Playing Tourist

I've done a good bit of traveling this past year. I've peered through the glass of many museums, stared at many churches, and climbed many towers in search of a view-- that's just the sort of thing that tourists do.

Well, as we found ourselves with a relaxing week at home and wondered what to do to get ourselves out of the house and enjoying summer. Beaches here are crowded silly and our fridge and closets were full... So, what better way to pass some days than play the tourist in our own city?

The first day was so spontaneous that I even didn't think of my camera until our bike wheels bumped us up and down some brick roads lined with lovely historic buildings and out into a tiny harbor. That's exactly when I realized I didn't have my camera along, but it is imprinted in my mind, so if you're willing to read the next thousand words you may get an idea of the picture I saw... 

Just kidding. But seriously, it was a beautiful moment; wooden sailboats lined the docks, their masts creaked gently as the boats swayed. Beyond the small harbor the Maas River glistened gloriously in the bright sunshine. And in a darling moment two children "helped" their grandfather and father unload the sailboat after what looked like some time at sea. Their orange life jackets still fastened, the little boy and girl carried some beach toys as they ran down the dock exclaiming "Opa! Kijk eens Opa." "Kom hier, Opa." Their opa (grandpa) followed slowly behind, patiently pushing a wheelbarrow full of supplies from the sailboat. 

As I watched the kids stomp out a run on tiny legs, I was glad they were still wearing their life jackets. The way they were running they were either going to need the jacket for padding when they did a face plant or for flotation when they tripped off the edge. Amazingly, they managed to get safely to the side and we strolled on to be entertained by the barges that were gliding down the glittering river. 

The next day of touring I towed my camera along with.

It took some bike riding to get there, but we found Delftshaven-- an old part of Rotterdam that escaped the bombing. While it looks like it could be part of a traditional Dutch town, this view is extremely rare in the high-rise, modernized Rotterdam. And a visitor to Delftshaven can't help but wonder just what Rotterdam would have looked like if it hadn't been hit so hard in WWII. 

We enjoyed the view of one of the two remaining windmills in Rotterdam, but even though it is from the 1700's it wasn't the oldest building there. We found a few from the 1600's. Plus, fun fact for us Americans, the English pilgrims of 1620 stayed in this area for a time while preparing for their Mayflower trip. 

See the clock tower? That's a part of the church where the Pilgrim Fathers worshiped while staying in Rotterdam. 

Just checking out the old buildings and enjoying the shade for a time...

Until we set out on our bikes for our second destination...

. . . the Euromast. 

I neglected to take a photo of the Euromast itself, but it pretty much looks like a space needle jutting out of a grassy knoll. If you want to know more about it you can follow this link .

The whole point of the Euromast is to give you a good view of Rotterdam and the surrounding area, and I have to say, it serves its purpose well. 

Supposedly, on a clear day people can make out towers from the Belgian city of Antwerp, south of Rotterdam. The horizons were a bit fuzzy for us to claim the same, but we were able to easily distinguish some cities even though they were a 30 minute train ride away. 

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The next time you're in your hometown without much of an agenda, or tired of all of your old haunts, stop and step inside the store/restaurant/cafe that you've never gone in or find a new spot to scope out. Play the tourist for a day and you never know what new perspective you'll gain. 

We spent two great days getting off our beaten paths and it was a blast. 

Paris

What better way to celebrate the end of a long first year of teaching than go on a whirlwind tour through Paris? 

Can't think of one? Neither could we, so here are some photos that highlight our 12 hour tour of the highlights of Paris. We went with a church group that took a tour bus through the night, got dropped off in Paris for the day and hopped back on 12 hours later for the ride back. 

There may be nothing charming about this photo, but the atmosphere of the moment was a sweet taste of sleepy Paris. We had just gotten done squeezing the bus through the fruit trucks that were unloading for a Saturday market. The air was cool and foggy, but the outdoors felt good after the bus ride. 

This was our first site to see. 

Basilique du Sacre-Coeur

Not an old church, but a beauty all the same. 

In order to reach the church we had to climb this rather steep hill.

But if you don't have energy to climb the stairs you can pay a fee to take these little rail cars up. 

Next we headed to the modern / business district of Paris, set a little apart and above the old city center. 

There's Luke, walking around, in the silent glass and metal maze of the early Saturday in the modern district of Paris, led by our excellent guide (shorter, white haired man in the center, who happens to be a French teacher at our school).

I really don't know any of the particulars about each building, so I simply took photos for the sake of capturing images of this architectural 'gallery'. 

While wandering, Luke and I saw a familiar shape peeking out from between the buildings. 

Our fellow Grand Rapid-ians will no doubt recognize the color and structure of this statue. 

This Calder made us feel like we had happened upon an old friend. 

Despite the urban setting, they remembered to incorporate green space. 

If you were starting to think that Paris was artsy, you would be right on. 

I am sure that many a practically minded person will wonder 'what is the point?' when it comes to this reflecting pool with flashing colored bulbs on spiraled poles, but if you take it for the artistic space that it is it makes for a cool framing of the old city that you see in the background. 

And people familiar with Paris will notice that directly in the center of the photo you can see the foggy outline of the famous Arc de Triomphe which is was our next destination. 

Arc de Triomphe

If you really care to learn about it, a history book is a much better source than this blog, but I have to say, Napoleon and Romans, for as much as you got wrong, you were right that the arch makes a mighty nice frame for historical events and photos. 

Fun fact: Neatly lined up with the Arc de Triomphe original is this cube in the modern portion of the city. It stands with similar command, but obviously it's stones aren't nearly as weighted with history. 

Today, the Arc de Triomphe also commemorates the sacrifices of soldiers in WWII with the grave of this unknown soldier. I found that to be rather fitting, as all military triumphs in history come at the cost of many anonymous men/women. 

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That definitely sets the record for the amount of site seeing I've done before breakfast . . . 

More to come. 

Anniversary Dinner

We're not ones to announce personal celebrations on Facebook, but our little anniversary celebration turned into a little cultural experience that I wanted to remember, so it's memory will live on in this blog. 

These flowers aren't part of the cultural experience, they're just the beginning of the celebration and a display of affection from a fantastic husband. 

This was (just part) of the amazing chocolate collection that accompanied the flowers. 

The chocolate should outlast the flowers . . . but not by much. 

Our actual anniversary landed on a week day, so instead of going out to eat we tried a fun experiment. 

Our grocery store handed out some recipes last week (of course to promote their products) so we decided to try out their burrito recipe. 

It was more pretty Turkish tasting, there was curry in the meat and cabbage instead of lettuce. 

We just stopped expecting it to be a real burrito and it was good. 

But on Saturday we went to The Hague for a real anniversary meal . . .

At this family owned Indonesian restaurant in The Hague and we celebrated with a scrumptious sampling of Indonesian dishes.

But those 'samples' quickly filled us to the brim.

For those interested, on the left are your condiments, lightly sweet cucumbers, roasted nuts, pickeled veggies and spicy pepper paste. Those went on top of any of the dishes in the middle: sweet beef, savory chicken, sprouts, fried boiled egg, or beans. The brown meat on the side is chicken in peanut satay sauce -- probably one of the world's best ways to eat chicken.

During dinner the owner of the restaurant gave us a tip to take a walk around The Hague . . .

Which we did. Enjoying the views . . .

. . .  both traditional and modern. 

Until we made our way to our destination:

The Tong Tong Fair: the annual Indonesian celebration in The Hague.

Inside the gargantuan tents were countless booths and this performance that we happened upon just as it began.

A couple extra hours of rehearsal would have enhanced the quality of the performance but what they lacked in perfection they made up for with their enthusiasm for fun and the audience was pulled into the spirit of celebration. 

Of course there was ample food at this celebration . . .

  

. . . but since our stomachs were still recovering from our dinner workout, we only ingested the sites and smells. 

For the first hour or so, but looking is thirsty work, so we had to stop at we thought was a 'juice/smoothie booth'. 

What we ended up with looked like this:

Finely crushed ice with flavored syrup, topped with fruit and some sugary ice powder, it probably had the sugar content of cotton candy, but we were thirsty so we found it delicious in a liquid lollipop way.

Besides watching, smelling and tasting, we walked by booth after booth of people selling their wares. But these ladies were super efficient and decided to sow while selling.

Other vendors had also employed this technique as a way to attract attention and get something done at the same time, but what really struck me about these workers were the ages of their sewing machines.

I'm no antique dealer, but I'm pretty sure one of my grandmas has the black Singer sewing machine (in case you can't tell it's one of the kind that comes attached to a wooden table) on the left -- as an antique display piece! But there she was using it. 

A quick google search made me think that the machine was from the 1940's if not earlier. 

And the one to the right (also a Singer) is none too modern either. 

After about 2 hours of Indonesian delight we headed home with a few useful souvenirs to add to our home. 

Rice spoons, cinnamon wood coasters (we were sorely in need of coasters), and some spekkoek (rich layered cake) to top off the night. 

(Oh, and a special thanks to Mom & Dad Ridout for the anniversary card!)

Springing

Spring has sprung.
On the calendar . . . the actual Spring weather half woke up with its alarm then slapped the snooze and dived back under the covers. Kind of like what we wanted to do the five mornings after daylight savings/sleep deprivation day.

So, in an effort to encourage Spring to make leap out from under her gray covers I have added a little more color and vibrancy to our dwelling. Even if the message doesn't make it to Spring herself, it has at least improved my mood. .

Wanna see?
Scroll on.

I didn't actually buy these flowers, they were a gift from school for a parent night that we helped out with. The great thing about both working at the same school is often you get double the flower bouquets! (K, so it's not THE great thing, but it certainly is a perk.)

Some of the bouquet fit better here. 

While cleaning off our dining table in anticipation of company I came across family photos and a pile of construction paper that were as good as a match made in a scrap-booking class, and while this wall decor is more suited to a photo book-- it's doing a good job of a) not making more holes in the wall b) covering up some existing holes in the wall and c) costing $0. Plus, you can't see it, but it matches perfectly with our other wall hanging to the left. Does it sound like I'm trying hard to justify decorating my walls with plain construction paper? 

Time to change the subject. 

CUPCAKES!

We had a great 'woman's event' with church where the women got together and decorated cupcakes with fondant for the Easter Sunday coffee snack. I made this floral beauty, but I was also greatly impressed with the artistic talent that surrounded me.  

You can't see them well, but there were some really impressive creations among the 80 some cupcakes that we decorated. 

Unfortunately some things look better than they taste. 

Unlike a batch of cookie I made lately. 

Those have looked AND tasted horrid. 

Pre-baking these salmon colored lumps are actually a heart healthy concoction of carrots, bananas, whole wheat, rolled oats, flour and dark chocolate for redemption. 

(That's right, no added sugar, or butter.) 

It was one of those things I just had to try -- inspired by foodgawker and Pinterest to make something delicious yet impossibly good for you I thought they would be worth a try. 

One try, yes. Two tries? no. 

(Unless you're going to just make 8 or so to eat very, very fresh.)

When warm the chocolate did lend a slight element of edibility to these lumps, but now that it has been a week since they came out of the oven they are pretty gag-worthy. 

Why are they so terrible? 

Well, they're a cookie and they have some of the texture of a sea food-- like squid, and the taste of raw oats. Maybe the reason they're so health is because they are appetite reducers. 

That's a terrible place to end a blog post, so to ease your troubled minds and restore my reputation as a baker, take a look at this piece of winning banana cake. 

Alright, so all the banana cake won was a few Dutch hearts at a party, 

but that was all the affirmation I needed.