Follow Ryan

I’ve sent some postcards to some of you, but I don’t have addresses for everyone! If you want one, send me your address and I’ll see what I can do. No promises, but I will try.

First off, pardon any y and z juxtapositions as they are in the wrong place on the keyboard here!! I´m trying to catch them as I tzpe, but it is very hard.

We finally made it to brugge for the night. We made it to the train station and realized that everything was closed and we didn´t have any belgian francs!! We wandered out to a bus driver, explained our situation, and asked if he had any ideas. He told us we could walk to the hostel since we didn´t have any money and it was not that far. We ended up walking around a quarter of the city via the perimeter road (I am not kidding…we got a map the next day) but made it there with no money.
The city is beautiful and I recommend it to anyone. It is a small city that is surrounded by a moat. At least two of the original castle gates are still standing and actually now contain a street that you can enter the city by. The town square and town hall are amazing and we spent the entire day just wandering around and checking it out.

But that was after the night of sleeplessnes. We got a double room, which is nice for a change…erik does not snore nor do I - unlike the multitudes of people we have run across in dorm sleeping facilities on this trip. However, the radiator in our room seemed to start shaking violently every 30 minutes or so for no apparent reason. One of us would simply jump out of bed and change the temp setting to make it quiet back down. I imagine it to be much like having a child except you don´t have to feed it and there are no emotional bonds…okaz so it isn´t anything like having a child.

Another luxury item we had during our stay was a lovely shower in the room. Now this was no ordinary shower. This is a fancy push-button type shower that has a timer that automatically turns the water off after a period of time. Our timer was set to approximately 6 seconds. This is no joke. The ENTIRE time I showered I had to continually bump up against this crazy button in the wall that controlled the water flow. There was no temperature valve either, but I figured out that if I turned the cold water on in the sink, I could warm up the water a bit!

We woke up and booked a sleeper train to berlin…why not? I will update you on that portion of the trip when I am not using a computer account that I don´t really have access to (you should never say your password out loud in a public place…there are others out there like me)

until next time - I have many more stories to tell!!!! (a lot about berlin and we are off to prague tomorrow!!)

ryan

Okay - foreign keyboards can really mess up your typing! For example, the article, as I typed it in belgium, follows below. You can use the command:

tr q,azw\;:14Zçàù90\%\”\)\& amqwz,.\!\$W\(\)\´\(\)\:q\”-01

on a unix terminal to approximately convert it!
Or read the translated version at the bottom of the page…

Ze just hqve to get out of the netherlqnds:::there is so,ething qbout being here thqt just ,qkes you get stuck1 Ze checked out of the pig qnd qre ,oving on to brugge in belgiu,: Ze heqr it is ,uch ,ore entertqining thqn brussels: But Iù, getting qheqd of ,yself:::

Ze check out of the pig qnd hit the roqd:::only to reqliwe ze donùt knoz zhqt bus to tqke into tozn: So ze pop bqck in qnd qsk our friends ze just recently left zhqt trqin to tqke: Ze get the trqin info qnd then heqd to the post office to lighten the loqd just q bit ) qnd ,qil so,e stroopjzqffles bqck ho,e: Ze visit the pqncqke house thqt zeùve eqten breqkfqst qt over qnd over for the lqst ti,e ) I get q pqncqke zith sqlq,i; cheese; qnd herb butter 9zqcky pqncqkes here0

Ze zqlk pqst the pig on the zqy to the bus stop qnd get q heqrty zqve fro, zes ) zho, ze plqn to see qgqin in szitwerlqnd in q zeek or tzo: Ze finqlly cqtch the bus qnd qre off to leiden centrql stqtion to buy our rqil pqsses qnd heqd to belgiu,: The bus ride is nice qnd ze zqtch the tulip fields drift by in qn ql,ost reqdy to bloo, stqte: Guess Iùll hqve to co,e bqck next yeqr1

Ze zqit in line for qn hour qnd q hqlf only to be told thqt ze cqn only be rqil pqsses in q,sterdq,; utrecht; rotterdq,; etc: Bqsicqlly qny stqtion but the one ze qre qt: Ze buy q ticket to rotterdq, qs it is on the zqy to belgiu, qnd resign ourselves to ,qke it out of the country by the end of the dqy11

Ze hqd trouble finding the internqtionql stqion in rotterdq, until ze re,e,bered; %hey; zeùve been here1% qnd heqd off to the internqtionql ticket office: Ze zqit in line for qnother “à ,inutes or so qnd finqlly get our rqil pqss: The lqdy qsks if zeùd like to stqrt trqvel tonight qnd ze sqy yes:::then she points out thqt itùs q cheqp fqre to brugge so ze should probqbly just buy thqt leg: Ze hqve our trip figured out qnd donùt hqve qny need for qn extrq stop so ze go qheqd qnd zrite in the dqte for todqy qnd use one leg of the trip:

Ze heqd dozn to ter,inql &q qnd zqit for the trqin:::qll sorts of qnnounce,ents stqrt co,ing over the speqker qnd ze cqnùt understqnd q zord of it; but ze do notice thqt the trqin in the stqtion is not ,oving: Ze heqd to q guy zho looks like he zorks for the stqtion qnd qsk zhqt is going on ) there is q fire in the tunnel qheqd so ze hqve to zqit for it to get extinguished111 No proble,: it should only be qn hour or so:

Qfter zqiting for q couple of hours ze stqrt to rethink our trip: ,qybe ze should just heqd out overnight to berlin:::or ,qybe go to ,unchen: Ze hqve vqlidqted our pqss for trqvel todqy though so; per the instructions in our literqture; ze go to the qid stqtion qnd qsk the, to correct it since ze cqnùt use our leg qs plqnned: The lqdy stqrts giving us qttitude qnd sqys she cqnùt do it: Ze try to be polite for q ,o,ent qnd THEN the truth co,es out ) she zqntùs to chqrge us EXTRQ for chqnging the ticket:::,qke q little side ,oney: ?y response ) bullshit; qnd Iù, reporting you to the officiql co,plqint nu,ber here 9doubt I zill; but it qlzqys see,s like q good ideq0

zell; the trqin finqlly cq,e qnd ze ,qde it to brugge qnd everything zorked out:::but Iù, running out of ti,e qnd zill hqve to tell thqt story qnother dqy1

ryqn

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We just have to get out of the netherlands…there is something about being here that just makes you get stuck! We checked out of the pig and are moving on to brugge in belgium. We hear it is much more entertaining than brussels. But I´m getting ahead of myself…We check out of the pig and hit the road…only to realize we don´t know what bus to take into town. So we pop back in and ask our friends we just recently left what train to take. We get the train info and then head to the post office to lighten the load just a bit ” and mail some stroopjwaffles back home. We visit the pancake house that we´ve eaten breakfast at over and over for the last time ” I get a pancake with salami, cheese, and herb butter (wacky pancakes here)We walk past the pig on the way to the bus stop and get a hearty wave from wes ” whom we plan to see again in switzerland in a week or two. We finally catch the bus and are off to leiden central station to buy our rail passes and head to belgium. The bus ride is nice and we watch the tulip fields drift by in an almost ready to bloom state. Guess I´ll have to come back next year!We wait in line for an hour and a half only to be told that we can only be rail passes in amsterdam, utrecht, rotterdam, etc. Basically any station but the one we are at. We buy a ticket to rotterdam as it is on the way to belgium and resign ourselves to make it out of the country by the end of the day!!We had trouble finding the international staion in rotterdam until we remembered, :hey, we´ve been here!: and head off to the international ticket office. We wait in line for another q) minutes or so and finally get our rail pass. The lady asks if we´d like to start travel tonight and we say yes…then she points out that it´s a cheap fare to brugge so we should probably just buy that leg. We have our trip figured out and don´t have any need for an extra stop so we go ahead and write in the date for today and use one leg of the trip.We head down to terminal #a and wait for the train…all sorts of announcements start coming over the speaker and we can´t understand a word of it, but we do notice that the train in the station is not moving. We head to a guy who looks like he works for the station and ask what is going on ” there is a fire in the tunnel ahead so we have to wait for it to get extinguished!!! No problem. it should only be an hour or so.

Qfter waiting for a couple of hours we start to rethink our trip. maybe we should just head out overnight to berlin…or maybe go to munchen. We have validated our pass for travel today though so, per the instructions in our literature, we go to the aid station and ask them to correct it since we can´t use our leg as planned. The lady starts giving us attitude and says she can´t do it. We try to be polite for a moment and THEN the truth comes out ” she want´s to charge us EXTRQ for changing the ticket…make a little side money. ?y response ” bullshit, and I´m reporting you to the official complaint number here (doubt I will, but it always seems like a good idea)

well, the train finally came and we made it to brugge and everything worked out…but I´m running out of time and will have to tell that story another day!

ryan

We finally made it out of the Netherlands.  It’s a tough place to leave but we did it.  But not before we could order pancakes in Dutch and played pass the pigs many times.

We headed from rotterdam to a place called noordwijk (pronounced nord-wick by most and nord-vike by some). The first hostel we stayed at was incredibly sterile and over-run by children and 50 somethings on a bus tour - not exactly my scene. We wandered into the nearest town (1.5 hour walk, the gut is dwindling away) and found a flying pig hostel that was strangely enough full of americans. We liked the atmosphere and made plans at once to stay the next night because we had already paid for that evening at the boring hostel.
After a long walk back, we stepped into our 16 bed room to drop off some stuff and started talking to our new roommates. It turns out that they are traveling on severence pay as well. Their company was bought by earthlink and then they closed down the office they were in. They were planning on taking the trip to europe anyway but just did it sooner than they expected. The guy’s name was pat and he is a tall lanky guy with black hair that was always a touch messy. The girl’s name was carmen and she is an average height girl with bright blue hair (really blue). They were thrilled to find out about the pig in town and decided to follow us there the next day.

We took a cab in the morning (yes, the evening was so dull it’s not worth a mention) and I immediately realized that I had left my notebook and a wad of money under my pillow at the previous place… The walk is about an hour and a half and the cab was 25 gilder (about US $10). Erik and I decided to rent scooters and tour the country-side and make our first stop the previous hostel. Luckily, nobody had cleaned our room yet so all my stuff was still there.

The scooters were crazy. We were told that you drive on the street in cities and in the bike lanes outside the city. That was about the extent of our “training” for these things. We hopped out on the road and took off to the loud exhaust whine of the tiny motor. Road signs are a pretty universal thing and usually they are quite obvious in their intent. We had a few times that we just weren’t sure what was supposed to happen, however. Signs direct scooters onto and off of the bike path at various times (EVERY city we’ve been to here has HUGE bike paths. There is usually more room for bikes and pedestrians than cars) and sometimes we’d catch them sometimes we’d miss them and realize we were in the wrong place. If you follow the scooter paths, you take a more roundabout path than you do if you drive. This is because some roads only have a scooter path on one side so you have to go around to the other side to get going in the right direction, but you have to circle up to an intersection, go under a bridge, make three 90 degree turns, then turn around and you’re finally lined up for the path! It does make for a fun time on the scooter, though.

We got stuck in noordwijk aan zee (noordwijk on the sea) at the flying pig. The group of people was fun and entertaining and it was just easy to stay. We could daytrip to places quite easily from there and it only cost $10/night for a bed. It is, however, time to move on. I can just tell that it’s starting to get to me that we aren’t seeing more - erik commented the same thing today. We were going to head to southern netherlands and stay in a castle-hostel, but we need to get the hell out of dodge. Tomorrow it’s belgium (bruges) and from there we are looking at germany.

The updates should start coming regularly again as the places we’ll be going should have decent internet cafes. I’ll report when more exciting things happen!

ryan

Amsterdam is a strange city. Nobody cares when you arrive and nobody cares when you leave. It feels like a layover on a flight - you meet a bunch of people who are doing the same thing you are, hang out, and then when the flight takes off you never talk to them again…sometimes you don’t even get a proper goodbye in before leaving your new “friends.” I like the city, it teaches you to relax and just take whatever comes your way - but it’s time to go for now.
Rotterdam is a beautiful city - I don’t think we’ve ever been out of sight of a piece of art. The city has various artworks scattered around the city. I statue here, a contraption of various bits of metal there, lights on hydraulics that not only light up the area but look good doing it! The down side compared to amsterdam is: english is not as prominent. We weren’t really planning on a vacation in the netherlands, but the longer we stay the more apparent it becomes we need a phrasebook.

We had lunch at the “Cafe-Restaurant-Hotel BAZAR.” Witte de Withstraat 16,3012 BP Rotterdam. phone: 010-2065151. They serve turkish food in a lively atmosphere. We were given the choice at the door of sitting by the street windows, at the bar, or under the stars (not really the stars, but an area with a variety of lights in the ceiling to simulate stars). The menus are all in dutch (another indication that we need to learn some dutch if we are going to stay longer) but the waitress was happy to help out. Some keys: kip is chicken, vanaf 17.00 uur is available after 5pm (I believe). We’ve acquired a phrasebook so we can cope better in non-english speaking areas. I ordered a “Mish i Bluar” which is meat (lamb?) with goat cheese, a salad, and rice. It was interesting, but my digestive system is not really setup to handle turkish food…I’ll stop there.

We headed to the park on monday and sat around just watching people go by for hours - occasionally chatting about human behaviour or some silly topic that just came to mind. I didn’t bring my frisbee with me (although I did bring one with me, it was at the hostel. The frisbee was nancy’s suggestion and a good one, I might add) but we watched as others partook of the low energy exercise. I look forward to using mine soon.

The trip may change quite substantially - the price to get to spain is quite prohibitive from here. We’ll end up spending at least $200 and could spend up to $500 to get down to spain and back up to paris (where our flight leaves from…restrictive mileage redemption at work!) This is a lot of money to spend. We are evaluating the option of staying in benelux (belgium-netherlands-luxembourg) instead of journeying down to spain.

We head off for Noordwijk today - the tulip fields should be in bloom right now so we are hoping to catch this (based on photos I’ve seen) spectacular sight. Anyone who has talked to me since my last trip to amsterdam knows that I have been interested in the tulips since then. I hope our timing is perfect and we can get a great view of the fields in full bloom. There is a chance, however, that we are too early - but it’s worth a shot.

This also means that I may not have internet access for some time. If you haven’t signed up for the updates mailing list yet - do so! This will let you know next time I update the site and you will be sure to not miss a moment of excitement!

until next time,

ryan