A Netherlands riddle for you

What’s black and blue and has 16 legs?

Give up?

My suitcase! …with ALL my pants. …that the airline lost.

Awesome.

Well, we are finally here! Three flights, two long layovers, and a two-hour train ride later we are finally in the city we will call home for the next four years. Considering we checked six pieces of luggage and only lost one, things aren’t so bad. The airline has already found it, and it should be delivered by Friday.

Groningen (pronounced with a hard ‘H’ at the beginning, in a harsh German kind of way) greeted us with “below normal temperatures” and steady rain, but we live above the CUTEST flower shop and that makes me happy! Our apartment is about a 10 minute walk to city center which has all the shops and restaurants, and when the listing said ‘fully furnished’ they meant it. We expected the couches, desk, and coffee table, but we didn’t expect a high efficiency washer and dryer, a king sized bed, and full set of dishes/kitchen utensils. Did I mention it’s above a flower shop?

Today, our first full day here, we took care of all the boring stuff: bank accounts, cell phones, etc. We did find a neat little breakfast place with great iced coffee! That’s one thing we will never be without here. Coffee. Strong coffee. I’m not complaining.

Tomorrow is Ascension Day (the 40th day of Easter?) so everything is closed. However, it’s supposed to be warm and sunny so we plan on just walking the city and exploring a little. City pictures to come soon!

Tot ziens! (Goodbye, in Dutch!)

Whitney