back on english soil

---

Hi all,

Ok, will try to keep this one brief after last entries mamoth effort.

I was up to Brussells. Spent the friday (Chez went to work) walking around the shops and speaking to my parents. It was actually really nice to have no plans for the day. And of course nice to speak to my parents whom I hadn't really talked properly to for about a month. Chez got back at about 5pm, so we grabbed our stuff, and headed for the train station. We had bought tickets on the previous day, so knew we could just jump on any train that was heading to Rotterdam, our next stop, in the Netherlands. We arrived there about 6.30pm (from memory), met Chez's friends Suus and Ellen, had dinner (nice to have a home cooked meal from a kitchen we could see), and then headed out for some drinks (it was friday after all!). We headed to this crazy salsa bar (we just missed the salsa lessons), and had a few drinks, and met some of Suus's friends from work. It never ceases to amaze me how well they all speak english! I felt quite rude expecting everyone to speak like me, but noone really has any problem understanding, mostly because of their television. In europe, only 4 languages (that we discovered) actually dub english programs, and that is French (of course), Spanish, Italian and German. So on the television stations in those countries that don't use those languages as their national language, most english programs are subtitled. Hence, most of the people in these countries understand, if not converse in english, so it makes things much easier for us! Its quite cute tho, cos most of the accents are quite american, as most of the programs they get are from the States.

So, back to the travel story.

We finished at the bar about 1am totally exhausted. Still suffering from trip 'jet lag' I think. Went to sleep on Suus's floor. Much more comfortable than it sounds! Woke up the next morning (saturday 28th october already!), had a massive breakfast (bread, cheese, hagelslag (kind of like choc sprinkles that go on bread) and headed out to see the city. We walked around the harbour (the bit near Suus's house) and went to another bar/cafe for afternoon tea (had hot chocolate and Dudok apple pie. Dudok apple pie deserves a particular mention, its the best pie I've ever had. They serve it cold in the Netherlands, which was a surprise, but I don't really mind how apple pie comes! I'm not fussy! So ate the pie, found some shops, then headed to the local supermarket to get some things for dinner. Had a nice quite dinner in, and watched some DVD's (very girly, lots of Hugh Grant) and ate these little ginger biscuits which are really addictive. Slept really well again.

Off on sunday morning to see another of Chez's friends, Ellen, play soccer in nearby Den Haag (also known as The Hague). We had to run to the train (it was nice to run, even if only for about 40 secs ;p). Only takes 40 mins on the train to get there, so really easy. Saw her play soccer (they won), then back to Ellen's place for lunch. We then walked down to the beach. Well, maybe not down, as the netherlands is basically flat, but you know what I mean! The beach actually had sand, so that was a nice change, and walked down to the area with the cafes. Had another hot chocolate (my second for the day), and then walked back to Ellens. Hung around, then she drove us into town (the other cafe area further up the beach) and we had dinner at an Italian pizza place (finally had marinara pizza, so lots and lots of seafood which was nice). Then onto another bar called Crazy Pianos. This place was totally my sort of bar. Two baby grand pianos and a drum kit. Giant bar, and lots of seating areas. Then, two pairs of guys rotate playing and having a drink. These guys will play requests (in English which is great) for €5 a song, and pretty much play anything. They remember the majority of the words, and play without music. Amazing. One of the guys sounded exactly like Billy Joel. Had the best time! Then back to the train station and back to Rotterdam on the train. Arrived back just before midnight.

Slept in on monday morning. Didn't really do much, just hung around, chatted to people on msn and caught up on the blog. Headed out to see the sights of Rotterdam at lunch time. Saw the Euromast (kind of like Telstra Tower in Canberra/Centre Point tower in Sydney). Had lunch in the panoramic restaurant (really good food), then up to the viewing platform. Very cool, you can really get a sense of how big the harbour is there. Its pretty much the only area of the Netherlands that got bombed in the war. Then back to the supermarket, picked up some stuff of dinner, and some food to send home (the ginger biscuits and hagelslag). Chez and I cooked stirfry so it was nice to have a kitchen for the first time in about 2 months. Again with the girly movies.

Tuesday Suus took the day off work, and we headed out to see 'rural' Holland. Took the train to Amsterdam, then a bus to Vollendam and Marken. Up the coast from Amsterdam (I think), and this really cute little town (very touristy) Volendam. We walked out to the harbour and I had this overwhelming sense of being there before. It turns out I had as a kid! Still, it was very cool. Had lunch (traditional food, pea soup and bread, tea, and apple pie (of course)), then down to get a corny photo of us in traditional costume (cute), and then shopped. Took the ferry out to Marken, this land was retaken (very well done by the dutch), which is also a very cute (but touristy again) town. Then took the bus back to town. The weather was absolutely shocking (sleet, wind, freezing), but had a really good time. Oh, and ate proffejers (I think thats how you spell it, its pronounced poffejers), dutch pancakes. Really yummy! Then back to Rotterdam. We had take out asian (I have no idea what sort) and then headed to this Irish pub (yes, I know, they are EVERYWHERE) for a trivia night! Very cool! Chez and I were discussing whether or not we thought there would be an Australian question, and the first question of the night was which country is Mount Panorama in? YAY! We ended up coming 9th out of 12, and only 12 points behind the winning team, so for a male orientated game, with 5 girls, we did very well.

Wednesday, we didn't really do much. Packed up our stuff and sat around. Went out and bought some presents for Ellen and Suus to say thanks for staying with them, and then cooked dinner again for Ellen and Suus. Spagetti Bol. So that was nice. Then Ellen drove us back to her place, where we again exploded with all of our stuff on the floor. Crashed rather late. Thursday we did the Den Haag experience. Had an easy morning, talked to the family, watched Chicago (although I fell asleep), and then headed out to do the tourist stuff. Went to the city, had lunch, and then headed over to the houses of Parliament (the Netherlands is apparently the only country where the government buildings aren't in the capital), but we missed the last tour, so headed to the Escher museum. That was totally worth going to. Escher is the guy who does the black and white perception drawings (like the hands drawing eachother). Really interesting, and we bought lots of stuff in the gift shop. Again, the weather was against us, it hailed and rained and was generally freezing. Once we finished at Escher, we met up with Suus and headed back on the train to Ellens, had dinner at her place (a really great 'casserole' I'd guess you'd call it with mince, mashed potato, pickled red cabbage and apple, and its much better than it sounds), and then went to bed.

Friday, we headed off from Ellens and went to Amsterdam. We arrived at our hotel (all the hostels were booked out) at about 1.30pm, and checked in, caught the train into town, had some lunch, and went to the Reichs museum. Also really interesting. Then grabbed some stuff for dinner from the supermarket, and went back to the hotel to eat in front of the TV . We had smoked salmon. Its so cheap!

We had to be in Amsterdam on friday to fly out on saturday morning to Manchester. We flew out, and for the first time had to pay excess on baggage. We were quite annoyed, as we have never had to before and the flight was only half full. Thats what you get for paying less. In 1.5hrs we were back on English soil. No problems getting through security this time. Chez's friend Hannah picked us up from the airport, and drove us back to her place, a little village just outside of Manchester. She dropped us into the city and went to get her hair done, and we had lunch (really good steak and ale pie) and wandered around. Saw the gorgeous cathedral, and the town hall. Then we met up with her mum (who is fantastic) and had a coffee, drove back to her place, and got all rugged up to go to bonfire night. A long time ago (some time in the 18th century I think), Guy Faulks tried to blow up Westminster, and so they have an annual bonfire on the anniversary. Cool to go out to one of the villages and watch the fire works and the bonfire. Didn't try black peas, but did have a sausage, so just like being at home. Then back to her place, and we drove out to a local bar to meet some of her friends. We ended up at this bar in Manchester called Tiger Tiger for a few drinks, and left about 1am.

Next day had a nice easy morning, then off to the village that Hannah grew up in for lunch. Saw her home where she grew up, and her mum came and had lunch with us again. Nice local pub, everyone knows eachother, its a really great community! Then back to Hannahs to pack (again), then we got a lift to London with Hannah. Got stuck on the motorway (no ones does motorways like the English!), and then took us forever on the tube to get to Kew Gardens, so didn't arrive til 11.45pm at Rachel and Pauls. Stupid tube. Crashed and burned!

Monday we got up, well, not really early at all. We headed out after breakfast to Victoria and Albert museum. That was fantastic! There was lots of cool stuff, and we did a quick walking tour with a guide. Saw lots of cool items, including a trumpet that was knitted with a piece of silver covered with red laquer (I think), and it was made by an Australian! Cool! Then, after lunch (which we bought from Tescos and ate in the courtyard of V&A), onto HARRODS! We bought so much stuff! Almost done for shopping though. Then back to drop off our stuff, then out again to meet Cassie from the tour for dinner. We got on the wrong train, and instead of taking us only about 15mins, it took an hour, so we felt stupid. Really nice dinner, then back to bed.

Tuesday we headed out nice and early to Leicester Square to buy tickets for Wicked the Musical. Got quite good seats, so we were very happy! Then back on the tube to the Tate Britain. We were pretty galleried out after 2 months, so we weren't really up to it. Lots of kids, so that was cute to watch. Then back to Covent Garden for lunch (at an Australian pub, which is what you have to do if your an Australian in London). We also shopped (of course!). Lots of cool stuff there, but its getting very overpriced. Then onto Hamley's, the worlds biggest toy story in the world (I think), so that was fun. Bought my last few presents, so it was nice to finish that off. Then back down to Victoria (where Wicked was), had some dinner (which we weren't really hungry for, so it was very small), and then onto the show! Bought a t-shirt, cd and a program! And it was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Standing ovation and everything. We saw Adam Garcia (of Coyote Ugly fame) on stage (OMG he is gorgeous), and one of the leading ladies was also Australian. The lead who played the wicked witch of the west was american, and she was totally mesmerising. Did I saw it was fantastic already?!?

Wednesdaywas Chez's last day, so we headed out to do a few last minute things before loading her onto the plane. We packed up our stuff (and I also packed some stuff in case she had an extra baggage space), then headed out to Portabello Road, Notting Hill (and no, there is no Blue door), for a quick walk. Didn't buy anything (for once!), then back to Kew Gardens, to pick up Chez's stuff. Left about 2pm for the airport. Had a coffee when we arrived, and I left with all of my stuff after saying good bye as she already had her weight limit. Lets just say, I'm screwed. Back on the tube all by myself for the first time, so that was fun. Got back, had dinner with Rachel and Paul, then went to movies with them to see 'Borat', the new Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G) film. It was quite funny, with some not so funny bits, but overall, I did laugh out loud.

Today (thursday), I basically have done nothing. So its been nice to have the space to do nothing! So will keep you updated, and sorry its again so long!

---

Photos

the gang
Sad to say goodbye, but here they are!

the north sea
Too cold for swimming, but nice walk anyway.

friendly dutch
Even friendly when made of stone!

Comments

[Claire]

Helloooo!
Hey! Sounds like you are having an awesome time over there!!! YAY!!!!! I want Adam Garcia, he is totally hot. Things are good here, working, going to lots of BBQ's/dinners. Talk soon, Love Claire xoxo