A Week at a Time: July 30- Aug 5, 2011

Last week started with the baseball game in Leidsche Rijn and the balloon of doom. I took this picture on the way to the game. The city has installed sensors in the "ribbon" around the park, which track times for runners. Pretty high tech!

July 30 - Sensor

On Sunday, we took it pretty easy, but did venture out for a short walk. I snapped this picture of a bicycle overgrown by a vine. If we stored our bikes in our garden, I'm sure they would have succumbed to this fate long ago. 

July 31 - Overgrown

Monday, I headed over to Kanaleneiland to pick up some clothes storage bags at IKEA. On the way back, I took some pictures of a familiar construction site. In a few years, this will be home to the new Vredenburg concert hall, if I have my info correct.

Aug. 1 - Concert Hall

On Tuesday, I ventured into Gouda. I had read about the beautiful stained glass in the Sint Janskerk and finally made time to see it for myself. The age, amount, and quality of the stained glass was amazing, and I'm glad I squeezed in this touristy trip. The church did not permit photography inside, but you can see some photos of the glass on the church's website (linked above). Here is a peek of the church from a few blocks away.

Aug. 2 - Framed

Wednesday, I finally started to make some preparations for our flight home. I marked the date on the calendar and began the process of packing our clothes.

Aug. 3 - Almost Home

Thursday, I spent some time walking around and taking pictures of some of our favorite local stores. I also snapped quite a few shots of vacation signs. I liked this broodjes sign as it is a reminder of typical Dutch food.

Aug. 4 - Broodjes

On Friday, we wrapped up the week with a trip to Sunshine, an Ethiopian restaurant. I wish we had tried the restaurant earlier, because it was really good. In the picture below, you can see a shot of the coconut beer I tried. Unfortunately, I was so enthusiastic about the food, I forgot to take any pictures of our actual meal.

Aug. 5 - Ethiopian Coconut Beer

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.)

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