Legality is Amazing...

So I've now officially been in Holland (also known as the Netherlands) for over two weeks. It's cloudly all the time in Holland...here's a goofy picture for you.

For week #2, I finally figured out how to ride my bike. I've been dropping pounds since riding a bike here is more exercise than I have ever done in the States. haha. While on the subject of bike-riding...apparently, people here bike to the clubs/bars (sober or not sober?) and then bike back home (probably not sober this time)! I had my first experience with this the other night, while biking home from a jazz club. I have to admit, it was a pretty interesting experience. Try it for yourself sometime (actually, don't do it, there aren't enough bike lanes in the U.S.).

So other than biking, my dutch class is going well. I don't do any homework or studying for it, so I doubt I'll learn any real dutch. It doesn't help that everyone here speaks english so there's really no need to learn dutch. Class has been fun, we (the students) went on a field trip and then had a drink with our teacher on Wednesday (he bought me a beer, no worries, I'm legal here!). Then we had een feest (a party in Dutch) on Friday and he brought wine and each of us brought a food to share. Hah, I know, I'm clearly not taking any real classes in Holland.

Alright, I've saved the best for last. On Saturday, I went to Delft, a town about a 15 minute train ride from Rotterdam. It's known for it's lovely blue-patterned Delftware (plates, vases, etc.). Here's a picture of Emma and me on a large Delft chair outside of the Het Prinsenhof museum. We did some whirlwind museum touring since I'm an uncultured non-museum liking person. haha.
We saw the "Olde Kurk" and "Niewe Kurk" (yes that means Old and New Church), which look the exact same to me. We went to a street market and then walked around the city a little more. The city is known as "Baby Amsterdam," same scenery with smaller canals and less notorious, of course. It's beautiful, so if you ever get the chance, definitely go.

On Sunday, I went to Den Haag (The Hague), which houses the International Court of Justice. Here is a picture of the ICJ and then me with the World Peace Flame.


Aside from the ICJ, I saw the house of the Netherlands Parliament. On one side of the building is a beautiful refection pool/small pond and on the other side is a grand square. I have pictures from both, but here is a neat picture of the building with the reflection pool.
Another neat thing about Den Haag is the Mauritshuis Museum. It houses many works of Johann Vermeer, including "Girl with Pearl Earring," which I think is considered the Netherlands Mona Lisa. The museum is connected to the buildings of Parliament and is also connected to the reflection pool. It's definitely an amazing museum and would highly recommend it (I enjoyed it, and I don't even usually like museums!).

That wraps up the highlights from my weekend trips. Stay tuned for more...

Wishing you all the best!