Holiday weekend in Holland

Again, the weekend, usually a busy time, as weekends in May have been fully booked. But because of the holiday weekend, M had a 4 day weekend, so I had more things to do than just sit around. Thursday I did work, and actually for the first time talked to some guests because I was there later in the day for check-in, and not for just cleaning. I talked to some guy from Miami who was about to take the night train to Prague. Also some other 'kid' (born in 1986!) was there from the US...he was the first American I've talked to in person since I left the US. I find that I stutter and talk slowly and use simple short words...but I don't have to do that! I'll be a mess whenever I actually go back to the US to visit. The guy going to Prague left the hostel and 2 minutes later came back and realized he'd left his train ticket laying there on the table. whoops! good thing he realized it before it was too late! There was also a guy who was totally stoned - he smoked like 7 joints either that morning or the night before and he was totally out of it. He sat in the dining area for like 30 minutes and drank a liter of milk and left. I didn't want to go near him.

The reason so many people were hanging about the hostel instead of out was because Thursday was a national holiday and everything was closed. It was Hemelvaart, otherwise known as Ascension Day. One of the least religious countries in Europe still 'celebrates' a Christian holiday. I find that very interesting.

Friday, M and I decided to go for a bike ride, and we rode from our place north along the river Vecht to Weesp, a 'suburb' of Amsterdam. We were going to go all the way to the IJsselmeer, but we didn't take the right road. In any case, we rode for probably 3 or 4 hours, and it was very nice out. Along the Vecht are some very nice large authentic Dutch estate homes/mansions. They are all very nice, but only make me wish I had more money so I could afford a nice home. I think it was around 35 km. It was a really nice bike ride.

Yesterday was 'Family Day'. Every year around this time, M's dad's side has a get together in a different place in Holland. It was his dad's year to organize it, and since they are moving to Friesland in the late summer, the day was a trip to Friesland. We were picked up at 730am, and at 10 we were at the meeting point cafe in Leeuwarden where we had some coffee and torte. We had about an 1.5 hour walking tour around Leeuwarden. Then we drove to the village where they bought their house so we could see it. Then we went to Dokkum and had lunch and walked a bit there. We left around 430 on our way back to Utrecht. There were probably 20 or so of us. It was a nice day. I think Leeuwarden and Dokkum are nice cities. I wouldn't live there because its rather far removed from where jobs would be (the bigger cities in and around the Randstad)...but its nice to go there to get away from all the people here in the south. Friesland is a bit more 'empty' than around here...but really, its not. Its not like Iceland or anything! Farms still dot the landscape.

On the way there, we drove thru the province of Flevoland. This is a large polder that is reclaimed land from the sea, and only as recent as the 1960s. It is rather strange to think of the land there being only a few decades old. When you think of Europe, you think of old things- old buildings, roads, churches, forests, and history. The Dutch who immigrated to the US in the mid 19th century did not come from Flevoland. Its funny to think that this land does not have an ancestral history, no one's family can say that they came from here.

There are also hundreds of windmills in Flevoland; along the way we passed 2 large windmolen parks...I started counting at the beginning, but after 60 and with many to go, I just stopped. Its easy to see tens of them at a time because the land is completely flat. And they are lined up along the dike on the coast to the IJsselmeer as well.

We had to get back so M and I could go to a housewarming party for a friend of mine here (my only friend!). It was a fun time and I discovered that I like another kind of white wine, pinot blanc. Also a kind of Spanish sausage but since I was enjoying the wine so much, I don't remember the name. Oh well.

Today we sat outside in the polders, right by a little tiny lake and listened to the frogs croak and chirp while reading a book. It started to get cloudy so we headed home after an hour and a half. Tomorrow back to 'work'...aka, huis vrouw.