It's raining again!

I got up this morning, saw it was raining, had my breakfast downstairs, and went back to bed.

Why sleep more, you ask?  Well, because I'm pretty sure my rampant allergies have now become a full-on sinus infection.  I can hardly breath for the coughs choking me, and getting all the way upstairs to my room takes the wind out of me.

I was planning on going either to the Open Air Museum in Arnhem or to Volendam today, but it's raining in both places, as well as here in Rotterdam.  The Open Air museum will cost me 14,95 Euros, along with the more than thirty-eight Euros for train fair.

Turns out, I'd have to take a train to Purmerend Overwhere, and then a taxi (yikes!) to Volendam.  The train ride alone (both directions, total) will take 35,40 Euros, and I have no idea how much the taxi would cost both ways.

So, I could pretty much go to one or the other--not both--since I have only about 100 Euros left.  Tomorrow, I'm definitely going to the Arboretum Trompenberg and having lunch, even if I have to slog through the rain with that silly umbrella.  Today, I might walk up to the market on the corner for some cough syrup or some Dutch equivalent of DayQuil.  Don't really need Sudafed, because the moisture in the air is doing a good job of draining my sinuses as it is.  Too bad it's not this wet and rainy in Maryland.  (Just kidding!)

Checking something. . . . Perhaps if I bike the last leg to Volendam?

. . . It would take 34 minutes, one way, by bicycle.  But both trips together would still cost me nearly 80 Euros.  Bah.

Arnhem or Volendam?  Volendam or Arnhem?  I can't decide.  And it will have to be either tomorrow after lunch or I'd have to get back before the walking tour of Rotterdam on Wednesday.

I'll decide later.

So . . . many . . . STAIRS!

I didn't go to Amsterdam today.

Tell the truth, I didn't even leave the hostel.

I'd done so much biking yesterday, that this morning, I had trouble getting back up to my room after breakfast--I was that sore, and it wasn't just my legs.  Besides, it rained right after breakfast, and I'd forgotten to grab my umbrella while I was getting my suitcase out of the Bug.  I'm not sure I could afford to buy one here, but I'd do it if I was caught out in the rain--and could find a place nearby to buy one.

So, what did I do instead?  I caught up on some reading, of course.  That seems to be the default Darcy relaxation technique, after all.

Anna had told me about the two Sookie Stackhouse novels I hadn't read yet a couple of weeks ago, and I had my Kindle with me, so I downloaded them both.  I just finished the latest one a few minutes ago.  I can't decide whether to a) lament the apparent death of the Sookie/Eric thing (he was sooo much cooler than Bill), or b) cheer on the Sookie/Sam thing Harris has pretty much been setting up since book one.

Talked to Anna on the phone last night, and tried to call Grandma, but I guess she was out or something, since I only got the answering machine.

I'm kind of on the fence about calling Grandma's friend in Hellevoetsluis, even though she's pretty much the only person I actually know in this country.  I mean, it'd be kind of wierd, if she doesn't even know I'm here, to just all of a sudden call up a friend of my grandma's I'd only met once or twice, right?

Tomorrow though, I'll definitely go into Amsterdam, no matter how hard it is to climb the stairs back to my room.  Maybe I'll walk to the train station (it's only about five blocks or so, straight north from here anyway) instead of biking there.  Perhaps, if I feel the need, I can rent a bicycle when I get there--and get a map of the city, since the one I have is only for Rotterdam.

Other places to see this trip include:

• In Amsterdam
• The Dam
• The Anne Frank House
• The Rembrandt Museum
• A Canal Tour
• In the Hague - Maybe I'll just stop here on my way to Amsterdam tomorrow, get two cities done in one go.
• Madurodam
• The Arnhem Open Air Museum
• The Keukenhof
• The Delta Works in Spijkenisse - would take about an hour by bicycle, and Spijkenisse looks like it's on the way to Hellevoetsluis.  I'm still not sure I'd want to bike that far though.  I still can't find any information about public transportation to either of those places.
• The Arboretum Trompenburg, which is here in Rotterdam somewhere - Looks like about a 15-minute bike ride, but I think I'll wait until Tuesday, and have lunch in the tea house.
• Kinderdijk, which would take about an hour and a half, even with public transport.

I still have yet to have a stroopwafel, hot off the press too, so that's still on the list.  There are also walking tours of Rotterdam from the hostel every Wednesday night, so I'm going to try and get to the one next Wednesday, which is the night before I leave.  I have to make sure I have enough time to pack everything back up either before I go to sleep or before I check out.  The IcelandAir website says that particular flight doesn't leave until 2 p.m, and checkout has to be before 11 a.m, so I'll be all right, I guess.

Is this day one, day two, or day three? I'm confused.

Any way you count it, it's the first full day I've been in the Netherlands.

Last night, I went to sleep very early, and only got up once to check the time and answer the call of nature.  I couldn't find my watch, and my cell phone doesn't even show the time here--so it's useless as an alarm clock--so I went downstairs to ask someone in the lounge what time it was.  It was midnight.

Woke up around 8:30 a.m. (that's 1:30 a.m. back home) and got dressed before going down to the lounge for the free breakfast.  No poffertjes or lamatjespap (not sure how to spell that one), but it's summer, so I figure they wouldn't make those right now anyway.  They did have cereal, bread (plus toasters), coffee, various juices, jam, chocolate/hazelnut spread (a.k.a. Nutella), CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES, and some sort of cakey square thing which I'm sure tasted familiar but I can't quite remember the name of.  I didn't have one of everything, but I ate enough.

After breakfast, I went up to get my money and stuff before heading to the supermarket.  I needed bottled water and some lip balm.  I'd lost the tube of Blistex I keep in my backpack--and found it again after I'd been to the market anyway.  Started taking pictures on the way to and from.

Back from the market, I got my stuff together and rented a bicycle--8 euros, plus a 50 euro deposit per day--then headed out to see the cube houses.

I forgot to mention yesterday that, in all my frienzied, Monday night packing, I knew I was going to forget something.  Odd thing is, it wasn't something I missed until I got to Rotterdam Centraal yesterday: the Netherlands road map Grandma lent me.  It would have been nice to have, but I can live without it, even though the Rotterdam City map the receptionist at the hostel gave me isn't nearly detailed enough to be 100% comprehensible.

Anyway, saw the cube houses, then went back to the hostel for lunch.  Ate that, and then brought my computer downstairs to look up directions to the Peppels' house.  Walking would take over 5 hours, and biking about 1½, so I'm not sure I want to do even that.  Instead, I looked up where their ward meets for church.  Turns out, they're in the Rotterdam 1st ward, and their building is just a 9-minute bike ride away . . . if you don't get lost 3-5 times along the way, that is.

The biking directions I got online (at http://www.fietsersbond.nl/fietsrouteplanner/) were so convoluted, and I couldn't see many street signs when I went past a block or two, so I kept getting lost on the way to the church.  I finally got there though, and took the straight route back to the hostel.  Now I know how to reverse it and get to the church without trouble.

I decided that was enough biking for the day (it was 3 p.m), so I turned in the keys for the bike locks (got my 50 Euros back, too) and decided to bum around the hostel for the rest of the day.  I've been on the computer since about 4, and got my list of NPCs for the RPG I'm going to run this summer typed up.

I thought of typing up the new scenes I'd written for my fantasy story, but this chair is hard, and I need some dinner anyway. Right after I hit the "Submit" button on this post, I'm logging off.  Pictures are in my "Vacation in Holland" album on Facebook!

Maybe I should do some more Rosetta Stone tomorrow . . . nah.  I'd look silly talking to my computer in the middle of the lounge (wi-fi doesn't reach to the 3rd floor).

Four Bikes in a Cabrio

Yes, you read that right. We stuffed four bicycles into Anna's Volkswagon Cabrio.

Why?

Because Dad's truck is in the shop, and Anna and Jen wanted to go biking. Not to mention, the bikes wouldn't have fit into the Bug.

When we got back, I took seven pictures. Here's one of them.

Advice

A word to the wise: if you're going to be biking more than a few blocks to the grocery store, then eat breakfast first!

Seriously. I was out of milk, so I couldn't eat cereal on Saturday morning, and I didn't want any fruit--I still have half of a grapefruit and a whole bunch of honeydew in the refridgerator. So, I grabbed my waterbottle, and started on my way to Wal*Mart (to get some sunblock and a couple other things) before heading to Church Street so that I could find out how long the trip would take me.

Cumulatively (I made a couple of stops along the way) it took me about 40-45 minutes to get to the building where I work from my house. And by that time, I was--literally--about to pass out. I'm going to have to get into a little better shape before I even think about biking to work on a regular basis. That's kind of a bummer, because that was my main plan for getting into shape in the first place. Ah well. I guess I'll just have to try and go swimming (and bike to the pool) more often than I usually do.

When I got there, I called my parents' house, and asked Mom if her truck was working. It wasn't. So, I asked if Dad or Uncle Andy were there, but it was only Mom and Jason at home. I decided, belatedly, to get something to eat, so I told her that I was going to get some lunch at one of the restaurants nearby. She said she'd have Dad or Uncle Andy call me when they got home.

I walked the bike to Beans, Bagels and More, this little coffee/sandwich shop about a block from my work, and got a bowl of fruit and another bottle of water. Of course, I didn't actually manage to order right away, because there were people in line ahead of me and I had to sit down because I was starting to pass out again. I felt better after I ate though.

I sat outside at one of their little bistro-type tables to eat my fruit (a combination of cateloupe, strawberries and grapes), and sat there for a few minutes after I was done.

After that, I really was feeling a lot better, but I knew I wouldn't be able to make the ride back--it's mostly up-hill, and just that little bit of fruit didn't give me that much energy. Not to mention, my bike only shifts up, it's stuck in 6th gear (there are 7), and I can't figure out how to get it to down-shift--believe me, I've tried. So, I decided to walk the bike back home.

Around 6th street or so, I called Mom again to let her know not to worry about having Dad or Uncle Andy call. I made it to the pool house in my neighborhood (had to find out what to do about my pool pass--they said go to dearbought.com and e-mail the pool committee) an hour and twenty minutes after I left the restaurant.

When I got home, I was so beat that all I did was lay down and read for the rest of the day. I took a nap around 5pm, and then woke up at 9pm. Then I continued reading for another few hours before going back to sleep. I needed to buy a few groceries, but I just didn't have the energy to go to the store.

Sunday was Mom's birthday dinner (her actual birthday was on Saturday). We had Hawaiian Haystacks--yum! That was the first time, in the whole decade that any of us had lived there, that we'd had that particular meal at my parents' house. We'd had it before at Grandma's, but never at Mom & Dad's.

I took three containers' worth of leftovers, and then Kimba (who had come over to my place earlier that afternoon and was dismayed when I told her how far in the hole I am and that I still needed groceries) told me to talk to her before I left.

Anna, Jason and I watched Stranger than Fiction on Anna's computer/TV through a site that Patrick J. showed me a week or two ago. It was actually a lot better than I anticipated, and I was anticipating that it would at least be really good.

So anyway, I talked to Kimba as I was going to leave, and she, Dad and Anna gave me a whole bunch of food that was just sitting in the pantry, not getting eaten. They even gave me a gallon of milk. I probably won't have to go shopping for anything except butter and ground beef (they gave me Manwich and boxed mac 'n' cheese, but I forgot that you need butter for the mac 'n' cheese--the last three sticks I had from the banana bread got all moldy a couple weeks ago, so I had to get rid of them--and meat for the Manwich) for at least three weeks to a month or more.

When I got home from work/allergy shots yesterday, there was a whole bunch of stuff on the kitchen table. Jen C. was getting rid of some candles and a whole bunch of great movies. I took quite a few of the movies that were on the table, including VHS copies of The Day After Tomorrow and The Best Two Years. Now, I don't have to worry about recording the first one, and I have a copies of two of my favorite movies!