Parents & Weekends

Hello!

Vernie was here 2 weekends ago, which was amazing, and then a week later, my parents were here!  Both parties only stayed about 2 - 2.5 days, which made me sad to see them go (obviously), but also meant there were always things to do & say.  Vernie & I explored Utrecht accidentally on our way back from the airport to A'dam, and then spent the next two days wandering Amsterdam--Vondelpark, I amsterdam sign, Jordaan, Red Light outcropping sections, Dam Square, Dappermarkt / Oost Amsterdam, &c.  We really covered a lot!  She was pretty exhausted by the time she left (my bad!), but we got to see a lot, and it was nice showing the city off and acting as a tour guide (only consulted my map tweede--twice--and not because we were lost).

Then the following vrijdag, mijn ouders came to Amsterdam, and it was sooo wonderful to see them; it was really hard to let them go.  It was like, difficult even walking home afterward, ha.  Anyway, we had lots of fun, and went to Leiden and Vleuten (a little suburb about 15 min. outside Utrecht, and I never quite figured out how to pronounce its name--I heard varying interpretations from Dutchies), and from Vleuten we walked between an hour and an hour and a half to get to Haarzuilens and the associated Kasteel de Haar, which we missed all the tours for (and thus couldn't go inside) but were kindly allowed to view the grounds of, despite the fact that we came just as they were closing.  This fortunately meant that we did not have to spend any money on local transportation (taxi or bus to get the castle) or on admission, but it was mainly due to the fact that this sleepy little suburb has NO ACTIVITY on zondag, and thus...no buses or taxis to spend money on.  (A fact which was somehow omitted on the de Haar website, and which I hope will be corrected after a very very friendly & very polite e-mail I wrote to them informing them of the transportation / tours problem).  Hence the walking and hence arriving ridiculously late.  It was beautiful, though, and we'll be back--and we'll go on a tour next time!  Just, probably in some years.  We also toured the Rembrandthuis museum and went to an old cathedral / church (kerk) for my mommy, and walked to zuid-Amsterdam by Albert Cuypstraat so they could see some daily life and open markt-action!

The crest / coat of arms by the Leiden Battlement.

They were doing some construction / preservation work on the castle & its foundations.

When I came back from Centraal Station, dropping my parents off, I stopped in a local mart to buy brood (bread--which they didn't have any of), and I met a tiny kitten who ran up to me eagerly and enthusiastically and commenced immediately to play with my bright and fringe-y scarf.  She made my day so much better after the earlier sadness of saying goodbye :)

She's grabbing at the camera cord there.

I think my favourite thing about having people visit (besides the obvious wonderfulness of seeing people I love in a place I love) is...here we go...the sharing of the city with them: getting outside and into different parts than I normally go on my daily routines, and especially when I'm inside working.  Besides boosting my navigation-confidence, it's nice to see not only more of the city, but also to see parts you're familiar with again.  Because, the sad part is, that after a while you stop noticing the pretty leaning buildings.  You've seen them almost a hundred times, and you 'know' them.  You're paying attention to the time, or the traffic, or you're noticing people (which is still fun & A'dam-centric), but you've become normalised to your 'extra-normal' environment.  And re-discovering that and seeing it with fresh eyes through the experiences of your guests is lovely.  So, yeah.  That's nice.  Being a tour-guide now becomes a selfish activity!  Ahh!

Also, as a final note, midterms this upcoming weekend & week!  Yay!

Love you all!  Dag!