Ringing in 2011

A few weeks ago, we noticed that fireworks began appearing in various stores, including bike shops and the hardware store. Soon after, the loud blasts, which could not be distinguished from the sound of gun fire, started in the evenings. It didn't take long to connect the two occurrences, and after a little bit of internet research, we figured out that people commonly shoot off fireworks on New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight.

The sounds of explosions became more and more frequent as New Year's approached, and continued with frequent regularity throughout the day on New Year's Eve. We were definitely surprised that people would shoot off so many fireworks during the day light, but there were plenty more to come as the night approached.

Around 9 in the evening, the sounds of the fireworks were so frequent, that we decided that we need to head out to observe them and snap some pictures. We saw a small scattering of people shooting off bottle rockets and other fireworks in the street. There were not as many fireworks as we had hoped for, however, and after walking to the Domplein and back, we played a round of Scrabble and enjoyed the wine and cheese we bought for the occasion.

Firework Seen Through the Domtoren

About 5 minutes before midnight, the blasts increased, filling the sky with a non-stop series of booms. At a minute 'til, we headed outside with the camera and walked around witnessing groups of friends and families shooting off an enormous amount of fireworks. Against the fog and mist, the smoke had an eerie affect, and some of the pictures we captured were frighteningly similar to those of car bomb blasts in a war zone. With all the noise, it did seem like we were in the middle of a battle field.

Carpet Fireworks and a Man Dressed Like an Alligator

Fireworks Near Our House

More Fireworks Near Us

Family Shooting Off Fireworks at Wilhelmina Park

The fireworks continued for well over 2 hours with the frequency and intensity of a 4th of July grand finale. It was amazing and surreal. After an hour, we came inside and finished our Scrabble game. When we finally went to bed, we heard the blasts of fireworks continuing through the night. Less frequently, the sounds also continued through New Year's Day.

I hope that you all have a wonderful 2011. I am looking forward to the days getting longer, the weather getting warmer, and a few more trips around Europe. I look forward to having visitors and showing friends and family around our new (albeit temporary) home. I also look forward to eventually returning to our more permanent home to see my family, friends, and my 2 dogs. There is definitely a lot to look forward to in 2011.

Celebrating Our First Married Christmas

For their first Christmas together, many married couples find themselves torn between families, as they attempt to create their own traditions and set boundaries in their relationships. Since both of Mr. Traveler's and my parents live close, we've luckily been able to spend time with both sets of parents in our past holidays as a dating, and then an engaged couple. Still, I didn't expect to be put into a situation where it was a complete non-issue during our first married Christmas. However, as soon as we found out we were moving, we also realized that we would most likely see neither side of the family during the holidays. At first, I found this incredibly romantic. I imagined us cuddled up on a rug, near a fire, playing games and unwrapping gifts, Christmas music playing in the background.

Christmas Gifts!

As Christmas approached, however, my romantic visions dissipated, and I began to worry more about how we would make this Christmas stand out from any other day. We already spend every evening together, and we have no fire or cozy rug. I didn't want to cook an entire Christmas dinner for two, either. I researched restaurants serving Christmas dinner, and Christmas festivals which might offer a sense of the holidays that I couldn't imagine us achieving on our own. None of these options seemed quite right.

By the time Christmas Eve came, we had a couple of tentative options, but no solid plans. And despite all the worrying, we had an amazing Christmas, that I don't think either of us will every forget.


On Friday morning (Christmas Eve), we took a long walk in the park, enjoying the sight of dogs playing in the snow and frustrating their owners by getting as close as possible to the canal without jumping in. We ended up winding back through town, stopping for coffee at CoffeeCompany. While we sipped our coffee, Joel snapped a few pictures and I took in all the sights and sounds of other groups enjoying their drinks. One little girl caught my attention as she bounded back and forth from the railing to her family, hopping and skipping in delight at every sight. At one point, she stood immediately behind me, so still, and I almost forgot she was there. Then, a sudden movement in my peripheral vision reminded me of her presence. She'd been carefully watching a puppy, which was sitting below a table downstairs. When the owners of the puppy, got up to go, she waved feverishly at the dog until the door finally swung shut behind it. This little girl was so excited by everything: the puppy, the sight of her grandmother walking up the stairs, the decision of which piece of cheesecake to select. The unquestioning excitement and joy from that little soul reminded me of what Christmas is all about.

Taken from the Balcony of the CoffeeCompany

Later in the evening, we went to the Christmas Eve service at the local Anglican church. The church is small and cozy, with beautiful stained glass windows. The service was short, as it was geared toward the younger audience in the church. (The other option was to go to the more traditional service at 11pm, which was a little late for us.) My favorite part was the telling of the traditional Christmas story, in both English and Dutch. The woman telling the story spoke in a beautiful and steady voice, giving the feeling that she was quite comfortable with public speaking. While the story telling could definitely be considered a performance, it was extremely tasteful and appropriate for the setting. All eyes stayed glued on her, except during the moments that the small children were asked to carry characters for the manger scene to the front of the church.

For me, attending the church service served as a good reminder of the reason for the holiday; it also created some continuity between traditions, connecting the celebration of this Christmas far from home with the other Christmases in my memory.

After the service, we returned home and plugged in the lights on the Christmas tree. We then connected with my in-laws via Google Video Chat. What an amazing invention! We took turns unwrapping presents in front of the monitor, chatting the whole time. We got to see our dog, Marla, run around and play with their dog, and we got to see Mr. Traveler's mom's brand new Corvette. Spending time with family on Christmas, despite the distance, was truly a blessing.

After we finished unwrapping presents and wrapping up our conversation, I laid out the snacks that we had bought on the table. We enjoyed chips and dip, crackers and spreads, cheese and sausage, fruits and dip, olives, and cookies. After we finished munching, we put away the snacks and played a few rounds of Quiddler.

Christmas Eve Dinner

On Christmas morning, I baked blueberry muffins from scratch. Then, we played a few more rounds of Quiddler, I read, Mr. Traveler played Civilization, and we waited until 3:15 when it was time to leave for the circus!

Blueberry Muffin (and yes, that is a giant slab of butter next to it)

We had spent a while trying to decide on something to get us out of the house on Christmas day. All shops are closed and pretty much all restaurants are, too. Eventually, on Christmas morning, we decided to buy some tickets for  Wintercircus Utrecht.

The circus was interesting. We had opted for the cheap tickets, and we're glad that we didn't spend any more, because when we got there, we were in the 5th row. The venue was pretty small, so it was easy to see everything. There were several acrobatic acts (like a small scale cirque du soleil) and some performances with horses. When we bought some drinks at the concession stand, we even received a free ornament and a blinking hat! We were definitely glad when neither of us was chosen as a volunteer, especially during the rollerskating act, where they held the man from the audience and spun around and around. When they finally set him down, he looked a little green and was very wobbly.

After the circus, we returned home and video chatted with my parents and grandparents. It was really great to be able to see and talk to both sides of the family during Christmas.

Our Christmas celebration wrapped up on Second Christmas (December 26 in Holland), with a bike ride and walk through the woods and a stop at the pancake house.

Theehuis Rhijnauwen

The pancakes were tasty and huge. Mr. Traveler ordered the Fortissimo, which came with pastrami, goat cheese, olives, and sundried tomatoes, pictured below. I had the Krommerijn, which was filled with cheese and bacon on one side and apples on the other side. The side with the apples was extremely sweet, and I couldn't finish all of it! We both had very full tummies for the bike ride home.

The Fortissimo

Over all, we had an amazing first Christmas together. I hope that you all had a great Christmas, too!

Prettige Kerstmis!

Wishing all my readers, friends, and family a very merry Christmas! I'll be sharing all of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day adventures soon!

On the Bicycle Path (Op Het Fietspad)

I've been meaning to write a post about bicycling for a while. One of the most striking characteristics of the city of Utrecht is the multitude of bicycles that line the streets and canals. According to Rick Steves' Amsterdam, Bruges, and Brussels, "the Netherlands' 16.5 million people own 16.5 million bikes, with many people owning two -- a long distance racing bike and a junky in-city bike." (An interesting article on Cycling in the Netherlands, can be found at Wikipedia.org.) I got a bike a couple weeks after I arrived as a birthday present from my husband.

My Bike, Parked in Front of Our House

Riding a bike on the bike paths (fietspads) and on the streets has given me a new perspective on the way we travel. In my car, I am separated from the outside world with hard plastic, metal, and space. I think this space gives people a sense of entitlement. While car accidents kill many people every year, it is easy to forget about the danger when you have your music blasting and are zipping along on the highway. It's also easy to get upset and yell obscenities when no one can hear them past the windows of your vehicle.

Riding a bicycle, however, seems to automatically connect you with the outside world. Other cyclists slip past you, only inches away. Sometimes you feel the brush of another rider's coat or at least a swoosh of air as one passes. Scooters, which share the bike lanes, zoom by at alarming speeds, reminding bicyclists of the need to be aware of their surroundings. In places, the bike lanes are demarcated only by a dotted line, bringing riders closer to the buses and other traffic.

Yet for all the differences, bicycling has become for me, not only a way to get around, but a commentary on traffic patterns and driving in general. I've noticed that people talk on their cell phones or chow down on a sandwich as they ride, just like drivers of cars. I've seen more than one person fall off their bike, because they were standing up riding or doing something else I'm sure they were warned against when they were children. For the Dutch, bicycling is second nature. Because riding a bike starts at an early age (and training wheels are removed far sooner than in America), good and bad habits are formed quickly and don't go away easily. In cars, we hide our bad habits behind tinted glass for no one else to see, as we answer a quick text message or steer just for a moment with our knees in order to pull off a jacket. With this hidden behavior, however, the short text message, the distracting phone call, or the messy sandwich becomes so much more dangerous than the same behavior on a bicycle. On a bike, others can see when a person is distracted before an incident occurs. In a car, people are almost always caught off guard.

The similarities and differences between driving and bicycling became even clearer to me, today. As I rode from the post office to the gym, my route was largely guided by a narrow path in the snow, which ranged from about 6 inches to a foot wide. When I stopped at a light, I became distracted by the sights around me, and soon found myself the object of a polite ding of a bell letting me know the light had changed. I'm sure most of us have been at the giving or receiving end of such a reminder at some point on the road. Only, it probably came in the form of a loud honk, which may or may not have been accompanied by some angry gestures.

Soon, on the same road, I found myself behind two boys, about 10 years old. They were goofing around on their bikes, which had tires more like mountain bikes and less like the slippery ones on my road bike. They road in and out of the path, leaving no room to pass. While they were being the opposite of careful, pushing each other and trying to see how close they could get, they were not moving very quickly. At one point, their bikes made contact and they almost wiped out. I slammed on my brakes and was hit by the person behind me. I glanced back briefly, hoping to share an understanding glance. Instead, the woman was staring ahead with an expressionless look on her face. I got back on the bike, rode a little further, and was once again forced to stop quickly to avoid the pile of boys in front of me. The same woman's tire again came into contact with mine, only this time a little bit harder. I picked up my bike, plopped it down in front of the boys, and continued on my way. I didn't know whether to be more upset with the young boys or the grown woman, who obviously should have known she was following to close. What I did know was that a familiar feeling was growing inside of me -- road rage. The feeling was further fueled by the boys' decision to speed up, overtake me, and cut me off, and then again by a man riding the wrong way on the bike path. I refused to give up my 12 inch pathway, and we brushed coats as we passed.

The thing is, that after this familiar feeling, I realized there was really nothing I could do about it, but take a deep breath and keep on riding. Unlike in a car, where zooming around someone takes no more physical effort than a slight toe point, on a bicycle, you have to exert significant effort to speed up. The pedaling actually seem to help funnel some of that aggression out of the body. This discovery has made me realize how inefficient automobile drivers are at controlling their emotions. Of course, the stakes are higher in an auto -- you get rear-ended by an uninsured driver, and you could be out quite a bit chunk of money.

I just think it's interesting to consider how too modes of transportation can be so similar and so different at the same time. I hope I haven't bored you too much with my musings!

It's Almost Time for Christmas

The snow that fell on Saturday afternoon and evening kept us bundled up inside for a lazy Sunday. We are definitely thankful that we are not trying to travel with all of the cancellations and delays at the airports. Here are a couple pictures taken from our window yesterday:

Our Tiny Backyard

Car with a Snow Hat

After spending the majority of yesterday inside, I was definitely ready to get out today. I ventured to the post office to send some Christmas Cards and did a little Christmas shopping while I was out. The bike paths were a little slippery, and I found it was important to ride in the ruts created by earlier riders. After I returned home and wrapped up the presents, our tree looks much more ready for Christmas:

Christmas Presents!

I hope that all of you are starting to feel the spirit of the holidays, as well!

Alpine Vacation Part 4: City of the United Nations

On Monday morning, we awoke to giant snowflakes falling outside of our hotel room window. Although they were pretty sight against the slopes, we were a little concerned about how the drive would be back through the mountains. Fortunately, the roads were not too slick, and the only problem we encountered was the difficulty keeping the windshield clear after our car ran out of windshield wiper fluid. 

Realizing that we needed to stop for lunch between the hours of 11 and 1, we pulled off at the McDonald's on the highway. We were surprised to find out that the $12 Big Mac meal (with small fries and a small drink) did not come with ketchup. Instead it was an extra charge! After lunch, we continued on to Geneva and checked into the hotel in the early afternoon.

I picked up a map of the public transportation system, and Mr. Traveler plotted out a plan for the rest of the day. We grabbed some free transportation tickets from the hotel desk and caught a bus to the U.N. building.

Giant Chair w/ Broken Leg in Front of U.N.

U.N. Building

From there, we took a long walk down to the lake and around the city.

Duty Free Shop Just for Diplomats

Swan and Lake

Chess and Checkers Games in the Park

We stopped for coffee, and then later, dinner. Most of the restaurants in the area were pretty nice. (After all, Wikipedia claims that Geneva is the 4th most expensive city in the world.) So, we ended up at another pizza place.

The following morning, when Mr. Traveler flicked on the lights, I couldn't believe it was time to get up. I repacked the suitcases, we had breakfast in the hotel lobby, and then it was time to return our rental car and hop on the plane back home.

It was amazing how much it felt like coming home, returning to our little place in Holland. It's nice to have more of our stuff now (from our shipment), and I think I'm now starting to get more comfortable in my surroundings. It is certainly a nice feeling in this holiday season.


If you missed parts 1-3, check out:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Alpine Vacation Part 3: On the Slopes

On Saturday morning, it was time to pack up and head to the German-speaking side of the mountain. Switzerland has 4 national languages (German, French, Italian, and Rumantsch), and so far on our adventure, we'd only visited the French portion.

The drive around the mountains was beautiful. Tiny villages dotted green hillsides, framed by the snow capped mountains in the distance. Around lunch time, we arrived at our destination, Adelboden. We followed the directions from Google Maps up a narrow road through the town. Once we started up, we realized it was probably a bad idea to take such a narrow road, but there was no turning back. At the top of the hill, the tires started spinning, and we couldn't go forward at all. We got out and kicked the snow and ice out from under the front of the car and tried again. (Okay, I admit it... this was mostly my husband. I supervised.) After a few tries, we finally made it onto the next road and to the Bristol Hotel. After checking in, we grabbed a very pretty lunch at a restaurant at a neighboring hotel.

Lunch

After lunch, we decided we didn't have enough daylight left to start skiing, but we could at least start the process of getting our lift tickets and our ski gear. After that was taken care of, we walked through the town and had a cup of hot wine at the festival that was going on for the beginning of the ski season.

Gathering Crowd at the Opening Day Festivities

The next day, we started with a fairly large breakfast at the hotel buffet. It was a good thing, too, because somehow we forgot to bring any cash or credit cards to the lifts, which meant no lunch for us.

There is an interesting system of lifts and gondolas, with the area being relatively large, so we tried to map out a plan. Since Mr. Traveler had never been skiing before, we thought we would start at the "baby slopes", as the man at the hotel so nicely called them. We planned to take a couple gondolas and then a bus to the area with the beginner slopes. However, when we got to the stop on the gondola where we were supposed to get off, the man riding with us told us that it was the wrong stop. We stayed on and the gondola rose further and further into the clouds until we could see nothing around us. When we got off at the top, we saw everyone putting on their skis and heading into the fog. We couldn't even tell where each slope went. Quickly, we got back on the gondola and headed back to our original destination.

When we arrived at Gelis, the location of the baby slopes, however, we couldn't find a small slope anywhere. We hiked up a little hill to see what was on the other side. At the top, I shouted down to Mr. Traveler, "You're not going to want to do this", seeing a ski lift below. Not seeing any other options, though, Mr. Traveler agreed to try the lift. As we got further and further up, however, we could both tell that we'd made a big mistake. We were now even further up in the clouds, had no visibility, and when we finally got to the top, there were only Red (medium) and Black (hard) slopes. Mr. Traveler looked incredibly scared and started backing toward the lift, "No, no. No!" I didn't see any options other than down the slope, but he went and talked to the guy running the lift, and he let us ride back down on the lift. I'm sure everyone at the lift got a kick out of our stupidity, but it was better than ending up with a broken leg.

Back at the bottom, we decided we needed to ask someone where to find an easier slope. The woman at the gondola pointed out a slope that we could ski down from the top of the gondola. It was a Blue (easy) slope, according to the map. We realized by this point, that the baby slopes were actually closed, so we figured this was our only chance to ski. At the top, I tried to tell Mr. Traveler everything I knew about skiing. The slope was a little steep, so I encouraged him to go back and forth instead of straight down. I've only been skiing a few times, myself, however, and I don't think my explanations helped too much. Soon, Mr. Traveler was face down in the snow with his arms and legs sprawled out around him. He picked himself up, and repeated the process over and over. Some of the falls were pretty spectacular, and I'm glad he didn't end up with anything worse than bruises on his body and his ego.

Mr. Traveler Skiing

By the time we made it to the bottom, Mr. Traveler was definitely wishing he had taken the advice of his coworkers, the people at the ski rental shop, and the employees at the hotel, and gone ahead and taken lessons. To be fair, the slope was quite challenging (I would compare it to a harder medium slope in the States), and had I known that the slopes were going to be so much more difficult than those I'd skied before, I probably would have insisted on lessons for both of us. Luckily, I ended the day with only a single fall on the skis (and one more walking with the ski boots down a hill).

Mr. Traveler's Response to Skiing

After a few times down the very long slope, Mr. Traveler decided to sit it out, while I made one last run down the mountain.

Pic from the Top of the Mountain (After the Fog Cleared)

We headed back into town and dropped our rented gear off at the hotel, since the rental place didn't open until 6pm for returns. On our way in, the lady at the hotel asked if we would be interested in having dinner at the hotel. Since we had no other plans (and had eaten pizza for 2 nights in a row), we said, "Sure." She told us that we would get a special price of 25 Swiss Francs a piece (on the way back to our rooms, I noticed the normal price was 50 per person). We thanked her, grabbed some tokens for the jacuzzis, and spent some time warming up in the saunas and hot tubs.

We had just enough time to shower and return the skis before dinner, which ended up consisting of a 5 course meal. The first course was an appetizer of a pepper-filled puff pastry with a green sauce. Then, we had a salad, followed by a carrot and coconut soup. Our main course consisted of a veal steak with stuffed potatoes and a pouch of green beans and cauliflower wrapped with bacon. Finally, we had a crepe with ice cream and whipped cream for dessert. Even without considering how much our other meals had cost, it was an amazing dinner for a good price.

Next, we head back to Geneva and finish up our trip.