Jung und Frei

So the last week I popped over to "the continent" to go back to Holland, I took the ferry over which was a fun experience. The cruise was about 3.5 hours long, but was cheap (25 pounds) and the ship had five bars, a casino and 4 restaurants so there was more than enough to keep me occupied.

I made it over to Utrecht safe and sound and got picked up with Yvonne... the hostess with the mostess... the dutchess with the muchess!!! A very nice surprise!!! A few beers in the sun in Utrecht, then off to Zeist for my new home for the week!

Wednesday we had a quiet day lounging around at Maarseveense plassen (a big lake near Utrecht) where I made the stupid mistake of saying "The best invention you guys have is the ozone layer... you can lie in the sun and not get burned!". So after getting home and inspecting my SERIOUSLY pink tummy... I thought... touchee Mother Nature.. toucheee!!!

After getting back to Zeist, I tried my hand at cooking dinner - starting by doing some shopping (at a store where everything was written in Dutch), two hours later I made it out with some pasta, wine and some other goodies that sounded cool in Dutch!

Thursday I took a day trip over to Den Haag, spent the day strolling through the town, visiting the parliament buildings, the Queen's palace and the peace palace. Strolled through the shops and grabbed a quiet beer and lunch, then back to Zeist for a wonderful dinner around the corner (and the start of my dutch language lessons)

Friday was Dutch day!! We went up to the Open Lucht Museum near Aarnhem. Saw dutch folk dancing, climbed a windmill, saw a traditional dutch brewery, bakery, cheese and butter factory, confectioner, everything!!! Sooooo much fun!! I wore Klomps (clogs) and ate Drop (liquorice; the dutch way). This was also the first day of my bike riding lessons.... lets just say I failed and we had to make a short detour back home to clean the blood off my leg and the bike! :)

Saturday we went out to Amersfoort to do some shopping, then headed up to Amsterdam for a BBQ and night out. The BBQ was great... a tiny little disposable BBQ in the park, a few wines, a few beers - then off into Amsterdam for more beers and dancing.. off into Amsterdam on a BIKE!! Four of us on two bikes... Paul still hadn't got used to the keep right idea and almost got killed... Then we partied the night away in a few bars and clubs before once again riding home... well, almost home... as I was completely drunk, I misjudged the final corner to home and sent myself and Yvonne into a garden bed! Ooops!

Sunday was a little more peaceful... mainly due to the lack of sleep and the massive hangover! But we finally got our gear together and headed out to Loosdrecht to do some sailing.. unfortunately, the rain came in so we settled for hot chocolate overlooking the bay.

All in all an absolutely fantastic week in Holland. Very difficult to explain how great it was just by typing... but i've totally fallen in love with the place and the people so hopefully I can keep my Dutch language learning up (thanks to a few Donald Duck comics) and be a total native the next time i'm there! - oh... and maybe some bike riding lessons!!!