My first visitors!

"Fish and visitors stink after three days" - Benjamin Franklin

Last week I had my very first visitors come to stay with me here in the Netherlands and I am happy to say that Franklin was wrong in this case!

Hannah (left), Alice (centre) and Elizabeth (right)

As Hannah arrived a day earlier, she sampled the delights of Maastricht whilst I was at work and we picked up Alice and Elizabeth from Schiphol on Friday evening.

On Saturday we hired some bikes from the Rijwielshop at Den Haag Centraal station and set off on a tour of the city (see map).

On the beach in Scheveningen

On our way we saw many of the popular sights in the city, including the Binnenhof, the Peace Palace and the seaside resort of Scheveningen. To the girls' credit not only did they order their food from Simonis in Dutch, but they did the same when buying the ice cream!

Enjoying kibbeling and frites in boat shaped trays!

Later that afternoon we put Hannah on the train to the airport and headed home to get ready for the evening. We had a great meal at Plein XIX, after which we went on our second tour of the day - around the bars of The Hague! My main achievement for the day was being able to book the table at the restaurant over the phone entirely in Dutch!

The next day, after a lengthy lie in, we took the train to Leiden and had a pleasant lunch at a café on the canalside, where Elizabeth took the opportunity to try out kroket. Her response? "Lekker" of course!

Mmmmm... lekker! Eating al fresco at Dende in Leiden

But our main purpose of getting the train to Leiden was in fact to visit Keukenhof to see the tulips. Although it was a little early for the all the tulips to be in bloom, there was still many flowers in bloom and the pavilions were stuffed with flora and fauna. You can see a selection of the photos I took of flowers here.

Posing in front of the tulips at Keukenhof

Our last day together was spent in Amsterdam, where we arrived early to join the long queue for the Anne Frank House. Despite waiting for just under an hour, it was definitely worth it. After this we went on a cruise around the canals of Amsterdam, which included an encounter with the police boat as we go a little too close to the Hermitage during the controversial visit of Vladimir Putin!

So after dropping off Alice and Elizabeth at the airport, I concluded that my first attempt at hosting friend in the Netherlands was a success! The question is, who will be next?

Happy New Year!

金玉滿堂 - "May your wealth [gold and jade] come to fill a hall"

This afternoon I went into the centre of The Hague to watch some of the Chinese New Year celebrations. As I stood at Spui I could hear the distant sound of drums. When I turned into Gedampte Gracht I was greeted by the dragon you see above. The crowd was then politely asked to move back (I didn't quite understand the Dutch, but it sounded polite!) and firecrackers were then lit!

The lighting of firecrackers, I know now, is one of the many traditional new year activities! I soon realised that the brightly coloured lion dancers had been working their way along the street, visiting each business in turn.

After a little bit of investigation I found out that this traditional lion dance, or cai ching (採青), is believed to bring good luck and fortune to the business.

So, to all my Chinese friends out there I say 大展鴻圖 ("May you realise your ambitions") and I hope the year of the snake brings luck to everyone!

Vernederlandsing: Koffiemelk

The Dutch word vernederlandsing means "the assimilation into Dutch society" or more simply "becoming Dutch". It is a word I learned in one of my Dutch lessons and it got me thinking. Are there any things I have been doing that is particularly Dutch? This gave me the idea of a series of "Vernederlandsing" posts, whereby each time I spot myself doing something Dutch I will share it with you all!

The other day, out of curiosity, I bought myself a bottle of koffiemelk to put in my coffee. This seems to be the preferred choice for coffee over real milk. It turns out to basically be evaporated milk. And I have to say I do prefer it over normal milk!

If there is anything 'typisch Nederlands' that any Dutch readers might suggest then put feel free to suggest it in the comments!

Let op! Sneeuw!

"A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water." - Carl Reiner

Early morning snowfall in The Hague

This was the view that greeted me last Tuesday. This was the day that I was to discover that it's not just the UK that seemingly gives up as soon as a flake of snow falls. Most of it fell overnight and, as an indicator, these are my feet in the snow.

I should have invested in boots...

After a 30 minute wait at the tram stop, two of my colleagues and I concluded that it wasn't going to come. This was despite seeing several trams go past in the opposite direction! After trying an alternative tram station, there was only one course of action. We had to walk to work. Because of the absurdity of it all, the 7 kilometre walk wasn't as arduous as I had expected and, dare I say it, quite fun.

It would seem I was not the only one that was caught out by the snow, with some 1000 kilometres of traffic jams throughout the Netherlands (a new record!) and many tram lines in The Hague not running. It was also evident at work that a lot of people decided to work from home!

Not a bad view from my office window!

By the afternoon the Dutch authorities had overcome the initial shock of so much snow and the journey back home was luckily problem free!

There is, however, one upside for the Nederlanders to all this cold weather. This year may be the first time in 16 years that the Elefstedentocht can take place. This is a massive ice skating race that takes place in the north of the country whenever the canals are sufficiently frozen over to take the weight of thousands of skaters!

Finally, as I write this the snow has started falling again, the trams and trains are operating a 'snow service' and my balcony is receiving a fresh blanket of snow. I've learned my lesson now. If it looks bad, I'm working from home!

While you're there...

"Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one." - Brad Paisley

Happy New Year from Newcastle upon Tyne!

First of all, dear reader, I hope you had a nice Christmas and New Year. Like me, you probably went home for Christmas. But for me I had the added joy of being able to gorge on all the British food and drink that you don't easily get in the Netherlands. This is a list of my top 5 (in no particular order) whilst I was in Blighty...

Curry

Hmmm... Chicken Balti!

Now, I know what you're thinking. Curry isn't British. Well, let me reassure you that it has pretty much become a British institution! The one thing I brought with me to the Netherlands when I moved over here was two jars of Patak's Curry Paste. I love eating curry (the Indian sort) and here in the Netherlands it just isn't as popular. So when I was visiting the UK, the first meal I had was a takeaway curry with my Dad. Perfect!

Pint of Bitter

Refreshing pint of bitter at The Forth in Newcastle

For those that don't know what I'm talking about, bitter is that warm, flat beer we drink Britain. As much as I love a refreshingly cool biertje, be it Heineken, Grolsch or perhaps even La Chouffe from over the border, there is still nothing like a good pint of Deuchar's IPA, Timothy Taylor's Landlord or a Rivet Catcher!

Fish & Chips

Having spent a delightful afternoon in the Friet Museum in Bruges, there is very little I don't know about how a potato is chipped. But there was one thing they missed out. It's best served with salt, vinegar and a large battered fish!

Fish & Chips at Banny's Fish & Chip Restaurant in Colne, Lancashire

It wouldn't really be a trip home if we didn't go on a family trip to a fish and chip restaurant. For those less familiar with British cuisine, the green stuff is mushy peas and the white paste is tartare sauce!

Full English Breakfast

Famous throughout the world for basically being a heart attack on a plate, it is obviously not the meal to start every day. But every now and again, having a full English breakfast is an indulgence that has to be done! It is especially good after a heavy night on the beer. I was especially lucky to have it cooked by my Dad on one particular morning, meaning I didn't even have to get out of my pyjamas.

Christmas Dinner

Last, but by no means least, it has to be the traditional Christmas dinner!

Christmas dinner in the Goode household

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

"At Christmas, all roads lead home" - Marjorie Holmes

I cannot describe the excitement that ran through me when I brought my little Christmas tree back to the apartment yesterday and began to string the cheap lights I had bought from Blokker around the €6 Albert Heijn special. Even when I went into The Hague this evening to buy some sparkly adornments, I couldn't bring myself to switch on the lights until all the baubles and tinsel was on it. Behold, the Budget Kerstboom!

Now for a quick (and mostly incomplete) lesson in Dutch Christmas. It's a busy time in here in the Netherlands, as Sinterklaas arrived a few weeks ago and has been busy touring the country. If you don't know who Sinterklaas is, it's this guy...

Unlike some guy you may know, who comes from the North Pole, he comes from Spain. He also travels on a boat with a load of these guys...

In case you are wondering, yes this is basically a white guy in black face paint. His name is Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). It might seem a little racist to some of my friends back at home, and apparently this debate occurs every year in the Netherlands, but as far as kids are concerned these little guys bring them their presents. And that is that!

In fact, the kids all get their presents tomorrow. What is even more important is that I also get to leave work an hour early! But I have to wait a few more weeks for my gifts...

All aboard for Utrecht, but mind the sliding doors!

"The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before"
- G. K. Chesterton

To paraphrase a good friend of mine, here comes a boring trains post. As the expiry date for my Museumkaart rapidly approaches, I have been making a valiant effort to visit as many museums in the Netherlands as possible! So last weekend I embarked on a day out to Utrecht, with the aim of visiting Het Spoorwegmuseum (the Dutch Railway Museum) and the Rietveld Schröderhuis.

Het Spoorwegmuseum

The grand entrance to the railway museum.

My primary aim was to visit the train museum, which had recently launched a new attraction: De Vuurproef. It turned to take you through the history of railways, then leading to you all driving a train in a simulator. It was actually quite good and certainly had the kids that were also on the ride wanting to do it all over again!

Working replica of De Arend ("The Eagle"), the first Dutch train, from 1839.

One interesting fact I discovered was that the first train to arrive in the Netherlands, De Arend, was in fact driven by a man from a small coal mining village near Newcastle upon Tyne, England. What a small world!

In summary, the museum had a lot of interesting attractions and more than a few locomotives. It was also completely overrun with kids, which shows it's not just another stuffy museum!

Oh, and on the way out I treated myself to one of these for the mantelpiece...

Model of an NS Class 1600

If you really want to see more pictures of trains then take a look at this album!

Het Rietveld Schröderhuis

Rietveld Schröder House in the suburbs of Utrecht

Part two of my Utrecht trip was a visit to the Rietveld Schröder House, which I had recently heard about on Saturday Live, a programme on BBC Radio 4.  In short, the building was built by in 1924 by Gerrit Rieldveld for recently widowed Truus Schröder with the aim of having an upstairs that was open plan for the daytime, but in the evening could be partitioned into several rooms using a series of sliding doors. It was also furnished with Rietveld's unique furniture.

I'm really interested in modern architecture and this small building, a fascinating example of De Stijl architecture, is well worth a visit. However, you have to reserve a place as only 12 people can go into the house at once!