Shortly before Christmas, I opened our mailbox, one of a group next to our building's entry and therefor accessible to anyone walking by, and pulled out a small, blank envelope. Walking up the stairs to our apartment, I lifted the flap and found a €30 gift certificate to the Greek restaurant Olympia, located down the street here in town. That's all there was, no names (our's or anyone else's) and no note. The amount and the valid dates were the only things there. Since Mike's a popular teacher and it's not a big secret where we live, we had to assume that some generous, but shy, family from school wanted to gift him with a treat.
Whatever the reason, we surely appreciated that gift last night as we tucked into our orders. Olympia is a good Greek restaurant and most nights sees it full of patrons. As you are seated, you are also supplied with a shot of Ouzo each and friendly service. We were both more than satisfied with our choices, but I have to say, we both agreed with the waiter, who stated I'd made a "good choice" when I ordered the garlic and honey chicken. Wow, wow, wow, it was delicious, and that's no exaggeration. Mike ordered the grilled lamb and gyros and was happy with his choice also, but didn't say no whenever I'd offer him a bite of mine! I need to stop by and write down the Greek name for my dish, so that I can see if I can find a similar recipe to make at home. If by any chance the kind person who slipped that envelope into our mailbox last month reads this, please know that we truly appreciate it and send you our thanks!
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It's cold again, the temps have been below freezing the past couple of nights and this morning, there is another skin of ice on the canal next to our apartment (the ice that I skated on a couple of weeks ago having completely melted). Our friend Hans told us that he checked the historical data for temperature predictions and that we can expect more cold weather in February. Apparently, when it's been really cold in January, it cycles through again in February. There could be more outdoor skating yet.
However, I am not waiting for that, I have actually committed to going to an ice rink tonight with our friend Todd. Todd's preferred exercise is skating, and so after hearing that I'd braved the canals, he invited me to the rink he skates at in The Hague. My first inclination was to decline, but then I thought about seizing opportunities (the remnants of seeing Yes Man earlier this month) and decided to give it a chance. So tonight, I will cycle down to Todd's house and from there we will hop on the tram and head off to a new experience for me: public ice-skating. My primary hope is that I don't end up prone on the ice and hurting in ways that will prevent me from a) biking home again, b) running, and c) riding Maroz on Friday! Wish me luck.
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On a final note, I'd like to wish my parents, Deb and Jerry Pegg, a very happy 47th anniversary yesterday. We received an email from them where they are wintering in a tent trailer with the dog and cat, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and they sound just great. They did apologize for the 80 degree F (High 20s C) weather they are enjoying and it would seem they are not missing the snow that they would otherwise be shovelling in Idaho!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Food Issues
At the moment, I'm having a hard time typing because I'm listening to a great song, and so am more preoccupied in listening than in typing! Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfp5x1IDm_8&feature=related If it works you should be jamming to the fun sound of Moxy Fruvous and the King of Spain. Enjoy!
Okay, so we've been living here a few years now, so I'd forgotten these two food items that had me a little buffaloed when we first arrived, but as I've made them both this past weekend, I was reminded. Naturally, when we moved to a new country, we expected things to be different; however, I guess a few things seemed so natural and part of life, that it didn't occur to me that I would have to find alternatives. I'm talking about food here.
I have a vivid memory of deciding to treat Mike to some macaroni and cheese for dinner, a classic comfort food and one of his favourite things (he once famously asked that his Birthday Meal be mac and cheese, fried chicken, and pork chops. I denied him this, not only for his own good, but because he was in his late 20s and just should have known better!). So I made my list for the grocery store and headed out to shop. When I arrived at the cheese section, I found the cheddar I needed to make the dish, but was horrified to see that the tiniest piece cost a LOT. I simply could not countenance paying that much for making a simple recipe. So I imagine I must have stood there, looking dumbfounded, confused, and a bit lost for a good half a minute before my brain clicked back on. I blinked, I looked again at the CHEESE SECTION and realized that I now lived in one of the cheese capitals of the world! Duh, why did it have to be cheddar?
I felt a huge lightening of spirit as I cast aside an unspoken 'rule' that mac and cheese must be made with only one kind of cheese and embraced the idea of using something else. It turned out great, and did again on Saturday when I made it last. In fact, I hope I never am faced with only cheddar as my option for making this, it would now be a little weird to have orange cheese, when in fact, it's normally not.
The second time-honoured, Mike-loved food item are Chocolate Chip Cookies. I haven't been making these lately because I know that if I do, I tend to eat too many of them and that's not good for me. However, Mike loves, loves, LOVES CCC and so I decided to make them for him and see how strong I can be on a personal denial level. Now the middle part of this famous recipe is "Chip" and it is possible to buy chocolate chips here, but they are imported from North America and cost a lot (though not as much as cheddar cheese).
So there I was again, sometime during that first year here, standing in front of the chocolate section of the grocery store - yes, there is a Chocolate Section - when the penny dropped and I realized that Dutch Chocolate is arguably the best chocolate in the world, maybe second only to Belgian and they are neighbours! What was I thinking? Honestly. Then it got fun, as I prowled the section, looking for a semi-sweet chocolate chip alternative among so many choices. I end up buying "Extra Bitter Chocolate" which is darker, about 70% cocoa mass, and sooooo good and then I simply get out the butcher knife and chop it up into smallish pieces. Result? Fan-stinkin-tastic!! When you bite into a cookie now, you never know whether you will get a big chunk of delicious chocolate or maybe an even bigger one, and that works for me! Of course, I'm not eating any since they aren't good for me...
This blog finishes with another great song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU1stt0okdM The Clash, Rudie Can't Fail. Enjoy the music and may you also have the opportunity to challenge some established ideas about food in your lives!
Okay, so we've been living here a few years now, so I'd forgotten these two food items that had me a little buffaloed when we first arrived, but as I've made them both this past weekend, I was reminded. Naturally, when we moved to a new country, we expected things to be different; however, I guess a few things seemed so natural and part of life, that it didn't occur to me that I would have to find alternatives. I'm talking about food here.
I have a vivid memory of deciding to treat Mike to some macaroni and cheese for dinner, a classic comfort food and one of his favourite things (he once famously asked that his Birthday Meal be mac and cheese, fried chicken, and pork chops. I denied him this, not only for his own good, but because he was in his late 20s and just should have known better!). So I made my list for the grocery store and headed out to shop. When I arrived at the cheese section, I found the cheddar I needed to make the dish, but was horrified to see that the tiniest piece cost a LOT. I simply could not countenance paying that much for making a simple recipe. So I imagine I must have stood there, looking dumbfounded, confused, and a bit lost for a good half a minute before my brain clicked back on. I blinked, I looked again at the CHEESE SECTION and realized that I now lived in one of the cheese capitals of the world! Duh, why did it have to be cheddar?
I felt a huge lightening of spirit as I cast aside an unspoken 'rule' that mac and cheese must be made with only one kind of cheese and embraced the idea of using something else. It turned out great, and did again on Saturday when I made it last. In fact, I hope I never am faced with only cheddar as my option for making this, it would now be a little weird to have orange cheese, when in fact, it's normally not.
The second time-honoured, Mike-loved food item are Chocolate Chip Cookies. I haven't been making these lately because I know that if I do, I tend to eat too many of them and that's not good for me. However, Mike loves, loves, LOVES CCC and so I decided to make them for him and see how strong I can be on a personal denial level. Now the middle part of this famous recipe is "Chip" and it is possible to buy chocolate chips here, but they are imported from North America and cost a lot (though not as much as cheddar cheese).
So there I was again, sometime during that first year here, standing in front of the chocolate section of the grocery store - yes, there is a Chocolate Section - when the penny dropped and I realized that Dutch Chocolate is arguably the best chocolate in the world, maybe second only to Belgian and they are neighbours! What was I thinking? Honestly. Then it got fun, as I prowled the section, looking for a semi-sweet chocolate chip alternative among so many choices. I end up buying "Extra Bitter Chocolate" which is darker, about 70% cocoa mass, and sooooo good and then I simply get out the butcher knife and chop it up into smallish pieces. Result? Fan-stinkin-tastic!! When you bite into a cookie now, you never know whether you will get a big chunk of delicious chocolate or maybe an even bigger one, and that works for me! Of course, I'm not eating any since they aren't good for me...
This blog finishes with another great song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU1stt0okdM The Clash, Rudie Can't Fail. Enjoy the music and may you also have the opportunity to challenge some established ideas about food in your lives!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Happy Friday
The week has slipped by, although maybe "floated" would by a better verb...it's been a little rainy here. I realize this all times of the day, when I'm having to turn lights on in the apartment as morning progresses because the dark clouds are lowering more and I can't see inside; when I awake in the middle of the night and hear the rain either lashing against the windows or else the continual patter of lots of water being added to the great deal of water that's already on the ground; when I'm on my bicycle and wearing full rain gear and the wind is not only blowing the rain in my eyes, making it difficult to see, but also acting like a large hand pushing against me as I try to get from place to place.
Because, yes, I'm sticking to my commitment and have been biking like a maniac all week. Now I'm wondering what was so bad about getting on the bike when it was simply really cold - at least then I didn' t have to kit up in rain gear and arrive dripping at my destination! Today was ride Maroz day and the ride down was very wet, but I was happy to be going and the reward of Maroz's happy neigh when he sees me always erases any problems I had getting there. Yesterday, I not only thumbed my nose at the weather and went for a run in the morning, but also biked to The Hague on an errand. Mind you, when I returned home, I was so drained I didn't get much else done, but I had the justifiable pride of being weary as a result of honest hard work.
There was no running today as my legs get enough of a workout riding Maroz, but I intend to be out again tomorrow. Mike will probably come with me, he's wanting to participate in a 1/2 marathon in March and needs to work on his conditioning. The cats will almost certainly stay home and look at us groggily when we return, having not moved AT ALL the entire time we're gone. As I've said, the life of a cat is not a bad thing!
We didn't get down for any movies this week, we intended to go last night, but I was tired and also cozy by this point and it was really pouring rain, so we elected to stay home and watch TV instead. We are finishing the final season of the West Wing and so tucked away a couple episodes (we own the series) before my BBC cookery show came on: Masterchef, followed by another BBC 'lifestyle' show called Victorian Farm. The latter has only started in the past month and shows the trials and tribulations of running a farm using only Victorian methods. It's fascinating because the three main characters are living this way for an entire year, right down to the clothes they wear, the lack of electricity, and the serious amount of elbow grease required for the most trivial (for us) of tasks. Interesting stuff and makes me start to question some of the ways I do things. I always appreciate the gentle jostle of something like this allowing me to see from a new perspective and to make decisions as to how I want to continue doing certain tasks. Too bad the show is only on once a week, I could do with more jostling!
I just looked out the window and saw some folks walking by, heads bowed, umbrella braced before them so as not to be blown inside out (a very real concern here) and the bare, brown branches of the trees waving; I'm glad I'm inside!
Because, yes, I'm sticking to my commitment and have been biking like a maniac all week. Now I'm wondering what was so bad about getting on the bike when it was simply really cold - at least then I didn' t have to kit up in rain gear and arrive dripping at my destination! Today was ride Maroz day and the ride down was very wet, but I was happy to be going and the reward of Maroz's happy neigh when he sees me always erases any problems I had getting there. Yesterday, I not only thumbed my nose at the weather and went for a run in the morning, but also biked to The Hague on an errand. Mind you, when I returned home, I was so drained I didn't get much else done, but I had the justifiable pride of being weary as a result of honest hard work.
There was no running today as my legs get enough of a workout riding Maroz, but I intend to be out again tomorrow. Mike will probably come with me, he's wanting to participate in a 1/2 marathon in March and needs to work on his conditioning. The cats will almost certainly stay home and look at us groggily when we return, having not moved AT ALL the entire time we're gone. As I've said, the life of a cat is not a bad thing!
We didn't get down for any movies this week, we intended to go last night, but I was tired and also cozy by this point and it was really pouring rain, so we elected to stay home and watch TV instead. We are finishing the final season of the West Wing and so tucked away a couple episodes (we own the series) before my BBC cookery show came on: Masterchef, followed by another BBC 'lifestyle' show called Victorian Farm. The latter has only started in the past month and shows the trials and tribulations of running a farm using only Victorian methods. It's fascinating because the three main characters are living this way for an entire year, right down to the clothes they wear, the lack of electricity, and the serious amount of elbow grease required for the most trivial (for us) of tasks. Interesting stuff and makes me start to question some of the ways I do things. I always appreciate the gentle jostle of something like this allowing me to see from a new perspective and to make decisions as to how I want to continue doing certain tasks. Too bad the show is only on once a week, I could do with more jostling!
I just looked out the window and saw some folks walking by, heads bowed, umbrella braced before them so as not to be blown inside out (a very real concern here) and the bare, brown branches of the trees waving; I'm glad I'm inside!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Unpredictable Weather
I have to confess to something. I have moaned about having to ride our bikes a couple of times in the past couple of weeks when in actual fact, we ended up taking the bus. In the end, the idea of getting all bundled up in bikeable layers was too much for us and we wimped out. However, I have vowed to change back to being a biking fool and starting tonight. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, Wassenaar is not on a convenient bus schedule. After 7:30pm, there are only two buses an hour and they arrive within 5 minutes of one another! This is a bit skewed since we have arrived a minute or two late a couple of times and then we are stuck waiting for nearly an hour for the next bus. Invariably, we have the following discussion: "You know, if we'd ridden our bikes, we'd be home before the next bus even shows up here..." "Yes, I agree, what WERE we thinking?". And then we say that 'next time' we'll be sure to cycle, no matter what. Normally, we are very good about cycling, to the point that all of our expat friends and many of our Dutch friends think we're a bit nuts, so getting back to it shouldn't be a big deal.
The second reason is that I am continually tricked by the weather forecasts. Why do I keep believing them when they are consistently incorrect. We will be getting ready to head out, I'll check the forecast and say, "Oh wow, look how cold/wet/windy/etc. it's going to be tonight, maybe biking is not such a good idea." Naturally, the prediction does the opposite and I end up stewing because I'm stuck at the bus station, yet again, when I could be not only getting exercise but also getting home in a timely manner!
No More! A belated New Year's resolution: Along the lines of Farragut's famous quote: "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!", we will cycle! Ahem...at least that's the intention...
So, tonight, when we join friends to ring in the new president of the U.S. and watch the inaugeration live, Mike and I will be cycling. In fact, I will be leaving fairly soon for that..(and carrying rain gear, just in case!). May I just say, we are so excited by this change in the U.S. government? This is big stuff on so many levels and if this new administration lives up to a fraction of the expectations placed on it, it will still be positive change. Yes He Can, Yes We Can, Yes!
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A final note, I mentioned we were going to see The Visitor last Friday. Great film! It's an independent, so you will get the chance to see actors not in the mainstream, or even brand new on the scene, and they are wonderful. It's a poignant show, with an ending that leaves you wanting to know more, but so very thought-provoking and worth watching. We all walked out feeling quite pensive.
First, Wassenaar is not on a convenient bus schedule. After 7:30pm, there are only two buses an hour and they arrive within 5 minutes of one another! This is a bit skewed since we have arrived a minute or two late a couple of times and then we are stuck waiting for nearly an hour for the next bus. Invariably, we have the following discussion: "You know, if we'd ridden our bikes, we'd be home before the next bus even shows up here..." "Yes, I agree, what WERE we thinking?". And then we say that 'next time' we'll be sure to cycle, no matter what. Normally, we are very good about cycling, to the point that all of our expat friends and many of our Dutch friends think we're a bit nuts, so getting back to it shouldn't be a big deal.
The second reason is that I am continually tricked by the weather forecasts. Why do I keep believing them when they are consistently incorrect. We will be getting ready to head out, I'll check the forecast and say, "Oh wow, look how cold/wet/windy/etc. it's going to be tonight, maybe biking is not such a good idea." Naturally, the prediction does the opposite and I end up stewing because I'm stuck at the bus station, yet again, when I could be not only getting exercise but also getting home in a timely manner!
No More! A belated New Year's resolution: Along the lines of Farragut's famous quote: "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!", we will cycle! Ahem...at least that's the intention...
So, tonight, when we join friends to ring in the new president of the U.S. and watch the inaugeration live, Mike and I will be cycling. In fact, I will be leaving fairly soon for that..(and carrying rain gear, just in case!). May I just say, we are so excited by this change in the U.S. government? This is big stuff on so many levels and if this new administration lives up to a fraction of the expectations placed on it, it will still be positive change. Yes He Can, Yes We Can, Yes!
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A final note, I mentioned we were going to see The Visitor last Friday. Great film! It's an independent, so you will get the chance to see actors not in the mainstream, or even brand new on the scene, and they are wonderful. It's a poignant show, with an ending that leaves you wanting to know more, but so very thought-provoking and worth watching. We all walked out feeling quite pensive.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Life of a Cat
Cats really have it pretty good. At least ours do. While I write blogs about trying to keep warm, they are snug in the house, wrapped up in a personalized fur blanket and even laying on top of the warm radiators! Since they have not been featured in any of my postings yet, I realized they deserved a mention. After all, Chloe (above) and Elliot (orange and fluffy, below) have been with us since August 1994 and are responsible for a great deal of joy in our lives over the years.Mike and I had been married about 7 weeks when we settled in our first apartment in Fort Collins, Colorado. Pets were a must, and since cats are something I've always had around and are good in apartment-living, we decided that would be the best option. So off we went to the Larimer County Humane Society (http://www.larimerhumane.org) to adopt our new family members. While these two are not litter mates, they have become used to one another over the past 14.5 years and have moved with us (within Colorado, to Idaho, now to the Netherlands), travelled with us (between Colorado and Idaho when we'd go on holidays to see family), and kept us smiling.
Chloe is the proper little Miss and very much only a two-person cat. When we are away and have cat-sitters stopping by, we always wonder how she's going to do with a change in the routine. Typically, we hear that she keeps to herself and doesn't look for attention until we've been away for a week or so and she gets a little desperate for some contact. She's also the one who still chases her tail and generally acts like a lunatic at least once a day. The rest of the time, she's in a wad on the radiator like you see in the top photo or in a sunbeam on the sofa or windowsill. Would it be possible to build me a radiator like hers?
Elliot, on the other hand is the social greeter of our house. When we have people over, he makes sure to meet everyone as they come in the door, rub up against them and generally introduce himself. He's absolutely friendly and gets a lot of comments along the lines of, "Wow! That's a huge cat!", or "He's more like a dog than a cat because he's so friendly". He's definitely a personality and it's probably good he's an indoor-only cat (since we live on the 3rd floor with a secure door downstairs, it's just not possible to let them out. Ringing doorbells might be a little beyond them!), because otherwise he'd get swept up and taken away by some new 'friend'.
Since they're both going to be 15 this May, they have a couple of health issues, but we've been able to keep everything under control with diet and pills. The Dutch really love animals, just about everyone has a dog or cat (or both) and so we are very comfortable with the veterinary care they receive here. I think the hardest part for them moving here was the plane ride, since then, they've been just fine, down to getting the same food they had in Idaho.As you might be able to see from the photos I took today (all but the 2nd one), it's a rainy day with some pretty good wind gusts. I look at these two and think how pleased we've been over the years with the fact that we rescued them from the shelter when they were just three months old. At this point, I start to feel terrible for all the animals that are outside in awful weather and cold temperatures. I must get some sort of look in my eye at these times...Mike is always warning our friends that if something happens to him, to watch that I don't become a crazy cat lady!
This is a bit of a ramble, but it seemed like it was past time that I introduced our family to any readers who might be interested in knowing more about the "cats" I mention in these posts.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Seeking Warmth
A hot shower, delicious cocoa - with Baileys, thermostat ON, cats nearby, sweaters, what MORE do I have to do to get warm??? I'm even using red font colour in an attempt to impart heat to my chilled self! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, after all, it is mid-January and I live at 52 degrees North, but the thermometer said it was above freezing and there was no wind, so I thought I was safe.Wrong. I went down to ride Maroz and pretty much as soon as I began pedaling, my sensors told me it was colder than expected. After a few minutes on the bike and then at the stable mucking out the stall, I warmed up, but then I cooled off again once Maroz and I went out for our ramble. I could tell that even a lot of trotting / cantering wasn't going to beat this one off, so I gave him a decent time out of his stall and then we headed back to the stable. By this time, I felt like I was hemorrhaging snot and my poor nose was feeling very put upon and chapped, so I was happy to get back on the bike and warm up again.
I did, a little. The problem was that I was already cold enough that the exercise didn't really kick in and then I was home and still chilled. And here I sit... I wonder if it feels so cold because it's a coastal cold and the damp tricked me and snuck in under all the thermal underwear, turtleneck, wool, and fleece-lined windbreaker I was wearing? Maybe, just maybe, the ONLY cure is a nap! Now that sounds a lot more sensible than bicycling around like an idiot and freezing various bits of myself. Except...I'm not tired.
I think I'm being overly theatrical because I know that in a few hours, Mike and I are getting back on the blasted bikes and cycling to The Hague for a movie (The Visitor) with Kim and Aaron, and I'm not ready to be back outside yet. Yes, we DO see a lot of movies, but there's a good reason. We bought cards last summer that we pay €18 / month for, and can see unlimited movies. That means the card pays for itself in less than 3 movie viewings / month. Perhaps that is more movies than we would normally average on a monthly basis, but when we signed up for the cards, we saw a lot of movies on the horizon that we knew we wanted to see and so made the committment. Now they are a good excuse to get out regularly and see what new nonsense the film industry wants to throw at us. It means that we will see shows that we might not ordinarily want to spend the €€€ on, but now can justify. It's been fun, too, as I've branched out in my movie viewing and been pleased with some of the choices we've seen. Interestingly, two of the movies that spurred the original purchase of the cards, The Mummy III, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, were both so pathetically bad that we were sorry we went! Incidentally, Aaron set up a blog for us to discuss our latest movie viewings: http://postvisualization.wordpress.com/
Well, I have warmed up a skosh, but am planning on retreating under a blanket with a book (The Condé Nast Traveller Book of Unforgettable Journeys - Great Writers on Great Places) and hopefully a cat or two and see if THAT does the trick!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Goodbye Dr. Zhivago
It's warmed up. A week ago we were all shivering as the clear cold weather sat on us day after day - I mean, Mike and I were taking the bus (of all things!) to get to and from The Hague instead of our bikes! The three marvelous days (Friday-Sunday) for ice-skating for the first time in 12 winters, all came to an end as Monday dawned...warmer (and ended with rain). Dr. Zhivago stopped to either take a deep breath or to blow in another direction, because we are so warm now that I went out yesterday, without a coat, and opened the windows in the apartment to trade stale air for fresh. Amazing how quickly it changes.
I suppose that means that our Christmas holiday really is over, because the cold weather we had in Austria followed us home and kept the feeling alive. Since Mike went back to school on Monday, I suppose that makes sense. So, even though we've been back for two weeks, let me see what I can recall about our trip eastwards and share it with you.
We drove to get there and happily had no snow on the roads; however TONS of rain and while that was not so enjoyable, we were pleased that it wasn't cold enough that all that precipitation froze and made the drive twice as long and much more dangerous. We stayed overnight in Nürnberg, in Germany before driving on to Vienna. Mike and I had been there before, last year, and loved it so much we wanted to see it again. I think most people will think of Nürnberg as a result of History lessons and the post-WWII trials held there. I know I did. No doubt there is a museum of some sort there to commemorate the trials, but that's not why we love it. The old (and rebuilt due to massive bombing in the war) and walled city centre is just fabulous. The wall and its ports surround a centre of charming cobbled streets, leading from the river (complete with island) up to the castle. At this time of year, it also houses the Christmas Market and while it was raining on us while we trolled through, we still loved it. Of course, we fortified ourselves with blueberry enhanced Glüwein to keep us warm!
One of the stops we had to make was at a comic book store that Mike found when we were there last year called Ultracomix. Aaron and Kim had been there as well, on our suggestion, when they went through a few months ago. It's three floors of comics and related accoutrements, a comic / graphic novel / role-playing games lover dream come true. There was even something for me, as I found Asterix and Tintin books bound into smaller versions and combining several editions in one cover. Fun stuff! But I digress...
We spent Sunday morning in the Christmas market and fighting our way through the crowds of people. Stands for all kinds of things, lots of food stalls, especially sausage, and a general air of impending Christmas. We could have easily stayed longer and enjoyed the city more too, but we had to get to Vienna and into our rental apartment. We drove through more torrential rain, more like driving in and through a cloud, a VERY wet cloud, but arrived safely around 9:00pm. We were quite cozy, it's a one-bedroom place with a pull out sofa bed, but we weren't really going to be spending that much time there anyway. The location was not too far of a walk from the subway line into the centre of town, we were just out from the Schönbrunn palace (the summer residence of the Hapsburgs), in the 13th District of Vienna.
I won't go through the day-by-day activities of the 11 days we were there, but try to give some highlights of the trip. At the beginning of the first week, we wanted to get through the different Christmas markets before they closed for the season on Christmas Eve. There are many around town, but if you are with people who know, and we were - Kim and Aaron had lived in Vienna for 4 years - then you can filter out a lot of them and just go to the best. So, we saw one with all the standard sort of merchandise, lots of ornaments, wooden things, and a general feeling of mass-produced holiday ornamentation. We then went to one with artisanal products, so more like an arts and crafts fair, with the prices adjusted upwards accordingly (the photos of Mike and I wearing ridiculous hats a few entries ago are from this market). Beautiful things though. The final one was somewhere between the other two and equally interesting.
In between, there was a lot of walking around the grand, old city of Vienna. It's one of those places that you can tell immediately that a lot of wealth lived here for a very long time while it was the seat of a large empire. Vienna is a city on an epic scale, wide streets, enormous buildings, gilding, statuary, elaborate gardens, and just things of beauty everywhere you look. Some of the things we did, other than eat, which took a lot of our time!, are included in the photos below (since a picture can be worth a thousand words!).
I will comment specifically on our day trip to Bratislava, in Slovakia. Vienna is an hour by train from Bratislava, following the Danube, and is a stark example of not that long ago when Western and Eastern Europe had the Iron Curtain between them. We started from Vienna on a sunny day, though cold, and literally, when the train crossed into Slovakia, the sun disappeared. It was like the reflection of the way I think of Soviet times - gray and brooding. You could just tell it was cold outside too, no snow, but the ground frozen so hard that there was frost on the dirt, even in the late morning. The countryside and farms we rolled past just felt different than those we passed in Austria, people are still pulling themselves out of a grim history. However, there were also people out skating on ponds, so there was some cheer to be had.
Arriving in Bratislava, the area around the train station and the first 10 minutes or so walking into the town centre also felt quite awful. We passed a lot of hideous architecture that made me question out loud why communism felt the need to impose such ugliness on the people. Mike or Kim, or a combination of the two, said that everything representing a bourgeois past and class distinctions was repressed. Why did that have to include beauty, I wonder, it is hard even now, when things are definitely improving, to imagine laughter in such a place. Ick.
After such a grim beginning though, the centre was stunning, clean, colourful, and full of life (and laughter). Thank goodness. We walked along pedestrian streets past a number of interesting looking shops (a lot of crystal is made and sold here), but as we wanted to see several things outside before dark, we kept on going. One destination was the Blue Church or the Church of St. Elisabeth, which was a bit of a walk from the centre. This is a small church, built a 100 years ago, but really a lovely little place. It stood out in its cleanliness and upkeep with the gray, crumbling buildings surrounding it. On our way back to the centre, we detoured a little to see the Danube. It's interesting that the river really doesn't have anything built along the banks, as you would expect for such a massive waterway that must have been a lifeline along the old trade routes. There were a couple of buildings and roads, but it did take an effort to get to the river to see it and not just be preoccupied with the centre of town. Very unlike London, Paris, New York, where the river is a real part of the city.
We walked some more, by which time we were chilled to the bone and found a little restaurant to get a late lunch. Our server who was maybe also the proprietor, handed us menus that were in Slovak (a language none of us knew at all), German, and English. Aaron and Kim both speak German and obviously we all spoke English but it was still a challenge to order our food. It makes you appreciate having English as a language since it is pretty widespread, imagine if all you had was Slovak...travelling would be a challenge and eating would be a real adventure!
At the end of our day in Eastern Europe, we all felt a little relieved to be getting on the train and going back to Vienna. It wasn't that it was a bad day in any way, just that we were given a lot of impressions of a different way of living that made us appreciate our own history and freedoms. We'd love to go back, maybe in the summertime when the grip of an icy cold is not so discouraging and when a blue sky feels a little more welcoming!
A final note of something we did was a visit to the Melk Monastery. This is a 45 minute drive west of Vienna and truly a magnificet place. There are only a handful of monks there now and since the monastery has hundreds of rooms, there is a whole wing given to a day school for 900 students. The museum section that we toured through was very informative, our English-speaking guide lead us in front of the Italian group and behind a German-speaking group. The banquet hall and library are real showpieces (see photos below) and it would be fascinating to have more time to prowl around. The monastery, while old in history, has a building dating from the Baroque era when the existing structure was pulled down and rebuilt according to the more oppulent standards of the day. Makes it harmonious, but pretty over the top.
Mike and I left on New Year's morning and drove straight back to Wassenaar and the cats in 10.5 hours. We had great travelling weather, no rain, no snow, and not much traffic. We loved our trip, but were happy to get home to our furry kids and they were pretty happy to see us as well. Having a once-a-day catsitter stopping by is one thing, having us home to love on them is quite another!
Since the normal statue (at Schönbrunn Palace grounds) had left its plinth, Mike and I decided to make the most of its absence
I suppose that means that our Christmas holiday really is over, because the cold weather we had in Austria followed us home and kept the feeling alive. Since Mike went back to school on Monday, I suppose that makes sense. So, even though we've been back for two weeks, let me see what I can recall about our trip eastwards and share it with you.
We drove to get there and happily had no snow on the roads; however TONS of rain and while that was not so enjoyable, we were pleased that it wasn't cold enough that all that precipitation froze and made the drive twice as long and much more dangerous. We stayed overnight in Nürnberg, in Germany before driving on to Vienna. Mike and I had been there before, last year, and loved it so much we wanted to see it again. I think most people will think of Nürnberg as a result of History lessons and the post-WWII trials held there. I know I did. No doubt there is a museum of some sort there to commemorate the trials, but that's not why we love it. The old (and rebuilt due to massive bombing in the war) and walled city centre is just fabulous. The wall and its ports surround a centre of charming cobbled streets, leading from the river (complete with island) up to the castle. At this time of year, it also houses the Christmas Market and while it was raining on us while we trolled through, we still loved it. Of course, we fortified ourselves with blueberry enhanced Glüwein to keep us warm!
One of the stops we had to make was at a comic book store that Mike found when we were there last year called Ultracomix. Aaron and Kim had been there as well, on our suggestion, when they went through a few months ago. It's three floors of comics and related accoutrements, a comic / graphic novel / role-playing games lover dream come true. There was even something for me, as I found Asterix and Tintin books bound into smaller versions and combining several editions in one cover. Fun stuff! But I digress...
We spent Sunday morning in the Christmas market and fighting our way through the crowds of people. Stands for all kinds of things, lots of food stalls, especially sausage, and a general air of impending Christmas. We could have easily stayed longer and enjoyed the city more too, but we had to get to Vienna and into our rental apartment. We drove through more torrential rain, more like driving in and through a cloud, a VERY wet cloud, but arrived safely around 9:00pm. We were quite cozy, it's a one-bedroom place with a pull out sofa bed, but we weren't really going to be spending that much time there anyway. The location was not too far of a walk from the subway line into the centre of town, we were just out from the Schönbrunn palace (the summer residence of the Hapsburgs), in the 13th District of Vienna.
I won't go through the day-by-day activities of the 11 days we were there, but try to give some highlights of the trip. At the beginning of the first week, we wanted to get through the different Christmas markets before they closed for the season on Christmas Eve. There are many around town, but if you are with people who know, and we were - Kim and Aaron had lived in Vienna for 4 years - then you can filter out a lot of them and just go to the best. So, we saw one with all the standard sort of merchandise, lots of ornaments, wooden things, and a general feeling of mass-produced holiday ornamentation. We then went to one with artisanal products, so more like an arts and crafts fair, with the prices adjusted upwards accordingly (the photos of Mike and I wearing ridiculous hats a few entries ago are from this market). Beautiful things though. The final one was somewhere between the other two and equally interesting.
In between, there was a lot of walking around the grand, old city of Vienna. It's one of those places that you can tell immediately that a lot of wealth lived here for a very long time while it was the seat of a large empire. Vienna is a city on an epic scale, wide streets, enormous buildings, gilding, statuary, elaborate gardens, and just things of beauty everywhere you look. Some of the things we did, other than eat, which took a lot of our time!, are included in the photos below (since a picture can be worth a thousand words!).
I will comment specifically on our day trip to Bratislava, in Slovakia. Vienna is an hour by train from Bratislava, following the Danube, and is a stark example of not that long ago when Western and Eastern Europe had the Iron Curtain between them. We started from Vienna on a sunny day, though cold, and literally, when the train crossed into Slovakia, the sun disappeared. It was like the reflection of the way I think of Soviet times - gray and brooding. You could just tell it was cold outside too, no snow, but the ground frozen so hard that there was frost on the dirt, even in the late morning. The countryside and farms we rolled past just felt different than those we passed in Austria, people are still pulling themselves out of a grim history. However, there were also people out skating on ponds, so there was some cheer to be had.
Arriving in Bratislava, the area around the train station and the first 10 minutes or so walking into the town centre also felt quite awful. We passed a lot of hideous architecture that made me question out loud why communism felt the need to impose such ugliness on the people. Mike or Kim, or a combination of the two, said that everything representing a bourgeois past and class distinctions was repressed. Why did that have to include beauty, I wonder, it is hard even now, when things are definitely improving, to imagine laughter in such a place. Ick.
After such a grim beginning though, the centre was stunning, clean, colourful, and full of life (and laughter). Thank goodness. We walked along pedestrian streets past a number of interesting looking shops (a lot of crystal is made and sold here), but as we wanted to see several things outside before dark, we kept on going. One destination was the Blue Church or the Church of St. Elisabeth, which was a bit of a walk from the centre. This is a small church, built a 100 years ago, but really a lovely little place. It stood out in its cleanliness and upkeep with the gray, crumbling buildings surrounding it. On our way back to the centre, we detoured a little to see the Danube. It's interesting that the river really doesn't have anything built along the banks, as you would expect for such a massive waterway that must have been a lifeline along the old trade routes. There were a couple of buildings and roads, but it did take an effort to get to the river to see it and not just be preoccupied with the centre of town. Very unlike London, Paris, New York, where the river is a real part of the city.
We walked some more, by which time we were chilled to the bone and found a little restaurant to get a late lunch. Our server who was maybe also the proprietor, handed us menus that were in Slovak (a language none of us knew at all), German, and English. Aaron and Kim both speak German and obviously we all spoke English but it was still a challenge to order our food. It makes you appreciate having English as a language since it is pretty widespread, imagine if all you had was Slovak...travelling would be a challenge and eating would be a real adventure!
At the end of our day in Eastern Europe, we all felt a little relieved to be getting on the train and going back to Vienna. It wasn't that it was a bad day in any way, just that we were given a lot of impressions of a different way of living that made us appreciate our own history and freedoms. We'd love to go back, maybe in the summertime when the grip of an icy cold is not so discouraging and when a blue sky feels a little more welcoming!
A final note of something we did was a visit to the Melk Monastery. This is a 45 minute drive west of Vienna and truly a magnificet place. There are only a handful of monks there now and since the monastery has hundreds of rooms, there is a whole wing given to a day school for 900 students. The museum section that we toured through was very informative, our English-speaking guide lead us in front of the Italian group and behind a German-speaking group. The banquet hall and library are real showpieces (see photos below) and it would be fascinating to have more time to prowl around. The monastery, while old in history, has a building dating from the Baroque era when the existing structure was pulled down and rebuilt according to the more oppulent standards of the day. Makes it harmonious, but pretty over the top.
Mike and I left on New Year's morning and drove straight back to Wassenaar and the cats in 10.5 hours. We had great travelling weather, no rain, no snow, and not much traffic. We loved our trip, but were happy to get home to our furry kids and they were pretty happy to see us as well. Having a once-a-day catsitter stopping by is one thing, having us home to love on them is quite another!
Since the normal statue (at Schönbrunn Palace grounds) had left its plinth, Mike and I decided to make the most of its absence
Words cannot express my delight at finding spätzle at one of the Vienna Christmas markets. Kim was pretty excited too and Mike just enjoyed our enjoyment.
Great staircase in the Melk Monastery
Corner detail in the Melk Monastery Library
Melk Monastery Library - wow.
Mike outside the Vienna library doing what he does best.
The great chandelier at Café Diglas, Vienna
Mike and I at the Nutcracker ballet in the Vienna Opera House on Christmas night
Our lunch menu from Bratislava. I especially liked the "nome-made sausage". Do you supposed they really come from Nome, Alaska? Or perhaps they have little tiny people working in the kitchen and just misspelled "Gnome"?
Mike was fortunate to get a photo of the architect giving a lecture about the building of the Blue Church of St. Elisabeth in Bratislava
Kim and I spent a lot of time doing this. On this day, we're on the train to Bratislava.
The train ride to Bratislava. We rolled past some bleak-looking settings, and I don't think it was just because of the gray day that it seemed that way.
Post-Cold War graffiti on Soviet-era architecture and design of the happy working people.
One of several fun statues in the centre of Bratislava.
Mike, Me, Aaron flaunting a "no pedestrian" sign in Bratislava. Would we have gotten away with it 20 years ago?
Inside the Vienna Opera House, prior to the Nutcracker ballet starting
Mike, Aaron, and I standing outside the gates to Schönbrunn Palace
Aaron, Mike, and I sliding on ice on a very cold day on the Schönbrunn Palace grounds
At the Naschmarkt flea market, we had to get a photo of the lederhosen on sale
Felber is the local bakery we patronized on a regular basis. Just some of the goodies we enjoyed eating, including Mike's personal favourite, the giant cinnamon bun at the front!Friday, January 9, 2009
Sunny and Skating
I do realize I need to write about our wonderful trip to Vienna and parts East; however, I am so excited by the fact that the canals have frozen here in Wassenaar that I have to talk about skating first! When Mike and I found out (in February 2004) that we would be moving to the Netherlands, the first thing we did was to call our families. We were in New York City, thrilled beyond measure that we were actually going to be moving overseas in just a few months and wondering what the Netherlands ("Holland" to many) was all about. We sorted through our combined memories and came up with a meager assortment of what we knew about our future home: Tulips, clogs, windmills, Old Dutch potato chips (although that was a stretch and only thrown in because I grew up with them in Canada!), and ice skating. When we told my parents our destination, my mother excitedly said, "Oh! You'll be just like Hans Brinker!!". Mike's mother was a little more prosaic, "I'm so glad you're going somewhere safe!". I had to ask Mom to please remind me what the deal was with Hans Brinker and she said he was the hero of the classic tale, The Silver Skates.
I have since read the book, because Mom gave it to me for Christmas, and have been sad to see that the winters here are not as conducive to ice skating as they were in decades and centuries past. It just hasn't been cold enough. When you go to museums here and see paintings and sketches by Dutch artists, in addition to the glorious sky-scapes, you generally see images of skating. In fact, when I was in Gouda (pronounced "How-da" as opposed to the popular "Good-a") a couple of years ago, I was visiting an old clay pipe maker. He talked about how people used to skate up the frozen canals from Rotterdam (a distance of 16 miles / 25 km) to get replacement pipes when theirs broke. He added that this will never happen again due to industry along the canals in that region making the water too warm for freezing. Sad.
However, back to skating. I told Mike that we needed to get me out on the canal next to our house, either upon our return from the movie in The Hague (which was good, we enjoyed "The Yes Man" with Jim Carrey), or this morning while it was still cold. We decided to go with the morning option for better lighting, although I was a little self-conscious that I might have more of an audience in daylight than at 10:30pm!
I needn't have worried, while yesterday was very misty and gray all day long, this morning dawned clear, cold, and sunny. The hoar frost on the trees, bushes, grass, etc., was beautiful and the thermometer said -5 Celsius (23 F), so the ice was bound to be even stronger - a good thing! I mused at one point that I couldn't even remember when I was last on skates, I think it must have been when I was university age??, so about 20 years ago. I did bring a pair of skates that used to be Mom's though, so we were ready to roll, er...glide.
Mike was armed with the camera which we would have brought anyway, but my good friend, Hallie emailed me yesterday saying, "I love that you could possibly skate on the canals! Take pictures - I want to see that." Understood, and Mike was a champion photographer, giving me many options to choose for posting here. He started out standing mid-canal, but when we heard a big "Crack!" and he saw the ice split away from where he stood in two directions, he thought it might make more sense to shoot from the shore!
It was great, living a bit of history for me and chalking up one more fun expat experience for the books. I also heard a creak and crack or two, but zipped back to where I knew it was sound. It was fun! I have to say, Mom's feet are a little smaller than mine though, so I wouldn't want to spend too long in those skates, but I did NOT fall, and even managed to look up and smile a few times. I guess my youth spent skating in British Columbia on the sloughs by our house came back to me.
You will see in the photos that I'm wearing some unconventional skating apparel, I had on my green riding jods as I was off to see the horse next, and didn't want to go back upstairs and change! Mike joined me for the ride to the stable, about a 20-25 minute bike ride as he had to get some errands done in The Hague. You'll see a photo of him as well, below. On my return from the stable, I passed a pond with several dozen skaters zipping around, from toddlers to the elderly. It's clear that the beautiful sunshine and elusive ice is as big a draw to the Dutch as it was to me. Maybe tomorrow I'll have to head down to that pond where it's clear the ice is strong enough to handle a crowd!
I have since read the book, because Mom gave it to me for Christmas, and have been sad to see that the winters here are not as conducive to ice skating as they were in decades and centuries past. It just hasn't been cold enough. When you go to museums here and see paintings and sketches by Dutch artists, in addition to the glorious sky-scapes, you generally see images of skating. In fact, when I was in Gouda (pronounced "How-da" as opposed to the popular "Good-a") a couple of years ago, I was visiting an old clay pipe maker. He talked about how people used to skate up the frozen canals from Rotterdam (a distance of 16 miles / 25 km) to get replacement pipes when theirs broke. He added that this will never happen again due to industry along the canals in that region making the water too warm for freezing. Sad.
However, back to skating. I told Mike that we needed to get me out on the canal next to our house, either upon our return from the movie in The Hague (which was good, we enjoyed "The Yes Man" with Jim Carrey), or this morning while it was still cold. We decided to go with the morning option for better lighting, although I was a little self-conscious that I might have more of an audience in daylight than at 10:30pm!
I needn't have worried, while yesterday was very misty and gray all day long, this morning dawned clear, cold, and sunny. The hoar frost on the trees, bushes, grass, etc., was beautiful and the thermometer said -5 Celsius (23 F), so the ice was bound to be even stronger - a good thing! I mused at one point that I couldn't even remember when I was last on skates, I think it must have been when I was university age??, so about 20 years ago. I did bring a pair of skates that used to be Mom's though, so we were ready to roll, er...glide.
Mike was armed with the camera which we would have brought anyway, but my good friend, Hallie emailed me yesterday saying, "I love that you could possibly skate on the canals! Take pictures - I want to see that." Understood, and Mike was a champion photographer, giving me many options to choose for posting here. He started out standing mid-canal, but when we heard a big "Crack!" and he saw the ice split away from where he stood in two directions, he thought it might make more sense to shoot from the shore!
It was great, living a bit of history for me and chalking up one more fun expat experience for the books. I also heard a creak and crack or two, but zipped back to where I knew it was sound. It was fun! I have to say, Mom's feet are a little smaller than mine though, so I wouldn't want to spend too long in those skates, but I did NOT fall, and even managed to look up and smile a few times. I guess my youth spent skating in British Columbia on the sloughs by our house came back to me.
You will see in the photos that I'm wearing some unconventional skating apparel, I had on my green riding jods as I was off to see the horse next, and didn't want to go back upstairs and change! Mike joined me for the ride to the stable, about a 20-25 minute bike ride as he had to get some errands done in The Hague. You'll see a photo of him as well, below. On my return from the stable, I passed a pond with several dozen skaters zipping around, from toddlers to the elderly. It's clear that the beautiful sunshine and elusive ice is as big a draw to the Dutch as it was to me. Maybe tomorrow I'll have to head down to that pond where it's clear the ice is strong enough to handle a crowd!
The hoar frost outside our kitchen window this morning.
Skates on, ready to glide!
A quick pose on the canal.
How thick I thought the ice was, based on frozen bubbles I could see.
Not far from where we were, swans and ducks in a bit of open water. I stayed clear of them.
I'm quite pleased with my line in the ice, no wobbles!
Relaxing and having fun now.
Mike, bundled up and en route to The Hague
The community comes out when the ice is thick!Thursday, January 8, 2009
Not Lost After All...
Hi again. I awoke this morning in the wee hours and while trying many different things to get back to sleep, one thing kept coming into my head: Get back on your blog! My apologies, especially sad is the fact that the new year is the time to be really GOOD about commitment and task completion, clearly I wasn't in synch! So, even though this will be brief (Mike and I are off to the movies in The Hague in a few minutes), I wanted to at least write something.
We are home from Vienna and trying to keep warm. It's not that it's so cold out, only just at freezing during the day and a little lower at night, but it seems harder for me to keep warm this winter. Must be that my metabolism is slowing down, I know that my eating habits have changed in the past couple of years also, so I'll blame it on that, rather than the alternative - that I'm just being a wimp!
Today, after living in the Netherlands for FIVE winters, I finally saw my first ice skaters on the canal near our house! It was very exciting, and of course, I didn't have my camera with me. Rats. I will take it along tomorrow and hopefully they'll be out again. Either that or I'll have to lace up my skates and have Mike take a photo of me wobbling around on the ice to prove it...
It sounds like it's been a big winter so far for a lot of people, the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., our old stomping grounds, had a LOT of snow in December. Now, yesterday the temps warmed up and the rain started and the snow is melting like crazy and flooding is becoming a serious issue for many. I read that in Western Washington 30,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. Now I know what it is to live in an area that is flood potential, I mean, 1/4 of the country I live in is below sea-level, but at least we aren't facing these problems...yet. My best positive thoughts go out to those facing the more immediate threat of flooding and the terrible damage it can bring.
Well, I'm off, wish me warmth tonight going to The Hague, I imagine we'll be on bikes and it's veerrrryyy misty tonight too, so I'll try and see the romance of it all.
We are home from Vienna and trying to keep warm. It's not that it's so cold out, only just at freezing during the day and a little lower at night, but it seems harder for me to keep warm this winter. Must be that my metabolism is slowing down, I know that my eating habits have changed in the past couple of years also, so I'll blame it on that, rather than the alternative - that I'm just being a wimp!
Today, after living in the Netherlands for FIVE winters, I finally saw my first ice skaters on the canal near our house! It was very exciting, and of course, I didn't have my camera with me. Rats. I will take it along tomorrow and hopefully they'll be out again. Either that or I'll have to lace up my skates and have Mike take a photo of me wobbling around on the ice to prove it...
It sounds like it's been a big winter so far for a lot of people, the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., our old stomping grounds, had a LOT of snow in December. Now, yesterday the temps warmed up and the rain started and the snow is melting like crazy and flooding is becoming a serious issue for many. I read that in Western Washington 30,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. Now I know what it is to live in an area that is flood potential, I mean, 1/4 of the country I live in is below sea-level, but at least we aren't facing these problems...yet. My best positive thoughts go out to those facing the more immediate threat of flooding and the terrible damage it can bring.
Well, I'm off, wish me warmth tonight going to The Hague, I imagine we'll be on bikes and it's veerrrryyy misty tonight too, so I'll try and see the romance of it all.
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