First, download Lily Allen's "The Fear". it's her new single and its fucking fantastic. make sure you download the un-edited version.
so friday afternoon at work, i see Will zoom by my office on a rolling board. he was lying on it on his stomache and zooming around the hall at work. the board was kind of like a wide skateboard used to move around heavy boxes in the mailroom. Will carries around a walkman (like a real old school tape player walkman) and listens to taped sermons all day. and now he's bodysurfing the fugro halls. someone call the exorcist!
after work, i went over to my friend paula's house for dinner. i brought a bottle of wine and champagne. figured that covered all the bases. i curled me hair too. i like big hair. i wasnt sure who was going to be there, but it turned out to be the most rediculous night. there was about 9 of us there (by the way her apartment is the CUTEST apartment in delft and i'm unbeleivably jealous of her). one german/dutch guy who spoke perfect english in a perfect british accent. a married couple recently back from a cruise in the carribean, who've previously lived in D.C., one dutch girl who recently returned from a 6-year stint in new zealand (louisa... who was also later affectionately called weezy), and....... a girl from Ventura!! yes, Ventura CA. can you believe that!?! her name is Cat and she's been here for 6 months and will be here for 6 more. she works in some sort of tech sales and her office is near the intersection of olivas park and victoria. unreal. she's 24 and its very very likely we know some of the same people. so crazy. now THAT is when you know its a smal world. she's living in an apartment in delft with louisa right across the street from paula.
so dinner is fun and hysterical and its cool to be at a table of all different types of people. paula made an excellent chicken bake and some sort of potatoe side dish. both were excellent. we left paula's around 11, and as i was walking out, me louisa and cat decided to go grab a drink. she's newly single and wanted to go check out some bartender she had seen a few weeks ago. sure, one drink sounds good!
7 hours later i made it back home. i couldnt believe it when i walked out of the club and looked at my watch. i was still wearing my work clothes! i wasn't even wearing my boots or heels or my sqin jeans! thank god i curled my hair! we went to the bar that cat wanted to go and chatted awhile with soem guys there, one who just got a tatoo of a glass cutter on his thigh. he's a glass cutter for a trade (for the many greenhouses in delft). the tatoo looked rediculous. cat actually asked the bartender on a date. i was so proud of her. he had a girlfriend, but they ended up talking for a long time, so i think it will be cool between them. and then it was decided i needed to be initiated into delft by going to speakers, the only infamous dance club in delft. there was a metal detector at the door.
we got to speakers around 2, and i was thinking, well it will close soon so i can't get into too much trouble. so so so wrong. me and weezy tore up the dance floor. its much easier to dance when not wearing heels i discovered. cat apparently found her soulmate. they're going out again this weekend. i managed to find myself compromised by a gorgeous spanish soccer player with questionable friends. god i love being single sometimes. me and louisa walked home and when i finally got to my door at 6AM i thought... what the hell just happened to me??
Saturday SUCKED!!! i was so tired. i woke up at noon and met Wim and Flip over at the local golf course to play 9 holes. i borrowed Wim's wife's clubs. they were perfect! we warmed up at the driving range, and i was doing well at the range, but then on the course i was a water magnet. there were so many little canals on the course i managed to find them all. i lost 3 balls. i had a really crappy round actually. i blame speakers. but it was really nice to hang out with flip and wim. the'yre great. i hope they come to ventura. i said i will take them to a course there. it was really cold, but i just layered up and i was fine. i had a few good tee shots, but the water was my darn achilles heel and my putting, which is usually pretty good, was dismal today. oh well. i got some golf balls with the delft course name printed on them as gifts for patrick and henry. we had some hot chocolate in the club house and i got home around 5PM. didnt do anything saturday night. watched law and order and let the television hypnotize me.
Sunday i picked up Claartje at 11AM and we went to naarden to see an old fort. it was amazing. there were two rings around the fort, all with thick brick-fortified walls to basically form two water rings. inside of the gate, there is a little town and a fort. the entire thing is shaped like a star. we took a tour of the fort, and saw the tunnels and the canons and where the soldiers lived etc. it was really really cool. you just have to look at the picture below. its really amazing how it was built and with such precision how symmetrical it is. this fort was strategically located such that anyone crossing from east to west holland were required to pass this fort. it was a stronghold in the 1600 and 1700's. after the tour of the fort we walked around the little town inside of the fort and got some lunch. pea soup and a toasti. yummy :)
after Naarden, we went to a the Castle De Haar, located near Utrecht. The castle had been rebuilt in early 1900's after being nearly completely destroyed in a previous attack. the castle is located in the middle of lush farm lands. the castle is sprawling, with over 100 rooms. the grounds are occupied by canals, forests, a beautiful garded, a maze, tennis courts, and stables. we took a guided tour of the castle and saw how it was reconstructed in a harmony of medieval achitecture with 20th century accommodations (electricity, running water, even an elevator). the castle has unfortunately recently been a victim of settlement, and it has obviuos structural damage, cosmetic cracks everywhere, and one turret even pulled away from the building and fell down. they are in the process of reparing the castle by installing piles to transfer the building load. its a sensitive project that will take in total 5 years to complete. see, even castles need geotechnical engineers.
the castle was like a fairytale. it was rebuilt such that the focus was elegance and decadence, not a military fortress. many famous people have stayed here, and the family that owns the castle actually still lives in it for one month each year (september) and it is closed for visitors. just the fact that people still live here makes the experience so much cooler. the huge ballrooms and the tapestries on the walls, the deep red carpets, the elaborate ceilings, the marble staircases, and the four post beds. what amazing place to live. such a contrast to the fort i had seen earlier today. claartje and i got back around 6PM. it was a great day and i loved spending it with her. she's realyl easy to get along with and so mellow. i'm glad that we are friends. i thanked her for showing me the fort and the castle, we'll have to have lunch together before i leave!!
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