You Can't Steal Happiness, But You Can Steal a Bike

Well folks, everyone said it would happen at least once.  We can't say we weren't warned.  But when Todd went out to his bike this morning, all he found was this lousy, broken bike lock :(:

I accept partial responsibility for this, since I bought the lock, which apparently is a piece of crap.  However, the jerk who stole our bike is definitely the one to blame.  How rude.  I can't believe our bike was stolen on the last possible night of parking it on the street.

But, you can't steal our happiness today, because we are moving!  I went to the Target equivalent, Hema, yesterday and picked up a few staples:

So we will definitely be able to get by until our shipment arrives.  Excuse the shortness of this post, I will hopefully be back next week with photos of the new place.  Until then!  Have a great weekend!

Lichtjesroute

We had a great time getting our Dutch on this past weekend by riding bikes constantly!  The Lichtjesroute (Light Route) is currently going on in Eindhoven.  The Lichtjesroute is an illuminated route along 22km of roads in Eindhoven.  The route commemorates the liberation of Eindhoven during World War II on September 18, 1945.  Since the company Philips was founded in Eindhoven, it makes sense that the celebration would include many lights.  So we hopped on our bikes to take in the views of hundreds of thousands of light bulbs arranged as large ornaments with different themes along the various roads.

We have probably spent a total of 3 hours riding along the route, and here's a few of the photos we took to give you an idea of what it looks like:

Before I saw the route in action, I thought it was going to be a little hokey, but it was actually really fun to ride around and see everything at night.

On Saturday we put our legs to good use again and cycled to a neighboring village called Geldrop.  It was very quaint and cute, and we enjoyed ourselves out on a large square in the center of town.  You feel a real sense of accomplishment when you get somewhere via bike as opposed to car.  I've been surprised by how much I've enjoyed biking since being here!

The weekend was rounded out by 2 trips to Ikea.  Has anyone eaten in their cafeteria before?  Yum-oh!  We ordered a bed and have plans to order more.  The bed will be delivered on Saturday.  We are moving to our new, unfurnished home on Friday night.  For those astute readers out there, you may notice this means we won't have a bed for Friday night.  You're right.  It's the floor all the way for the 3 of us on Friday.  Another adventure I suppose?  Although we do have bedding and pillows, so we'll figure out some set-up, and I'll be sure to share the pics!  Anyone have any indoor camping tips they'd like to share?

You Can't Buy Happiness, but You Can Buy a Bike and That Is Pretty Close

We have more bike news.  Todd and I can officially go on bike trips together now since we have acquired another fiets.  A herenfiets this time around.  As opposed to the granny bike, this is a "man bike".  So now the omafiets is mine, and the herenfiets belongs to RTodd.  Here's a pic of the new guy:

We bought the bike using Marktplaats, the Craigslist of the Netherlands.  The man selling it was quite the chatterbox and loved telling us about his time traveling in the US and how Canadians are much nicer people "deep down in the heart" than Americans.  Ha, hopefully we were able to prove his stereotypes wrong, at least a little.  And this pic from a sign outside a shop in Belgium seemed to fit this post:

In other news, here's the view from my seat in the little cafe where I write to you...

And I scored this massive cappuccino to keep me company:

For my last pic of the post, I can't resist a gratuitous shot of Jack.  You know, just because she's so pretty.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

The Oldest City in the Netherlands

Get ready for a photo heavy post!  We made the decision to venture to Maastricht this weekend, and this is definitely a city we will go to again.  It's the oldest city in the Netherlands, and quite a beauty.  We were poor planners and did a bit too much coffee drinking and sitting on the couch on Saturday morning, so we didn't made it in time for the English language tour of the St. Pietersberg caves; from what I hear they are a must see. But of course that gives us more of a reason to go back.

Once we arrived, we hit up the VVV (tourism office) and picked up a walking tour guide.  This led us through the oldest and best sights in the city.  It was a great way to see the town.  So here comes the deluge of photos that are a much better way to show you the city than my ramblings:

Todd is always our photographer, and he takes pleasure in capturing me looking silly.  The best 2 shots are these gems:

I think you need a close-up there.  I was very focused.  Traveling is hard work my friends :).

I was also jealous of this doggie in his bike basket.

Too bad I can't shrink Jackaroo to get her to fit in a basket like that.  However, she will fit nicely into our new car.  Todd's employer has given us an Audi A3 for the rest of our time in the Netherlands:

We are pretty excited to be given such a nice car, and it's a great size for Euro travel. We'll surely put it to good use!

What Fridays Are Made Of

I am enjoying my Friday.  My evidence, this photo:

Shopping at H&M followed by a cappuccino at a cozy cafe?  Yes, please!  They have free WiFi here too, so this is a real time update, people.  I could get used to this.  But Todd might have to hold me back from going to H&M too frequently...

Todd and I have a few options on the docket for the weekend.  There is a humongous flower and horticulture exhibit/fair (which takes place once in every 10 years in Nederland) happening in the nearly neighboring city of Venlo that we might check out.  Or perhaps we'll head to Maastricht which is about 45 minutes away.  Not sure at this point, but you know I'll keep you posted!

We Went Antwerpen

Goedendag, blog reader!

As promised, I will begin with housing updates today.  We are very excited to have snagged a great house to rent for the next 18 months!  The place was a bit out of our price range originally, but I used my excellent command of the Dutch language to haggle the price down a full €100.  Don't believe me?  Ok, you win, our relocation specialist wheeled and dealed us to down to the price that fit our budget.  We are very happy.  They took the listing down off of the website, so I don't have any photos for you right now, except for this Google street view of the front of our row house:

Pretty cute, right?  It's actually way bigger than we were expecting our place here to be, but we think it will be great. And the best feature is that it has a back patio and even a small yard!  Hooray for grass, AKA potty space.  Jack will be a happy pup, and we will be happy parents to not have the 3 flights of stairs each time we take her out.  The house is quite beautiful with lots of natural light and great "bones".  We are excited to decorate.  I'm sure I will be sharing lots more about the new place once we move in on September 28!  Can't wait!

Todd and I kept busy last weekend with a multitude of activities.  On Friday, we ventured to a meeting of an expat group in Eindhoven.  They hold biweekly meet-ups at a bar, so we gave it a shot.  The group wasn't big this time around, about 10 people, but apparently upwards of 40 attend on certain nights.  So it could be a good way to meet some people here.  We met a few people on Friday who seem fun, so it was a good night out overall.  I'll be going to a trivia night tomorrow with a couple of the girls I met.

On Saturday, we drove one hour south-ish to Antwerp, Belgium!  We had no plan for our time there and no clue what to expect, but it turned out to be a great city.  It was a tad stressful getting there since the road system once you get into the city is bonkers, but we made it there eventually, thanks to the awesome nav system our car is equipped with.  We had fun just walking around the city, eating lunch outside on the main square, and indulging in some gelato (I was too full for a waffle or I would have had one of those).  Here's some photos of our time: 

We feel so lucky to be able to jump in the car and just go to such great spots!  Antwerp is a cool city that I'm sure we'll get back to.  We began calling it our trip to Kalamazoo since it's the same distance from GR to Kzoo as it is from Eindhoven to Antwerpen.  Country hopping is fun, and it didn't even require a passport check!

Our weekend was rounded out on Sunday by a trip to a huge park on the outskirts of town.  Lots of trails and spots to lounge, it was a good find!

Filet Americain

Todd here...short post for you just to whet your appetite (pun definitely intended).  So I tried a new classic dutch food that all of my colleagues have been eating all week.  It's called "filet americain".  My message to them, as I was trying this at lunch today, was clear: "please don't tell me what's actually in this stuff".

As expected,it tasted exactly how it smelled (like raw minced fishy meat soaked in vinegar and forgotten in an old garbage disposal).  Below is the visual.

After getting home from work and feeling a little light-headed for the past 5 hours, I had to look up the ingredients.  I won't list them here, but let you check for yourselves.

The funniest thing about my research (in my opinion) was this blog I stumbled across where another American in the Netherlands describes an experience with filet americain.  See below and enjoy.  Have a great weekend all!

~ Todd

http://cyclingwithoutahelmet.blogspot.nl/2010/03/filet-american.html

A Different Week

It's been a weird one, folks!  Todd and I are both dealing with the changes that this week has brought.

As far as Todd is concerned, he has been surprised by many things during his first week of work.  He's like a newbie all over again!  His first surprise is that essentially nothing was ready for him on his first day.  Well, except for a huge car we'll be using until we get a permanent vehicle!  We don't have anywhere to park it right now, so Todd's been keeping it at the office in their ramp. I haven't even seen the beast yet!  But he didn't have a computer, or access to his work email, or a phone, or any other essentials for getting by in a place of employment like his.

He was also surprised (maybe he shouldn't have been) by the amount of Dutch being spoken in the office.  The only time his coworkers break from the Dutch is when they are speaking directly to Todd.  That will take some getting used to, and hopefully he can learn some of the language along the way.  Another surprise, albeit small, was the dress code.  He was told originally that he'd be wearing a suit and tie every day, so he went into work his first day looking spiffy:

But he gets to ditch the tie on a daily basis, which is a nice little discovery.

Saying that my days have been different is a bit of an understatement.  It is quite the adjustment to not be pulling into GVSU's campus everyday.  Although, I have started up my work again, so it has been nice to reconnect.  I am sure ready for when our computer arrives (sounds like that won't be happening until next week now), since it's a bit hard to do all of my work via iPad.  But I can be patient.  I have stayed busy enough though this week.  There are still lots of logistics to get in place with bank accounts and driver's licenses, etc.  Each step, like making a deposit for the first time, or mailing a letter are ego boosting mini victories telling me that, yes, I can get around here!

I did make it out to the big market in Eindhoven yesterday, and picked up these beauties:

And Jackaroo is very happy to have her first Dutch toy:

I should have some exciting house hunting news when I blog next, so stay tuned (how's that for a teaser?). Ta ta for now!

We Put Mayo on Our Fries

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Hopefully you are enjoying your Labor Day weekend.  Todd and I just returned from a trip to the Van Abbemuseum in town.  There was a free 1pm tour that we were told would be in Dutch only, but we went anyway.  It turned out that our tour guide was nice enough to conduct the tour in English, and the other people in our group agreed to it.  We felt a little guilty, but the tour would have been very boring in Dutch.  We went through an exhibit of an Eindhoven born artist named Rene Daniels, it was good stuff!

I'm sad that Todd has to go to work tomorrow, it's been nice getting used to having him around again after he worked so much this summer.  But I am looking forward to trying to find some normalcy in life here as well. I don't think I'll fully be able to succeed at that until we move into our permanent spot.  A girl can try, though!

We have thoroughly enjoyed our first week here.  We've been out a few times....

... and took our first mini trip to another city yesterday.  We ventured to the city of Helmond, which was only a 15 minute train ride away.  There we strolled through the market  that was voted the best in Holland by the Dutch - it was huge!

They also have a pretty nifty castle there...

Todd tried to get me to stay longer...

And then we relaxed with a coffee in hand at a canal-side cafe...

All in all, a nice little side trip for a Saturday afternoon.  And for those of you wondering if we have tried the fries and mayonnaise combo, take a look at this:

It's actually a lot better than you'd think!  Although I will need to start running again....hopefully I can get in the mood for that tomorrow morning.

The city is crazy busy outside our window right now.  And we can hear a marching band somewhere.

Until next time!