A little catching up… On Wednesday went to Zandvoort and Haarlem; minus Kari and one student who had to run hither and yon to get a temporary passport. We caught the 9:25 train to Zandvoort and, upon arrival, walked over to the beach. After taking a photo of all the students with the North Sea as the backdrop, I walked up the beach by myself. Being the weekday and still early summer, there were very few people there. It was absolutely wonderful to roll up my pant legs and take a walk in the edge of the North Sea while listening to the Indigo Girls on my iPod. Ahhh… I walked farther up the beach, past the various themed “beach clubs.” These are areas on the beach, but marked by fencing, etc. in which you can grab a beach chair or little cabana and make your home for the day – as long as you are buying food or drink. They each have their own theme; e.g., the Venice Beach Club and Safari Club. There was one that was clearly made to welcome kids. 5YO would have loved it! I then strolled through town and ended up having a snack of tiny shrimp on a crisp roll – a mini-baguette of sorts called a pistolet. Yum!
After meeting up with the students we jumped on the train to Haarlem and I again walked the town. I found a delightful little housewares store and a terrific collection of melamine bowls, cups, spoons from a Danish company called Rice. I bought two periwinkle bowls and spoons for partner and myself and green for 5YO. I later ran into two students sunning themselves at a café at the Grote Markt. I joined them for a Diet Coke Light and ordered a brie sandwich. After a really long wait I wasn’t sure if there was a problem with my order if it was just that casual European approach to dining. As it turned out, my order, having been taken on a PDA-like device, had never made it to the kitchen. I eventually got my sandwich with huge slabs of brie and was able to make it to the station in time for our ride back to Amsterdam.
When I returned to Amsterdam, I found Kari and we made our way back to Sauna Deco. It was late afternoon; the perfect time for a sauna. We paid, got our towels, robes, and locker keys, and made our way to the locker room. The eucalyptus scent wafting throughout the place was wonderful! After changing and showering we first went into the dry sauna where the temperature was about 198 degrees Fahrenheit. It was fabulous. We then went to the cold pool where Kari didn’t get in quite all the way and I went in up to my shoulders. That was enough! Then, at the foot bath we let our feet soak, soak, soak. We then went to the wet sauna for a while. As if this wasn’t enough pampering, we then each enjoyed a 15 minute hydro massage. This place is amazing! Not only are the saunas terrific, but it’s just a beautiful setting. Be sure to check out their web site for photos.
Now, for those of you who may be wondering, yes, this is a co-ed sauna, including the locker room. And, yes, people are completely nude. But, unlike my experience at a sauna in Germany many, many years ago, people were a bit more modest, wearing towels or robes to move from one section to another and while sitting in the non-sauna areas. Many people who have grown up in the United States (and other places, like Great Britain, for example), can’t quite imagine an environment where women and men are nude, but completely non-sexualized. It’s true. If you are reading and think you might ever find yourself visiting Amsterdam, make a note of Sauna Deco. It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump, by foot, from Centraal Station at Herengracht 115. You won’t regret it!
On Thursday we took the train to Utrecht for a meeting at the university’s School of Human Rights Research. We met with Cees Flinterman and Hans Wermolder. They gave us a nice overview of the work of the program and we had a very enjoyable conversation about human rights as well as about some of the other issues we’ve been considering during our visit to the Netherlands. For example, as the demographic composition of the country changes, might the traditional “gedogen” also undergo change? It was a wonderful opportunity! Again, I’m not quite sure that the students understand the stature of our hosts and how incredibly generous it was of them to take the time to meet with us. For example, Prof.dr. Flinterman’s bio reads:
“Cees Flinterman was an alternate member of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (1987-1991), Vice-Chairperson of the 49th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1993) and Head of the Delegation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the 49th and 50th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (1993 and 1994) and to the World Conference on Human Rights (1993) . . . . Since August 2002 he is member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).” In a word, wow.
After leaving the school, we sent the students off, encouraging them to explore Utrecht, a great “college town.” After a short stroll, Kari and I were heading back to Amsterdam to conduct a recon for Friday night’s activity. But, Kari struck gold when she found a liquor store that actually carried Dutch wine. Apparently none of the “major” liquor stores carry it because so little is produced that they would require too great an amount to stock their shelves. But, this little independent shop had it and she was able to get three bottles to take home. We continued on our way, stopping briefly to see our friend Albert Heijn (aka the Al, or the grocery store) for water.
We got on the train… and sat, and sat, and sat. After about half an hour they announced that folks going to Amsterdam Centraal Station should change trains. We were fortunate to get on the InterCityExpress (ICE) and, thanks to Kari, in a compartment with great seats. The young man sitting across from us was, I noticed, wearing a Twins baseball cap so we started chatting. Turns out that he and a friend from school have been traveling here for three weeks. It’s not, I’ve discovered, original, but his comments, along with some of my experiences these last two and half weeks, made me think of the expression “Generation Whine.” More on that next time. For now, this crotchety old woman is off to bed!
09 June 2006
06 June 2006
Den Haag/The Hague
I posted an account of today's journey on the class blog, so click on "Amsterdam 2006" if you'd like to know more. I'm off to bed!
05 June 2006
Just outside of Amsterdam...
This morning I took a little field trip to IKEA-Amsterdam, just to see if it was any different from the stores in the states. Nope. Well, actually, I think the ice cream cones in the states might be $1.00. Here they were 50 cents!
Kari and I met around 1:00 with the hope of going to a sauna, Sauna Deco. We took a nice walk along the Herengracht, but, alas, as today is a Dutch holiday it was closed. We decided to go to Centraal Station and simply see where the next train to a nearby town was headed. We bought tickets for 7,50 euro and hopped the train to Purmerend. We arrived and, as we walked from the station toward the center of town, we saw people walking in the same direction and then, we heard music! Score! We had happened upon something like a small festival in the square. Well, yes, sort of...!
Imagine our surprise when we got closer and saw an area of about 20 yards square where a small border about a foot high had been installed and sand dumped within. Picture a very large sandbox. Then, picture two horses and people taking rides across, around a 50 gallon drum and back. There were a couple of vendors with tack, belts, etc. and lots of people in cowboy hats, boots, black clothing, silver paraphernalia, etc. There was another “booth” with dream catchers and other Native American items. There was even a “moon walk” kind of thing with inflated saguaros on the sides! We couldn’t believe it. We had come to the Netherlands… and found Texas!
On the other side of the square was a raised platform and, hold on to your hat, a multi-talented guy was playing, not at the same time, a variety of instruments – flute, guitar, and a few I don’t recall – to recorded music while… dozens of people were line dancing!!!! I am NOT kidding. Men, women, some very old, one with a cast on her arm, some in “costume,” some holding children. But, they were all line dancing and they knew the dances! One of the songs I recall was Yankee Doodle Dandy. It was so strange! But, they were having a blast!
We wandered around the otherwise quiet town and then, discovering that the restaurants, though open for drinks, weren’t serving dinner for another hour, headed back to Amsterdam. I made my third trip to the Ristorante Pizzeria La Traviata near the Rembrandtplein and we each had a great pizza followed by some of the best tiramisu I’ve ever had in my life! Yes, it’s great fun to eat one’s way through Europe…!
Tomorrow we have to leave to hotel at 7:30 to take the tram and two trains to Den Haag/The Hague! for our appointment at the International Criminal Court. So, I’d best make it an early night. Here are a couple of snapshots -
Riding in the center of Purmerend.
Line dancing in the center of Purmerend.
Good night!
Kari and I met around 1:00 with the hope of going to a sauna, Sauna Deco. We took a nice walk along the Herengracht, but, alas, as today is a Dutch holiday it was closed. We decided to go to Centraal Station and simply see where the next train to a nearby town was headed. We bought tickets for 7,50 euro and hopped the train to Purmerend. We arrived and, as we walked from the station toward the center of town, we saw people walking in the same direction and then, we heard music! Score! We had happened upon something like a small festival in the square. Well, yes, sort of...!
Imagine our surprise when we got closer and saw an area of about 20 yards square where a small border about a foot high had been installed and sand dumped within. Picture a very large sandbox. Then, picture two horses and people taking rides across, around a 50 gallon drum and back. There were a couple of vendors with tack, belts, etc. and lots of people in cowboy hats, boots, black clothing, silver paraphernalia, etc. There was another “booth” with dream catchers and other Native American items. There was even a “moon walk” kind of thing with inflated saguaros on the sides! We couldn’t believe it. We had come to the Netherlands… and found Texas!
On the other side of the square was a raised platform and, hold on to your hat, a multi-talented guy was playing, not at the same time, a variety of instruments – flute, guitar, and a few I don’t recall – to recorded music while… dozens of people were line dancing!!!! I am NOT kidding. Men, women, some very old, one with a cast on her arm, some in “costume,” some holding children. But, they were all line dancing and they knew the dances! One of the songs I recall was Yankee Doodle Dandy. It was so strange! But, they were having a blast!
We wandered around the otherwise quiet town and then, discovering that the restaurants, though open for drinks, weren’t serving dinner for another hour, headed back to Amsterdam. I made my third trip to the Ristorante Pizzeria La Traviata near the Rembrandtplein and we each had a great pizza followed by some of the best tiramisu I’ve ever had in my life! Yes, it’s great fun to eat one’s way through Europe…!
Tomorrow we have to leave to hotel at 7:30 to take the tram and two trains to Den Haag/The Hague! for our appointment at the International Criminal Court. So, I’d best make it an early night. Here are a couple of snapshots -
Riding in the center of Purmerend.
Line dancing in the center of Purmerend.Good night!
04 June 2006
A few snapshots...
This is one of the more residential streets in Aachen, though still in the center of town. I was particularly struck by the "old/new/old" of this stretch of buildings.
This is also Aachen, taken from the steps of the city hall, or Das Rathaus.
I didn't really get any photos in Köln that do justice to the Cathedral and by the time we got to Maastricht the light was fading, but the above is one of the photos I took of a church there.Köln, Aachen, and Maastricht
I’m really tired, but I’ve just got to write this down before another day passes and I begin to forget some of the detail!
On Friday afternoon, as you will know if you’ve been following the class blog, “Amsterdam 2006,” my colleague, Kari, and I picked up our rental car and made a quick – and both fun and productive - visit to Haarlem. After a short night’s sleep, we arose for a 5 am departure on Saturday morning. We were driving to Köln, Germany. We stopped several times hoping to find some fresh bakery goods along the way, but, alas, we did not. So, immediately upon arriving at a very serene Köln, we visited Backerei Merzenich for a quick bite. I had one of the brötchen that I remember so well from my Germany days, along with cheese. Anyone who says you cannot live on cheese and bread is just plain wrong, but that’s a story for another time.
Kari gave me a quick tour of the town, starting at the Köln Cathedral. For some great photos, not taken by me, click here. She showed me several of the 14 churches that one formed, as I understand it, the boundary of the city. Apparently you couldn’t enter the city without coming through a church. We saw the mosaic that had been unearthed and around which the G8 leaders had a meal during the summit in 1999 (I think). She showed me some of the Roman road, ruins of gates, the GLBT info centre, and, of course, we did some shopping.
They were setting up the scaffolding for the large screen “televisions” that will broadcast World Cup events. As you can imagine, as it’s almost impossible to go a block on Amsterdam without seeing “Hup, Holland, Hup” and orange, orange, orange, the presence of the event is even more so in the host nation of Germany. In fact I broke down and got an “official” FIFA/Adidas match ball replica for 5YO and a Dutch “fan flag.” Even when you’re not a football (aka soccer) fan it’s hard not to get interested!
At 11:30 we had lunch with four delightful folks to talk about a possible exchange program. Kari had promised me the best bratwurst in the world so I soon found myself at the Brauhaus Sion sharing a 1/4 metre of bratwurst accompanied by incredible wirsig and bratkartoffeln; that's some kind of kale dish and roasted potatoes. It was fabulous! We had a great time visiting and soon hit the road.
On to the fabulous town of Aachen! We walked, and walked, and walked. I bought some Nobis Printen. It’s like a chewy gingerbread and comes in a variety of types; e.g., chocolate covered, iced, with nuts. Here we also visited a cathedral.
From the web: “Aachen Cathedral suffered relatively little damage in the war. . . . In the gallery of the chapel is the marble throne thought to be Charlemagne's; it was long used for coronations. Charlemagne's tomb is marked by a stone slab over which hangs a bronze chandelier presented by Frederick I Barbarossa in 1168. The cathedral treasury contains examples of fine medieval workmanship and sacred relics (including the supposed swaddling clothes of Jesus, as well as his crucifixion loin cloth) that are displayed to pilgrims every seven years.” For a history buff, this was an incredibly cool place to visit! To imagine that Charlemagne was buried on this very spot in 824…! Wow.
We then visited – on the “Eat Your Way Across Germany tour” - a small eis café with the most amazing ?? – “desserts” doesn’t really do them justice. These were… eis sculptures? They had eis desserts that looked like spaghetti and lasagna; that had many, many fruits and brilliant colors; that were just indescribable. I wanted to buy a menu just to be able to show them to people! We shared a rather simple chocolate sundae and continued on….
A short time later we found ourselves back in the Netherlands, in Maastricht. Although each town had its own charm, I absolutely loved Maastricht. It had (at least) two very large, open plazas surrounded on at least one side by cafes. There were, of course, churches. There were statues, and bridges, and incredible, incredible architecture. And, yes, World Cup mania. Some of the buildings that now house very upscale retailers were built in the 1600s. Although we didn’t plan to visit on a Saturday afternoon, I saw the building that houses the Center for Gender and Diversity at the University of Maastricht. One of the things that was particularly striking about the town was that, as it sits in between Belgium and Germany, but in the Netherlands, there is an interesting mix of languages being spoken, signs, and people. I don’t know when, but I definitely hope to get back to Maastricht sooner rather than later.
We left around 8:30 and made our way back to Amsterdam, arriving around 10:30. Unsure of whether we were too tired to eat or too hungry to go right to sleep, we opted for a walk up to the Leidseplein and a quick visit to Walk to Wok. Of course it was busy, but the line moves quickly. I ordered whole wheat noodles with shrimp and black bean/soya sauce. At 6,90 euro it is quite a deal! We headed back to the hotel, ate while watching a bit of the Jon Stewart Daily Show: Global Edition, and called it a night.
Tomorrow – a report on a quick visit to Zandvoort!
On Friday afternoon, as you will know if you’ve been following the class blog, “Amsterdam 2006,” my colleague, Kari, and I picked up our rental car and made a quick – and both fun and productive - visit to Haarlem. After a short night’s sleep, we arose for a 5 am departure on Saturday morning. We were driving to Köln, Germany. We stopped several times hoping to find some fresh bakery goods along the way, but, alas, we did not. So, immediately upon arriving at a very serene Köln, we visited Backerei Merzenich for a quick bite. I had one of the brötchen that I remember so well from my Germany days, along with cheese. Anyone who says you cannot live on cheese and bread is just plain wrong, but that’s a story for another time.
Kari gave me a quick tour of the town, starting at the Köln Cathedral. For some great photos, not taken by me, click here. She showed me several of the 14 churches that one formed, as I understand it, the boundary of the city. Apparently you couldn’t enter the city without coming through a church. We saw the mosaic that had been unearthed and around which the G8 leaders had a meal during the summit in 1999 (I think). She showed me some of the Roman road, ruins of gates, the GLBT info centre, and, of course, we did some shopping.
They were setting up the scaffolding for the large screen “televisions” that will broadcast World Cup events. As you can imagine, as it’s almost impossible to go a block on Amsterdam without seeing “Hup, Holland, Hup” and orange, orange, orange, the presence of the event is even more so in the host nation of Germany. In fact I broke down and got an “official” FIFA/Adidas match ball replica for 5YO and a Dutch “fan flag.” Even when you’re not a football (aka soccer) fan it’s hard not to get interested!
At 11:30 we had lunch with four delightful folks to talk about a possible exchange program. Kari had promised me the best bratwurst in the world so I soon found myself at the Brauhaus Sion sharing a 1/4 metre of bratwurst accompanied by incredible wirsig and bratkartoffeln; that's some kind of kale dish and roasted potatoes. It was fabulous! We had a great time visiting and soon hit the road.
On to the fabulous town of Aachen! We walked, and walked, and walked. I bought some Nobis Printen. It’s like a chewy gingerbread and comes in a variety of types; e.g., chocolate covered, iced, with nuts. Here we also visited a cathedral.
From the web: “Aachen Cathedral suffered relatively little damage in the war. . . . In the gallery of the chapel is the marble throne thought to be Charlemagne's; it was long used for coronations. Charlemagne's tomb is marked by a stone slab over which hangs a bronze chandelier presented by Frederick I Barbarossa in 1168. The cathedral treasury contains examples of fine medieval workmanship and sacred relics (including the supposed swaddling clothes of Jesus, as well as his crucifixion loin cloth) that are displayed to pilgrims every seven years.” For a history buff, this was an incredibly cool place to visit! To imagine that Charlemagne was buried on this very spot in 824…! Wow.
We then visited – on the “Eat Your Way Across Germany tour” - a small eis café with the most amazing ?? – “desserts” doesn’t really do them justice. These were… eis sculptures? They had eis desserts that looked like spaghetti and lasagna; that had many, many fruits and brilliant colors; that were just indescribable. I wanted to buy a menu just to be able to show them to people! We shared a rather simple chocolate sundae and continued on….
A short time later we found ourselves back in the Netherlands, in Maastricht. Although each town had its own charm, I absolutely loved Maastricht. It had (at least) two very large, open plazas surrounded on at least one side by cafes. There were, of course, churches. There were statues, and bridges, and incredible, incredible architecture. And, yes, World Cup mania. Some of the buildings that now house very upscale retailers were built in the 1600s. Although we didn’t plan to visit on a Saturday afternoon, I saw the building that houses the Center for Gender and Diversity at the University of Maastricht. One of the things that was particularly striking about the town was that, as it sits in between Belgium and Germany, but in the Netherlands, there is an interesting mix of languages being spoken, signs, and people. I don’t know when, but I definitely hope to get back to Maastricht sooner rather than later.
We left around 8:30 and made our way back to Amsterdam, arriving around 10:30. Unsure of whether we were too tired to eat or too hungry to go right to sleep, we opted for a walk up to the Leidseplein and a quick visit to Walk to Wok. Of course it was busy, but the line moves quickly. I ordered whole wheat noodles with shrimp and black bean/soya sauce. At 6,90 euro it is quite a deal! We headed back to the hotel, ate while watching a bit of the Jon Stewart Daily Show: Global Edition, and called it a night.
Tomorrow – a report on a quick visit to Zandvoort!
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