Spreekt U Engels?

Time here in the Netherlands seems to be flying by. On Monday my roommate from university and her 3 friends backpacked through Amsterdam, and I was lucky enough to get to tag along! We walked all over the city in the pouring rain, looking at the beautiful canal houses, popping into interesting shops, and eating delicious Dutch cuisine. One of the best parts of the day was stopping in at the Kalvertoren Cafe & Brasserie for coffees. The cafe is located on the top floor of a shopping mall and offers beautiful 360 degree views of the city. Later that evening we went out for a nice dinner in Hilversum at Le Journal.

The rest of the week has been pretty relaxed. We're definitely starting to feel like the Netherlands is our home. I'm even able to read menus and understand a few choice sentences in Dutch! Gabriel is enjoying his work, and in the evenings we love going out for capuccinos and dessert at the local cafes. Today I met with the wife of a co-worker of Gabriel's at Metz & Co., the Netherlands' luxury department store (think Bergdorf Goodman's or Barney's in NYC). We ate lunch on the top floor restaurant which also had breathtaking views of Amsterdam. In July I will be babysitting for their 3 month old daughter, allowing me to keep up with the expensive living habits that we've created since arriving in Europe (shopping in the day, going out to eat dinner, desserts every night, and weekend trips to fun destinations). Afterwards I bought Gabriel his 2-year anniversary present (I can't say what it is because I haven't given it to him yet!). Tonight's Friday (Vrijdag) and we're thinking of going out to a bar. Tomorrow night we have a party to attend in Alkmaar, a town in the Northern part of the Netherlands.

Some interesting/random differences between Canada and the Netherlands:
1. Baby carrots here are shaped in complete spheres, not in little carrot shapes.
2. TV commercials occur halfway through the show, and there is only one commercial break/show.
3. At the movie theatres there is an intermission at half-time where people buy Grolsch beer and popcorn.
4. The driving age is 18.
5. Everything is recycled - plastics and organics
6. Bike riding is more common than walking or driving a car.
7. The waiters/waitresses in Amsterdam are notoriously grumpy.
8. Everything is tall and narrow: the houses, the people, the fridges, the stairs, the washing machine...

More to come later!

Hilversum, Amsterdam, Loosdrecht, etc.

Monday May 19th - afternoon

Shopping in Hilversum was a unique challenge. Although Hilversum is extremely close to Amsterdam, where most people speak English, I found out during my shopping trip that few people in Hilversum speak English. At one store, I asked for directions to the grocery store, Albert Heijn, and the woman had to call someone over on the intercom to help me! Once I found Albert Heijn, it was a struggle again to make sure that I was buying the correct foods, and that I knew how to prepare them.
When I returned from shopping, I decided to go and visit the botanical gardens in Hilversum. I took the bike and headed out with a tiny map on the back of a brochure...bad idea. I usually have a very good sense of direction, but because the roads are so small and twisty here, I became completely confused and turned-around. As I was biking through the streets, I had absolutely no idea where I was. A few times I got into near-accidents with other bikers, because they seem to come out of nowhere, and they go so fast! There were a lot of Dutch swear-words and bell-ringing going on :( I eventually ended up in a beautiful garden, which turned out to be the Rosarium, not the botanical garden. The Rosarium is in Boomberglaan, which is a beautifully tree-lined, old, and well-kept area of town. There are enormous old homes with gardens that seem to go on forever. Although the Rosarium was closed, I was able to take some photos and walk around the perimeter. In the center of the garden is a memorial to those who died in World War II.

After taking some pictures, I attempted again to find the free botanical gardens. No luck. I ended up cycling through streets upon streets, up and down huge hills, before finally finding the Raadhuis (town hall) of Hilversum. I stopped my bike in the nearby Dudok park. Now that I had found this landmark, it would be easy to get home. In Dudok park I looked at several modern statues displayed in the flower gardens. Then I went to see the Raadhuis. The Raadhuis is a world-famous piece of architecture, designed by W.M. Dudok, a municipal architect. This building is now considered to be a national monument! Dudok's work can be found throughout Hilversum, including schools and broadcast/media buildings.

At 7:00pm Gabriel got home from work and we went out to a local restaurant called Musk for some Heinekens and appetizers. We discovered that Musk is also an up-scale nightclub, and decided to try it out some time. Then we went back home, where I made fresh salmon, potatoes, and salad. We had tea and cookies and watched half of the movie "What Happens in Vegas" starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. Great day!

Tuesday May 20

This morning during breakfast I met the CEO and founder of the company Gabriel is working for, and who also was staying in the guest house for the evening. After Gabriel left for work, I got ready and planned my day in Amsterdam. As I was leaving, a colleague of Gabriel's showed up and offered to take me around Holland for the day! First he took me to see the office, where I met all of the employees. Gabriel was so surprised to see me there! Then we went to see the forests on the outskirts of Hilversum, and all of the horse and walking trails. It was gorgeous! It looked like up-north in Ontario (Muskoka maybe?). Afterwards we went to see a lake! On our way there, we stopped in at a Waarm Bakker (bakery) and bought fresh strawberry tarts. Apparently all red fruits are in season here in Holland, so they were extra tasty! We drove all along the lake, looking at the beautiful homes and little canals. We stopped in at a harbor and had some cappuccinos on the dock while chatting. We visited the tiny town of Loosdrecht, which is a typical European town with narrow cobblestone roads, small intricate buildings, and gorgeous gardens. I love it here! Apparently it is only a 30min bike ride from Hilversum, so maybe Gabriel and I will visit there this weekend! After our journey, I was taken back to the office to enjoy some lunch with Gabriel before making the 10 min walk back to the guest house.
In the late afternoon I went shopping in Hilversum. I bought some clothes for Gabriel, and even found a shopping mall 5 minutes away from the house! Yayyy! Shortly after I arrived home, Gabriel returned from work. We bought tickets to Amsterdam, made the short commute into the city. We visited a tiny restaurant near the train station on Warmoesstraat, called Het Karbeel, and shared some cheesy fondue! Then we walked through the city and eventually back up to one of most expensive hotels in Amsterdam, the Park Plaza/Victoria Hotel. We enjoyed some cappuccinos in the chic lobby bar before boarding the train back to Hilversum. Another amazing and exciting day in Europe!

My first week of European living

It was so nice to finally have a home-base in Europe. I don't know how people can backpack around for months! Gabriel and I were longing for a place to just leave our belongings, rest, and return back to after a day of exploring! On our first night in Hilversum, we walked into town to buy some groceries. A 2 minute walk brings us to Hilversum Centraal Station. Since there is construction going on, we need to walk underneath a tunnel in order to reach the other side of the tracks, where all of the shops, restaurants, and plazas are located. Gabriel and I did not know what to expect moving to Hilversum, because there is very little information on the web. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the center of Hilversum (where we live) is full of little cobblestone streets winding around old buildings from the 1800's. Every few meters there are outdoor cafes, Argentijn restaurants, and shops! There are little boutiques as well as larger known chains, such as The Body Shop, Foot Locker, and Zara. Gabriel and I found a grocery store close to our home, where we went to buy some food. We thought that it would be easy to grocery shop, since we could just look at the items and guess what they were by their appearance (since all of the labels are in Dutch).......we were wrong! It was impossible to tell what was beef, what was chicken, and what was horse! We didn't know what was lactose-free milk (which apparently they don't have here???), or what types of fish we were buying. After buying some frozen fish, we couldn't read the instructions on how to cook it! Back at home we read something about water and margarine and various temperatures, and decided to enter the instructions into a Dutch-to-English converter online....that wasn't much help either! We winged it, and it turned out alright :)
For our first dinner in Hilversum, I made fish, green beans, pasta, and grilled baguette with cheese. Yum! We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching MTV, while Gabriel set up his computer and answered work e-mails!

On Saturday, Gabriel and I woke up late and spent the morning unpacking, answering e-mails, and calling home via Skype. We had excellent lunch-meat and gouda sandwiches before getting dressed and ready to go out to Amsterdam for the evening. We bought tickets to Amsterdam Centraal (9 euro for a round-trip ticket), and then made the quick 20 min journey into the city. I remembered the city from the last time we were there (last August) and so we quickly navigated our way to the Dam Square. From there, we decided to go to an Argentinian restaurant, which are literally on every block (sometimes there are 3 or 4 per block!!!). We picked a really nice one called Gauchos, and ate on the second level. We had bife empanadas for an appetizer, followed by bife de lomo for Gabriel and lemon chicken for myself. For dessert we shared a dulce de leche crepe! Gabriel was talking to the waitress in Spanish, and she told him that I should take some classes at the University of Amsterdam. She said that she is currently enrolled in a 4 week intensive Dutch language class, and that it is a great way to meet people and learn basic Dutch! Perhaps I'll enroll the next time we are here?
(Hola! Enjoying some Argentijn cuisine at Gauchos off of the Dam Square)

On Sunday Gabriel and I woke up early and headed into town to explore. We walked all around the Centrum ring of Hilversum, through the narrow streets. At every turn we became more and more excited to see how many amazing cafes, bars, shops, and parks there were!!! It's such a lively city...exactly what you would picture a typical European town to look like! I'm so happy to be here! We found a movie theatre close by, as well as a tailor, a post office, a million bars, two grocery stores, some beautiful old kerks (churches) and a Hilversum museum/tourist info office. In the tourist office we took a ton of brochures on the area, as well as a map. Then we went for lunch at an outdoor cafe. We drank cappuccinos with the rest of the local people, and ate mushroom soup with croquetten met brood (croquettes with bread). I asked the waitress how to say "thank you" in Dutch, and she told me "Dank U Well" (pronounced dahnk you vell).

After lunch we walked to the train station and asked the woman if the shops in Amsterdam were open...she said they were, but that they would be closing soon, so we decided just to head back to our house and get our bikes! Everyone in the Netherlands rides bikes. There are more bikes than cars it seems, and there is an amazing infrastructure that allows bike paths throughout the city. There are even special stop lights just for bikers! We took the two bikes that are in the guest house and walked them up to the bicycle repair shop at the train station. There was a man sitting by a pump who kindly pumped up our tires free of charge! Then we rode back to our house, and then to Gabriel's new workplace. It's a short bike ride (about 5-10 minutes), and there are bike paths along most of the way. After riding to his office, we decided to keep going. We took out our map and found our way to the Media Park, a 15-20 min bike-ride away.
Hilversum is considered to be the media capital of the Netherlands. In the media park there are soundstages and production sets everywhere! It was like being in LA's Paramount or Universal Studios. We rode our bikes past the Beeld en Geluid (Sound and Vision) building. The building is a huge, multi-coloured glass structure where you can experience the world of television, radio, film and music. Perhaps one of these days I will visit the building and see all of the exhibitions and attractions.

We took the bikes down through the rest of the media park and found a small pond. It was so beautiful, with little trails leading through the forest surrounding the water. We decided to return here in the future and hike through them! We biked back to our house and made a lovely dinner together. We made mini-potatoes baked in olive oil, fish, green beans, and bruschetta. It was really delicious! Then I ironed Gabriel an outfit to wear to his first day of work tomorrow, and finished doing a load of laundry. After some tea and cookies, we went to bed, seeing as Gabriel had to wake up early the next day!

This morning (Monday), Gabriel and I woke up at 7am. It was pouring rain outside, and I could see the maze of cars, scooters, and bicycles zipping around the street outside of the window. Gabriel made us some tea and coffee, and I made us some haagel slaagh toast. Then Gabriel and I got out the bikes and wheeled them to the front of the house. My butt was hurting SO BAD from the biking yesterday, but Gabriel really wanted me to ride with him to his first day of work. The rain had stopped a bit, and Gabriel's laptop luckily fit into my laptop backpack. After taking pictures (below), we took off to work! It was kind of freaky at first trying to bike around through the cars and motor vespas (it seems like they all yield to bikes though). The entire way I was saying "ouch ouch ouch ouch" and trying to stand up on the bike seat. I dropped Gabriel off a block away, and he took off with his little bike and little backpack! Aww! Then I had to bike home...alone! Yikes! Of course it started to POUR rain now too! The streets were SO busy and full of cars, garbage trucks, and buses. At one point I had to fit through a tiny hole between the curb and this enormous city bus, and there were a ton of bikes lined up behind me! I was so scared! I was shaking the entire way home because it was so busy, and when the cars are stopped at a street light, the bikes just zoom up the sides of them. When there isn't a bike path, the bikes slide up between the cars and the curbs, and it's a tight fit. I was worried that someone wouldn't see me and suddenly jut out to the right, or open their car door! I was also worried that I would swipe a car mirror...that's how close we have to ride to the cars! I made it home safely and took the muddy bike inside (I'm not sure where the bike lock is?).... I've been blogging since I got home, and now I'm about to leave to go and get some groceries and other items we need (like hangers, dish towels, etc.).

My first week of European living: Sunday - Friday

It's been just over a week since Gabriel and I boarded the Air Transat flight from Toronto to Amsterdam's Schipol airport. Since Gabriel will be working in the Netherlands for the months of May, July, September, and November, I have been kindly invited to tag along and experience life in this beautiful and vibrant country. After arriving on Monday May 12th, we were greeted at the airport by a colleague of Gabriel's. We were taken back to his home in Haarlem, where we enjoyed a good dinner with great company. The next morning, we boarded a train from Haarlem to Amsterdam Centraal, and then a Thalys high-speed train headed for the Gare du Nord station in Paris, France. We stayed in Paris for 3 nights at the Best Western Bercy Rive Gauche hotel. Our room was comfortable, but the hotel was a bit out of the way. We had to take at least two metros in order to reach any tourist destinations...it was nice though, because we were able to see parts of the city that we may not have normally seen! We ate escargot (even though apparently you are only supposed to eat escargot in months which have the letter "r" in them: january, february, march, april, september, october, november, december), sipped cappuccinos at outdoor sidewalk cafes, visited the Eiffel tower and Arc de Triomphe, and ate delicious French cuisine at a restaurant on the Champs Elysees. Some other highlights were visiting Roland Garros, where the French Open is held, exploring the underground catacombs, seeing the gargoyles of Notre Dame, climbing the steps of the Sacre Coeur, and walking through the gardens surrounding the famous Louvre. After 4 days of taking the metro everywhere, and walking 9 hours per day, we were exhausted and looking forward to settling back in our home in the Netherlands.

We arrived at the guest house for the company Gabriel will be working for, which is located in Hilversum. Hilversum is a city in Noord Holland, with around 84,000 citizens. It's a 20 minute train ride into Amsterdam, and close to the city of Naarden. The home that we are staying in is a 2 minute walk from the train station, and is in a complex of 3 houses. We have a lovely little rose arbor over the front walk way, just off of a cobblestone road. Once in the front door, you are faced with extremely narrow, and extremely steep stairs, leading up to the 2nd floor. On the second floor there are 3 bedrooms and a bathroom, and stairs leading up to the 3rd floor. The 3rd floor houses the washing machine and iron, and a little bedroom. The main floor is beautiful, with a brand-new kitchen, huge living room, dining room, and gorgeous sun-room with a computer, desk, etc. The backyard is small, but has a nice stone patio with gorgeous gardens. There are roses everywhere, and after walking through the garden last night, I discovered that there are herbs! We have chives, and basil, and something that looks mysteriously like marijuana.....last night Gabriel and I made bruschetta together and used the chives and basil freshly cut from the garden!