Summer Travels

I gave in. Peer pressure! I decided to start a blog featuring the different things I do and experience while I live in Boxmeer, The Netherlands for an indefinite amount of time. Many people ask what's going on, so I felt blogging about different things will make updating everyone easier. Plus, I think I will try to teach my readers new things about the Netherlands and other European countries' cultures, people, and places. :)

First, I will simply update you on the many places Luuk and I have already gotten to visit on our random days of travel.

Volendam, NL

Marieke & Kenny, two of Luuk and I's friends which I met for the first time during my visit in December/January, invited us for a surprise trip. Exciting! We packed into the car at 10am in order to head to our mystery destination.

"Clogs & Cheese" appeared on a barn rooftop as we entered the city and everyone informed me that Volendam is indeed a touristy town. The city is very beautiful, as it sits surrounded by water. My favorite part was just being able to sit, relax and talk sitting waterside next to docked sailboats. Marieke and Luuk bought fresh hering on bread and I had a taste. Yuck, raw fish is definitely not my favorite, but it is a typical Dutch delicacy, and being so close to the sea, I had to take at least one bite. Walking down the main strip of shops,  I noticed most stores contained the average touristy items, i.e. wooden shoes, Amsterdam t-shirts, tulips, windmills, cheese, etc. One of the restaurants we passed had waitresses wearing traditional Dutch garb, which you will see us wearing later. Everyone decided that we needed to participate with at least one touristy thing, so we got our pictures taken. Lots of fun! I almost peed myself when I got to hold the giant cheese (kas) for the picture. Dutch cheese is the best. Super lekker! Later, we went to a large shop where we learned how wooden shoes and cheese are created. Fun facts: The wood used from the shoes comes from poplar trees & cheese that is encased in wax can keep for 3 years.

Before taking the two hour trip back to Boxmeer, Marieke and Kenny decided we should grab dinner in a nearby town. We ate on the porch of a restaurant overlooking a small harbor. Eating fresh salmon made my belly happy.

The Volendam area is a beautiful part of the country, but I definitely recommend if you visit the city to explore other cities around it as well. 

I'm thankful to already know such gracious people in the Netherlands.

Oh, I almost forgot, Volendam had Jan Smit posters decorating the city everywhere one looked. He's supposedly a Dutch icon, but you can judge for yourself.

Luxembourg

Sooo, Luuk randomly came up with idea for us to drive to Luxembourg for the day and I said, "I'm down," so we went. I think, secretly, Luuk wanted an excuse to take his first car on a first road trip, but I definitely wasn't complaining. After visiting the teeny country, I realized I need to learn a lot more about Luxembourg. haha. I did learn, thanks to Luuk, that some of the citizens speak a language which combines French, German, and Italian, or something crazy like that. By the way, I'm learning I have much to learn about this area of the world, other than the bleak memories I have from my short European History class I took Sophomore year at TCU. I'm so blessed to have this opportunity.

The drive through Belgium was gorgeous with rolling hills, tall trees, and pretty country side.

As soon as we entered the country, I was taken away by the beautiful architecture & how clean everything looks. The coolest thing we did on our visit was tour The Casemates, remaining tunnels from a fortress built in the 1600's. It fascinates me that something built so long ago can still be explored & experienced today. Luuk & I had to laugh often, though, because it was like a huge maze and at some points we didn't have any idea where we were. Also, we got stuck going up and down these extremely long & tiny spiraling staircases.

I totally reccommend visitng Luxembourg!

Amsterdam, NL
Since I am still working on paperwork for gaining a visa, we had to go to the US Consulate in Amsterdam, so we decided to make a day of it. I must admit, although I was thankful for the opportunity to visit this large city in January, it wasn't my favorite experience, but my second trip to Amsterdam went much better. After quickly getting my papers from the Consulate, we headed over to the Van Gogh museum. It was wonderful! I love Van Gogh and his paintings are fascinating to observe. Then, we ate our packed lunch on the huge lawn in the museum district along with several hundred other people who were spread out everywhere. Luuk said we were "hippies". Finally, we spent the day exploring the unique city that is Amsterdam.

 These men were gathered around watching an intense game of chess. The same people were present as we left.

Love!
Whitney P.