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On the Road Again.. Or at Least the Train
Well, I'm in Amsterdam, staying at a hostel on the edge of the red light district, above a bar, called the White Tulip. Not sure if I am going to be able to sleep tonight. But it is in the center of everything. Unfortunately, I'm in a laid back mood, and not ready to go exploring much. Have walked past plenty of "coffeeshops" and sex shops. Yep, they do tolerate it here, and it seems to be a big tourist attraction. Those crazy leftist Dutch.
So I spend the last week in Sittard hanging out with Miguel. Very glad I finally got to meet him in person after 3.5 years of emailing back and forth. Thankfully, despite what he says, he speaks very good English, because I found Dutch was not that easy to understand. I can pick out some words that are straight out borrow, but most I understood because of my old high school German. It is even more gutteral than German, and I am scared to attempt most of it for fear of hacking out my throat.
It is absolutely beautiful countryside. Sittard is in Limburg provience, affectionately called the appendix of the Netherlands. That stickydown part. I managed to bike to Germany on Monday, then Belgium on Tuesday. Wee! I have biked across an entire country! It helps that it a flat country with lots of bike lanes and everyone bikes. I was passed by little old ladies, though in my defense it has been two years since I was on a bike for more than two passes in the parking lot, and four years since I biked regularly. Oh, and they don't believe in bike helmets, unless you are racing, and then mostly for aerodynamics.
Also, the Dutch seem to be quite proud of how leftist they are. Maybe because I mostly talked to younger people, but Bush is not a liked man here. And I got pumped about what we do if we get sick and don't have health insurance. Or retirement. This shocks them terribly. But then again, they pay around 50% in income taxes. Yipes. Somewhere there is a good balance.
There are some comparisons to the Dutch part of Iowa. There is no rule about what color your house can be, or what color trim you have. The lawns are amazingly neat, and often have ponds or sculptures. Impressive, and would win neighborhood awards in most places I've lived (not that college towns are known for their nice lawns). Nobody does anything on Sundays. Well, we did, but the town streets were empty. Not necessarily going to church, but not active.
Valkenburg was a very neat town. Touristy, yes.. but they had caves. I'd call them more old mines (Marlstone/limestone). Walked around in one and had the guide to ourselves. He did a good job in English, though his specialty was German (the locals are quite multilingual). Paintings and carvings. And the guide searched for a piece of flint for me to take home. Quite different from most places that don't want to you take souvenirs. Though I was helping make it a larger cave.
Like Bruges, lots of neat old buildings. Churches, houses.. what have you. Quite overwhelming. Well, off to wander more.
So I spend the last week in Sittard hanging out with Miguel. Very glad I finally got to meet him in person after 3.5 years of emailing back and forth. Thankfully, despite what he says, he speaks very good English, because I found Dutch was not that easy to understand. I can pick out some words that are straight out borrow, but most I understood because of my old high school German. It is even more gutteral than German, and I am scared to attempt most of it for fear of hacking out my throat.
It is absolutely beautiful countryside. Sittard is in Limburg provience, affectionately called the appendix of the Netherlands. That stickydown part. I managed to bike to Germany on Monday, then Belgium on Tuesday. Wee! I have biked across an entire country! It helps that it a flat country with lots of bike lanes and everyone bikes. I was passed by little old ladies, though in my defense it has been two years since I was on a bike for more than two passes in the parking lot, and four years since I biked regularly. Oh, and they don't believe in bike helmets, unless you are racing, and then mostly for aerodynamics.
Also, the Dutch seem to be quite proud of how leftist they are. Maybe because I mostly talked to younger people, but Bush is not a liked man here. And I got pumped about what we do if we get sick and don't have health insurance. Or retirement. This shocks them terribly. But then again, they pay around 50% in income taxes. Yipes. Somewhere there is a good balance.
There are some comparisons to the Dutch part of Iowa. There is no rule about what color your house can be, or what color trim you have. The lawns are amazingly neat, and often have ponds or sculptures. Impressive, and would win neighborhood awards in most places I've lived (not that college towns are known for their nice lawns). Nobody does anything on Sundays. Well, we did, but the town streets were empty. Not necessarily going to church, but not active.
Valkenburg was a very neat town. Touristy, yes.. but they had caves. I'd call them more old mines (Marlstone/limestone). Walked around in one and had the guide to ourselves. He did a good job in English, though his specialty was German (the locals are quite multilingual). Paintings and carvings. And the guide searched for a piece of flint for me to take home. Quite different from most places that don't want to you take souvenirs. Though I was helping make it a larger cave.
Like Bruges, lots of neat old buildings. Churches, houses.. what have you. Quite overwhelming. Well, off to wander more.
Glad...
I am also very glad to get to spend some time with you after keeping in touch through the internet. And thank you for the compliment...
Even more in your defense: the bike you were on was a little too big for you and the little old ladies have plenty of time to keep up with their biking.
And about the bike helmets, if you're racing on your bike in say the Tour the France, and you're biking downhill at 80 km/h, your helmet is wearing you for safety rather than the other way around...
In our defense, the 50% in taxes includes things like unemployment insurance, retirement fund, etc. But even with all the people around here paying 50% in taxes the government still spends more than they get...
Sunday is the day to go visit your (grand)parents or work around the house or wash the car or keep up the lawn...
At the caves they forgot there were also some people who would go see them by foot (most people take a small train through the caves). But the guide was a really nice guy who made up by showing us the underground underground church and by making sure you'd get some flint. Though I believe the first piece he wanted to give you (which weighed about 2 pounds by the looks of it) would have made a better souvenir ;) .
It was really great having you around! If you have some days left in your trip and are looking for a place to stay, come on by and tell us of your adventures in the other parts of Europe.
I'll be following your journal in the meanwhile.
Greetings from your pen-pal,
Miguel
--One of those crazy leftist Dutch
Oooh!
(Anonymous) 2004-05-26 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)I quite liked him. Don't remember his first name, but his last name was VanDenHuevel (or something to that effect and spelling).
Hope the traveling is going great. I've been on the road myself the last couple days (in the states, anyway) and will have to catch up on your travels from this day forward. So expect belated comments on your current travels. :)
Carlee