Deserted roads

there are many things i miss from the usa now that i dont live there anymore. there are also things i do not miss at all, of course... :) but when i think back about those 3 years, i most often think about driving on empty roads in the middle of the desert. and if someone asked me what i wanted to do RIGHT now, it would be exactly that; driving on a deserted road somewhere in the USA. i would like some crazy heat with that, a summer dress and a hotel with pool at the end of the road..... i wouldnt even mind the cheap american hotel breakfast with tasteless pancakes that you make yourself in the wafflemaker. in fact, that is just part of the road trip experience....

at the moment, it is unseasonably warm (but no crazy heat like i know from boston) here in the netherlands. but i do miss the american apartment with the pool downstairs; right now all that comes up from downstairs is a constant stream of cigarette smoke/smell from our lovely neighbors (YUCK!). and..... every now and then you can drive on deserted roads here too! like you see above... if you take the small roads... (just before i took this picture quite some cars passed us, but well...)

Canada & broccoli

im on tims computer and was looking for a photo to post... then i checked the 2012 folder and realized it was just a year ago that we visited niagara falls. a year! i was really surprised... somehow it feels like ages ago already. if im not mistaken, we were staying in one of those fancy glass buildings and paid way too much for our stay. but it was so amazing to get to see the falls! and to be able to drive there... now it all seems (and is, ofcourse) so far away!!

here, back home im still debating whether i like the overly used american "excuse me" and the americans that rather move aside more than necessary in order to avoid too close contact with strangers, or the dutch way of just bumping into someone if you dont move quickly enough. i have to admit; i never liked the "excuse me" while in the us and never have been able to utter it myself, but now back home i realize that dutch strangers sometimes get far too close to me and i then still wonder why they dont say "excuse me".

also, broccoli tastes different here. i really liked brocccoli in the usa, but here i like it less. while eating broccoli today, i mentioned this to tim and he agreed!! we couldnt really pinpoint what it was (the taste? or the florets are a little different, maybe smaller, here?), but i was glad not being the only one thinking broccoli is a bit of a disappointment in the netherlands... :)

Dutch dining

on my birthday, it was actually only the second time we went out to dinner since i am back in the netherlands. as i mentioned before, going out to dinner here is just so much more expensive, much slower (which can be a good thing), and the service... well... it can be OK, but often it is less than that or even plain awful. however, at least the food is usually much tastier :)

in the usa, it took me quite a while to get used to the overly friendly (and to me a little fake) "Hi, my name is ... and i will be taking care of you today. please let me you if you need anything, ok?" but it was not difficult to get used to the endless possibilities when ordering. at first it was a bit intimidating, and i was always jealous of the real americans ordering exactly what they want, without the waitress having to sum up all the possibilities (types of dressing, bread, size, types of milk etc etc). it surely took me a while before i could order like that..., and i was real proud when i could!! :D

so... now back to dutch dining. i guess it will be shocking for americans. it might take ages before they notice you are there and want to order something. you will not get water automatically (more often than not there will be a note on the menu saying that they dont serve water. unless you pay for bottled water). you will not be able to order salad A with dressing from salad B, and you will not be allowed to take your leftovers home (but the portions arent crazy big like in the US so thats usually not an issue anyways). moreover, you will have to pay for everything. see that bill above? it lists a 0.75 cents (about a dollar) charge for the mayonnaise!! here in the netherlands we eat our fries with mayonnaise, but you will always have to pay for it. this is even the case at mc donalds!! i liked that in the USA there was always a ketchup bottle on the table, and it was never a problem when we asked for some mayo, they would just bring it (and not bill it!).

now when we sat down, the waitress asked what we liked to drink. tim wanted a beer, and he could choose between a normal or a large (0.5 ltr) size. then i said to him; lets take the large and we will just share it! (i also still have to get used to the fact that now everyone can understand again what i say, although in the US sharing has never been a problem). when the beer finally came, the guy bringing it put it in the middle of the table and said "i understood you want to share this beer??!!" and then put 2 straws in the beer. only when he left i understood this snark... i actually should have called him back to explain himself, but i didnt want to make a scene. but thinking about it still pisses me off!! we were there to enjoy ourselves and drink as much as WE want, even if that means sharing one beer. and as you see, 2 entrees, 1 beer and 2 coffees came down to 37 euros, which is 50 dollars (at least there is no 20% tip as waiters here get a normal salary. you can tip as you  like, or not tip at all, although they will not appreciate no tip at all)

Fall colors

i really liked fall in boston. so many colorful trees, the cold but sunny mornings that warned you it could very well get much colder... driving to new hampshire in the weekends to see even more colorful trees....

so... this is a picture of the cemetery behind our apartment. now we dont have a cemetery behind our apartment anymore... buuuhhh... there is one, but its a 5-10 minute bike ride away, so i most definitely miss going there for a short walk... the cemetery here is pretty too, but much smaller, and it specifically states at the entrance that photography is not allowed. ah well... perhaps someday i will take some pics there anyways.... but for now you have to make do with a picture taken one year ago at the american cemetery... :)

Tiny kitchen...

here it is... our tiny tiny kitchen.... as opposed to our kitchen in the usa, this one is in a separate room, and not overlooking our living room. no fancy high countertops with barstools... just a tiny place with too much stuff.... cooking several things at the same time (like making dinner and cookies) is really a challenge, as there is not enough space to put your mixing bowls, cutting board, etc etc. and then there are the dirty dishes that need a place too as we dont have a dishwasher (and we dont do the dishes every day, then we could make do with just 2 plates, and we have several!!). in the usa we had so much space that we could keep appliances like toasters etc on the counter, but here we have to put them away after use.

as opposed to the usa, we separate our garbage here, so there is the general trash can, a plastic bag for all the plastics, a paper bag for all the paper, and then we have the glass bottles and the bottles with deposit. 

when one is in the kitchen, its not that easy for the other to pass, and that sometimes really gets on my nerves... as i have mentioned several times, the oven is also much tinier than the one in boston. on top of that, theres not a lot of space to maneuver, so i am not very good at putting a very hot, very heavy cast iron pot into the oven; i usually make tim do it. then i open and close the oven door to make it all go faster. however, to do that, i need to step onto the balcony, as tim is standing on the other side. when we bake bread its usually in the morning and more often than not i am still in my "robe" (such a funny word), so i guess it must be a pretty weird sight when i step outside just to open and close the oven door... :)

Obviously, this....

...is not in the netherlands!! this was back in march, on our way to yosemite in california. it was such a beautiful ride!! here we had lunch in the hot sun, and that one little cloud just kept hanging there, haha. we took a little too long during lunch and arrived in yosemite pretty late (but still had a nice hike there. just too bad that we left the park while it was dark).

yesterday we again wanted to go to the cinema here in amsterdam. and again didnt go, since it was... yes... raining again! taking public transport takes too long, and sitting in the cinema all wet from biking in the rain isnt fun either. maybe next week... so different from the us, where we wouldnt even have to go out, but just had to walk down to the garage underneath our apartment, hop in the car... (i once walked home from the cinema there; it took an hour....)

Last March

in march we were in death valley, california, and now im back in amsterdam since a while already. its still  so weird! i really miss these sceneries and the relative ease with which we were able to visit all this beauty.... now im back to good old (and yes, pretty, but pretty in such a very, very different way) holland, and not taking that many photos... also, im skipping days with posting for whatever reason.... (i guess a combination of laziness and lack of new photos). im still not entirely out of the "getting-used-to-be-back-home-again-phase", i guess.... i miss the endless empty roads in the us, and the hours you could drive seeing extremes in landscapes. in the netherlands you are out of the country within 3 hours!! (thats why the speed limit on most highways in 100km/hr, otherwise you would be out of the country even faster).

here in death valley we had parked the car down the little hill, and walked up under the sizzling hot sun. we did it because everyone else did it, eager not to miss anything. i think it was the ladies you see here in the front that said to us when passing "well, that was a total waste of our efforts!". that was just so weird to me! i thought it was pretty, and even in the hot sun its nice to be out and not seeing everything just from the car....

Big blue

although several of the artworks of the "fuck off 2" exhibit were not worth watching (they merely seemed made to provoke, but not in a sophisticated way, not making you think about china at all!!), a few things i did like. i liked the above "the big blue". it was one wall, covered with plastic bags filled with a blue liquid (5 tons of it!!), and it just looked like the ocean! i had a quite irresistible urge to stick a needle in those bags, but i didnt... (some were already a bit leaky though).

the liquid actually is some sort of toilet detergent used in china, named "toilet treasure". the artist wanted to make you think about industrialization, and how something resembling the sea and/or the ocean is actually just made of... something you flush down the toilet.

this afternoon we went to a food & vintage market not too far from our place. but there was too much food, and no vintage! the stuff they did try to sell was just old crap displayed in a fancy way so that they could ask ridiculous amounts of money, just by labeling it "vintage". all the hipsters running around probably just loved it, but it made me and tim miss "our" thrift store close to our apartment in the usa...! luckily we still have several of our usa-shipped boxes to unpack with some real vintage finds for just a small price... (but first we need to make some space here! and get some cupboards etc...)

OK, hot...

this afternoon the tiny kitchen reached a toasty 34C (over 93F). the living room was only a tiny bit cooler (31C). the house has a flat roof and we are on the upper floor..  yes, very close to the sun at the 4th floor (5th for americans).... ;)

somehow i decided i should just bake some bread. at least the oven took less time to heat up, but the dough didnt behave as it should (added too much water; the flours here are different and i havent figured the right measurements out yet, buuuhhh. and of course, it was a little too hot for the yeast.)

so above you see the kitchen. its not much bigger than what you see here, really, grrr. on the other side is the countertop with the stove, oven and no space for a dishwasher (or fridge, its in the next room, grrr again. the fridge that is, there is no space anywhere (or money) for a dishwasher!)). if one is in the kitchen, its not easy for the other to pass, theres simply not enough space (or maybe that should be an incentive to spend more time at the gym...?). at least tim recently hung some rods so all the pans are hanging on the wall, that really cleared up some cabinet space..

and in the mean time, its still hot, even now, well after midnight. it cooled off a little, but not enough for a good night of sleep, im sure. and guess what, it was record breaking hot. for the netherlands that is. and on this particular day (so what kind of record is that!?). and not in amsterdam, but in the south of the netherlands. it was 36.9 C at some point (98.42F), somewhere, and thats still less hot than what we experienced in boston, or in the desert during our road trips... :) reminds me, i should post some pictures of that one of these days!

oh, and i just love this tiny clock! i got it from ikea last time we were there, and you can flip it to any of the four sides, then it lights up a particular color, and gives you either the time, temperature, timer, or the alarm setting... perfect for a tiny kitchen... 

Yeeeeeeejjjj, flowers!!

one of the reasons its great to be back in the netherlands; i can buy cheap flowers again. and everywhere.... okok, above no flowers yet, but they are about to come out, maybe tomorrow... and they will be pretty and purple! its still warm here, hot even. although we have to miss the pool right downstairs like we had in boston, we now at least have a little bit of outside space. a balcony on either side of the apartment! in the morning there is sun on one, and in the evening theres sun on the other. another great thing i have to get used to again; its light out until after 10!! like really light... in boston it was always dark before 9 (and in winter, like here, around 5).

stuff im not so happy about; the tiny, tiny kitchen. and no dishwasher anymore.... buhuhuhuh.

On supermarkets...

oops, its been a while again.... 

in boston the market basket was our favorite supermarket. by far the cheapest, and the fruit and vegetables were always fresh (usually its very crowded, so that makes for a high turnover). back in the netherlands i have to get used to the small supermarkets and their even smaller produce sections... :( no more any fresh herb you can think of (here they are wrapped in tiny amounts and very expensive, if they have them at all), no more huge bags of whatever nuts you want, roasted and/or salted or not.... at least the mushrooms are much cheaper here... :) everything here is also sold in much smaller quantities (which is better, sometimes), and i really had forgotten how good plain yoghurt tastes here!! and i still have to find my way in the supermarket; today i made 3 rounds before i found ricotta. and they had only a small tub (in the market basket there were many types, brands, and sizes). 

and, of course, the checkout is very different. here everyone brings their own bags (although we also used to do that in the us, since they always managed to put 5 items in 7 bags, somehow), or you can buy one. and there is no one packing your groceries! im fine with that, but i again have to get used to how fast the cashier is scanning all your items!! before you know, everything is piling up at the end, but then i still have to pay and if you dont hurry, the cashier is already helping the next customer. at least there is a divider for that person's groceries, but if you are really, really slow the cashier will already be helping the third customer, piling his/her groceries onto yours... i guess i got used to how verrrryyyy slow cashiers in the usa usually are, so  its quite stressful for me... ;)  

the apartment is still a giant mess, but we hope to finish painting at least the living room this weekend.... 

Love pink!!

this weekend we have been quite busy! on saturday to ikea (and yes, with the mattress in the subway. but at least it was a 1 person mattress), and yesterday we first got ourselves informed about the local gyms (so very expensive; with discount, 3 months for just 200 euros (some 250 dollars). we really got used to the luxury of having the gym with the apartment. sure, we then also had a very high rent, but still...). 

then we went to the dutch home depot (ten times smaller) to pick out some paint for the apartment. our apartment in boston was freshly painted when we got in, with 2 walls painted in the color of our choice (tim allowed me to pick purple and dark purple), so seeing the amsterdam apartment with very ugly walls was just... well... beeehhh. we ofcourse quickly found the discount section and found all kinds of colors with 70% discounts. including the pink you see here in the wall. i actually thought it would be a little less bright, but i like it! and tim said he likes it too... :) the wall with the ladder in front was a very deep, terrible red and it took 4 or 5 layers of white to not see that anymore. instantly the apartment looked so much lighter! now we still have to paint the opposite walls. the one you cannot see in this picture is a very dark blue and i cant wait to get that white as well.... now we only need to paint the dining table yellow (i think it will be nice with the pink, no..?) and i would also like to do something with the ugly ceiling fan. i was thinking silver...? :) (i got inspired after seeing this picture).

Hello again....

ok, ok, its time to stop hiding and finally write another post again.... this monday i was still in the craaaazy heat of boston (it was well over 35 C, i think), frantically getting the apartment entirely empty. even though several people had come by during the weekend i hadnt managed to dump all our stuff with them and so it was really time to trash things. i realized i never have trashed something that you can still use and i did not like it at all! all that stuff that we used now just disappeared in the dumpster... :( i also had placed a bit in the hallway of our apartment complex, and at least fellow residents were taking stuff from that...

somehow i managed to get the place entirely empty (with the help of my sister), and then it was time to lock the door and go to the airport.... :( i had quite some luggage; two 22-kilo suitcases, and a 15-kilo small (!!) hand luggage that i was forced to check in as well (grrrr!!). 

and so... since tuesday i am back in the netherlands. in amsterdam, to be precise. it all feels weird. the weather is shitty, i cannot run down to goto the pool or gym anymore. in public transport (the ticketsystem changed during my 3year absence) people are all staring at their phones (just like in boston. when there, i always thought that was an american thing, haha), and when talking on their phones they do it sooooo very loud!! (much louder than in boston, i think). when i bump into someone i mumble "sorry" in english (with my dutch accent, ofcourse). i havent done much yet, aside from unpacking my suitcases and going to the shops around the apartment here. i dont like that i cannot find my way in the supermarket (i like routine, i guess), nor that the eggplants and zucchini are so very very expensive!! ($1,30 each!!). at least there is good cheese, as you can see above. and my boston mug, a gift from someone at work!!

i need to fill the kitchen cabinets again with spices, herbs, sugars, flours etc etc.... the apartment really needs to be painted and there is not enough space for all of my clothes and shoes (and this is already before our shipped goods are here! which come in a few weeks). so...., im just grumpy about all of it and i guess it will take a while.....

Bye car!!

today we said goodbye to the car we were happily driving the past 3 years. or rather, that tim was driving since i dont have a license... (since a few months i have a learners permit, but... well... i will not be able to obtain an american license anytime soon... buuhhhh.. :( ). it belongs to tims parents and it made our life quite a bit easier... we had absolutely no trouble obtaining furniture, as it all was just thrown in the back of this huge car! we had no trouble getting groceries either... (theres no supermarket in walking distance of our apartment. and we got used to doing shopping only once a week, or less. very undutch! there i used to go whenever i was cooking dinner, just a little walk from my apartment). i got used to climbing in this huge thing, and very much enjoyed the royal view above everyone else.... and of course, it made me feel like a real american, sitting in a real american truck!!

thats why yesterday was so stressful; we HAD to get rid of the couch, even if it meant secretly throwing it in a dumpster somewhere, anywhere.... (i found out normally the dump we brought it to is not open on saturday, and we were there not that long before closing time. pfew..). today we got up early and drove the car to its storage, an hour away. when we had it storage ready (tim did most of the work, lucky me, it was so very hot again), we got a cab to the nearest train station, and had our very first train ride in the usa.... :) as it is sunday, the train was going only 3 times, over the entire day!! if we had missed it, we would have had to wait some 4 hours!! (thats also rather different from the netherlands!). it took forever to get back into boston, but it was actually quite relaxing to sit in the very slowly moving train for 1.5 hours....

bye bye car, we will certainly miss you!

Bye IHOP

slowly we are saying goodbye to some of the places we like to go. one of them being IHOP (i.e. the international house of pancakes)... :) not every week of course. just every now and then! we got up really early on sunday, and we were rewarded for that; the restaurant was still pretty empty. coming in a little later on the weekend and the place is packed, with many waiting to be seated (which luckily goes relatively fast). to us, such breakfast places with too much food for not that much money and cheerful waitresses are really american. something i will miss when back home.... (although being able to get great bread and pastries just about everywhere is a nice alternative)

a full thermos of coffee and pancakes, eggs, hash browns, bacon..... hmmmmmm.... the above is just 9 dollars, and then something for the coffee. we shared the middle plate, but each had our own pancakes. far too much food, but oh so good! in the beginning i was overwhelmed by all the choices you always have here. you cannot just order something, everything has to be specified; how do you want your eggs? bacon or sausage? etc etc... nowadays i often can just tell the waitress what i want, and dont need to have them tell me all the options (often far too fast so i miss half of it), followed by eehmmm, uuhhhhmmm.. hmmm, ok, i'll take that.... im pretty proud of that... :) i now also like that you have options, and literally can order things exactly the way YOU want it, not the way the restaurant always prepares it (which is usually not the case in the netherlands). dressing on the side? sure! whole wheat bread instead of white? absolutely! no cheese? we'll take care of it! and if its not exactly the way you ordered it, they take it back without a problem (usually.. :) ).

It's official....

... today we sold our yellow barstools, and also the black ones... :( i was truly sad when we were in the car, bringing them to their new owner...... it officially started something we already knew for a bit (but not that long, really); we will be moving back to the netherlands soon..... we always planned on staying  here for about 3 years, and we passed that time point in april. moreover, our lease is ending july 1st and we are totally fed up with the new owners of our apartment complex. oh, and tim found a job and is due to start june 6!! he will work as a doctor in a hospital in amsterdam. all a bit sudden. we thought to spend the summer here (the dutch summers are less warm and sunny), but well.... sometimes you cannot have it all....

i will stay a few more weeks, my sister will come and we will enjoy the boston sun for a bit, and then its also time for me to leave. no job yet, but i do hope to find one asap....

when we found this apartment with the enormous countertop i wanted nice barstools. most dutch kitchens dont have such a bar, so i wanted it to be as american as possible! but.. most barstools were not to my liking, or too expensive. then we got the black ones. of course right after that we found the ultimate barstools, those yellow ones! the shop was closed and we could only admire them through the window, from a distance... the next day we got up early to be at the shop right at opening time so we could buy them before anyone else. luckily they were still there! (we tried to sell the black ones, as we really didnt need 6 barstools, but never managed). i always thought we would ship them back to the netherlands, but at that moment i didnt know how crazy expensive that is. and... we dont have such a fancy countertop back home..... buuuuhhhhhh... so... this is it... the table and red chairs are up for sale too, and so is the white armoire.... (let me know if you are interested! ;) here is the other stuff we need to get rid of... ) its a very weird feeling, i can say that much.... (oh, and pardon the mess; the advantage of having such an enormous and beautiful table).

Dutch snack

above; 2 glasses of white martini with lemon, and to the left a very dutch snack that i really missed while in the us of a: "bitterballen"!! ofcourse, there is a wikipedia for this snack that you can read here. in short, its a savoury snack, with a thick meat-based ragout, battered in an egg-breadcrumb mixture, which has been deep-fried. you eat them hot, with some mustard (but be careful, when served they are usually still too hot to eat, i speak here from experience). hmmmmmmmm!!!! hmmmm!!! they are sooo good! also with a glass of beer.... in fact, the dutch mc donalds has a special burger, with a patty-shaped version of the "bitterbal", on a white bun, with a sort of mustard dressing (the mc kroket!). i had that the first day i arrived, together with my sister... (they were on sale, only 1 euro, hahaha).

unfortunately, eating these in a cafe is expensive. like everything you order in a cafe. generally, service is much slower than in the us, but at least you dont have to prove you are above 21 to drink alcohol. on the other hand, the huge glass of ice water i now always order does not come standard in the netherlands, and in some cafes they will even refuse to give you a glass of water, unless you pay for it..... (i.e. you have to buy a glass of bottled water as they do not want to give you one for free from the tap). also, paying with card is not that common, and you thus will have to bring cash, preferrably some change; as you already have waited so very long for the check, you dont want to wait yet again to get your change.

why cant the mc donalds over here have this dutch snack on the menu?! im sure the americans would love it!

Bikes, bikes!!

already at the airport in the netherlands i noticed something different; nobody said the magic words "excuse me". in the ladies room people passed each other, or had to wait to get to the sink or whatever. in the us this dance would be accompanied by many excuse me's, and now it was silent, and somehow that was weird! at the platform waiting for the train there was plenty of time observing the dutch going to work (it was the early morning); women were dressed so differently! to me they looked more confident, especially the older women. and... what a relief; stylish shoes! no extreme high heels, although many did wear a bit of heels, also the very tall women (and there were many tall people. haha, i almost forgot that in the netherlands im one of the short people). now that im back i have a renewed incomprehension for the big white sport shoes that most people seem to wear here, no matter how well dressed they are!

while in the train i saw sooo much graffiti everywhere, thats really not the case in boston, i thought it had increased, but apparently it had always been like that (how easy it is to forget things!). 

but.... the best was to be on my (own) bike again. in utrecht! i had not done that since we left in april 2010 for boston. the traffic seemed crazy; sooo many people, such narrow streets, even more bikes!! but the cars are much smaller, and the pace much more relaxed. as much as i am scared to bike around here, amidst the chaos in utrecht it was just relaxing! no honking or irritated screaming simply because you are on a bike and on the road (as happened just this sunday here, grrrr). it was extremely crowded but everyone was courteous and nobody was in someone else's way.... (or do i now make it seem better than it actually is?! anyways, compared to biking in boston it was just pure fun! and so pretty, ofcourse, biking along the canals, wathcing the cute old houses on the other side..... 

above the center of utrecht. a mess of bikes wherever you go. a mess, but somehow organized, and ofcourse its hardly ever a problem to find your own bike back amongst all those others. in the back a few of the many cafes where you can sit outside; the weather was, surprisingly, extremely good most of the time i was there!

Gorgeous flowers

tim was in the netherlands last month, and somewhere in south amsterdam he saw this field of flowers. isnt it beautiful? 

Boston laundromat

a laundromat somewhere in boston. i dared to take only one picture... isnt this what you always see in movies? people waiting in the laudromat, or folding their freshly washed clothes. here, many apartments dont have their own washer or dryer. some complexes do have them in the basement (then you usually have to bring your own detergent and a lot of quarters to make the machines do their job), but the most unfortunate ones have to bring all their clothes to a laundromat. such a weird thing for dutch people that all have their own washer! i was one of the few weirdos who didnt, and brought my clothes home every weekend for a very long time (also, i was afraid of washing machines, they spin so fast and i thought one day the spinning would get out of control. so even when i had a washer, i took a while before i dared using it). there are hardly laudromats in the netherlands, but here they are on every corner, more or less. in our first apartment we had a coin-op washer in the basement, but clothes came out dirtier than when they went in.... luckily, we now have our own washer/dryer... (which makes an apartment immediately considerably more expensive). unfortunately, it looks similar like this one. not much fits in, and somehow the lint that comes off the clothes is later nicely distributed on the black clothes again, making them look... dirty... :( the machine is also much harsher than the dutch ones, even though (or perhaps because) it takes only 30 minutes or so, against 2 hours in a dutch one! so... clothes get worn out much much faster and several shirts already have tiny holes... :( but at least i can do my laundry whenever i feel like...