Netherlands Week 2

The journey continues on Monday 14 August when Laura, Alan and I took the train to Den Haag, the seat of the Dutch government (though not the capital of the country). The weather was nothing short of horrible that morning - we got completely drenched in a torrential downpour that seemed to be at its worst at the very moments we were walking from the train station to Mauritzhuis, Den Haag's main museum. Despite wet trousers and socks, we enjoyed the museum with its free audiotour. I was especially thrilled to see Vermeer's The Girl with the Pearl Earring among many other masterpieces.


The exterior of Mauritzhuis.

The rain had stopped by the time we were done with the museum. We grabbed a quick lunch at Subway and then went on a walk through the Parlaiment buildings to explore the rest of Den Haag while the weather was decent. We only had to duck into one shop to avoid a short downpour.


The prime minister's offices.


Me with some important parlaimentary office in the background.


The queen's palace.


A giant cat. Part of a sculpture exhibit by the famous Italian sculptor.

We ended our day with a trip to the Panorama Mestag, which is a 360 degree painting of the seaside town of Sheveningen. Although we only arrived with about 20 minutes to view the painting (leading Alan to pass on paying the £4 entry fee and wait for us in the hall) Laura and I both really enjoyed it. The painting is painted round an observation platform which looks like a sand dune and the edges of the painting were completely concealed, so we really got the feeling that we were surrounded by real landscape.


After our long day on Monday, we had a relaxed morning on Tuesday (15 August) and then took the train to Haarlem, Evert's old stomping grounds, in the afternoon. We spent the afternoon at the Frans Hals museum before meeting up with Evert and his friend Julius to get a tour of the city. We had an amazing dinner at one of the best Indonesian restaurants in the city (at least according to Evert) and then went to an organ concert at the St. Bavo Cathedral with its famous organ. We rounded out the evening with a drink at a local pub.


Me on a lovely Haarlem street.


The inner courtyard at the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem.


Evert, Alan, and Laura with what is possibly the ugliest piece of art in Haarlem, if not the Netherlands. It does have some lime green on it as a redeeming feature, though.


The organ in St. Bavo's Cathedral, Haarlem.


On Wednesday (16 August) Laura, Alan, and I went on an excursion to the beach at Heemskerk. It was about an hour and a half cycle ride each way but we finally got some gorgeous weather. Of course we were completely unprepared for sunshine so got very badly sunburnt, but it was still wonderful to spend a day frolicking in the waves, collecting seashells, seeing random nudists (we accidently picked a spot at the nude section of the beach), and generally sunning ourselves in the sand.


The beach!


Alan resists the temptation of baring his skin (despite the fine example set by our nudist neighbors) and stays completely covered.


Although Alan refused to dip more than his toes in the water, he did create an artful sand sculpture, with Laura as his model.


Laura and I in our bikinis with the sand dunes in the background.


The water was lovely and warm. Laura and I wave from a sand dune.

The beach made me really homesick as the beautiful sand dunes and rocky shore reminded me of Barney's Joy. But I could hardly help but be happy in the presence of the sea and all the lovely smells and memories that come with it.

Thursday (17 August) was spent in Amsterdam for a shopping excursion with Lotte. We raided the HEMA for more fun household items (this time I got a set of lime green towels) and the H&M for clothes. I got a nice half price blue jumper and a green corduroy skirt and Laura finally found a pair of functional and classy black trousers for her teaching career. I even got Laura to try on a pair of Lucky brand jeans, although they were far too expensive to even consider buying since they have to be imported from the US. Alan bore our shopping extravaganza with very little complaining and even finally got up the courage to inquire in the bookshop for a copy of the Chap magazine, which he spent the rest of the day reading.


Alan and the Chap at the Zaandam station.

Before we knew it, Friday (18 August) and our last day in Holland was upon us. We made one last shopping excursion to the center of Zaandam, and I bought a pair of wooden shoes at Zaanse Schans. I had to buy a new suitcase to accomodate all my purchases, which still wasn't big enough. Laura's Dad came to my rescue by lending me one of his larger bags. We managed to fit everything in the volvo including Alan's new Dutch bike. The ferry out of Hoek van Holland was delayed and the trip from Harwich to London was unpleasant with so much luggage, but I eventually made it back to Oxford and the House of Fun around midnight.

In conclusion, a Netherlands Top 10 (in no particular order):
10. Hanging with Amber and Simon at their house in Baarn (especially cuddling with Simon and watching Alan bond with Amber).
9. Indonesian food (with Evert in Haarlem and as cooked by Laura's mom).
8. Sweets for breakfast. Pancakes for dinner. Blanke vla for dessert. Maybe I should just say Dutch sweets in general!
7. Cycling Dutch style.
6. Sunbathing (although I regretted it the following night and couple of days) and collecting shells at the beach in Heemskerk.
5. 'Shocking pink' trousers from Oilily.
4. The Van Gogh museum, Amsterdaam.
3. Vermeer's The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Mauritzhuis, Den Haag.
2. The cathedral and organ concert in Haarlem.
1. Generally feeling at home and like part of the family despite being so very far from home.

The Netherlands Week 1

I am about to attempt to condense a two-week holiday with Laura, Alan, and Laura's family in the Netherlands into hopefully no more than two blog posts. Hopefully they won't work out to be quite as long as my post detailing Seana, Steph, and Erin's visit to Oxford.

Our journey began almost before the sun was up on Sunday morning 6 August. Laura, Alan, and I left the House of Fun at 6am to catch a bus to London where we would take a train to Harwich and then the ferry to Hoek van Holland. Our ferry was delayed, as is normal with the Stena Line these days, but we arrived safe and sound in Holland nonetheless, with Laura's dad meeting us at the ferry terminal to drive us to her house in Zaandam. Awaiting us in Zaandam was Laura's entire family: her mother, older sister Berber with her husband Michel and two children Amber (5) and Simon (almost 2), and younger sister Lotte. We had a delicious cheese fondue for dinner and felt immediately at home. Simon even jumped onto my lap to cuddle just a few minutes after we met.

The next day (Monday 7 August) we had a bit of a lie in to catch up on lost sleep and then headed to Zaanse Schans, a traditional village just a short walk from Laura's house. Although the morning was cloudy, we were treated to some sunshine as the day progressed and there were plenty of windmills, clogs, and Dutch green paint to enjoy.


Laura and I try on some matching clogs (on our last day I came back to buy a pair of these - they've come in quite handy for wearing around the house).


Alan and I do the tourist thing and try on some giant clogs!


Laura and Alan (in matching turquoise) with some windmills in the background (including one under construction).


The sweet shop where we stocked up on plenty of candy. The Dutch do know how to make their sweets!

After a lunch Laura, Alan, Lotte, and I took a trip into downtown Zaandam, where I discovered the wonders of HEMA and began what became a theme of the trip: purchasing things in lime green, my new favorite color. HEMA has almost everything in lime green, and on this first trip I could not resist purchasing a lime green pair of pj pants and a lime green picture frame. Although I found HEMA irresistable, Alan had a different opinion. He managed to refuse a pair of quality HEMA socks, much to Laura's frustration. Laura did make out well in H&M, though, where Lotte and I became fashion consultants for the afternoon and Laura found a nice purple blouse to start her new teacher wardrobe.

On Tuesday (8 August) morning Laura, Alan, and I cycled to West Zaan where Alan took a walk and Laura and I got our hair cut. After the cut we all took a walk to another windmill.


Me inside the windmill sporting my 'new do.'

That afternoon (after Alan made friends with the cat), Laura's friend Helene joined us and we headed with Laura's dad and his trusty blue Volvo to Enkhuisen, a lovely sea port. Though the weather was threatening in the morning, thankfully we were greeted by sunshine for our afternoon excursion.


Alan and the cat in Laura's living room.


Me with the harbor at Enkhuisen in the background.


Laura and her Dad in front of Cafe Bok, Enkhuisen.


The Cathedral, Enkhuisen. Most of Holland is very fond of what we in Oxford might call Keble-style architecture. That is brick, and lots of it.

Despite grey weather on Wednesday (9 August), Laura's dad drove Lotte, Laura, Alan, and I to the Kroller-Muller museum and park, where we hopped on some free white bicycles and made the most of the national park's copious cycle paths.


The Kroller-Muller hunting lodge.


One of the many colorful tiled ceilings in the hunting lodge.


Cycling in the rain.


Great caption. Sculpture garden, Kroller-Muller museum.


White bike collection point (notice how the sun is coming out, just as we are ready to leave).

On Thursday (10 August) we headed to Baarn, where Laura's older sister Berber lives with her family. We got to spend the day hanging out with Berber's fabulous two children, Amber (5) and Simon (2). In the afternoon we even took a walk into the center of Baarn to visit Berber's husband Michel at the bookstore where he works. Amber insisted on pushing Simon in his carriage for most of the way there. Despite the fact that the children do not speak any English, I still managed to read to them, and actually keep their attention (for a while)!


Alan and I with the children in Berber's living room.

Friday (11 August) morning we awoke to heavy rain. Despite the downward turn in the weather, we headed to Alkmaar and their famous outdoor cheese market. They had far less cheese for auction because of the weather, but we still got a sense of how the whole thing worked. Merchants bid on huge blocks of cheese which are carried from the center of the market to the weighing room (indoors) on a fancy red sleigh carried by two cheese carriers. The cheese carriers have to walk really funny while carrying the cheese because it is so heavy and they need to protect their backs. Another set of cheese carriers carry the cheese from the weighing room back out to the market where the cheese is taken off the sleigh and loaded onto a wagon to be brought home.


Two cheese carriers carry a sleigh of cheese to be weighed.

That afternoon we caught an organ concert in the cathedral, where Alan got a CD, before going shopping at the Oilily outlet, where Laura and I both got some colorful items of clothing.


The organ in the cathedral at Alkmaar. The church is no longer consecrated, and is used mainly for concerts and art exhibitions. There was an exhibition of Russian modern art set up, which is why there are large dividers in the photo above.


Some vaulting in the cathedral at Alkmaar.

The weather threatened on Saturday (12 August), but we headed into Amsterdaam for the morning and managed to avoid the rain while exploring a fun outdoor market that had everything from pigeons to vegetables for sale. Laura and I purchased a colorful throw to cover the drab and cold white fake leather couch in the House of Fun living room. We wandered the streets of the city through the morning, stopping at a bakery for a snack and to buy some granola. Our last stop in Amsterdaam was the Athenaeum Booksellers, where Alan had hoped to pick up a copy of the Chap magazine, but could not find it.


Laura sporting her lovely Oilily blouse outside the bookshop.

Saturday night means pancakes for dinner in the Bok household. So even though we spent the afternoon in Heemskerk visiting some friends of Alan's parents (and being fed far too much food), we came back to Laura's house in Zaandam for dinner.

On Sunday (13 August) Alan and I ventured into Amsterdaam on our own since Laura and her Dad were joining Berber and her family at the IKEA Family Day (Berber just started working at a new IKEA in Baarn). We started by catching a service at the English Reformed Church in Begijnhof, a small village that used to be a convent and still maintains its quiet and solemn atmosphere. The church service was in the tradition of the Church of Scotland, which is the church Alan grew up in. It was different for me, especially in comparison to the High Anglican style of worship at Mary Mag's, but still a lovely and welcoming place of fellowship and prayer.


The entrance to the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam.


Inside Begijnhof. Clearly the weather was lovely.

Alan and I were thwarted in our efforts to spend the afternoon checking out the many museums Amsterdaam has to offer. The line at the Rijksmuseum was far too long, so we gave up on that and headed straight for the Van Gogh museum. Although there was a line there as well, we decided to wait. The Van Gogh museum was one of the highlights of the trip. They have the largest collection of Van Gogh in the world, and have organized his paintings in chronological order. It was amazing to see the evolution of his style as an artist, and the torment that comes through in his paintings as his mind became more and more troubled.


The Cocertgebauw, Amsterdam's famous concert hall, as viewed from the park behind the Van Gogh Museum.

We attempted to find the Stedelijk modern art museum, going all the way to its temporary location near the train station only to find that all of their major collections are in storage while their old site is renovated. We ended our day with a trip to the Nieuwe Kerk, another deconsecrated cathedral which was housing a fashion show that we didn't think was worth paying to view. We still were able to see most of the church from a free viewing platform. This was the church where the Dutch crowned prince was married.


Detail of the interior of the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdaam. I had to try pretty hard to find an angle to take a picture that did not include the hideous fashion items on display corrupting the purity of the church iterior.


The central train station, Amsterdaam, with its very cool dial indicating the direction of the wind.

To be continued...

Visitors

July was a very busy month. Altough it started with the departure of some very dear new friends from Oxford, it ended with the visits of my sister Seana and her best friend Stephanie, as well as one of my very best friends from Dartmouth, Erin. Although the two visits overlapped, which meant that we had to squeeze 4 people into my dorm room for two nights, it was lovely to see faces from home and be able to show them around Oxford and London. Here are some highlights in words and photos.


Seana and Steph arrived on the evening of Tuesday 18 July. By the time we made it back to Oxford, it was after 10pm. We didn't let the late hour stop us from beginning our adventure, and headed into town for a stop at G&D's (this picture to the right was taken the next day) and then a walk through the New College cloisters, a must see (though a bit scary) in the dark. Seana recognized the tree from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (movie 4) where Mad-Eye Moody transforms Draco into a ferret.

Our first full day together was the hottest one of the entire visit. Though we were tempted to do nothing, we decided to explore Oxford despite the heat. Our morning walk took us around Christ Church (although we could not get into the dining hall because it was lunch time when we arrived), Christ Church Meadow, the Botanical Gardens, Merton, Oriel, and finally the covered market for some smoothies and fruit before we camped out in the University Parks for a few hours reading and resting with Laura. Some highlights from our day of exploring.


The War Memorial Garden at Christ Church with the exterior of the dining hall in the background.


Seana and Steph in front of the visitor's entrance to Christ Church.


Seana and I in "Tom Quad," the biggest quad in Christ Church and in Oxford. It's called "Tom Quad" because of the bell tower behind us, which houses the bell named the "Old Tom." In a typically Oxford way, the bell at Christ Church rings 5 minutes behind the rest of Oxford because Christ Church still operates like it did in the old days when all British time was related to the time in London and was not standardized.


The interior of Christ Church Cathedral, including the gorgeous organ.


Me with some beautiful lillies in the botanical gardens.


A vomitting gargoyle outside Merton College.


First Quad in Oriel College, which is my college.


On our way to the parks for the afternoon off, I caught a picture of Seana and Steph in front of Oxford's Bridge of Sighs, which is a part of Hertford College.

On the second day we headed to London, where we battled the heat yet again (it was worst on the Underground) but still managed to see quite a few London landmarks.


The White Tower at the Tower of London.


Seana and Steph at the site of many famous executions at the Tower of London, including Anne Bolyn, one of Henry the VIII's wives.


One of the famous Tower of London ravens. Legend has it that Charles I was told that if the ravens ever left the Tower of London, the monarchy would fail, and so ravens have been kept at the Tower ever since.


Seana and Steph 'loading' some cannon balls at the Tower of London.


Seana and I with the Tower Bridge in the background.


Oh my God, it's Big Ben!!


Seana and I aboard the London Eye with Parlaiment in the background.


Seana and Steph with Westminster Abbey in the background. Unfortunately we didn't arrive in time to see the inside, but the outside was still worth the trip.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in Covent Garden before heading to the British Museum, which is open late on Thursday evenings. After exploring the Egyptian and Asian galleries in the museum, we headed for curry in Soho.


Seana with the Rosetta stone, which is what enabled linguists to decipher heiroglyphics.


Me checking out one of the many Buddha statues in the Asian galleries.


Seana and I in the front courtyard of the British Museum.


The new shoes we bought in Covent Garden.

Day 3 was spent in Oxford. With the weather a little cooler, we decided to make the trek through Port Meadow to the Trout Inn, which is quite a walk but worth it for the beautiful views and great food.

We made a couple stops in Oxford city centre before beginning our walk.


The tower of the 5 orders inside the main quad of the Bodleian Library.


The Baroque rear of the Sheldonian Theatre, designed by Sir Christopher Wren.


The Godstow River and Port Meadow.


A peacock at the Trout Inn. It got really close to our table.


Seana and I toast to our trip!


It got so hot on our walk back that we could not resist the cool, inviting waters of the river. Good thing we had all brought our bathing suits and changed into them in the bathrooms of the Trout. Here are Seana and Steph swimming back from the other side of the river.


Our day ended with a punting excursion. We did not get many photos because Steph was busy capturing the whole thing on video while we all tried our hand at punting. I did get one shot of Steph and Seana looking stylish in the punt.

The next day was a Saturday, when I had to work the whole day at Blackwell's. Thankfully Laura was kind enough to take the girls around Oxford while I was working, and Seana took some more great pictures.


The Radcliffe Camera as viewed from the top of St. Mary's tower - definitely the best views in the city.


The shrunken heads in the Pitt Rivers Museum. These very heads make an appearance in the third Harry Potter movie on the Knight Bus.


Laura and Steph stroll through Balliol College, which was Laura's college.

On Sunday we decided to spend the morning at Blenheim Palace, even though the weather wasn't great.


The sign welcoming us to Blenheim.


The entrance to the residence where Winston Churchill was born. The really cool thing about Blenheim is that the Duke of Marlborough and his family still live there. The guides told us that the current Duke, who just turned 80 years old, was actually at the palace on the day that we were visiting!

Blenheim Palace itself is beautiful, but the gardens surrounding the palace are also spectacular. Thankfully the sun decided to come out as the day went on, and we were able to enjoy the gardens with some sunshine.


A butterfly inside the Butterfly House at the Paradise Gardens.


Seana and I in the Secret Gardens.


Seana and Steph taking a quick rest with the back of the palace in the background.

Erin joined us on Sunday afternoon - we met her at the bus station when we returned from Blenheim. On Erin's first full day (and Seana and Steph's last) we headed to London early to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It was quite a spectacle, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it because there are so many people and it does take quite a long time. We did have front row standing spaces, though, and caught some great pictures.


Erin and Seana with Buckingham Palace in the background. Unfortunately we were not allowed to keep these great seats we snagged on the Victoria Monument as the police on horseback made everyone move just before the start.


The marching band leaving through the palace gates.

The changing of the guard took up most of the morning. For the afternoon we went to the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery.


Seana and Steph from the entrance porch to the National Gallery with Trafalgar Square and Nelson's column in the immediate background and Big Ben in the far distance.

On the morning of the girls' departure we had a chance for one quick look around Oxford before having a full English breakfast on Cowley Road, where I live. We headed back to Christ Church to see the grand staircase and dining hall, which both featured in the first Harry Potter film.


Erin and I at the top of the grand staircase.


Seana and Steph in the Christ Church dining hall.


Seana, Steph, and I in my room minutes before leaving for the airport.

Erin and I spent the afternoon in London after dropping the girls off at the airport. We weren't able to see too many things before they closed, but I did get a nice shot of Erin with Big Ben and the London Eye in the background: