The Dutch take chocolate sprinkles on holiday
Trip Start
Oct 15, 2010
1
7
Trip End
Apr 28, 2011
Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands
Monday, October 18, 2010
Anyway, the first day I absolutely refused to go to sleep because I didn't want to miss out on what Amsterdam had to offer. Turns out though, Alan and his girlfriend Kiki live in Leiden, a cool little Dutch city. It's about 15 minutes by a train from the airport and 30 min to Amsterdam itself. It's also a college town of about 150,000 people when the students are here.
I met Kiki for the first time and she's absolutely wonderful. She's about half Dutch, a quarter Japanese, and a quarter Indonesian (I believe). She loves to travel, so I've heard numerous stories in the past few days about all the traveling she's done. Her and Alan definitely had a good laugh at the size of my bags. oops. Maybe I should have brought less, but I know I would have wanted more if I didn't bring it.
Alan and Kiki have three children that are an absolute riot. Right now it's dead silent because all the kids are in bed, and the silence is really getting to me. Oisin is five and he speaks great English but mostly talks to everyone in Dutch. He's the ring leader and the caretaker of his two little brothers. He's also the quietest. Liam and Louie (such a fantastic name) are three year old twins. They are very obstinate and very loud. But they are the cutest little kids and I have a soft spot for little boys with blond hair because they are just so frickin' adorable. Louie pulled his chair over by mine for dinner tonight and it made me smile. He spent all of dinner laughing and giggling. I attempted to feed him, and I think it went pretty well seeing as he finished first out of the three kids.
On Saturday, after we got to the house and Alan hauled my big bag inside, we had breakfast with Kiki. They have nutella, which is awesome, and apparently the Dutch have this tradition of pouring chocolate sprinkles onto buttered bread, which is also awesome! Kiki had a dinner date with a bunch of her besties so she caught the train at about three. Alan, the children, and I rode into town to go shopping at the Saturday market in Leiden. The town lines up these tents and everyone is buying and selling something. You can buy anything you need. It's a bit like I imagine the North Market must have been like before it was made permanent. There was one stand that particularly drew my attention because it smelled so strongly of cookies for about a 40 to 50 foot radius. They're not exactly cookies though. They're stroopwafels, which are basically two brown sugared waffle cookies with carmel in the middle. It's cool here, and they are warmed up at the stalls. Stroopwafels are the perfect, most fattening, delicious cookies for a cold day. Alan is really a family history and architecture hobbyist. He has a letter from our family in Australia. Apparently we have a bunch of cousins living out there who are the great-great-grandchildren of my dad's father's mother's parents (my great-great grandparents). My great-grandmother Evelyn even has a sister still alive in Florida. He also started telling me about all the old buildings and pieces of Leiden that have been around since at least the 1600s.
On Sunday, Kiki was back. We took the train to the Hague, which is where the Queen lives and it's where the government actually is located. It's an interesting concept because the capital is actually, obviously, Amsterdam. They did ask if I wanted to see Anne Frank's house to which I said no because that's so obnoxiously touristy. We did walk around the city with the boys a bit and I saw the square that's completely surrounded by Parliament. We don't have anything like that area. It's an open square and the ground is completely laid with brick. A bunch of buildings surround it, but you can walk through it without ever actually entering one of them. And it had a fountain, surprise, surprise. We stopped by a statue of someone important and the boys played at the base of that for awhile. We went to a Chinese restaraunt for lunch. Anyone who knows me well knows, I have a certain...distaste for Chinese. But I vowed to give everything a chance on this trip and they promised me it was different that American Chinese (probably completely true because actual Chinese people ate at this one). It was pretty good and they had these fabulous donut-type balls filled with custard that you dip in a white milk sauce. Very delicious. Everything was fried though, so I didn't feel so hot after eating. Kiki made an Indonesian dish for dinner. It was also very good. It was noodles and chicken and other things along with a spicy paste-like topping.
Today, I went into Leiden by myself. Kiki and Alan were at work and the boys at daycare. I wanted to get a new pair of boots since I left mine at home. I found some cute pairs but none were exactly what I wanted. So I just ambled down the main shopping street and then walked along a canal for a bit. Right when I first walked in a large crowd had gathered to walk these college-age boys wearing nothing but shorts (I was wearing several layers) row downstream about 50 meters and the row back upstream. One guy wore a headdress and all the boys were chanting. I did pull out my camera to snap a few photos. They'll be uploaded soon so everyone can see.
Eventually I did get hungry after I walked around Leiden for two hours. I stopped by this shop and asked for hot chocolate (most people speak English in Leiden) and they came out with warm milk and chocolate chips that I could pour into the milk and stir to make hot chocolate. It was different and likeable. I've never had it served that way before.
The Dutch have another popular thing besides chocolate that I really enjoy: they ride bikes everywhere. There are so many bikes. And because of parking, small roads, and traffic, riding a bike is actually quicker. People have baskets, bin-like seats attached to the front, seats on the back (I rode on one and was completed terrified of falling off which I did), and sometimes even mini trailers attached to the back. I would definitely find myself at home here because of the public transportation, as in trains and trams, and active transportation, as in walking and bikes.
Two side notes. I tried whiskey. I never again will I be drinking that. And Leiden is nearby a large flower producing areas so there's loads of flower shops and all the flowers are super cheap and so fresh. I was tempted to buy some but I'm only here for three days.
[Update]:
So I forgot to say that I went to the Mauritshuis in the Hague on Sunday. I saw Vemeer's famous painting The Girl with the Pearl Earring. It's often referred to as the Dutch Mona Lisa, but I personally think that Vemeer's painting is more attractive. The Mona Lisa is definitely more intriguing though because of her smile and of course, her international fame. Seeing her in the Louvre wasn't quite as exciting. I couldn't see her above all the people there. But in the Mauritshuis, I had all the time in the world to look at The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Well, until 5 pm on Sundays.
Comments
Wow! Since I've never been to Amsterdam (except the airport), I think you did a great job of giving us a tour of the city! Nicely done! It's a shame about whisky, though. I'm thinking your parents are thrilled to read this, but it's possible that your Irish kin may try to convince you otherwise some day in the future!
wait a few years, whiskey and gin become a lot more palatable and even necessary to life.