Botanical Garden, College Tours, & Downtown Hilversum
Thursday, May 21
Yesterday would've been my mommy's 63rd birthday.
Yesterday morning started a little later. Joyce had a final evaluation meeting with one of her students who is interning at a business, so we went to the business to meet with the student and her supervisor there. They spoke in Dutch almost the whole time because the student didn't feel comfortable speaking English, so really I just learned about the process that happens when students are evaluated on their internships.
After that, we went to the University of Utrecht's botanical garden. Merel, Joyce's intern, met us there. The garden is beautiful. It reminded me of the botanical garden in Cambridge. I loved visiting it because the book I'm re-reading has Dutch characters and is all about botany! What a perfect fit.
We had lunch at the garden restaurant and sat outside; it was the perfect day for it! I had a tosti (kind of like a panini) with ham, cheese, and pesto on it. Yum!
Merel (kind of pronounced Meh-derl with a soft "d" sound) gave us a little tour of her college where she's working on her Bachelor's degree to teach English. Down the street from Merel's college is the University of Utrecht, which is a Master's college and one of the best in Europe. The whole area and the buildings are very modern, new, and state-of-the-art. I feel like the students are lucky to attend those colleges because of how awesome their facilities are, but I know college is also very expensive in the Netherlands.
After the tour of the colleges, the three of us sat down at a restaurant in the area and had a drink together. We sat outside again in an area covered in green vines. It was so lovely just to enjoy the day and each other. I really learn a lot about students and culture from Joyce and Merel.
We headed home, but before eating dinner I went for a short walk around Hilversum by myself. I just wanted to walk around Joyce's neighborhood for a bit. Hilversum is a very rich town and the houses and their landscaping show it. The houses are large, even by American standards, and they are expertly landscaped. The greenery and flowers are like a feast for the eyes--the foliage is so green and the flowers are abundant and they just pop at you. So beautiful! I feel like vegetation grows very well here.
Leftover Thai, some bread and tapenade, and an apple for dinner and just a quiet night at home last night.
Friday, May 22
Slept in this morning (until 10:00!) and got ready for the day at a leisurely pace. Joyce and I left to walk down to downtown Hilversum at about 1:00 this afternoon. She showed me the town's cathedral on the way down; it is the tallest cathedral in the Netherlands. Tall, simple, but ornate. Unfortunately it wasn't completely open to the public, but we got to see a small side chapel and saw the inside through some windows. I love cathedrals. This one wasn't so old, as it was built in 1892. Still awesome, nonetheless!
Downtown Hilversum is full of shops and restaurants--from affordable to not-so-affordable. We went into a couple of stores; I got some Dutch-related things. Went to the most amazing chocolate shop I've ever been in...and I've been in a lot of chocolate shops. Bought some chocolate covered peanuts, said "Oh my gosh" a lot, and left happy.
There is also a large mall in the area and we went into two different H&M stores. I refrained from buying anything, surprisingly. Oh! I did buy a hat at another department store, though. I have a slight hat problem lately. But it's so cute!
I'm thinking smaller stores won't take my credit card because it doesn't have a chip in it, even though Cefcu told me that most places should be able to--they would just have to run the card a different way. I should be able to use my cards at bigger stores and restaurants. I will probably have to get more cash which is kind of discouraging, because I have no idea how much of a fee I've be charged for that. Oh well, I guess.
After the mall, we went to a "kabob" restaurant. Earlier I had seen a guy eating a wrap and I wanted what he had, so that's where we went. I didn't realize that it was a Middle Eastern restaurant and kabob is what you would call it. In any case, I got the wrap with chicken in it and lots of fresh ingredients and it was delicious. Whilst eating our kabobs, we saw a Dutch celebrity who is transgender. Apparently she was on Big Brother and now does commercials.
A quick trip to the grocery store on the way back, followed by relaxation tonight--eating chocolate, drinking wine with Joyce and chatting about all topics under the sun, marveling over the beauty and taste of the strawberries here.
Feeling lucky to be here and grateful for such a good match with Joyce! Tomorrow is Amsterdam! We will meet up with one of the other American visitors, Michael from Oakton Community College.
Yesterday would've been my mommy's 63rd birthday.
Yesterday morning started a little later. Joyce had a final evaluation meeting with one of her students who is interning at a business, so we went to the business to meet with the student and her supervisor there. They spoke in Dutch almost the whole time because the student didn't feel comfortable speaking English, so really I just learned about the process that happens when students are evaluated on their internships.
After that, we went to the University of Utrecht's botanical garden. Merel, Joyce's intern, met us there. The garden is beautiful. It reminded me of the botanical garden in Cambridge. I loved visiting it because the book I'm re-reading has Dutch characters and is all about botany! What a perfect fit.
We had lunch at the garden restaurant and sat outside; it was the perfect day for it! I had a tosti (kind of like a panini) with ham, cheese, and pesto on it. Yum!
Merel (kind of pronounced Meh-derl with a soft "d" sound) gave us a little tour of her college where she's working on her Bachelor's degree to teach English. Down the street from Merel's college is the University of Utrecht, which is a Master's college and one of the best in Europe. The whole area and the buildings are very modern, new, and state-of-the-art. I feel like the students are lucky to attend those colleges because of how awesome their facilities are, but I know college is also very expensive in the Netherlands.
After the tour of the colleges, the three of us sat down at a restaurant in the area and had a drink together. We sat outside again in an area covered in green vines. It was so lovely just to enjoy the day and each other. I really learn a lot about students and culture from Joyce and Merel.
We headed home, but before eating dinner I went for a short walk around Hilversum by myself. I just wanted to walk around Joyce's neighborhood for a bit. Hilversum is a very rich town and the houses and their landscaping show it. The houses are large, even by American standards, and they are expertly landscaped. The greenery and flowers are like a feast for the eyes--the foliage is so green and the flowers are abundant and they just pop at you. So beautiful! I feel like vegetation grows very well here.
Leftover Thai, some bread and tapenade, and an apple for dinner and just a quiet night at home last night.
Friday, May 22
Slept in this morning (until 10:00!) and got ready for the day at a leisurely pace. Joyce and I left to walk down to downtown Hilversum at about 1:00 this afternoon. She showed me the town's cathedral on the way down; it is the tallest cathedral in the Netherlands. Tall, simple, but ornate. Unfortunately it wasn't completely open to the public, but we got to see a small side chapel and saw the inside through some windows. I love cathedrals. This one wasn't so old, as it was built in 1892. Still awesome, nonetheless!
Downtown Hilversum is full of shops and restaurants--from affordable to not-so-affordable. We went into a couple of stores; I got some Dutch-related things. Went to the most amazing chocolate shop I've ever been in...and I've been in a lot of chocolate shops. Bought some chocolate covered peanuts, said "Oh my gosh" a lot, and left happy.
There is also a large mall in the area and we went into two different H&M stores. I refrained from buying anything, surprisingly. Oh! I did buy a hat at another department store, though. I have a slight hat problem lately. But it's so cute!
I'm thinking smaller stores won't take my credit card because it doesn't have a chip in it, even though Cefcu told me that most places should be able to--they would just have to run the card a different way. I should be able to use my cards at bigger stores and restaurants. I will probably have to get more cash which is kind of discouraging, because I have no idea how much of a fee I've be charged for that. Oh well, I guess.
After the mall, we went to a "kabob" restaurant. Earlier I had seen a guy eating a wrap and I wanted what he had, so that's where we went. I didn't realize that it was a Middle Eastern restaurant and kabob is what you would call it. In any case, I got the wrap with chicken in it and lots of fresh ingredients and it was delicious. Whilst eating our kabobs, we saw a Dutch celebrity who is transgender. Apparently she was on Big Brother and now does commercials.
A quick trip to the grocery store on the way back, followed by relaxation tonight--eating chocolate, drinking wine with Joyce and chatting about all topics under the sun, marveling over the beauty and taste of the strawberries here.
Feeling lucky to be here and grateful for such a good match with Joyce! Tomorrow is Amsterdam! We will meet up with one of the other American visitors, Michael from Oakton Community College.