Keeping Busy in the Midst of Busy Season

You may have picked up on a theme of many of our adventures over here.  It starts with b and ends with eer.  Or, bier, as the Dutch would say.  For some reason, we get into a lot of situations where we like to drink beer.  I think it's just that there are so many new places to go and beers to taste.  I like to see it as our way of experiencing a new culture (over and over again).  So, when our fellow expat friends invited us to a Beer Advertising museum, we jumped at the chance to go.

Last Sunday, we headed to the Bierreclame Museum in Breda, a town about 40 minutes west of Eindhoven.  We began the day with lunch at a cafe and lots of great story swapping about our lives in the Netherlands. It never ceases to amaze me how pervasive culture is from one country to another.  There we were, 7 people from 4 different US states, but still having a very common experience as an expat living in the Netherlands.  Many of their trials and tribulations (i.e. where's the real hot sauce?) are so similar.  

After lunch, we headed over to the museum.  It was quite the place.  My words won't do it justice, so here's some photos:

Pretty nifty, right?  This place was covered floor to ceiling with various beer paraphernalia.    The place also doubled as a bar, so of course we needed to partake.

Mine's the red beauty in the middle.

And here's some shots of the crew:

Photo credit goes to Mindy on this one, I scammed it from her blog.

Thanks for hanging, ya'll!  We had a great time.  

Last weekend also consisted of a lovely dinner at the home of one of Todd's co-workers. Michiel and Kim (along with little ones Benthe and Boaz) invited us to share a meal.  And quite the meal it was. Props to Kim for being an amazing chef.   They even provided us with our first raw herring experience.  Herring is a very traditional Dutch food, that should be consumed like this:

I promise the Dutch don't actually dress like this now.

Kim and Michiel took it easy on us first timers though, and we ate the herring in smaller pieces on a cracker with onions.   I actually didn't mind it as much as I thought I would. I might even try it again.  Maybe the real way next time.  After a great meal, we were served another Dutch delight, poffertjes.  

Imagine this with warm apples.

Kim whipped them up with baked apples and powdered sugar.  Served warm.  I need that recipe.  Deeee-licious.  Thanks for the great evening Kim and Michiel!  

In current events, some of you, especially those residing in Holland, MI, may have heard that Queen Beatrix is abdicating the throne to her son Willem-Alexander.  Big news over here. It will be interesting to see how this all goes down.  I'll be sure to keep you in the loop.  We are planning to go up to Amsterdam for Queen's Day (which we hear is one big party on the streets), and that is the day she will officially hand over the crown.  Although, will it be a different crown since there will now be a king? Or are crowns unisex?  Whatever the case, I find it quite exciting to be here while all this is happening.  It's probably not quite the worldwide sensation that it would be if this was happening in the UK, but still a pretty big deal.