Just a quick post to say Happy 2 year Netherlands anniversary to us! This past Friday marked the occasion, and what a better way to celebrate than to do a little exploring in Groningen.
My aunt and uncle, who we visited in London, were in town this weekend so we finally got around to checking off some of those “we really should do that” kind of things.
First stop, back to Humphrey’s where we went for our one year Netherversary! Unfortunatley for Humphrey’s (because I know they are concerned), I think it’s officially lost its Netherversary restaurant status. It was shown up on Saturday night by this Italian restaurant, Gustatio. Shane and I aren’t huge pasta eaters, but this place made me want to eat pasta all the time. We won’t wait a year to go back!
Anyway, Saturday we took my aunt and uncle around Groningen. They were able to see things like our awesome Saturday market, the 400 year old university buildings in city center, and their completly opposite counterparts out at the Zernike campus where Shane works. Also, we FINALLY went in the Martini Church!
We’ve talked about the Martini Toren (tower) before, which is the main tower in city center. Behind this is the Martini Kerk (church). We were able to pop in and finally see it, and it was well worth the quick trip. We literally walk by this church once a week if not more, so I’m proud we finally did it!
We also made a stop in the Prinsenhof Gardens. This garden is connected to probably the nicest hotel in the city. The gardens are open to the public, and something else we walk past all the time, so we took a stroll.
Overall, the weather was great, the company was fantastic, and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer visit! We had a lot of fun showing off our little city.
Shane heads to Switzerland in June for a week long course. Until then, we will be enjoying the long days, sunshine and warm weather while we’ve got it!
As you can probably derive from the title, we went to London!
We had a 4 day weekend here in The Netherlands, so we decided to take advantage and hop one of Groningen’s daily flights over to London to visit my aunt & uncle and explore the city!
…. and explore the city we did! I’ll break this up into days, because thanks to my Aunt Ann, aka: the ultimate London tour guide, we saw (and learned) a lot! Let’s begin.
London 101, Day 1: Lots. of. Walking.
And that’s not a bad thing! You might have noticed this from other posts, but just wandering around a place is one of our favorite ways to get to know it. And what a better way to start the day then with a walking tour!
We did a fantastic walking tour of “The City” with a company called London Walks. In case you’re like me and have no idea what “The City” of London is (I mean… aren’t we already in the city??) it’s actually a city within London itself. It’s also referred to as “The Square Mile” because it’s area is a square mile. It’s here where the London that we know today began.
Our tour started at the monument to the great fire of 1666. I vaguely knew that London burned at one point, but I didn’t know that the city (or various part of it) burned over and over and over. Seriously, if something was damaged or no longer around, and someone asked you what happened to it you could just tell them ‘oh, it burned’ and it would probably be true. 1666 was particularly bad, since it wiped out all of London. Hence the name ‘the great fire’.
The rest of the tour walked us through the major highlights of The City. This part of town is known now for a few particular buildings: The Cheese Shredder, The Gherkin, The Walkie Talkie. We saw all of these, as well as a few other spots, learning some history & architecture along the way.
You think you’re going into a church, but really it’s the shell of one that was destroyed in 1941.Leadenhall MarketThis wasn’t from the walk, but you can see the Walkie Talkie building.
After the tour, we refueled with a little lunch, and then headed to the Millennium Bridge (built for the millennium), passing St. Paul’s Cathedral along the way. We only walked by it, but it is such a beautiful place. It’s on our list of ‘must sees’ when we come back.
Shakespear’s GlobeOn the Millennium bridge looking back towards St. Paul’sOn the Millennium Bridge with “The Shard” in the background.Me & my Aunt Ann!
We walked along the south side of the river until we hit our next big stop; the Tower Bridge! Shane and I were particularly excited about this because 1) it’s iconic, and 2) you can walk the upper portion of the bridge where they’ve installed a glass floor.
Naturally, we had to do it. Aunt Ann, being the smart lady that she is, sat this one out. Something about being 42m (138ft) above the Thames with only a piece of glass under her feet didn’t sit too well. And I won’t lie… it was reallllllllllly creepy. I literally tiptoed over the thing. Kids are out there dancing a jig and i’m over here holding the railing like it’s going to save me if the glass breaks. (Which apparently, it has before. Glad I saw this after). Eventually, we warmed up to it and took this fun shot!
I was a little nervous.The view of the glass floors from street level…The Tower Bridge up close!
After the bridge, we hopped on a boat up for a short trip down (up?) the Thames to the London Eye! Shane wasn’t exactly thrilled for this one, but he didn’t have a choice. It was cool, nice views, I enjoyed it but it’s not something I need to do again.
London 101, Day 2: History Day
We woke up on day 2 with (not surprisingly) sore feet from the day before, but ready to go! If you noticed in the pictures, the weather at this point in the trip, and for the remainder of the trip, was absolutely PERFECT. It made up for the sore feet.
Anyway, first stop of the day, The Tower of London!
As one might assume, the Tower Bridge leads to the Tower of London. The original castle, The White Tower, was built in 1078 and now it’s still the official palace and fortress of Queen Elizabeth II. The crown jewels are in the Tower of London, which we saw, and were quite impressive. Go figure, you’re not allowed to take pictures. Anyway, we continued our tour of the tower with this guy!
Who is he you ask? A Yeomen Warder, aka: a Beefeater! And a quite hilarious one at that. These guys are the (now ceremonial) guards of the Tower of London. Back in the day they once watched over prisoners, and generally kept the place safe. Today they still keep the place safe, they actually live there, but with no prisoners. They also lead free tours, which we both highly recommend. We learned about the various murders and executions that once took place there, and saw the chapel (which you can’t do without the tour). It’s in the chapel where Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, was buried after her execution. After the tour, we did a little castle-wall-walking and then we were on to our next adventure!
Admiring the White TowerView from the Wall
Can you guess what this is? heh.
Next stop, Westminster Abbey!
Again, no pictures were allowed inside, but Shane and I were both really excited about this place. Even though it’s just looking at stones and inscriptions, seeing the burial places of people like Charles Darwin, Issac Newton, Jane Austen, & Charles Dickens was a pretty neat experience. Not to mention, the Royal wedding was held here! The free audio guide gave a great highlight tour, but even without it you could stay there for hours just admiring the greatness of things. Well worth the visit.
We topped off the afternoon with a little stroll by the Parliament buildings and St. James’s Park, took a quick look at Buckingham Palace since that’s all you can really do, and then headed home for the day.
St. James’s ParkBuckingham Palace
London 101, Day 3: Hampton Court Palace
Saturday morning, our last full day, the four of us headed out of town to Hampton Court Palace. This has been home to a number of people, but most notably to us was Henry VIII and William of Orange (he’s Dutch!).
Most of the day was spent touring the palace (again, audio guides! Highly recommended). It was quite striking the difference between the part of the palace that was constructed during the Tudor times of Henry VIII vs when William of Orange lived there. By the time Willie moved in to the palace Henry VIII’s choice of decor was soooooo last century. He needed to keep up with those French Jones’ so he redid 3 sides of the palace. Unfortunately for the Dutchie, he didn’t have much money (he invested heavily in wars) so he could only afford to redo 3 sides, and had to opt out of the gold gilded ceilings.
We thought inside the palace was quite spectacular. Even more so, were the gardens. Not to mention it was the warmest day so far & perfectly sunny. We also saw the largest and oldest grape vine. Didn’t take a picture of it, but it was large. And a grape vine. I’m sure you can imagine it.
After spending most of the day in Hampton Court, we headed back into the city with a pit stop at Trafalgar Square before heading home.
We thought inside the palace was quite spectacular. Even more so, were the gardens. Not to mention it was the warmest day so far & perfectly sunny. We also saw the largest and oldest grape vine. Didn’t take a picture of it, but it was large. And a grape vine. I’m sure you can imagine it.
After spending most of the day in Hampton Court, we headed back into the city with a pit stop at Trafalgar Square before heading home.
So! A few take aways from London:
London is an awesome city. You should go there. We forgot how much we missed the hustle and bustle of a big city. And public transportation! I know that seems silly since it’s not like we drive anywhere, but I just really liked using the Tube. And yes, I minded the gap.
Cask Ale is Shane’s new favorite style of beer. I didn’t really talk about this, but of course we had a few pints. One place in particular was part of a ‘go back to real ale’ movement, which means un-carbonated beer. Sounds weird (to me at least), but it was good.
Walking tours are the way of the tourist world! I know we said this to you already, Aunt Ann, but you have made us a believer! We have the bad habit of wandering around and not knowing what we’re looking at. It makes the trip much more meaningful when you actually DO know what you’re looking at! Go figure.
Audio guides…Use them! Again, we usually avoided. Mostly to not be ‘those tourists’. But ya know what? YOLO, and get an audio guide because you’ll actually learn something. And who knows if you’ll ever go back to that place again.
So, we had a fantastic time in London with gracious hosts! And actually, we will get to return the favor and show them around our stomping grounds here in a few weeks! They will make the trip from London to Groningen. But, until then…
I would just like to start by saying {please dont let me jinx it!} we’re heading for spring folks!
Proof you say? I took this picture at 7:15pm. It’s daylight, there is actual visible blue sky, and the wind isn’t blowing (you’ll just have to trust me on that last part). That’s spring in the north of The Netherlands!
Anyway, not much has been going on since our trip to Prague. Mostly a lot of wedding planning, which leads to a lot of budgeting, which leads to a lot of quality time with Meatball. …I don’t think she minds the extra attention.
That being said, we haaaave managed to not be completeeee hermits the past few months.
Non-hermit Activity #1: A Dog Show!
Maybe you remember the friend who has a Great Dane? He made his first blog appearance a while back when he decided Shane’s lap was a perfect place to sit. Anyway, in his free time, he likes to show off his gentlemanly side at dog shows. He happened to be participating in one here in Groningen so we went! Neither Shane nor I have ever been to a dog show, and it was great! Not only did we get to watch this handsome guy compete, but we saw some other cool dudes too.
To top it off, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever was there, and in the ring right next to us! A litte backstory. Just before we found out we were moving to The Netherlands Shane and I were seriously considering getting a dog. I took a bunch… a BUNCH! of online “what type of dog is right for you quizzes” and came up with the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, or a ‘Toller’ for short. Online quiz = I neeeeeeeeeeded this dog! Then we moved, and that was that. Long story short, I was super excited to see them not on the internet.
Tooooooo cuteeeeee! Maybe one day.
Non-hermit Activity #2: Nerd Night!
So, back in February, it was announed that gravitational waves were detected for the first time ever. Not sure what I’m talking about? Here is an article about it. I would attempt to explain it, but let’s be real I’ll do a terrible job.
Back to Nerd Night. I am engaged to a closet physics and space lover. That sounds weird, but he just finished reading Stephen Hawking so I think you get my point. He found out that David Reitze, the director for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) which made the discovery, was speaking at the university.
Bribed with free coffee and a pack of gummy bears, we ventured out on a THURSDAY NIGHT to see the seminar, and I must say, I am THOUROUGHLY glad I am engaged to a nerd! I can’t really begin to explain the lecture. I can say that he was very inspiring, as he is someone who is clearly so passionate about his work. He did an excellent job at presenting a topic that generally pretty mind blowing (at least for me) and putting it in such a way I actually understood and enjoyed my time there!
Non-hermit Activity #3: Jumbo Kitty
Ok, so this isn’t an activity at all, but there is a kitty who just hangs out at the grocery store (Jumbo). He’s too darn cute to pass up. He just sits there in his produce boxes waiting for the pets and for all the suckers to go in, buy cat treats, and feed him on the way out.
Non-hermit Activity #4: Suprise, America!
I went home for Easter! Ok, I really went home for a work trip to Baltimore, but they were kind enough to let me do a stopover at home for the Easter holiday. 2 surprise days at home are better than none! And yes, we still get Easter baskets.
I packed a lot into those few days home. Did a little wedding dress shopping, saw Sissy’s new apartment, & got some quality front porch time. Ironically, it was cold and rainy at home. Shane reported “beautiful” weather… sunshine and 65F (18C) degrees.
The Monday after Easter, I headed up to Baltimore for work & I was able to see Vanessa since I missed her at Christmas, and finally meet Solomon!
Lovely view from my temporary office.
So, that’s life right now! We’re heading to London in about a month & counting down the days!
At the risk of bragging (but, I am), one the best things about living in Europe is our ability to travel with relatively little effort or cost.
Unlike in the US, where the price of most domestic flights make it nearly impossible for a weekend get-away (sure you can catch deals from time to time, but more often than not you are left driving if you really want to travel), Europe and it’s numerous budget airline options gives us an opportunity to minimize travel time. Being that we are already approaching the two year mark (half way!) of our scheduled time in the Netherlands, we really trying to make a concerted effort to use such travel ability – besides, how many times can you say that your weekend away was in another country? <- I mean this for those of you living in the US (aka 99.9% of the people reading this). So, with that in mind, on to our latest adventure.
Picture if you will, a grey, overcast, rainy day in the north of the Netherlands. It’s a Sunday morning. Whitney has just gotten out of bed, made some coffee, and has sat down at the computer for what I assume is some mindless playing on the internet. Little do I know, she has a plan. For whatever reason, she had it in her mind that on this particular Sunday morning, she wanted to travel. Not necessarily on that day, but she had the travel bug. The result? Before her coffee had even cooled enough to drink, we had a trip planned over Valentines Day weekend to go to Prague. Why Prague you ask? It was a cheap option and someplace we had never been. So, that brings us to the present and last weekend when, after a crazy week of work for the both of us, we hopped a train early Friday afternoon, went to Amsterdam, and then had a short flight over to the Czech Republic.
I should also preface this by saying that we went on this trip with absolutely no plan. With work being so busy, we had given this trip no thought, and knew only two things about Prague: 1) there was a big castle and famous bridge we should see and 2) the Czech Republic is apparently quite well known for it’s beer. Sounds like a weekend plan, right? However, I must also admit that this is the way we like to travel. What better way to experience a new country/city than to just wander around for an entire weekend, seeing what you happen to find along the way? Sure sites like Trip advisor and Yelp are useful, but we prefer to make our own discoveries.
Day 1 – Friday night:
By the time we got to Prague and found our hotel, it was already dark. Nonetheless, we dropped our bags and headed out to explore. Conveniently enough (thanks to Whitney’s planning), our hotel was only a few minutes walk from Old Town Square and the Prague astronomical clock (which, during the day is extremely crowded – I highly suggest seeing it at night).
After some local cuisine, we called it a night. Lots to see on Saturday!
Day 2 – Saturday:
Saturday morning started off by revisiting Old Town Square (this time with our new GoPro camera so we could get panoramic pictures….you will be seeing a lot of these from now on).
Notice the gold plate and line on the ground in the picture of Whitney? Well, to be honest, we didn’t see it until we got home and looked at the pictures. Turns out this is the Prague Meridian:
“From 1650-1918, a large column, one of the oldest columns in Europe, stood in the square. Every day at twelve noon it would cast its shadow on a certain section of the square. This was the meridian used to verify the exact solar time. The column is gone now and so is its shadow. But you can still see in the paving of the square where the noon shadow was cast” (http://www.pragueczechtravel.com/prague-tips/prague-old-town-square.php)
This is one thing to keep in mind about Prague: it’s a very old city with a long, sometimes complicated history – something we were very ignorant of before traveling there. Luckily, it’s infrastructure was spared during World War II but it was still under Nazi occupation. In fact, it was under communist rule until the 1980’s.
Next it was off to find the Charles Bridge. Spoiler alert: we found it! And it was beautiful (as was Prague in general). We were on the bridge fairly early in the morning, and as such, it wasn’t very crowded. However, we saw it again later in the day and it was packed! Travel suggestion: go early to see the bridge, it’s worth it. Additional fun fact: the bridge first opened in 1402!
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After the bridge, we simply wandered. Mostly in an uphill direction (elevation? we don’t have that in the Netherlands!).
We eventually made it the Prague Castle, which according the Wikipedia is:
“a castle complex…dating from the 9th century and the official residence of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it.”
And here we thought the White House was cool…
Within the castle complex was St. Vitus Cathedral, which was amazingly beautiful. I think the pictures can pretty much speak for themselves.
After leaving the castle complex, we again wandered through the city, this time with no direction in mind. For the rest of the day we simply picked random streets, ate lots of food from street vendors, and stopped whenever something interested us.
One ironic site we came across: the Stalin Monument. As I mentioned previously, there is a history of communist rule so it wasn’t so much of a surprise that there would be a monument related to this. However, what was surprising was that there wasn’t actually a monument. It seems that following the fall of communist rule, the city was purged of all communist relics, which meant Stalin had to go. In it’s place is a large metronome, with a beautiful view overlooking the city. The things you learn…
Day 3 – Sunday:
The one remaining item we had previously heard about was that we had to visit the Old Jewish Cemetery, which is apparently rated as one of the top “must-see” cemetery’s in the world (who know such a list exists?). Being that the cemetery was closed on Saturday (sun down Friday to sun down Saturday is the Sabbath and hence any Jewish related attraction will not be open – good thing we lived in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, PA and now know that!), we decided to visit it Sunday morning before heading to the airport. I honestly never thought I would say a cemetery was worth visiting, but it was. So many graves that they are literally stacked on top of each other, dating back to the 14th century! In this case, the pictures do not do it justice.
Because we were pressed for time, we didn’t have the chance to visit a lot of the buildings related to the cemetery (the Old New Synagogue for example). This is something we definitely want to do when we go back to Prague – yes we are definitely going back to Prague.
And so that’s our Prague adventure. A quick trip, yes, but certainty worth it. Prague is an amazing city and I honestly cannot wait to go back. If you ever have to chance to visit, I highly recommend it. Not only is it full of culture, history, and beauty, it is also (in the words of a fellow American traveler we came across): “like, 100% cheap, for real”. It’s always easy to spot the American…
Shane mentioned in the previous post that we spent some time back in Pittsburgh visiting friends. What he didn’t tell you was that he proposed while we were there!
It’s New Year’s Eve, and he wakes me up at 5:30am. “Get up, let’s go somewhere!”
How did he get me out the door that early with no questions asked?
The promise of coffee and that he wanted to steal a moment for just us in our old city. Logical explanation.
Why did it have to be at 5:30 in the morning?
We may or may not have had a FaceTime date with Meatball at 8am…
Anyway! Off we go, up to Mt. Washington. If you’ve ever been to Pittsburgh then you know why it would be our favorite spot in the city. The view there is incredible. Even in the dark & cold.
Up on Mt. Washington during the day.
A little back story. We basically live our lives by the TV show ‘How I Met Your Mother’. It’s the best. In the very first episode, Ted (the main character) steals a blue french horn for Robin as a romantic gesture for screwing up the first date, and the blue french horn remains a theme throughout the entire series.
Shane didn’t screw up any first dates, but he did give me a blue french horn the morning he proposed on top of Mt. Washington. 🙂
And my friends even threw me a mini-bachelorette party (while in North Carolina)!
December 31st was full of reasons to celebrate: New Year’s eve itself, the engagement, and my birthday!
Speaking of birthdays…
Special Event #2:
Harry Potter World!
For my 30th my parents and sis surprised me with a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!
Sis and I have only talked about wanting to go since before it opened. I don’t know how many years ago that was but it’s too damn long. But don’t worry.
OUR DREAMS CAME TRUE!
(even though sis missed the ‘we’re making an exaggerated excited face’ memo)
This place is magical.
LITERALLY! (get it?!?!)
We started the day in Hogsmeade where we sipped butter beer, toured Hogwarts & checked out the shops. The Hogwarts ride is probably one of the best rides I’ve ever been on. It’s a blend of roller coaster and 3D. One minute you’re riding your broom around the castle with Harry and Ron, and the next minute you’re zooming down the track escaping a dragon! It’s fantastic.
Naturally, we couldn’t stay in Hogsmeade all day so we hopped the Hogwarts Express to head into London & Diagon Alley.
When we got there, we were in awe!
Diagon Alley did not disappoint. We saw the Daily Prophet, The Weasleys’ Wizard Weezes, Gringots, Knocturn Alley, and ate lunch at The Leaky Cauldron.
THE Leaky Caludron!
Oh, and took a few goblin selfies.
Thanks again, family, for the perfect present!
Well, I think this about sums up our American adventures!
We’re heading to Prague in a few weeks, so stay tuned!
That’s right, after 4 short weeks traveling the eastern half of the United States, we are back in Groningen. We technically made it back two weeks ago, but it’s taken some time to get caught up on sleep/work/day-to-day life. As to be expected, we have lots to share, which means multiple posts. However, for now I’ll keep it simple and just recap the past month (Whitney will follow with more specific and exciting news).
Major stops highlighted: 11 diferent states visited
It all started one cool, dark December day in northeastern Holland. Our story begins in the city of Groningen, in a small, one bedroom apartment just outside of city center. After months of planning, we were finally preparing to head back to the U.S. (the first time in 18 months!). However, not everyone in the Wright/Crosson household was so excited…
Don’t worry, she was well taken care of while we were away!
Our journey began with an early morning drive to Amsterdam, followed by flights to Munich, Germany and then finally on to Charlotte, NC.
Charlotte, here we come!
All told, it is about 24 hours from start to finish. Despite the long trip, we were warmly greeted!
Way too blury, but I guess that’s to be expected in the excitment of seeing family after 1.5 years. Whitney jump-hugging her mom, while mine hurries past.
Now I could continue on in chronoligical order of our entire 4 week trip, but that would take forever! So instead, I’ll categorize, mostly sharing pictures.
First and foremost, we got to spend time with family (the following of which is only a sample – aka when we remembered to take pictures)!
We saw friends (and met new additions)!
We spent time in our old stomping grounds, Pittsburgh!
We spent lots of time driving and thus had many unplanned stops along the way (only one of which we have photographic evidence of)!
Whitney had a birthday (30!)….
….and quickly embraced this new step in life.
And finally, we ended back where we began: Charlotte!
Interesting side note: we’ve always wondered if upgrading seats for long flights is worth it. The verdict? Totally worth it! Sooo much leg room!
So there you have it: 4 weeks of friends and family as told with minimal text and lots of pictures. To say that we enjoyed our time in the U.S. is an understatement. We have been looking forward to it since the day we moved and it did not dissappoint! To all of those that we were unable to see this trip, it’s definitely happening next time! In the meantime, planes also fly this direction….hint hint. We love visitors!
Coming soon: Whitney will follow with a more detailed post of trip specifics.
Looking ahead: 2016 is shaping up to be a fun-filled year. Stay tuned for some new travel adventures and other randomness!
By the time this posts, it will officially be 9 days until Whitney and I are heading home. Crazy right?! It’s hard to believe it has already been 18 months since we moved (and 18 months since we have been home!). Details of our upcoming trip would fill a post itself so I’ll just quickly highlight it at the end. First, I’ll cover what we’ve been up to lately:
Thanksgiving! – only a bit delayed
This will be the case for us the entire time we live outside of the United States and, more specifically, while we live in Groningen. Not only do we have to work on Thanksgiving (go figure, other countries don’t want to celebrate U.S. holidays), but I also have to attend a conference that takes place yearly during the last week of November. This means that, without fail, for the next 2 years (not counting the 2 previous) I have to be away on Thanksgiving. So, we just adjusted a bit and had Thanksgiving the following Saturday. Luckily, we were able to find a turkey (not so easy to do) and somehow managed to get the thing cooked. See, the problem was that we have only a small, counter-top oven and ended up with a 6.1 kg (~13 lbs) turkey. That same 6.1 kg (~13 lbs) turkey also did not fit into our slow cooker. However, after a bit of limb removal, it eventually fit and cooked to perfection! It may have been a few days late but Thanksgiving was a success!
Kerststad (Christmas city)
Last year we went into Germany for a Christmas Market and loved it! So we figured we would keep the tradition alive and visit a Dutch market in the south of the Netherlands. Valkenburg is about as far south in the Netherlands as you can get (more on this in a minute) and during the holidays is aptly known as Kerststad or Christmas city. The city has multiple markets, some of which are in caves, lots of decorations, and a Christmas parade. In summary, Whitney read about this market last year and I haven’t heard the end of it since. So off to Kerststad we go!
Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say that we found Kerststad to be underwhelming. The city itself was beautiful and it was great to see some elevation change (the south of the Netherlands is so different from the north). However, the markets left a lot to be desired. Not only did we have to wait in line and pay entry, but once getting inside we found nothing of interest. In fact, most of the things in the market could be found at any big box store around the world (been to Wal-mart during Christmas time? You know what I mean then…). On top of that, the environment was just not, as Whitney put it, “jolly”. Food choices we extremely limited, there was no Christmas music playing, and there were way too many people crammed into tight spaces. You would think that by saying this I would be inferring that I was disappointed in our trip but that’s not actually the case. Which brings me to the next item…
Drielandenpunt (The three borders)
As I mentioned earlier, Valkenburg is about as far south as you can go in the Netherlands. Because of this, we were close to the borders of Belgium and Germany, which also happens to be the highest point in the Netherlands. Being that we got back early from the markets the night before, we decided Sunday morning would be an ideal time to visit the drielandenpunt. All in all, it was cool – definitely a place we would love to visit again in the summer.
Düsseldorf Christmas market
Since we were so close to the border and we had such a good experience with the German Christmas market last year, we figured it was worth a shot again this year. We hadn’t planned to spend Sunday driving into Germany (this was supposed to be a quick trip) but the Kerststad experience left was wanting more. So, a quick 1.5 hour drive from the highest point in the Netherlands and we were in Düsseldorf, Germany. From the very beginning, we were impressed. First off, what little we were able to see of the city was great. It’s definitely a place we want to visit again. As for the Christmas markets, they were just what we were looking for. Lots of handmade, quality items, Christmas music everywhere, any food option you can think of (and many you can’t!), and gluhwein at every turn (which probably contributes to the jolly atmosphere). We also never waited in line and paid only to park our car. If you ask me, German Christmas markets are the way to go. We will definitely be going back next year.
It’s comically hard to take a picture without people taking center stage…
And…home!
I’m going to need everyone to click here before proceeding. Just let in play in the background…
So that’s it! We are officially out of stories/pictures/experiences. All that is left is for us to work a few more days then we are on our way! We will officially be in the United States December 20 – January 17. However, our exact location in the U.S. is a bit complicated. We have a packed schedule and will be in numerous different states and often not together. However, we still want to see as many of you as possible, if only for a quick bite to eat or cup of coffee. Have all your smiling faces ready because everyone we see will be featured in a January recap of the trip home!
I normally say “Until next time”, however I don’t feel that is appropriate this time. So instead, I’ll end with:
In less than a month we’ll be making our way home for the holidays! To kick it off, this weekend was a weekend of celebrations! Shane turned 30, Sinterklaas arrived, and we took a little stroll through the Groningen countryside. So, the last part really isn’t a celebration but we did it, and it was cool.
First things first, Friday. Shane’s Birthday!
We kept it pretty low key, but we did go out for dinner & may or may not have eaten the entire cookie cake by the next morning.
We also took the long way home through the city. It’s that time of year when all the lights have gone up, and the city itself just feels so cozy despite the dark and cold. The Dutch word for this would be ‘gezellig’. Just that happy, warm, cozy feeling you can’t really describe, but you know it when you feel it. There was also a festival to celebrate and encourage new, city wide innovations. Part of this was a musical swing set in city center! I’m not entirely sure what the meaning behind the swings were, but they were fun to play on!
Saturday we* woke up bright and early like a kid on Sinterklaas morning! OH WAIT! It WAS Sinterklaas morning!
*we actually equals me.
Anyway, maybe you don’t know this about me, but I LOVE parades. Sinterklaas is a double whammy of awesome because it’s two parades in one! First, good ole Sint arrives from his long journey by boat from Spain. Then, he hops off and parades through town on his white horse until he meets up with the mayor to officially kick everything off. If you want a little recap on Sinterklass history I talked a little about it, here, last year.
I was particularly excited because Shane was in Switzerland last year during this time. This was his first Sinterklaas experience.
Naturally, it rained.
Did we bring an umbrella? …I’ll let you answer that.
We did manage to find a tree next to the canal which provided enough cover to not get 100% soaked. We also met up with Shane’s lab mate (the one with the giant dog!) who was also a Sinterklaas newbie.
I think the thing Shane was most impressed with was the size of Sinterklaas’ boat. Seriously, this thing was massive and it moved flawlessly (to us at least) through the canals.
Quick coffee break to dry off and warm up…
…and it’s time for part 2!
Sinterklaas’ helpers, the Zwarte Pieten, hand out fruit and pepernoten (small spice cookies) to the kids. They also collect the letters that have been written to Sinterklaas. There were some kids across the street from us are dressed up, letters in hand, screaming “Zwarte Pieeeeeeetttttt!!!”, waiting for someone to collect their letters.
Note to self: Next year, write a letter.
Sunday morning, it randomly snowed.
But then it cleared up, and we went on a little drive through the countryside with some friends. They took us to Fraeylemaborg, which is a castle in the village of Schlocteren.
They call it a castle. We called it more of a plantation style house. Although, it did have a mote which is a very castle like characteristic.
Regardless, the house itself dates back to the 1300’s, and the interior reflects the mid 20th century. We were pretty amazed at how similar this was to the old, colonial style houses you would see at home. I mean really, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it was a new perspective for us. The house was built on about 80 acres of land, and behind the house were walking trails through mud gardens.
Now if this doesn’t make you think Pride & Prejudice then I don’t know what will. I’m pretty sure Mr. Darcey will be walking up momentarily…
To all our friends and family at home, happy early Thanksgiving! We will be having a belated Friendsgiving on Saturday, so at least the holiday won’t be completely lost this year.
The Shwits 