OK, one more huge post and then I’ll try to settle into updating more regularly and in bite-sized chunks. These are the other pictures I’ve taken since I arrived here Aug 31 (and note that on 21 Nov, I added some more).
Fraser adjusting to his new house the day after I arrive.
Originally we had planned to move to Leiden, a university town 15 minutes from the Hague. It is a cute place, but when we visited it we decided we didn’t want to live there. Too much of a student vibe. We decided to stay in Utrecht. But this is Leiden.
In mid-September I had three friends visit from overseas in 5 days. PR came first – she arrived Saturday morning (the 15th) and stayed through Sunday evening. She and I spent Saturday afternoon getting to know Utrecht, wandering around old centre. Here’s the Oudegracht.
And the Dom Tower.
And a windmill in town (photo by PR).
On Sunday PR, Ivo and I went on a bike trip – quintessential Dutchness. Speaking of which, here’s Ivo giving PR a lift to the bike rental place.
And Ivo and I riding along a canal (photo by PR).
Stopping to figure out where we are and where we’re going (photo by PR).
The predominant scenery – flat, flat fields of black and white cows (photo by PR).
And the cows (photo by PR).
Our destination, the Kasteel de Haar. It was built in 1391 and then fell into ruin before being restored in the 1800s – the restoration even included moving the nearby village.
The moat.
Me parking my bike in the bike parking lot.
If you look really carefully you can see me and Ivo in front of the doors.
Me and PR, a little closer in.
The castle gardens.
Riding home – Ivo reading the map while riding with PR close behind him.
Ivo and PR.
PR in a very Dutch scene.
Side view of me riding (photo by PR).
Front view of me riding (photo by PR).
After the ride we fetched her luggage and took her to the train station to begin her 4 hour journey to Paris. Being the great hosts that we are, we even helped her on the train with her luggage. But we cut things a little too fine and just missed getting off the train in time. Luckily the first leg was an intercity to Rotterdam, with a stop in Gouda, a mere 20 minutes away. Ivo went and found the conductor and explained the situation and was told to come back and wait for him to make his rounds. Luckily when he did so, he was quite nice and didn’t make us pay for the ticket, let alone fine us €45 each, which would have been his right. He even told us to not bother paying for the ride back from Gouda and to tell the other conductor he’d OK’d it. Luckily we didn’t get checked on that leg because the conductor was on the other half of the train so we didn’t have to test whether that would work. Here we are on the train (photo by PR).
A few hours later we were back at the train station picking up PC. After class on Monday afternoon she and I had pannenkoeken along the Oudegracht.
And then went wandering through the centre. PC tried a new look.
We got up close and personal with the Dom.
Checked out a statue on the Dom Plein (square).
Even went in the Dom.
Tried to go into the cloister gardens, but were denied.
Walked along the Oudegracht.
Checked out an eating set that I may just have to get later (or not).
On Tuesday afternoon we shopped some more, this time for shoes (no pics) but were unsuccessful. Tuesday evening we saw her off on the train to her conference in Nordwijk. This time we didn’t get on the train.
Wednesday morning Ivo and I had to go first to the Gemeentehuis (town hall) to get me formally registered in Utrecht and to submit the residence permit application to Immigration. Being registered in the municipality is an essential part of Dutch life – municipalities are the primary provider of government services – you even get your passport there – and you have to have a legal residence to be able to do anything else. This is me as a registered inhabitant of Utrecht.
Then Ivo went to work and I went up to Amsterdam to spend the my day off school with NAH and her friend, in town for the day, and BG, who lives there. The busy streets of Amsterdam.
We took a canal cruise – a first for me and probably a million and twelfth for BG. For me part of the fun was trying to see if I could understand the Dutch of the recorded tour by checking it against the English. I did pretty well.
More water sights.
Bridges to infinity.
NAH and BG.
Old boat and new venue.
Bridge with bikes and tower.
Thinking of my sister Miranda.
Hanging out on the streets of Amsterdam.
Hanging out with the statues which bring the Night Watch painting to life.
The entire scene.
And the famous wooden shoe boat (probably not what Winken and Blinken and Nod sailed off in one night).
Once that busy time was over, life settled down some – school, trying to find a new place to live in Utrecht, and of course the cats, Fraser and Mackenzie, now fully used to being here.
Mackenzie cleaning Fraser.
Me along the Oudegracht on October 6.
A close up shot of the Belly.
And of me.
Sometime around this time we decided that we would move to The Hague, where Ivo works. The hour-long commute in each direction was getting to him, making his time away from home reach 12 hours daily. And, since I’m not going to be working for the next year, it just makes sense for us to try living there, at least for the next year. We’re looking to move in January, after the baby comes. So, I started checking out areas to live in The Hague. I decided this area was nice, but a bit too suburban for us.
But it did have a nice quaint shopping area (Oud Rijswijk).
Oud Rijswijk.
More Oud Rijswijk, where it starts morphing back into modernity.
On November 2 was the last day of my Dutch class. I passed with flying colours – I’m now considered level B1, which means I can carry on social conversations and read the easier papers.
The state of the Belly on November 2.
A side view.
On November 5, we got to see our friends C (Australian) and M (Dutch) and their adorable 6 month old son who live in Vancouver but are in The Hague while M does a course for his job. C and I spent the afternoon wandering around the city, lunching, putatively shopping and generally being ladies of leisure while our husbands worked. We went and checked out somewhere I’d like to live – here’s C on that street – the potential apartment is behind the scaffolding, not hopeful for a quick move-in.
More of the street.
And the adorable baby.
