AMSTERDAMMAGE

I am not too sure what I am referring to as I title this post 'Amsterdammage'. The first could be that I did some serious damage to Amsterdam, or the city did some serious damage to me. Regardless, the weekend turned out way more interesting than I could have ever anticipated.

 

As the clock struck 5 o clock on Friday afternoon, a grabbed my bike and my and backpack and dashed to the station. On safely arriving at Amsterdam Centraal, I then had to navigate my way to my friend Basti's apartment where I was staying for the weekend. It was all pretty daunting as I was riding in the dark and had never been in that particular area before. I might add that my sense of direction was impeccable, with the help of Google maps and my phones navigation of course. On arriving at number 16B, Basti's roommates all invited me out to a local bar for some drinks. A jovial night we had, so good In fact that we returned at 3 AM.

 

 Just casually biking down a beautufull canal in Amsterdam, what a dream!

I awoke that morning to a pounding headache (as one can imagine after a night in Amsterdam with locals and lots of beer). 'So much for my museum packed Saturday' was my initial thought, but I managed to muster up enough energy to go and see the Stedelijk Museum. Seeing work from Marcel Wanders, Philippe Starck and Daan Roosegaarde was a real highlight of the museum as was seeing a Piet Mondrian in the flesh. I had a fat smile on my face at seeing the names and products of famous designers I had learnt about whilst studying Industrial Design at University. Piet Mondrian, Theo von Doesburg, Wassily Kandinsky, Roy Lichtenstein and Vincent van Gogh to name but a few.

 

I covered the entire museum in under 2 hours and all thoughts were being consumed by food by the time I was done. I bought a baguette,  a bag of rocket and a few tomatoes and made a terrible attempt at making a sandwich on the Museumplen grass whilst overlooking the Rijks Museum. This was a very intimidating sight as I knew I had to dedicate the remainder of my afternoon at the Rijks. Instead, I opted for a glorious nap back at the apartment. This was well deserved and boy was I glad I did because I only got to bed at 5AM the next morning.

 

 The view from het Stedelijk looking out onto the museumplein

 

 DUNE by Studio Roosegaarde (Daan Roosegaarde)

 

Museum ticket and information design

 

 

 Knot Chair by Marcel Wanders for Droog Design

 

 An installation by Paulina Olowska

 An onlooker admiring a Roy Lichtenstein

 An installation by Paulina Olowska

 

 

 A Piet Mondrian in the flesh, and if you look close enough, a partial self portrait too

 

Sunday consisted of an afternoon coffee with Basti on his return home from Germany, a sandwich for lunch followed by a movie and yet another afternoon nap. All in all it was a hectic day, hah!

 

Although I returned home with 3 new bruises(from what, who knows?), a pounding headache and some new memories, I'd say I did more damage to Amsterdam than it did to me...

 

 

NOTE: DUE TO THE TRAGIC LOSS OF MY CAMERA, I HAVE HAD TO RESORT TO MY PHONE FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE, HENCE THE TERRIBLE QUALITY. ALSO NOTE THAT SOME IMAGES TAKEN WITHIN THE STEDELIJK HAVE A 'PEE YELLOW' TINGE TO THEM. THIS FRIENDS IS NOT A URINE STAIN BUT THE LIGHTING AND PROHIBITANCE OF FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY.

HUNGRY IN HOLLAND

There is not much more to elaborate on this, the title is pretty self explanatory. I will however proceed to discuss this matter more in depth regardless (because I just love food too much not too). I am finding myself hungry not just occasionally but all day, everyday.  I find myself daydreaming about food with salt and flavour a lot.

One of the conclusions I have come to is how differently the Dutch eat. Firstly they have 'sweets' for breakfast. You know those chocolate sprinkles you usually decorate a cake with, vermicelli is its exact name. Well they put that on their bread, and they have about ten varieties of it too. It is quite delicious but I still cannot grasp how that is seen as breakfast. Haven't they heard of eggs, or cereal?

 

I also find it strange that most children have the blandest sandwiches that not even a hobo would want to eat. My 4, 6 and 8 year olds request 'leverworst', which is liver paste, on the breakfast or lunch sandwiches. Yuk!

 

Breakfast for most Dutch families is, bread. Lunch for most Dutch families is....yes you guessed it BREAD. Dinner however is not bread but  in most cases meat ,potatoes and vegetables. The one thing that I shall not forget to mention is that they do not add any salt, to anything! This for me has been quite an adjustment. I love salt, I really do. My friends and family will not fail to mention that when asked. The do however dip their potatoes into mayonnaise, which is delicious for the most part and the one thing about Dutch food I am not complaining over...

A DAY IN AMSTERDAM

I awoke to a sunny morning last week Sunday, a rare find in early September in Holland. Due to the previous day's venturing out in Utrecht, my 'morning' was more of a late one. I lazed about till 1 o clock when I thought to myself, 'Tara you're in Holland, get off your tush and go do something!' So off I went to Amsterdam for the day, alone... again. Hmmm I am noticing a trend on the 'alone' part, but do not fear friends, I do this out of pure enjoyment. Sometimes I feel going with people binds you to do something agreed upon by all, going solo merely allows you to wander as you please, something I am not a stranger to.

 

I had thought about buying a map of Amsterdam at some point but relished in the thought of getting lost. I didn't go with much of a plan, only my backpack and my bicycle, both of which have served me well thus far. A 5 Euro train ride got me from Driebergen to Amsterdam via Utrecht. I had many moments where I wasn't even sure what I was doing was allowed, take for instance my bicycle on the train. It turns out after speaking to my host dad, that you need to purchase a special ticket when taking your bike which costs a whopping 20 euro.  Needless to say I will be pulling the tourist move if they ever ask me.

 

By the time I had arrived in Amsterdam, the weather was back to its gloomy self and off I headed to the Nemo Science Museum just outside station. A jewel of a building imitating ship like features and forms and a rustic sea green palette. I didn't go in, but snapped about 20 photos of the building. I suppose I was very enthusiastic about this stop because it was 'my first sight' in Amsterdam. I also biked past the Anne Frank Museum, countless bars, restaurants, café and stylish people. Once I had accidentally stumbled onto the Museumplein, I purchased a weak cold coffee and a stale stroopwafel which I swallowed whilst basking in the last of the sun peeking through the rain clouds. Thinking back on that moment, despite the horrid food, makes me quite content.

 

The Stedelijk Museum was just behind me and I had to hold my ground at the sheer magnitude and beauty of the building. Although it still somewhat reminds me of a ridiculously scaled up Tupperware container I had to move a couple of metres away to get the entire building into one shot.  The lobby of the museum houses some of the most interesting books I have ever come across. The design section at Exclusive books has nothing on this place let me tell you that. When I came across a book about South African fashion photography in the townships, I grinned at the sight and felt somewhat at home.

 

After an hour of biking in an attempt to find the station, I casually strolled into a hotel and took a free map of the city. Something I should have done a long ago. It turns out I was a mere block away and further biked my way to my destination. I couldn't help but make a pitstop at the Openbare Bibliotheek and browse their 4 levels of books, DVD's, music and magazines. Definitely not your average Library that's for sure (and again pushing Exclusive books off the chart)

 

The train ride home was uneventful until I arrived at Utrecht Centraal Station where I ran into 2 au pair friends from my small town. Usually I wouldn't be taken aback at such an event, but since I have only been here 3 weeks and don't have as many friends here as I do back home, I thought this was shit cool and I love Holland. That is all...

CHICKEN SOUP

So whilst all my friends and family back home in South Africa are celebrating the beginning of spring, I'm wearing my thermal stockings and making chicken soup. Yes, we all know what chicken soup means, the flu! I have the feeling the only reason it feels as though a giant carrot has been shoved up my nose causing this upper respiratory blockage, is because of the boys coughing all over the place. They must think "use your hand" means lets fly a kite, or parade time because they never do (use their hand that is).

On a lighter note, I am loving it here. I am going to Amsterdam for this weekend thanx to my dear friend Bastian who has let me stay in his apartment whilst he is away. I am planning an Amsterdam takeover. All the museums, all the touristy stuff, and perhaps a coffee shop and the red light district too (when in Amsterdam right) . I also booked my flight to Barcelona last night. What a milestone it is to finally get to travel Europe. I recall 4 years ago when my sister and her boyfriend went and feeling completely overwhelmed with jealousy. The feeling passed but somehow I feel as though it's finally my turn.

I have also been bombarded with questions, messages and emails asking me what I have been getting up to, where I am, and how I have been enjoying it here thus far. Its hard for me to get back to everyone, and usually with the same long message that I have had to retype to different people, pretty much relaying the same answer. It can get a bit much, so if you're curious, come here and read about it. I have tried to update more about my travels on the blog as apposed to Facebook because it really does tend to clog peoples feeds and I myself know how annoying that can be. I also want people to make an effort to see what I am up to and not take the easiest route of asking me though Facebook. Whew, rant over!

HEY JUDE

Okay, so I vowed I wouldn't write about looking after the boys, but sometimes there are moments with them that really make me laugh or beam with pride. This afternoon was one of them. Mees, who is the youngest (4) says the darnest things. On showing him a photo of myself and my father, he asked who the other person was, I responded my dad and he blurted out all non chalantly "oooh heel oud", meaning my dad, who is at the ripe at of 60 is "Really old". It was so honest I couldn't help but give a good chuckle

 

Later on in the day Mees and I were listening to the radio and Hey Jude by The Beatles came on. I sang along and when it was over, played it again on my pc. The song must have gotten stuck in his head because on the lines of "take a sad song and make it better" he shouted out the "better" part. I was beaming when he said that, knowing that I have influenced his taste in music, and my dad being the Beatles fan he is would have approved too!

DUTCH ROYAL FOR A DAY

On my first weekend in Holland, my host family took me to one of the most luxurious castles the country has to offer. Its not everyday you get to visit a real life castle, but had no expectations regardless. The grounds are littered with flowers and large oak trees that were specially brought in for the Duchess's husband.

 

The castle is just as breath-taking as the gardens, if not more so! The magnitude of its size is quite something to take in, moat included!

 

The interior architecture of the castle, as excessive as it is really is quite beautiful! Ornate decorative motifs fill every inch of the walls and ceiling and the main entrance hall boasts an open space leading up till the 6th floor.

 

There is definitely no sense of claustrophobia in this p(a)lace that's for sure

 

 

 

 

EXPLORING UTRECHT

Yesterday I set out to explore Utrecht on my own. It was initially a bit daunting at having to buy a ticket and travelling on the train alone, due to fear of getting lost or taking the wrong train. On the 2 occasions I have been in Utrecht by train, I managed to observe and pay close attention to which platform I needed to be on , where to buy tickets and what time the latest train leaves at night. For that I am grateful.

I was meeting a friend at 6 so had the afternoon to explore. I must admit that I got slightly lost if one can call it that. After biking for 2 hours, my caffeine craving got the better of me. I stopped at some café 'the Coffee Company' and ordered a small black coffee robbing me of 3 Euros. I paid with a 10 Euro note and on receiving my change, the barista had only given me 3 back. Now everyone who knows me will know my math is not what it should be but this was not right. Turns out she conveniently forgot to give me  5 Euro note back.

I sat outside and watched all the bikers pass me by whilst sipping on my horribly brewed coffee. The paper cup was leaking drops of coffee just about everywhere when Ewout, the young man sitting to the left of me asked if I wanted to use his napkin. We started talking and I went on rambling about how terrible my coffee was and the barista's sucky cashier skills. On his departure from the café we exchanged names (not numbers) and vowed to add one another on Facebook.

Laurence, the  man sitting to the right of me was just as cool. We had a fat conversation about travel and music. He told me all about a music festival in Siget, Hungary, Tivoli de helling, and his change in careers from marketing to setting out on his dream to become a musician. I gave him my card (how professional of me) and we bid our goodbyes. It was one of the coolest conversations I had in a while and it was great to meet some of the locals.

Travelling solo is the new black...

MEET CHARLIE

This is Charlie. I take her pretty much everywhere I go. She is super light and rides like a breeze. I kind of like the fact that she doesn't have all the other accessories and 'things' on her like a lot of peoples bicycles. I have a feeling the two of us are going to get along very well.

BIKING ON MY BIRTHDAY

 Today is my birthday and where better to spend it in Holland of all places? I walked into the house only to find my host mom had decorated the place with buntings. I was then congratulated with a 'Gefecilteerd' and 3 kisses on the cheek. That's the Dutch way of doing things around here.

 

It really just feels like another day in Holland, but this morning Leah and I biked through the forests of Driebergen to the lake. It was probably the greatest start to a birthday I have ever had, and the best part is that it's not even half way to being done, tonight we are going out to Utrecht. Hello night life!

DUTCH CABBAGE

This is a Dutch cabbage. I don't have much to say about it except that it looks nothing like a regular cabbage but more so resembles a unicorn horn.

HEART MELT

I have only been in The Netherlands for a week, yet the youngest of the boys has already stolen my heart . To try and get the boys to speak English back to me, I tell them that I'm just really dumb and I cant understand them when they speak Dutch. On saying this, Mees, who is 4,  responds in the sweetest little voice "Jy ben niet dom" which means you're not dumb. I was honoured that he had my back and he keeps 'reminding' me that I'm not dumb. Sometimes I think I learn more from them than them from me.

I AM BUT A MERE SPONGE

Today I ventured out into Utrecht. The initial plan was to cycle there and completely wander off adventurously. Obviously the weather didn't play along with that idea and about 5 minutes into biking, we decided it was way to cold and ended up taking a train instead.

 

The train ride from Driebergen-Rijsenburg to Utrecht is a mere 7 minute train ride and only 3 Euros for a return ticket. Most of the girls have OV-chipkaarts which entitles you to a 40% discount on 'off peak' travel. This is a good investment if you plan on staying in The Netherlands for a long period of time and want to travel extensively.

 

I had been telling one of the girls that I feel like a sponge of information, even just walking down the road, I gawk at my surroundings like a child seeing everything for the first time. Its truly a magical feeling and I'm going to embrace it because It probably wont last long after being here for a year. I mentioned to them that I'm just a 'sponge on a bike' ,we thought it was quite funny and had a good chuckle.

This was my first time seeing the city side of Holland so most of the day was spent walking around gawking at everything. We were lucky in that it was September the first and there was the 'Uitfeest' taking place as well as 'Culturele Zondagen' and 'Vrede van Utrecht'. The city streets of Utrecht had such a great vibe and we stumbled upon musicians playing on the side streets on 3 occasions.

These guys had a really eccentric sound to them and gathered quite the crowd too. I got quite entranced by the music and would have stayed all night if I hadn't been for the girls shaking me awake.

There is an abundance of quaint design shops all over the city streets. Naturally I was drooling over their shop fronts. Cafes galore let me tell you, I did not see one unattractive badly dressed person. Everyone has this quirky, practical, colourful style that I am just fascinated by. Those who wear spectacles, have the most beautiful frames and yes, almost everybody was on a bike.