Dutch Love

We’ve been in the Netherlands about a week, so we have plenty to talk about! Jessica, of course, has been many times before as a child, but this is the first time back since age 19. Andrew visited Amsterdam for a weekend when he studied abroad, so almost everything is new for him.

The best part about being in the Netherlands is that we have family here. We are staying with Ilse and Nico, as well as Jessica’s four cousins. For three weeks, we are back to an “at home” experience. It feels a bit like coming home for a college break: we have bags of laundry and stories to tell. During the day, we either go out exploring a new city or keep it local and relax. We’re so grateful for the amazing vegetarian home-cooked meals, the help with bike-route planning, and the overall insane levels of generosity we’re basking in here. We are especially grateful to Kim, who gave up her room for a week to give us a place to sleep.

It’s even more of a homecoming because Mama and Becca flew in for 10 days! We were so excited we barely allowed them a nap before dragging them out of bed to shop the open market in Voorschoten. Did you know you can get 8 Mars bars for a euro? Or 100 grams of assorted gummy candy? Actually, let’s pause for a second and talk about the food here:

• Kroket: Thick, savory meat ragout or melted cheese fried in a crisp outer layer. Imagine a meaty mozzarella stick the size of a hot dog and you’re getting close.
• Saucijzenbroodje (saw-sigh-zen-bro-che): Sausage in a flaky, ultra-buttery crust.
• Krentenbollen: A brioche roll studded with currants.
• Bossebol: Imagine a cream puff the size of a softball. Fill it with even more cream than that.
• Vla: Have you ever wanted to have, like, a bowl of the custard that comes inside Boston creme donuts? The Dutch have. And unlike you, they acted on that guilty desire and sell the stuff in milk cartons.
• Pannekoek: Dutch pancakes are the size of a medium pizza but thin, like a crepe. You can get them with any topping you can imagine and a few you can’t. Andrew had a salty-sweet bacon and apple pancake that could make you cry.
• Kibbeling: Chunks of haddock, fried fish ‘n’ chips style. Greasy, salty goodness.
• Stroopwafel: Two thin, sweet butter wafers held together with a layer of caramel.

Also, it is COMPLETELY acceptable to eat a sandwich of frosting and sprinkles for breakfast. Seriously, no one will bat an eye if you do this.

You could just snack your way through the Netherlands and come out singing its praises. It is a damn good thing biking is the default mode of transportation, or even Andrew might find himself downright portly in a few weeks!

Back to the family: We got to take Becca exploring in Amsterdam her second day here. I love Amsterdam’s incongruity. There is no barrier between the historic and quaint and erotic and narcotic and everything else. The Dutch seem to see no improbability of a homemade cupcake stand next to a fetish shop, so the juxtaposition of window displays can be hilarious.

A perk of having family in the area is seeing more than the typical vacation spots. Andrew arrived expecting to see the city side of the Netherlands and some of the picturesque, pastoral scenery that makes it onto the postcards. He’s been seeing that, no question. The thing about a country this small is you can’t waste space. There is no “no man’s land” between suburban and rural areas the way there is at home, so while Ilse and Nico have suburban belongings and lead a lifestyle more or less like one we’re used to (albeit with more biking), there is a farm next door and Nico has on occasion had to haul a sinking sheep out of the canal. Sheep graze near the church, chickens scratch in the park. There are canals winding around everywhere, with all the waterfowl that feel at home there. But there are more scenes that are just as typically Dutch.

It doesn’t get much more Dutch than a bike parked next to a canal.

On Sunday, we biked for an hour to the beach. Most people, when they think of dikes, imagine a stone wall, but what you’re more likely to see in many parts of the country are dunes. This is one of the only places to see rolling hills in a famously flat country. The dunes are permanent (they don’t shift much with the wind), so saltwater grasses and scraggly trees grow there. It’s beautiful and wild, more Bronte-looking than you would think.

Dutch dunes

North sea beach

One of our favorite/least-favorite days was going for a 9-mile walk with Mama and Becca. The walk trails through little towns, including the home of a famous literary character named Bartje, the poor, plucky boy who hated the brown beans his family had to eat so much that he refused to give thanks for them before meals. We passed through woodlands, listening to all the birds staking out claims on their own branches. There was a stork nest with both birds present.

We saw a deer park that also had a variety of birds. We laughed especially at the peacock, who was all but begging the peahen for attention, staggering under the weight of his tail and vibrating his back feathers in a way that he clearly thought was irresistible. The peahen remained unconvinced.

This guy was getting NOWHERE with the ladies

Eventually, we left the pastures and entered a nature preserve area. There was something fey about the whole place. The dry grasses made it hard to see what was marsh or dry land. The pale-dark-pale contrast of grass, treeline and sky was harsher, and the directions in our guide heightened the feeling of walking into a strange, fantasy world (continue 20 meters, turn right and cross the wooden bridge, then follow the small grass path between the oak trees). It is especially interesting to Andrew to experience the different facets of the Netherlands, getting to see more deeply into a country he understood only from secondhand stories.

This morning, we biked out to Delft, a city famous for beautiful blue pottery. We couldn’t resist doing a little shopping. The antique stores have pottery dating back to the early 1600s. Any china store is heaped with handpainted plates, vases, and ornaments in subtly varying shades of rich blue.

We also had a great time exploring the Oude and Nieuwe Kerks, including getting a free private tour from a funny, enthusiastic tour guide.

Next stop: How can you say you’ve seen the NL without checking out some breathtaking tulips? We’ll see you on the other side of the Keukenhof Gardens!