Early mornings and I. We used to get on relatively well in the past, but on the back end of the past few years, I have slowly weakened to the pressure of comfort under the sheets! Alas, Dijk, my bike (or, seeing as I'm so Dutch these days, my bijk) had plans for me, which involved pedalling over far too many bridges for that time of the morning, and finding myself a streetside cafe for breakfast that didn't involve Magic Mushroom Omelette and Hash Browns that consisted of a little less Hash and a little more Browns!
Having nourished my gurgling stomach, before having to take Dijk back to his home, I took myself on a ride to the outer city limits and found some beautiful canals, flowers everywhere, with houseboats moored to the walls. A hippies dream come true, these floating homes would provide any nautical-slash-natural enthusiast with a palace to be proud of. I can't be sure of the plumbing system, though. I can't be certain that ones Number Two's dont flow directly into the murky water beneath. What I do know, is I probably wouldn't take myself swimming in these said waters.
Wanting to see a bit more of Holland than what Central Amsterdam could provide, I booked myself on a halfday tour to the Nether Regions of the Netherlands. Heading to the province of North Holland, we strolled around the historic fishervillage of Marken. Originally an island in the middle of the sea, the canny Dutch built a Dijk (a real one this time, and not my good bicyclical friend) and closed off the sea to form a freshwater lake, and built a road to Marken, to make it more a peninsula, than your isle of yesteryear. All of the houses were built in the 18th Century, and with not a level wall in sight, it was interesting to see the traditional homes and gardens with people living in them the way they most probably didn't back in the day.
A halfhour boat journey over to Volendam, on the opposite side of the lake and here, again, we ambled about the meandering alleys and lanes, taking in what the Dutch-folk had to offer in their highly commercialised tourist village. Here though, my biggest concern was finding postage stamps, which apparently, is a lot easier said than done. With my postal needs finally satisfied, I was happily able to rest easy and continue on my way. Next stop: WINDMILL!
Only seeing one windmill while I was in Holland was a little bit disappointing, but if the truth be told, once I had seen it, I can probably safely say that the others around the place will most likely have looked pretty similar! Used to help pump water out of the land and back to sea, they are actually more functional than the decoration that I thought they had now become. With most of the country nearly 2 metres below sea level, they still use the mills to try to balance their water issues. I also have a sneaky suspicion that electric pumps might also be in use, but probably not quite so high on the touristic agenda!
Clogs and Cheese were up next, which funnily enough were both produced at the same place! The old wooden shoe of days gone are still produced, and more surprisingly, still worn by farmers. Evidently they are very waterproof. As are gumboots, but lets not go there... The home of Edam and Gouda Cheese, I was in dairy heaven as the curds and whey produced the most divine selection of cheeses, which of course I had to sample.
After a few frantic SMS's, phonecalls and itinerary changes, the next morning saw Adrian (who was still back in Dubai) pulled out from standby for a flight to Hamburg in Germany. Seeing as I still had several days before I had to be back in Dubai for work myself, I organised a staff ticket on KLM from Amsterdam to Hamburg, to meet up with Adrian to enjoy his layover with him. HAM is one of our favourite destinations, and to both have the unexpected oppotunity to be there together was so nice. Lots of Weißbeir and a gourmet Pork Steak, a lovely bottle of Champagne, and a surprising incident with an alkoholfrei beir, we were very content and happy with the end to a wonderful European mini-break.
Next up, I have 6 days in New York, on a work trip... Shannigans aplenty, I can already hear my Manhattan toilet bowl screaming as I resurrect the night before's beverages for a 'second tasting'. No promises, but I certainly have lots of plans for my week ahead in the Big Apple!
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