saturday morning i got up and went to pick robin up from his hotel to take him to the train station in rotterdam (rotterdam is the largest shipping port in europe, and is about 20-25 mins from Delft) . i had printed out directions and a breakfast place in rotterdam, but i forgot them with my planner on my desk at Fugro. so i went to the office and the damn place is like fort knox on the weekend. usually you have to swipe your badge to get into the building but on the weekends i guess they really don't want you working. badge not working. i kind of remember where the hotel is and miraculously i find it. robin hops in the peugot and we head over to rotterdam.
we find a nice little place to get coffee. robin orders tea and i order hot chocolate. hahah!! we head over to the train station and i kind of lost track of time, but robin was pretty stressed but hiding it well of course. he only had about 15 mins to get his ticket for the high speed train to paris and his family was already waiting for him. as far as i know he made the train, i waited there just in case and he didnt come back out so i think that's a good sign :) the weather in rotterdam was beautiful. crisp and sunny. :)
i head back to my apartment, pack up for brussels, then hop on my bike to go to the market and see the sinterklaas parade. i get the usual things at the market - fruits, veggies, and bread. the market area is bustling today. its really cold though. probably the coldest day since i've been here.
in the main square, there is the new church opposite the city hall, with shops and restaurants in between. the new church was built becuase the old church (about 3 blocks away) has a very noticable lean. its still in use though. you can climb to the top of the new church and see all of Delft. 376 steps i think, according to shonna. i'll get up there soon :)
the parade goes throught the streets in Delft and then ends in the main square. in the main square, there is a little stage set up for the Sinterklass festivities and theres festive music playing. kids sinterklaas songs. all the kids are running around acting crazy, dressed like Zwarte Piet with their faces painted black. the moms and dads are singing along to the kids songs, making faces at the babies. the weird things you do when you have kids, its rediculous.
so Sinterklaas looks similar to St. Nicholas or Father Time. he's tall and thin and wears a long red robe. his beard is long and white, and he wears a tall red hat with a cross on it. he has a helper called Zwarte Piet (black pete), who is mischevious and hands out little cookies. if kids have been good, then they get presents, and if not, they get whipped by zwarte piet.
the zwarte piet thing is astounding to me. they are white people who paint their faces black and wear bright red lipstick and dress in a bright colored jester-like costume. i saw a few real black people in the sqaure and i wonder what they felt? i guess it would be similar to what real dwarfs feel at christmas when they see santa's elves in the mall. i guess?? without all the history of slavery and opression??? maybe i'm overreacting. am i being too PC? i guess so. its just a kid's story yes, but it perpetuates an antiquated class system. i guess a few years ago they made all of the Zwarte Piets blue and apparently there were practially riots hahah.
The parade was really fun, even for an adult. it was so fun to see all the little kids running around, and the families all bundled up. right when the parade came into the square, it started to snow! the bike ride back home kinda sucked. when i got back home, i packed a lunch, and got on the road to Brussels.
i arrived about 1h45 later into Brussels. the drive was easy. once i got into belgium, it began to rain and sleet a little bit. there was no big entrance into belgium. just a measly sign. no big monument, or fence, or customs. blink and you would miss it. kind of like crossing a state line i guess. Belgium and the Netherlands are both in the eurpean union (EU) so i'm assuming that the border between countries is not made into a big deal on purpose.
Driving in brussels is insanity. INSANITY. there is no grid-like pattern like manhatten for example. the streets go every which way, and they change names sometimes every block. all the signs are in dutch AND french (yay!) so that helps a bit. it took me another hour, once i got into the city, to find the hostel. and it was a miracle i even found it!!! i needed a navigator. alexis where are you?!?!? none of the streets have signs. there are signs on the buildings (maybe), but none in the intersection so its hard to tell what street you're on. the names switch all the time. there was so much traffic, so many cars. hardly any bikes. brussels is quite hilly as well, so my manual driving skills were put to the test. the main sreets are paved, but all the other streets are brick or cobble and VERY narrow. lots of one-ways. no parking - anywhere. trams and busses criss-crossing everywhere. several tunnels bypass under the local traffic every few blocks for an added twist on the already insane traffic. add in a few roundabouts too. google a map of brussels and just look at it. unreal. once i get into brussels, here are my mapquest directions. total distance - 1.5 miles.
1) stay stright to continue through Tunnel Belliar-Cortenbergh
2) Slight right onto Avenue Corenbergh
3) Enter roundabout and take 2nd exit to Rue de la Loi
4) Rue de la Loi becomes Rue des Colonies
5) Rue des Colonies becomes Marche au Bois
6) Stay straight onto Cantersteen
7) Cantersteen becomes Place de L'albertine
8) Stay straight onto Boulevard de L'empereur
9) Left onto Rue de Accolay/Rue du Sanit-Esprit
10) Arrive at Heilige Geestraat.
i check into the hostel. i reserved a spot in a 4-person room, but as luck would have it, it got the room all to myself! sweet! i drop off my stuff, and head out to get some dinner. i found a little cafe aroudnd the block from the hostel. i order in my very best french :) what i get is something similar to pita bread with some really good cheese cooked like a quesadilla. so yummy. i'm already liking the belgian food better than the dutch food.
i head back to the hostel and the bar there openened at 8PM so i'm just in time. the bar is pretty cool. stella on tap. big flatscreen with a football game on. i meet these two asian guys, Gi and Eric. They came from London, travelling separately but are sharing the same hostel room. Gi works for hyundai and eric is in some sort of airplane traineeship. the guys are hysterical. super asian. they show me about a zillion photos of thier travels. we hung out in the hostel bar for awhile then went to a nearby bar a few blocks away called Zabar. it had kind of a modern swanky feel. kind of a mellow night, nothing crazy. had to be back in the hostel by 1Am for curfew :) big toursity day tomorrow!!!
1 comment:
You LOVE quesadillas!
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