I Know, I Know, I Know

I haven't posted in a while. I know! I haven't downloaded pictures in a while. I will do my best to post some this weekend.

Reality TV Gets Real

I haven't seen any Dutch TV shows but I actually heard about this story on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/06/netherlands-worst-driver-proves-it-in-graphic-video/

Just from the title it sounds like a really bad idea. Turns out it is.

Memorial Day

The Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten.

Laying of the wreaths

Wall of the missing

Flyover at the end

My American-Dutch Hybrid Bike

I ride my bike more than I drive my car now. The Dutch, though, have rules for bikes...sort of like Americans have for cars so I had to have some additions and modifications.

You have to have a light and reflectors both in the front and back and you have to have a bell.

All Dutch bikes have a wheel lock which makes it super fast and easy to make lots of stops.

Since I use my bike to go to the farmer's market and the grocery store and the gym and work...there's only so much you can carry in a back pack. So I had to add a rack and saddle bags.

I don't ride my fancy mountain off-road much and those rugged tires make climbing the hills here more work. I considered buying a Dutch bike but, like the Dutch (who are known for being very frugal), I decided it didn't make economic sense. I'm enjoying my hybrid bike and it will serve me well tomorrow when I go to the market.

Long Days

Literally. Being a good bit further north (See red line on map showing my latitude) than most of my readers (all 3 of you or so), the days here are quite a bit longer than where you are. Not as long as the 20-some hours of daylight in Alaska but it's after 10pm and it isn't completely dark yet. Morning twilight was at 0450 this morning (sunrise at 0533) and evening twilight ends at 2220 tonight (sunset was at 2137). And the days will continue to get longer until the Summer equinox (when twilight will be at 0437 and 2241). It messes with my sleep. I need dark curtains!

This also means that in winter, my days are much shorter. At the end of December/beginning of January the sun will rise around 0840 and set around 1640. That gets pretty rough in a different way.

An American and a Greek Walk the Dogs

My neighbors are Greek. The husband is in the Greek military and he's stationed at the NATO base here. They have two kids (girl 5 and boy 2). The girl is in kindergarten at a local Dutch school. Seems you can't go to the international school if you don't speak English but you can go to the Dutch school if you don't speak Dutch. Well, she speaks Dutch now. And I'm sure she would have learned English just as quickly.

She loves dogs and wanted to come with me yesterday to walk them. She talks to the dogs in Dutch; I guess because she talks to me in Dutch (who could have guessed that knowing Dutch would come in handy when talking to a little girl from Greece?!?!). I found that interesting, though. I pretty much talk to all dogs in English. The dogs didn't seem to have any trouble with the translation. Seems petting and brushing are pretty much the same in any language.

Happy Liberation Day

Today is Liberation Day in the Netherlands. May 5, 1945, Canadian forces (with some help from the Brits and Americans and French) liberated the Netherlands from Nazi German occupation.

Spring in South Limburg

South Limburg is the province where I live (similar to a county since the whole country is smaller than a lot of states). The weather has been absolutely beautiful for several weeks. I'm a little concerned that it portends a summer that's warmer than it should but I'll worry about that later. Right now, I'm too busy enjoying it!!

The sheep at a farm right around the corner had lambs.

Oh yes, we have pollen!!

Easter eggs. I never saw dye for sale. From what I can tell, you buy the eggs already colored. They're painted, rather than dyed.

I didn't even plant any dog seeds. It's always the weeds that grow the fastest :)

Amsterdam

It's a 2.5 hour train ride to Amsterdam. Not too bad. Amsterdam is a great old city with fabulous architecture and scenery. The main street between the train station and down town is now lined with tacky trinket and sweatshirt shops and trip/ticket sellers which, I suppose was inevitable but it's still a little sad to see them beneath such beautiful buildings. Then again, the sex museum has been there for ages so...

At the train station waiting to go.

Bikes and a canal...can't get more Amsterdam than that.

The infamous sex museum.

Mmmmm. Cheese! They had at least a dozen different cheeses out for sample and we sampled each one at least three times!!

Tall and skinny and all squished together. Each one different.

Sit. Stay.

House boats and row boats and kayaks all share the canal.

Even if you live on a boat you still need bikes!

And mail.

And why shouldn't you have a little outdoor breakfast nook?

Kids and groceries get a 1st class ride.

Something's Out There

There's a mole or a snake or a mouse or something that lives out back. The dogs, and Tex especially, are determined to get it. They are constantly pushing around the trash cans looking for it and digging holes (faster than I can fill them in). One day it must have gone under the neighbor's shed. Here's Tex trying to wait it out:

Tex, Whatcha Doin'?

Who, me? It's under there, I know it is. I'm gonna get it.

If I could just get a little further under there...