Travels with George and Marta

I am finally getting into the rhythm of working. I got a good night sleep and I am timing the arrival of the bus better. It is a clear and colder today. The sign at the accounting office next to the bus stop said 5 degrees Celsius / 45 degrees F. I looked out the window this morning to see the weather and noticed that the cars were misted over, but it was so nice to not have rain or wind.

The bus ride is interesting. It goes through Voorschoten and then winds through edge of town before joining on Voorschoterweg. Along the way, the bus passes several large mansions. One of them appears to be the headquarter of Mexx, a clothing store similar to The Gap. There is also a Tuincenter (garden nursery) and a couple of fields. One of the fields always has several fat sheep with thick coats lying in the morning sun. This morning you can see their breath in the morning light.

Crosing over a large canal, you leave Voorschoten and enter Leiden. There are several gas stations before you enter the “centrum” or center of town.

After work, I went to Delft to have dinner with a co-worker. He lives in a communal apartment house. This type of housing is not that common but there is usually one in most of the towns. His complex is made up of four apartment houses angled at 45 degrees to a square. On his floor, there are two communal kitchens and a large communal living area used as a living room with a TV. Off of these rooms are the private apartments which have a living room and upstairs a bedroom. I joined his group for dinner which was a yummy curry with naan, lassi and a cucumber yoghurt salad.

Conversation quickly turned to American politics. Everyone in Holland asks “Is George Bush going to win?” My answer, I hope not but I don’t know. It will be close. The Dutch are so knowledgeable in the work happening especially compared with the US. Kerry does not seem to be well known and they don’t feel he can solve the quagmire in Iraq. But many do not want George Bush to win again. We also discussed the effects of privatization on many of the social services that have been provided by the government in the past. I had noticed a difference in the trains. The trains are still very efficient and run on time. But there is a bigger emphasis on self-service ticket machines and fewer agents available to purchase tickets directly. Unfortunately the self-service machines only take Euro coins or bankcards and my bankcard does not work. It has to be a member of Cirrus. There is a surcharge of .50 cents if you purchase your ticket from a ticket agent instead of using the self-service cards.

We also talked about healthcare. They are amazed that there actually Americans with out health care. They wonder what those people do for health care. So do I. Their system is being privatized and they are worried not so much about losing services but the effect of the change. Will there be heavy advertising for the medical carriers? This happened when they privatized the electrical system. They were bombarded with advertisements from the different companies to be their electricity provider. In the end, the prices went up and they wondered if it was because of the cost of advertising?

We also talked about travel. One of the neighbors had been hiking on Lofoten Islands, a series of islands in Norway above the Arctic Circle. His pictures showed the stark beauty and hardness of the land.

After dinner, we walked to the Grote Markt in the center of Delft. The skeletons frames of the market stands were setup for the weekly market and square was gently lighted. The square was very similar to Haarlem with the Grote Kerk (church) at one end and the Stathaal (town hall ) at the other end. The Grote Kerk in Delft has a special significance in Holland since the royal family since William of Orange has been buried there. We dropped into a cozy bar ‘t Kloosters just off the square that specialized in beer. They had a couple of beers on tap and a wide selection of bottled beers from Belgium and Holland. It was a tough decision but I ended up having a Faro which is a gueze style beer flavored with brown sugar. My friend had a Chimay tripel. Both were tasty although the Faro is quite sweet almost taking like a soda but with a slightly sour after taste.

We walked back to the train station and I caught a stop train to Voorschoten.

A totally restless night with no sleep. I didn?t know how I was going to make it through the day. I watched a bit of BBC before heading out to the bus. I caught a different bus and saw a new side of Leiden. It went though small streets lined with apartments but ended up at the Centraal station. The wind was blowing furiously. My hair whipped in my eyes and made it hard to figure out where the office was located. I walked back and forth a couple of times before I found the right spot. I arrived around 9:30 and hardly anyone was in the office. I felt terrible. I was so tired.

I got on line and did a bit of work. Soon it was lunch. The group walked into the center and got sandwiches and returned. I spent the afternoon preparing for my class the next day and left around 6:30. I didn’t have a lot of food in the house and I had a hankering for some pasta. I got off the bus two stops early and went to the supermarket. Voorschoten and the grocery store was deserted so I had chance to linger and investigate. It was such a mad house on Saturday with everyone zipping around with their winklewagons.

I found the prepared food and got a nice prepared Paella which I microwaved. I also picked up some pasta for the next night and a large bottle of water.

It was a lovely but long (15 minute walk) walk to the apartment. The wind had died down and the moon peaked between the clouds and covered the field with its grey light.

I microwaved my paella and finished the salad. A beer and a bit of TV before it was time to catch up on my sleep.

(I posted some pictures of the apartment)

The flight was the usual; boring, long and cramped. Why do the airlines cram the seats so tight that you can’t even get out? The elderly woman next to me really struggled to get out. I was in the back of the plane and most of my row seemed to want to read all night and never turned off their lights. Fortunately, I had some eye shades. Everyone seemed very restless including a young girl in the row ahead of me. I didn’t sleep much.

It is so quick to get around Schiphol. I probably could have gotten out faster. We landed at 7:20 and I swear we much have landed out in the North Sea. It was about 15 minutes of taxiing before we got to the gate. It was also very dark. One of the things I distinctly remember from 1990 was how short the days were. It didn’t seem to start to lighten until around 9am. It is still “summertime” which is the same as our daylight saving. They will switch next week. It will then be a bit lighter in the morning but I’ll be leaving work in the dark.

I went to a cash machine but I probably could have just waited and got cash in baggage. There were three or four cash machines at the ABN bank just before you leave. I was one of the last to pick up my bags. Next to buy a phone card so I could call the apartment. I also wanted to get strippenkart for the bus. I got the phone card at the newsstand and the strippencard when I got my train ticket.

The ticket for Vooschoten and my strippenkart for the week was 25 euros; 5.20 for the train and 18.90 for 45 strippenkart. It will be 3 strips for each trip so I decide to go ahead and get a card with 45 strips.

I caught the train on track 5. I had to change in Leiden and I completely forgot that all I had to do was walk across the track. I thought I had to switch platforms so I ended up missing the stoptrein. There are Sneltreins (Fast trains) which don’t make all the stops and Stoptreins which do stop at all the stations. There is also IC which only stops at major stations. I should have remembered since I used to have to always change in Leiden for Den Haag Centraal. The mistake cost about 30 minutes extra.

I finally made it to Vooschoten and I called the owner of apartment. He picked me up and took me to the apartment.

The apartment

It is very nice. It is really a house. They have closed off the bottom and rent only the top. You walk in to an entry way where you can hang your coat. This comes in very handy when you have been out in the rain. Then there is the typical Dutch stairwell, steep and narrow, up to the second floor. There is a central hall with a wonderful sky light. Off of this central the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and living room like spokes on a wheel. There is a separate dining room off of the living room. The flooring is light wood and the heat is through heated water radiators. The living room looks out onto the street which is quite busy during the afternoon. It is bordered by a fietspat (bike path) and sidewalks.

In the back of the apartment is a nice yard. There is even a small pool and gnome. I can’t get to it since that part of the apartment is locked. It looks out to the neighbors. It has been very nice to watch the birds fly in. I have seen large black bird which may be mynas, large doves, and a woodpecker.

Voorschoten

After an hour of investigating the apartment and connecting to the internet, it was time to go grocery shopping and investigate Voorschoten. It is about a 15 minute walk to the central part of the town. There is a variety of shops; druggists, clothing, records, green grocer, cheese, candy. On another street, there were many restaurants. I can tell it is a rather affluent area.

There were three different grocers. I decided to go to the Albert Heijns which is the largest supermarket chain in Holland. First I had to remember how to get a shopping cart, (winklewagon). Fortunately, I had the .50 euro needed to unchain the cart. I had to be careful and not get too much since I was walking.

I was surprised how quickly I remembered how it worked. First was the produce. You usually have to weigh and price your selection. You still do but now there is big selection of prepackaged and cut produce. Bags of lettuce for salads, green beans, vegetables for Nasi Gorang, peeled small balls of potatoes. I decided to make a salad with the prepacked rucola slamelange (arugula, lollo rosso lettuce and swiss chard) and some lamskotelet (lamb chops). I also had to pick up some of krentenbolletjes (raisin rolls). Those are my favorites. I also got some goat cheese, apples, yogurt and beer; a nice 6-pack of Hoegaarden Grand Cru. That’s the hardest thing about walking is lugging the beer back to the apartment.

The rain had lessened to a light mist but I had to walk into the wind. The houses along the way border on a small canal and there are a couple of open fields. I was surprised to see pheasants. I also remember how hard it can be to walk in Holland. The sidewalks are made of bricks or cement squares that are set into sand so they can easily be removed to make repairs. The uneven pavement took a toll on my American feet used to walking on cement sidewalks and driving everywhere

I made it back to the apartment around 1:30 or so. I opened a beer, started watching BBC and writing this journal entry. I made it until around 3pm and I needed a nap. I left the TV on so I didn’t sleep long – just enough to refresh me. I was pretty hungry so I sent ahead and made dinner.

I realized that I missed a couple of items at the store. I didn’t have any salt and pepper. I also needed some items for cleaning. I just didn’t feel like running the dish washer for just two or three dishes. It was still light so I decided to walk to the store that was closer and pick up the few items I missed. That would also let me check out that store. It is actually a bigger than the Albert Heijns. It took me a lot of hunting to finally find the zout. It wasn’t with the flour or the sugar.

Well, I’ll see how much long I make it tonight. It is currently 7pm. Tomorrow, I hope to make it to Harleem and maybe Amsterdam for dinner. There will be fewer stores open in Harleem since it is Sunday but I can still sightsee. I hope it isn’t rainy again.

I am amazed at how memories can come back. It starts first as a small trickle and then suddenly it is like a large wave engulfing you. My first trip to the Netherlands was in fall 1990. For three months I worked in Den Haag and lived in an apartment on Wassenarweg. We arrived just as fall was starting. I would bus and walk to work.

It has been a while since I thought of that time but traveling to the Netherlands in October has brought back the memories. Walking along the sidewalks covered with leaves, riding the bus after dark in the rain, the smell of a wet city are slowly coming back.

I have been reading the Rough Guide to the Netherlands. It is an excellent guide especially compared to Frommers or Fodors. Reading it feels like having a gourmet meal compared with fast food. Reading about the different towns have helped to surface the memories.

I have about 4 days to explore on my own. I will be dealing with jet lag a couple of the days but I think I can still do some sightseeing. Of course, the purpose of the trip is for work but I hope to get out and experience a bit of Dutch culture after work.

Finally, something to inspire me to write!

I am going to the Netherlands for two weeks. My company has our European office located in the Netherlands and my boss has asked me to go over for two weeks to do some training. I’ve wasn’t too excited at first but I’m actually getting excited.

I’ll be leaving on Friday 22 October and flying from the NW to Amsterdam. I’ll train into Leiden. I hope my company is able to get an apartment but if not I will be staying at a hotel.

This will be my fourth trip to the Netherlands for work. My first trip was in 1990 and we lived in Den Haag for three months from October – December. My next trip was for 7 weeks from April to June 1996 and we lived in Leiden. The last trip was a week in April 2002.

It is fun since I am comfortable staying in the Netherlands. It is pretty easy to visit since there is a great transportation system and many people speak some English. The down-side is the weather can be very gray and wet and the food is not inspiring.

My friend E is going to join me in November and we are flying on to Rome after I am finished delivering the training. We rented an apartment from Dolce Rome Apartments. The owner has been wonderful to work with. We wanted an apartment near Campo dei Fiore but we were able to get this apartment which has two bedrooms for less. It is near the Colosseum but looks like a good neighborhood. Probably not as many choices for restaurants, etc but we will be surrounded by history. It will be good for our first visit.