Hotel de Utrechtsche Dom Gouda

... Just goes to show how nice people can be! Whoever you are I thank you greatly!

We arrived at the B&B and found a small converted house owned by a young couple. They were extremely accommodating and our room was cozy and comfortable. In the morning we got breakfast served in our room and boy was it the best Breakfast I’ve had in awhile. Bread and cheese, pancakes, eggs, yogurt, fruit. Coffee ...

... I saw what I can only assume was a spare block being used as the base for a plantpot!

Gone a bit nuts with the photos here too, enjoy!!

PS. Don't know what the temperature was here yesterday, but it was mega-hot! I was boiling in my jeans, so ended up having to fold them up my leg - I didn't care, as I was boiling!

... Dutch shop/keepers like to have large signs in the shape of models outside their shops. The kids wanted their picture taken with a six foot fish, while Nick tried to disown us. Then Nick got into the spirit of the thing and had his picture taken with a large troll. We stopped for a coffee at the Stroopwaffel Bakkerij. Usually, you can see the stroopwaffels being made, but this week the baker was on holiday, so we had to make do with ...

... is extensive. She knows her stuff. It was very cool to go through the museum with her and our new friend, Elizabeth Marsh, a middle school teacher in Rotterdam that came to speak with Elaine about the experience of teaching the Holocaust in the Netherlands. The town of Amsterdam was beutiful yesterday. A gorgeous day to walk through countless historical, tree-lined, and people packed streets. We searched out a bunch of places we want to ...

... with a few of my fellow ex-guiney pigs to celebrate the fact that we are allowed to eat chocolate and drink coffee/tea again! These things were forbidden during the test period. What do we do when staying intern at this place? Lots really: Internet, games, watching tv, talk, sleep, feels just like a holiday camp but then in a hospital environment, with a name tag and IV-tube in your arm ;-))) Also had my 3rd hynotic session a while ago. Difficult to explains how it ...

Travel day. We left about 8:30 PM, checked in, passed through security and then waited a while. We wonder how Roel will travel, but are optimistic that he will be fine. I've never seen a happier baby. We travel with Air Transat, and while I hear some people say they are never comfortable on their jets, I find them comfortable and the crew friendly and helpful. We slept some on the way there, and watch some tv ...

... Mr. Hyde is based upon. Upstanding citizen and man of God and a murderer and sinister figure at night. It makes me wonder if the strong calvanist theology that flowed from this city has something to do with the duality that seems to be present. I have had a great time getting to know another culture and language, but am really ready to get to Africa! I'll write again when I have access. Enjoying HIM, Mark

Nog een paar dagen en we vertrekken richting Ecuador. Via deze weblog willen wij jullie op de hoogte houden van onze belevenissen. We zijn zo vrij geweest jullie mailadressen op te nemen, zodat jullie elke keer een mailtje krijgen als wij wat hebben toegevoegd. Als je daar niet op zit te wachten kun je je zelf uit de lijst halen. Vanuit dit koude regenachtige kikkerlandje ...

... We didn't particularly enjoy the attraction but did buy lots of tasty cheese and strolled through the much more pleasant surrounding streets. From there we were back on the train (note that there's a fair amount of walking to and from the train stations alone!) and off to Zaanse Schans we went. The first thing you notice stepping out from the train tunnel there is the delicious smell of chocolate in the breeze! There is a chocolate factory nearby that ...

... We began to discuss our course of action once we returned to the States. We talked about the sadness of leaving to go back. And then we went to a traditional Indonesian dinner and ordered a rijsttafel. To the colonizer go great ethnic cuisines of the colonizee. For the Dutch, this means great Indonesian food. Our waiter was the most polite man I have ever seen in the entire world. He deliberately placed dish after dish in a line across our table, and we joyfully tasted each exotic ...