Our first serious road trip! Brugge, Belgium I guess, was our first foray into traveling away from Amsterdam a month or so ago. It was 2 1/2 hours, staying overnight. Luxembourg is 4 hours, and it was just Radhika and I this time on the trip. I mapped out the first trip, and there was concern on the return to Amsterdam that we wouldn't get Dimple to the airport on time. We did, with time to spare, but the tricky and time consuming exit from Brugge caused a little anxiety in the car with certain passengers (who will go unnamed). ;) Anyway, with the car parked close to the apartment, we left Amsterdam Saturday morning at 10am, setting the TomTom destination of the Luxembourg Hilton. It was a pretty straightforward drive. We stopped for a quick break and snack a little more than an hour north of Luxembourg. The terrain is varied as was the weather. Flat, green pastures and fields, rolling hills, to small more rougher terrain at the higher elevations. We traveled through sun, overcast darkness, ice, snow, rain, back to sun... it was constantly changing. We arrived around 3pm, got a nice upgrade, dumped our baggage, and drove to the city only 7 kilometers away. Parking underground, we walked the stairs where we were deposited in a square. We walked the streets in the vicinity getting our bearings. They were very nice and clean. We heard music coming from a large, outdoor tent-like structure. How lucky were we when it was discovered they had 60 musicians from New Orleans there for a 4 day festival for Easter! We listened for a while, watched people, walked around, and got information from the tourist office for the next 2 days. When we got hungry, we bypassed the one McDonald's that managed to infest the city right next to the tent, and ate in a French restaurant fro dinner. The country does have it's own language, but French and German are spoken there due to their close proximity. Our dinner was tasty and the service was good. But as we finished, our server, who was working diligently all evening had a little problems with balance right near our table, and several plates came crashing off of his tray. Some liquid splashed up off of the floor and onto Radhika's lap and sleeve! Oh boy what a hubub!! The female manager, who reminded me a little of Leona Helmsly and our server engaged in several vocal exchanges over the next 5 to 10 minutes. We don't know what was said as they were speaking in French, but the couple next to us sure seemed to be amused by it all. We were concerned for a while, because our server went AWOL for a while, and I thought Leona may have tossed him out on his "croissant". But he showed up after a few minutes and apologized again. I told him not to worry, that it was Radhika's fault. He smiled a little, but insisted it was his, and he gave Radhika 10 euros towards the cleaning. He and Leona went at it a couple more times. It was almost out of a sitcom.... all the fast-flying French dialogue and hand gestures. I just know someone was calling the other an idiot! Finally, one of the other servers asked if we had our desert yet, as it had been forgotten in all of the action! We had our ice cream and called it a day! Such an exciting first day. BTW... whatever it was it came out of her clothes when she washed them at the hotel.
The next morning I got up and went down to the indoor heated pool. That was sweet! Got a little exercise in and even managed 10 minutes in the sauna. We ate breakfast, as the Hilton had a really nice buffet, but we were also still full to a degree from last night's dinner. We drove into the city around 9:45am, and it was pretty empty! It's cool to have a city almost all to yourself. It was a little chilly to, but as the day continued, the sun came out and it was glorious sunshine all day!! We walked all over, went into the "Casemates", which are underground caves that have been carved out over the centuries. Down through history, Luxembourg has been the most fortified city in Europe. We listened to some dixieland, blues, and jazz, and had a really nice day. Something funny... as we sat listening to music, Radhika got a coffee from the golden arches, and I went to the tent to check out the Louisiana food they had there. Ended up getting 2 sausage sandwiches for us. They were pretty good, but as Radhika bit into hers, it squirted water/grease in a direct line right to me... there was no escape!!! Damn it was like it was planned!!! I didn't even laugh the night before when she got victimized by "Clumsy Claude"!! Luckily there was no major damage, but it sure seemed like it was payback for something. We did some more sightseeing, taking advantage of the great weather! Ended up driving back to the hotel around 9:30pm.
The next morning I went straight to the gym and lifted a few weights before hitting the pool and sauna (yes, my punk-ass is a little sore as I type). Put me in a mood to do a little 'ol school damage on the breakfast buffet! After I felt I had signed my masterpiece, we took the hotel shuttle to the city instead of driving. Unfortunately this time of year they drive in at 10:45am, and pick up at 8:30pm, so we checked out before we left. It snowed heavily overnight and continued on and off throughout the day, which made for different pictures. I did some shooting while Radhika listened to some Gospel. Luckily, the tent did not catch fire! I came back after some shooting, we listened for a while, and then went walking through the markets the city had set up along some streets and squares. I bought Radhika a pair of shiny, black earrings and then we headed back, picking up the car after taking a city bus back to the hotel around 2:30pm. We drove around and outside the city for about an hour before heading back to Amsterdam and arriving at 8pm. It was a great trip, with good sights, some nice photography, a comfortable hotel, good food, great music, and little stress! Our next trip is 2 weeks away! Snowing again... let me see if I can take a good picture to throw up on the blog. Until next time......
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Good The Bad and The Ugly - Chapter 1
Man! Where do I begin and how? Moving to a different country certainly involves aspects of life you didn't imagine or think of before you made the move. And even if you did consider everything, it's nothing like the experience of it actually happening! So after almost 4 full months after arrival, let me try to convey everything up until now, using the overused movie title as an outline. Some things will be familiar from previous posts, others will be new. I think I am going to do this "shotgun" style, and just drop down what comes to mind instead of categorizing it (too formal!). Let's start with the weather here... I have to throw the "Ugly" tag on that, so far. After 4 months, during winter.... yeah, ugly's good! Yesterday I got pelted by tiny ice crystals as I rode the bike! What the hell?!?!?! It was either that or someone in front of me had a bad case of dandruff, because all of these little white specks were bouncing off my jacket and face as I rode down the street! But they were hard not "flaky", the way the TV commercials describe that scalp affliction. Five minutes later the sun was out. It drizzles a lot here, sprinkles, if you like. I haven't seen what I consider rain or downpour yet. Just cold, miserable, drizzle. There have been a few days of nice weather, and even some stretches of it. But overall, I have to say the weather sucks, it's "Ugly". Probably near the top on the list of adjustments we have to make going from Orlando to Amsterdam.
Language. While it's true that most Dutch speak English quite well, and that makes for an easier transition, what's overlooked are the areas that a language barrier still exists. Like food shopping. Reading pictures on containers trying to determine "Is it detergent? Is it fabric softener? Is it soup?" is like reading hieroglyphics in pyramids or ancient cave paintings!!! Now try to read the preparation instructions. Yeah, good luck with that! Cleaners that the owner of the apartment left for us.... what does the picture depict?!? Is that a floor being cleaned or a counter top? And there're 7 different bottles with similar pictures!!! Open it and smell it.... no clue there. This one is orange, but this one is yellow.... no clue there. This one squeezes out, this one pours.... no clue there!!!! Hey! On the stove... what does this little icon mean? Why does it look like the Monopoly dude with his top hat? What's this swirly icon for on the clothes dryer? Is that a profile of a pigeon and Pacman on the microwave? What the F&%$ do they do?!?!?!? Shit! How about going to the internet, phone, TV store and signing up for service. I'm getting what? I can call here but not there? How fast is my upstream and downstream? Excuse me? I have to pay 10 cents a minute when I call tech support or report an outage or problem with service? How do I set up my inbox? Oh, instructions are in the box and online. Get home, you guessed it... all in Dutch! We STILL don't have cable working after almost a month!!! Oh, I get 30 minutes phone tech support free? Great... until it cuts off in the middle of trying to get stuff to work!! Try navigating a website that's another language - - oh now there's some fun! I use an online translation site, and while it is very helpful, the translations are literal. For example, "You can expect within 3 days a message of us" is the translated message I received after sending a request to a store online. And this one is beautiful to me, because it's easy to know what is meant. But others leave me dumbfounded. Mild-mannered John is turning into raging lunatic John as frustration has smacked me down! I have learned that when I feel the urge to go down to the local UPC office where I signed up for service and start throwing people through the windows, it's time to take a break (perhaps this is why smoking pot is legal, folks need a way to mellow out). Obviously "Bad" and "Ugly" are fighting over which of them represent this aspect of our move here. I say let them share, coz it's bad AND ugly!!
Going to Luxembourg for 2 nights over the long weekend coming up. A 4 hour drive south, the TomTom telling us where to go, in a company car with gas paid for... any question this is "Good"?!!! Already been to a beautiful city in Belgium a few weeks back (2 1/2 hour drive), and making plans for Barcelona and the south of Spain, and Greece and Italy, with Prague fitting in over a long weekend too. We'll be driving to place so diverse but the distance is that between Orlando and Atlanta. Farther places will be flown. Our apartment kicks ass! It was a chore to go through all of the viewings and a little nervy navigating the negotiation, not wanting to make a mistake. But the owners of the apartment seem pretty cool, and are equally happy to have us in their old home as we are to be there. And they are right downstairs when needed as their business (a boat tour) is on the ground floor.
Municipal facilities has to get a "Bad", as there are few. You would think in a socialist country there would be more facilities such as these for the public, but you would be wrong! I have found zero, nada, zippo, in terms of tennis courts available to the public for just "walk up" usage. The basketball courts that I have seen, nary a one has nets on the rim! It looks as though, from my search up to this date, that one plays tennis only through a "club" where yearly dues are paid. Like I said, not too "social" for a socialist country!! In a book I am reading entitle "Dealing With The Dutch" (written by a Dutch professor), he states that even visits to a prostitute can be covered under state sponsored health care!! But no state sponsored tennis courts! That kind of "love" they don't support (get it?). Anyway, so I have found a place close by. It only has clay surface courts, but I don't care at this point... Johnnie needs court time!!! So, I have to look into how much that will cost. One item they offer online, couldn't read the Dutch but whatever it was cost 350 euros per year(about $500). I'll be playing tennis on a canal before I pay $500 to play at a "club" where rain will wash out games frequently, I suspect. If I manage to play once a week (highly unlikely) that will be $10 per session! No way, Jose (Hose-A, for the phonetically inquisitive).
Bad or ugly? You decide on this one. Let's say your internet or phone service is out. You normally place a call to the provider to inform them, right? Or, there's something on your bill that you don't understand, so you call to speak to billing about it. Well, sit down and soak this up. You are charged 10 euro cents a minute for these calls by the companies!!! Water, internet, cable.... I haven't encountered a company yet that doesn't levy this charge. I have asked them about the logic of charging me to call them to let them know their service is failing. Eh, not much of a reaction. I actually received an email from UPC requesting that I call as soon as possible when service is out so they can affect repair!!!! If I want to avoid charges, I can email them a message that they will get to....oh....I don't know.... some day. Son of a BEEEyotch!!! Insert any expletives you wish here...the more socially unacceptable, the better!
Look for more chapters to this movie coming later!
Language. While it's true that most Dutch speak English quite well, and that makes for an easier transition, what's overlooked are the areas that a language barrier still exists. Like food shopping. Reading pictures on containers trying to determine "Is it detergent? Is it fabric softener? Is it soup?" is like reading hieroglyphics in pyramids or ancient cave paintings!!! Now try to read the preparation instructions. Yeah, good luck with that! Cleaners that the owner of the apartment left for us.... what does the picture depict?!? Is that a floor being cleaned or a counter top? And there're 7 different bottles with similar pictures!!! Open it and smell it.... no clue there. This one is orange, but this one is yellow.... no clue there. This one squeezes out, this one pours.... no clue there!!!! Hey! On the stove... what does this little icon mean? Why does it look like the Monopoly dude with his top hat? What's this swirly icon for on the clothes dryer? Is that a profile of a pigeon and Pacman on the microwave? What the F&%$ do they do?!?!?!? Shit! How about going to the internet, phone, TV store and signing up for service. I'm getting what? I can call here but not there? How fast is my upstream and downstream? Excuse me? I have to pay 10 cents a minute when I call tech support or report an outage or problem with service? How do I set up my inbox? Oh, instructions are in the box and online. Get home, you guessed it... all in Dutch! We STILL don't have cable working after almost a month!!! Oh, I get 30 minutes phone tech support free? Great... until it cuts off in the middle of trying to get stuff to work!! Try navigating a website that's another language - - oh now there's some fun! I use an online translation site, and while it is very helpful, the translations are literal. For example, "You can expect within 3 days a message of us" is the translated message I received after sending a request to a store online. And this one is beautiful to me, because it's easy to know what is meant. But others leave me dumbfounded. Mild-mannered John is turning into raging lunatic John as frustration has smacked me down! I have learned that when I feel the urge to go down to the local UPC office where I signed up for service and start throwing people through the windows, it's time to take a break (perhaps this is why smoking pot is legal, folks need a way to mellow out). Obviously "Bad" and "Ugly" are fighting over which of them represent this aspect of our move here. I say let them share, coz it's bad AND ugly!!
Going to Luxembourg for 2 nights over the long weekend coming up. A 4 hour drive south, the TomTom telling us where to go, in a company car with gas paid for... any question this is "Good"?!!! Already been to a beautiful city in Belgium a few weeks back (2 1/2 hour drive), and making plans for Barcelona and the south of Spain, and Greece and Italy, with Prague fitting in over a long weekend too. We'll be driving to place so diverse but the distance is that between Orlando and Atlanta. Farther places will be flown. Our apartment kicks ass! It was a chore to go through all of the viewings and a little nervy navigating the negotiation, not wanting to make a mistake. But the owners of the apartment seem pretty cool, and are equally happy to have us in their old home as we are to be there. And they are right downstairs when needed as their business (a boat tour) is on the ground floor.
Municipal facilities has to get a "Bad", as there are few. You would think in a socialist country there would be more facilities such as these for the public, but you would be wrong! I have found zero, nada, zippo, in terms of tennis courts available to the public for just "walk up" usage. The basketball courts that I have seen, nary a one has nets on the rim! It looks as though, from my search up to this date, that one plays tennis only through a "club" where yearly dues are paid. Like I said, not too "social" for a socialist country!! In a book I am reading entitle "Dealing With The Dutch" (written by a Dutch professor), he states that even visits to a prostitute can be covered under state sponsored health care!! But no state sponsored tennis courts! That kind of "love" they don't support (get it?). Anyway, so I have found a place close by. It only has clay surface courts, but I don't care at this point... Johnnie needs court time!!! So, I have to look into how much that will cost. One item they offer online, couldn't read the Dutch but whatever it was cost 350 euros per year(about $500). I'll be playing tennis on a canal before I pay $500 to play at a "club" where rain will wash out games frequently, I suspect. If I manage to play once a week (highly unlikely) that will be $10 per session! No way, Jose (Hose-A, for the phonetically inquisitive).
Bad or ugly? You decide on this one. Let's say your internet or phone service is out. You normally place a call to the provider to inform them, right? Or, there's something on your bill that you don't understand, so you call to speak to billing about it. Well, sit down and soak this up. You are charged 10 euro cents a minute for these calls by the companies!!! Water, internet, cable.... I haven't encountered a company yet that doesn't levy this charge. I have asked them about the logic of charging me to call them to let them know their service is failing. Eh, not much of a reaction. I actually received an email from UPC requesting that I call as soon as possible when service is out so they can affect repair!!!! If I want to avoid charges, I can email them a message that they will get to....oh....I don't know.... some day. Son of a BEEEyotch!!! Insert any expletives you wish here...the more socially unacceptable, the better!
Look for more chapters to this movie coming later!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Cool Weekend, Back To Reality
What a packed weekend! On Saturday, we went for a bike ride just outside the city to an area pronounced "Outerkirk" to where there's all natural settings with a windmill along the way to remind you, if you happened to forget, that you were in the Netherlands! In the early afternoon we went to the movies, seeing "The Other Boleyn Girl". Enjoyed it, and as usual for us when we see "Hollywood's" depiction of history we did a little research on Henry the 8th over the weekend in order to filter out any embellishments, adjusted facts or complete falsehoods. Saturday night there was a party at a bar in the center of Amsterdam for a co-worker who is returning to Sweden after working at GE Amsterdam for 7 years. We had fun and fortunately we didn't smell like walking cigarettes afterwards, which is usually the case here. In July, a law will go into place that prohibits smoking in many places, so I expect a lot of grumpy Dutch people stomping around until they go through their withdrawals or find another way to cope. Sunday, we had our usual cheese omelet breakfast before going off to see the Magnum exhibit at a local museum. That was pretty interesting, along with 1 or 2 other exhibits in the museum. But then there are the ones that we just didn't get! What I do, as art, is pretty self explanatory most of the time. But then there are those spread out over the "art spectrum", whether it's representational art, abstract, performance, whatever, that it's just not clear where they are going with what they produce!! Some pieces had explanations by the artist, and we're both saying "I don't see it!" We were there about 4 hours and could've stayed longer, but they closed at 6pm. So, we walked home, which was a considerable distance, stopping to have dinner at a Tibetan / Nepalese restaurant that was very good!! We will visit there again for sure.
Ah, but back to reality part of this post. While it is true that most people, easily 90% or more, of the people I have come in contact with speak enough English for easy communication. However, try buying a mobile phone, getting electric service, cable TV, GPS unit, etc. Get ready for some real fun, because the large majority of websites are in Dutch, and all the paper work you receive with the equipment is written in Dutch! I (at least like to think) am pretty patient, but WOW have I broken new territory for myself! If my previous level of patience was Georgia and I'm living in Orlando, hell, I have now visited the "Land of Enchantment" (Arizona, right?)!!!! Thankfully, I have found a rudimentary online translator, but we're talking a lot of pain-staking typing when it comes to manuals, and copying and pasting when directions or information are on a website!! All in all, it makes for some seriously long engagements to change an address, open an online account, update your GPS, change the language settings on your mobile phone, basically everything! I admit to getting frustrated and sending a few not-so-nice emails to different companies chastising them for not supporting the large contingent of English speaking residents. It did bear some fruit, as I was contacted by customer and tech support for one company I was dealing with, and another said they are behind schedule ramping up their English version of their website. This has to be near the top of my list of difficult things encountered by this move to Amsterdam.
Okay, we're here, it's another Monday. It's been sprinkling here since about 10am. I say "sprinkling" while the Dutch say rain. I think "rain" is those July downpours we get in central Florida where in 2 seconds you get more wet than you would jumping in a swimming pool! What makes it bad here is this place is windy! I mean windy, folks!!! Not that warm breeze where a leaf flutters and you get all giggly inside. Today, there are gusts of wind that take me back to the dark night several years ago when I tried to sleep, and #2 or #3 hurricane of the week was passing through and I thought Florida Eastcoast RR had put a track next to the bedroom while I was asleep!!! Last week, I had the owner bring by some weatherstrip as 3 of the windows in the place had sizable gaps. Those windows are just fine now. However, I will be sitting or walking in here, and all of a sudden part of my body will feel a stiff, cold, gust of wind. Not my whole body now, let's just say, for example, the outside lower left are of my left wrist! I have to start crawling around trying to find where that's coming from!!! I sealed the window in the bathroom last week, but damn if that wasn't one of the places this morning I felt one of those little bursts of cold air!!! After some inspection, I found the source to be the wall switch!! I took of the plate and damn if it didn't feel like I opened the freezer upstairs! Our place is very modern. Just remodeled last July and it looks like it. However, when the building is centuries old, it must be tough to seal all of the cracks! There are cold, small little breezes everywhere in this place on a day like today. Wind blows hard, and the crack in the door whistles The Andy Griffith Show! I already know I'm going to want more weatherstrip and a can of foam for those pipe and conduit risers in the closets and utility area. Like I say at home....It's always something!!!
Ah, but back to reality part of this post. While it is true that most people, easily 90% or more, of the people I have come in contact with speak enough English for easy communication. However, try buying a mobile phone, getting electric service, cable TV, GPS unit, etc. Get ready for some real fun, because the large majority of websites are in Dutch, and all the paper work you receive with the equipment is written in Dutch! I (at least like to think) am pretty patient, but WOW have I broken new territory for myself! If my previous level of patience was Georgia and I'm living in Orlando, hell, I have now visited the "Land of Enchantment" (Arizona, right?)!!!! Thankfully, I have found a rudimentary online translator, but we're talking a lot of pain-staking typing when it comes to manuals, and copying and pasting when directions or information are on a website!! All in all, it makes for some seriously long engagements to change an address, open an online account, update your GPS, change the language settings on your mobile phone, basically everything! I admit to getting frustrated and sending a few not-so-nice emails to different companies chastising them for not supporting the large contingent of English speaking residents. It did bear some fruit, as I was contacted by customer and tech support for one company I was dealing with, and another said they are behind schedule ramping up their English version of their website. This has to be near the top of my list of difficult things encountered by this move to Amsterdam.
Okay, we're here, it's another Monday. It's been sprinkling here since about 10am. I say "sprinkling" while the Dutch say rain. I think "rain" is those July downpours we get in central Florida where in 2 seconds you get more wet than you would jumping in a swimming pool! What makes it bad here is this place is windy! I mean windy, folks!!! Not that warm breeze where a leaf flutters and you get all giggly inside. Today, there are gusts of wind that take me back to the dark night several years ago when I tried to sleep, and #2 or #3 hurricane of the week was passing through and I thought Florida Eastcoast RR had put a track next to the bedroom while I was asleep!!! Last week, I had the owner bring by some weatherstrip as 3 of the windows in the place had sizable gaps. Those windows are just fine now. However, I will be sitting or walking in here, and all of a sudden part of my body will feel a stiff, cold, gust of wind. Not my whole body now, let's just say, for example, the outside lower left are of my left wrist! I have to start crawling around trying to find where that's coming from!!! I sealed the window in the bathroom last week, but damn if that wasn't one of the places this morning I felt one of those little bursts of cold air!!! After some inspection, I found the source to be the wall switch!! I took of the plate and damn if it didn't feel like I opened the freezer upstairs! Our place is very modern. Just remodeled last July and it looks like it. However, when the building is centuries old, it must be tough to seal all of the cracks! There are cold, small little breezes everywhere in this place on a day like today. Wind blows hard, and the crack in the door whistles The Andy Griffith Show! I already know I'm going to want more weatherstrip and a can of foam for those pipe and conduit risers in the closets and utility area. Like I say at home....It's always something!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
