Day 18: Utrecht, Poffertjes, and Bicycles
A warning: this entry is long and pretty much filled with random babble because I have time to babble tonight.
Today was spent, again, in a rather relaxed day around Utrecht. We got a late start and went to the post office so that Linh could mail stuff home then to the train station. We were at the train station to get tickets to Paris, but the line was so long. It's one of those affairs where you take a number and wait until it comes up. Our number was 013, and when we looked up at the display, the most recent number called was 189. We figured it would be forever before they got back to the tens. Actually, the situation was not that bad, but it still took a good hour of waiting in line before we got to the desk. I don't think we've ever had to wait in line for a ticket for that long. We did successfully obtain the ticket, however, so barring any more unfortunate incidents, we should get to Paris. Please keep your fingers crossed for us.=P Actually, something unfortunate did happen last last night, so we might be safe for a while. The second day we spent in Amsterdam, the buses were on strike, so when we got to the Utrecht station it was dark and thundering and raining. We walked and walked and walked, then realized that we were lost and it was past 2 AM and our pants were soaked. The upper half wasn't because we had umbrellas. I think that's one of the most irritating things when it's raining -- that you're wet but only partially so. And if you are completely wet, then you're just a great deal colder. And running too, for some reason only the front of your pants get wet and the back is completely dry.
But anyway, after getting train tickets, we went and rented bikes. The two of us trying to ride those bikes was probably one of the more amusing spectacles on the streets today. I haven't ridden a bike in three years at least, and Linh can't even remember the last time she did. You should have seen the expression on the bike rental guy's face when Linh mentioned that as we were leaving. And not only have I not ridden a bike for three years, the bike was a few inches to tall for me to really reach the ground and the seat at the same time. Getting on the bike was a bit of a trail and initially involved standing on a curb (there are three kinds of curbs here: normal height ones, short ones you can bike over, and changes in color of brick used with no height differential, and I'm referring to the middle ones), pushing with one foot, then weaving wildly about for a while before picking up enough speed to stay upright properly. Then stopping was also a bit precarious and involved tipping over and landing with a bit of thud. So imagine us and those bikes (they're blue with handlebars that allow you to sit pretty much upright) in downtown Utrecht. The traffic is also confusing. There are bike lanes, car lanes, and people lanes, but for some reason, we had seen bikes in all three and weren't quite sure where they were really supposed to be. It was an interesting experience. Actually, this kind of system makes for a rather exciting walking experience as well. After we finally got used to crossing streets in the UK, we get back to a country where cars drive on the rights, and in addition to those cars we have to contend with bikes going both ways, an extra lane in some roads, the trams in the tram lane that was there on occassion, and of course the people rushing from place to place.
To continue on the subject of biking, there are a lot of interesting biking things that go on here just because so many people use bikes as a major mode of transportation. You can see mothers biking with one child sitting behind her and another in front of her, a child and parent both biking with the parent's hand holding onto the child's shoulder, people talking on their cell phones and biking, couples holding hands or putting their arms around each other. For some reason, I picture these things more associated with walking, but here they're all done on bikes. Then there are the bikes which are adapted for carrying infants around and such.
And now for something completely different, Dutch people are really tall, and I say this not only because of the height of their bicycles. At the Van Gogh Museum, I was trying to ask one of the...well, I don't know what their real purpose is, but those people who sit in corners or sometime pace around with walkie talkies...when the museum closed, and I swear he just enjoyed looming. He took a step closer so I had to crane my neck even more and paused for a while while I continued to crane my neck, then said, "Around 6 o'clock." While I am on a tangent, I think I'll just go a bit further and mention that the lighting at the Van Gogh Museum is really irritating. For some reason, light sources are placed so that you get these funny reflections on the pane of glass in front of the painting so that you can see the entire room around you, but then, of course, the painting is a bit obscured, and it's just frustrating to have to make semicircles around the painting while bobbing your head up and down in order to get a good look at it.
Back again to today, after getting the bikes, we went to a poffertjes restaurant. Poffertjes are these tiny, plump pancakes for dessert or snacking and are very delicious. They're traditionally served with butter and powdered sugar (a great deal of butter and a great deal of powdered sugar), but I got mine with some ginger added to the top of all that sugar and butter, and Linh got hers with with pineapples and cream. Els, the lady we're staying with, got a traditional one with cream. And a cappuchino. Dessert with coffee or tea and good company is one of my favorite ways to spend an hour or two. After that, we took a walk to see the this church at the center of Utrecht called the Dom Church. It's a huge Gothic style church. Around it is an old residential area that's so quiet it's hard to believe it's in the center of town. I like looking at those old houses, the canals, and all the plants people grow, and today was a perfect day to do it. The wind was high so that you could see wispy and fluffy white clouds moving in a blue sky, but the air near the ground was still enough so that houses, arched bridges, and trees reflected clearly in the water.
The house we're staying in is over a hundred years old, which is also hard to believe. There's is a very well mannered cat in residence. I think that when I settle down somewhere, I'd like a cat like him. His name is Joris (the Dutch equivalent of George, pronounced "joris" with a rolling r). Unfortunately, it's probably rather unlikely that I'll find a cat like him. He's the friendliest cat I've ever met and isn't afraid of strangers at all. When he sleeps with me he always manages to shift so that he's sprawled out in the middle with me at the edge. A very smart cat.
Today was spent, again, in a rather relaxed day around Utrecht. We got a late start and went to the post office so that Linh could mail stuff home then to the train station. We were at the train station to get tickets to Paris, but the line was so long. It's one of those affairs where you take a number and wait until it comes up. Our number was 013, and when we looked up at the display, the most recent number called was 189. We figured it would be forever before they got back to the tens. Actually, the situation was not that bad, but it still took a good hour of waiting in line before we got to the desk. I don't think we've ever had to wait in line for a ticket for that long. We did successfully obtain the ticket, however, so barring any more unfortunate incidents, we should get to Paris. Please keep your fingers crossed for us.=P Actually, something unfortunate did happen last last night, so we might be safe for a while. The second day we spent in Amsterdam, the buses were on strike, so when we got to the Utrecht station it was dark and thundering and raining. We walked and walked and walked, then realized that we were lost and it was past 2 AM and our pants were soaked. The upper half wasn't because we had umbrellas. I think that's one of the most irritating things when it's raining -- that you're wet but only partially so. And if you are completely wet, then you're just a great deal colder. And running too, for some reason only the front of your pants get wet and the back is completely dry.
But anyway, after getting train tickets, we went and rented bikes. The two of us trying to ride those bikes was probably one of the more amusing spectacles on the streets today. I haven't ridden a bike in three years at least, and Linh can't even remember the last time she did. You should have seen the expression on the bike rental guy's face when Linh mentioned that as we were leaving. And not only have I not ridden a bike for three years, the bike was a few inches to tall for me to really reach the ground and the seat at the same time. Getting on the bike was a bit of a trail and initially involved standing on a curb (there are three kinds of curbs here: normal height ones, short ones you can bike over, and changes in color of brick used with no height differential, and I'm referring to the middle ones), pushing with one foot, then weaving wildly about for a while before picking up enough speed to stay upright properly. Then stopping was also a bit precarious and involved tipping over and landing with a bit of thud. So imagine us and those bikes (they're blue with handlebars that allow you to sit pretty much upright) in downtown Utrecht. The traffic is also confusing. There are bike lanes, car lanes, and people lanes, but for some reason, we had seen bikes in all three and weren't quite sure where they were really supposed to be. It was an interesting experience. Actually, this kind of system makes for a rather exciting walking experience as well. After we finally got used to crossing streets in the UK, we get back to a country where cars drive on the rights, and in addition to those cars we have to contend with bikes going both ways, an extra lane in some roads, the trams in the tram lane that was there on occassion, and of course the people rushing from place to place.
To continue on the subject of biking, there are a lot of interesting biking things that go on here just because so many people use bikes as a major mode of transportation. You can see mothers biking with one child sitting behind her and another in front of her, a child and parent both biking with the parent's hand holding onto the child's shoulder, people talking on their cell phones and biking, couples holding hands or putting their arms around each other. For some reason, I picture these things more associated with walking, but here they're all done on bikes. Then there are the bikes which are adapted for carrying infants around and such.
And now for something completely different, Dutch people are really tall, and I say this not only because of the height of their bicycles. At the Van Gogh Museum, I was trying to ask one of the...well, I don't know what their real purpose is, but those people who sit in corners or sometime pace around with walkie talkies...when the museum closed, and I swear he just enjoyed looming. He took a step closer so I had to crane my neck even more and paused for a while while I continued to crane my neck, then said, "Around 6 o'clock." While I am on a tangent, I think I'll just go a bit further and mention that the lighting at the Van Gogh Museum is really irritating. For some reason, light sources are placed so that you get these funny reflections on the pane of glass in front of the painting so that you can see the entire room around you, but then, of course, the painting is a bit obscured, and it's just frustrating to have to make semicircles around the painting while bobbing your head up and down in order to get a good look at it.
Back again to today, after getting the bikes, we went to a poffertjes restaurant. Poffertjes are these tiny, plump pancakes for dessert or snacking and are very delicious. They're traditionally served with butter and powdered sugar (a great deal of butter and a great deal of powdered sugar), but I got mine with some ginger added to the top of all that sugar and butter, and Linh got hers with with pineapples and cream. Els, the lady we're staying with, got a traditional one with cream. And a cappuchino. Dessert with coffee or tea and good company is one of my favorite ways to spend an hour or two. After that, we took a walk to see the this church at the center of Utrecht called the Dom Church. It's a huge Gothic style church. Around it is an old residential area that's so quiet it's hard to believe it's in the center of town. I like looking at those old houses, the canals, and all the plants people grow, and today was a perfect day to do it. The wind was high so that you could see wispy and fluffy white clouds moving in a blue sky, but the air near the ground was still enough so that houses, arched bridges, and trees reflected clearly in the water.
The house we're staying in is over a hundred years old, which is also hard to believe. There's is a very well mannered cat in residence. I think that when I settle down somewhere, I'd like a cat like him. His name is Joris (the Dutch equivalent of George, pronounced "joris" with a rolling r). Unfortunately, it's probably rather unlikely that I'll find a cat like him. He's the friendliest cat I've ever met and isn't afraid of strangers at all. When he sleeps with me he always manages to shift so that he's sprawled out in the middle with me at the edge. A very smart cat.
posted by teabag | 4:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home