for the entire appointment before insurance was filed was about the same as a copay in the U.S.) The process was quick, easy, and painless (literally... no needles or pushing and prodding). I would say, though, that while I enjoyed the absence of tests or procedures (considering I have plans to visit my regular doctors when I go home for annual visits), I'm not sure this lack of attention to detail would always be preferable.

I think the general mentality of Dutch medicine is to only treat what is wrong. Emphasis is certainly not on prevention or catching things early, especially in the area of women's health, as the following practices tell us:

"Routine check-ups are not the norm in the Netherlands. Women have pap smears every five years and those over 35 get a mammography every two years. There are no regular screenings for different types of cancer."

"In the case of pregnancy it is not common that a gynecologist checks a Dutch woman after the age of 30, even if she’s pregnant with her first child."

As a temporary expat, living here for a little less than a year, these practices hardly affect us. It would definitely take a little adjusting, however, if we were planning on staying longer. For now, though, I just think it's interesting to consider the differences in practice and mentality.

A Week at a Time: May 21-27, 2011

As I sat down to write this week's review, I realized that while I could remember parts of each day, much of the week was lost to me. What did I do on Tuesday morning? How about on Thursday afternoon? After a few minutes of reflection, I realized this was because this week (and the week before) strongly contrasted with the weeks of company, where I felt like I was going non-stop. I had time to sit and read, watch t.v., surf the internet, work out, and catch up (well almost) on laundry. Even though these moments were not particularly memorable, they did make for a fairly relaxing week.

The week did start out with an exciting trip to Madurodam and the beach, which I've already told you about in a previous entry. I enjoyed spending the day with Mr. Traveler, just the two of us. At our first stop, Madurodam, I took this picture of a bird walking through a miniature soccer game:

May 21 - Attack of the Giant Bird

On Sunday, I went to Mr. Traveler's baseball game (although he didn't even notice I was there!) After we got home, we walked to the Neude, where a giant structure had been erected as part of the Festival a/d Werf. Visitors could walk on top of the structure, watch the concert, have a drink at the bar, or eat at the temporary restaurant. We quickly walked up and around the structure before heading home for a quiet evening.

May 22 - Festival a/d Werf

Monday was one of those days where I caught up on a little "me time". In the evening, as I got out the ingredients for our pizza, I noticed the basil leaves were quite a bit larger than normal, so I took a picture with my wedding ring for scale.

May 23 - Bigger Than Your Average Basil

On Tuesday night, I had my monthly meeting with my Bookworms group in Hilversum. On the way, I snapped the picture below of a tile sign from an old dairy (if my translation is correct).

May 24 - Old Tiles

Wednesday, I headed to the center of town to window shop and run some errands. I took the following picture just to make sure I had something to post for the day. Looking at it later, I realized how immune I've become to the amazing site of bicycles everywhere. I'm definitely going to miss the bicycle culture when we go back to the States.

May 25 - More Bikes

Thursday, I had a doctor's appointment to get a prescription refilled. I was a little nervous because I didn't really know what to expect. There was no reason to be worried, though, because I was in and out of the doctor's office with my prescription in less than 5 minutes. Later in the day, I took my camera out to our garden area to take some pictures of the flowers. This spider caught my eye, though, and I liked how his portrait turned out much more than I liked the flower photos.

May 26 - Life in the Garden

On Friday, as I headed to the gym, I noticed that one of the neighborhood cats had taken up residence in the flowerbed. He looked a little annoyed that I had woken him up, but afterwards tried to sneak inside, so I guess he wasn't too angry with me.

You Woke Me Up!

So, I guess that wraps up my not-so-exciting, but nice and normal week.