Amsterdam Gay Pride Parade - a boat full of Robin Hoods :)
This past weekend, Matt, our friends Joe and Ted, and I went into Amsterdam for the annual Gay Pride parade that was held on the Prinsengracht canal. It was definitely an experience to remember!! The crowds were large and the beer aplenty as we all watched over 80 boats float down the canal during the parade. This was actually the first time that gay Dutch police and servicemen were allowed to wear their uniforms in the parade- I feel like we are a long way off in the US from allowing that to happen and it was pretty refreshing. We even saw a group of American’s get married during the parade! If you are ever in Amsterdam during this parade, I definitely recommend checking it out More pics/videos here if you are interested.
Last weekend Matt, myself, and a friend of ours went to the village of Kinderdijk (just outside of Rotterdam) to see its famous collection of windmills. Kinderdijk is a UNESCO world heritage site and has 17 windmills dating back to the 1700s that help control the surrounding area’s water levels. People still live and operate these windmills today. To see the full set of pictures, visit my Picasa album!
A couple of weeks ago, Matt and I went up to Haarlem to see Susan Tedeschi in concert for my birthday. If you don’t know Susan Tedeschi, she is this awesome blues artist who has gotten lots of awards and recognition in the Blues genre and she has an INCREDIBLE voice and is an AWESOME guitar player. Anyway, so Matt got off a little early on Friday and we decided to take a tour of Haarlem while we were there.
Haarlem (aka the city the Haarlem in NY is named after) is laid out like most dutch towns- lots of canals and cute streets, a plein (or square) where the government buildings are as well as many cafes, and a great big church. The church was very beautiful and Mozart actually played the organ in this church when he was 10!
Organ that Mozart played when he was 10
After wandering around Haarlem and dinner, we went to the concert. It was standing only and we walked right up to the front row!! It was an amazing time- I recommend her concerts to anyone. Below are a couple of videos for you to enjoy
Since I absolutely love Gouda cheese, I figured it was only appropriate to visit the city where it all came from. The city of Gouda is only about a 30 minute train ride from the Hague and the cheese market is held every Thursday morning in the summer.
Today, the cheese market is more of a tourist attraction to show how farmers used to gather to have their cheese weighed, tasted and priced. Nowadays, all of this is done through other means (via phone, business contacts, internet, etc.) but it is still neat to see how it was performed. At the cheese market, I was able to see how the cheese was made, how farmers negotiate the price, and how the cheese was weighed at the end of the day.
The cheese girls; they were giving out samples and posing for pictures
These two gentleman were bartering for the cheese; the guy in white is buying and the guy in blue is selling. They slap hands until they come to an agreement (you probably have to see it :))
Weigh house for the cheese
In addition to selling cheese at the market, vendor stalls were all around selling farm fresh cheese, meats, veggies, and clothing. It also had vendors demonstrating clog making and buttermilk preparation. Overall, I was very glad I was able to go and see the market- and I got some great fresh cheese to take back!
So about a month ago Matt found out about this great activity called the Beer Bike. Basically 18 people pedal a big bike for 3 hours around a number of different cities, including Amsterdam. And the best part is you get a keg of beer to drink while doing it. Clearly we had to participate! Below are a few pictures and a video of our time- needless to say it was incredibly fun, although we definitely were hurting the next day!
It’s definitely interesting living in a country where on a week that the temperature gets in the mid 70’s they feel they need to issue a warning about sunscreen Guess we should find some!
Raw herring, or Hollandse Nieuwe, is a Dutch delicacy dating back to the 14th century.Since it’s a delicacy, naturally Matt and I both had to try it.It’s best in the Spring and early Summer, and is served with raw onion.Matt’s first herring experience was Koninginnedag , or Queen’s Day, back at the end of April while in Amsterdam.
Matt Eating Herring
Clearly Matt was not a fan
I tried raw herring on the first weekend I was in town while at the beach in Scheveningen.After one of the best weather weekends so far in The Hague, Matt and I wandered along the boardwalk to a local stand selling herring.
Bucket of Herring
Looks appealing right?Well I dove right in, ordered my herring and….
Lindsey ordering Herring
Before the plunge
Eating Herring
Loved it!! It tasted pretty fishy and salty but I thought it was delicious.So much so that I decided to eat it in true dutch fashion-picked it up by the tail and chowed down.
Lindsey Loving Herring
Still Loving Herring
Needless to say, Matt didn’t get near me for the rest of the afternoon Overall, a dutch cuisine success!
A spring in the Netherlands wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Keukenhof. Keukenhof literally translates to Kitchen Gardens, because this used to be a vegetable/herb garden that was picked by the kitchen staff before cooking. However, now this place is known as the largest flower garden in the world. Think of a park the size of Busch Gardens, Kings Dominion, or Six Flags - but replace the rides with flowers. This place was huge.
The line backed all the way up into Leiden Centraal
We ended up going around late April which is apparently the best time to go because the park was very crowded. After taking the train to Leiden we stood in line for almost 2 hours waiting for the bus to take us to the park. Admission was cheap - only a bit over 10 euros, and we ended up spending a good 4 hours in there. They also did a tribute to the United States, in particular New York (formerly known as New Amsterdam), which was pretty cool.
Yankees Tribute - this is made of 100% flowers
There was a special exhibit indoors for orchids and other temperate flowers
My favorite part of the park was getting to the edge of the park and peering out into the actual tulip fields used for growing. It was incredible viewing the rows and rows of brightly colored tulips that stretched as far as the eyes could see. We even saw a few of the farmers out there checking on their tulips.
Farmers checking on their tulip crops - they need some goats
Had my first session of Dutch surfing on Sunday. It was great to be able to check the surf cam, then hop on my bike and be at the beach 15 minutes later. The surf forecast was pretty good and the camera was reporting similar conditions - they were both pretty spot on. Ended up getting stomach high waves, with the occasional chest high set. The waves lacked the typical power you’d see on the East Coast, as many of them petered out after the initial drop in. However, a few waves held throughout and provided some long rides.
I had similar conditions: crumbly waves, and probably a bit smaller
Since I don’t have a surfboard over here (yet), I ended up renting a 9′6″ NSP from the beachside surf shop. I put on my 5/4 wetsuit, 5mm gloves, and 5mm boots, decided to hold off on the hood, then headed out. I actually wasn’t too cold in the 48 degree water - probably because I had all that rubber on. I ended up dropping in on another surfer because a really good wave came through. I apologized to him afterwards, to which he remarked: “No problem, the waves are here for all of us to enjoy”. All in all, good first Dutch session - hope there are many more to come!
More pics/videos here if you are interested.
