Donderdag

Photo credit: Joop Ankerman

Thursday (Donderdag) is late shopping night in Venlo. On other days, most shops in the downtown area shut at 6 pm; on Thursday they stay open until 8 or even 9 pm.

This makes Thursday a good night to head downtown, have a drink or an early dinner, and do some shopping. There are many places to choose from for a drink or dinner. At this time of the year, the days are long and the weather warm enough to sit outside on one of the squares. Each restaurant has its own tables, many under the cover of umbrellas in case of showers. The photo above shows the historic city hall which graces the main square in town.

We had planned to go out for dinner and shopping this week, but wet weather during the day added some uncertainty to our plans. Fortunately the clouds blew away and the weather was fine. We chose a restaurant on the main square which has a seasonal asparagus menu. White asparagus is the special food at this time of year, and the traditional way to eat it is with ham, boiled potatoes, a hard boiled egg and melted butter for dipping. The white asparagus has a subtle flavor compared to green, and is slightly sweet. It goes well with the local pilsner beer.

A bonus was the 16-man brass band that appeared on the square to play popular tunes, including a few we recognized. Saturday is Koninginnedag, Queen's Day, and we figured the performance was a warm up for the festivities, which begin Friday night. Regardless of the reason for the band, it did create a festive atmosphere.

We did end up doing a bit of shopping, but for me, Donderdag is about enjoying life ... whether the shops are open or not.

Pasen

photo credit: Lars

Our Easter celebration started the Thursday before Easter with the local orchestra's performance of the Saint Matthew's Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach. Performances of this masterpiece at Pasen (Easter) is traditional all over the Netherlands. It was wonderful, and thanks to Dutch friend Pieter, we had a German-English libretto so we could follow along.

Chocolate bunnies and colored eggs are also traditional here. We also tried Passtolen, a sweet yeast bread with raisins and almond paste filling. The favorite treat around our house seemed to be chocolate eggs with hazelnut filling. Another treat: the kids enjoyed having two days off school - Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Easter worship is always jubilant, and this year was exceptionally so. We attended Easter Mass at Sint Martinus parish church, pictured above. The church is beautiful, the choir and organ music likewise, and the rousing Halleluia Chorus finale (in Dutch) was stirring.


Gelukkig Pasen!

Setting a Land Speed Record in Paris

A kind invitation from an American friend  took me to Paris for a fabulous three days and two nights in the City of Light. I think we set a land speed record on the second, and only full day, of the trip.


We started the day with coffee and a croissant. Since I had never been to Versailles, my friend agreed to start our day there. Versailles is both a palace and a village, now a suburb of Paris. We took the suburban RER railroad to the village, then walked to the palace. What an amazing place. The grounds were huge - to see all three palaces we walked what felt like miles. We definitely earned the gelato we indulged in as we marched through the grounds.

Back on the train to Paris, to Sainte-Chapelle, an amazing sight on this sunny day. We were surrounded by literally thousands of stained glass scenes. We emerged with our spirits lifted in spite of our sore feet.
Sainte-Chapelle is on the Île de la Cité, the island in the Seine which is also home to Notre Dame. We stopped by Notre Dame and saw the inside of the church. We hoped to get up into the tower (the best part of Notre Dame for Victor Hugo fans) but the line was already cut off when we arrived at about 5 p.m. Consulting our museum list, we saw that the Cluny Museum (also known as Musée national du Moyen Âge, the National Museum of the Middle Ages) was still open, so we hot-footed it over there.


The gem of the Cluny's collection is the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, but also houses a number of interesting architectural items. Among these are the original heads of Notre Dame's Kings of Judah statues, lopped on by mistaken revolutionaries in 1792. Also at the Cluny is a room of stained glass windows, some from Sainte-Chapelle, brought down to human level and scale. My favorite, shown above, depicts the angel Gabriel blowing his horn to wake the dead on Judgement Day. By the time we finished up at the Cluny, we were starting to feel a bit like the zombies in the picture.


To save our feet we hopped on the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe. It was moving to see veterans, some middle aged but mostly much older, laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier and posing for pictures, looking very dignified in their full uniforms. We ascended to the top via the 284 steps and were rewarded with wonderful views of Paris old and new.


Since it was late night at the Louvre we decided to walk down the Champs-Elysees and through the Tuileries Gardens, a massive park stretching from  the Place de la Concorde to the Louvre. We agreed the long walk was worth it as we approached the pyramid entrance to the Louvre and walked right in. Late hours at the museum are wonderful! We had time to admire the old Dutch masters, including the Louvre's two Vermeer paintings, as well as the Winged Victory of Samothrace, before we were ushered out by museum attendants who had significantly less enthusiasm for the museum's late hours.


A pleasant dinner with wine on the Left Bank and we were tucked up in bed by midnight. A great day with a tireless friend, and if not a land speed record for Paris, then certainly a personal best.

Maastricht

A beautiful Palm Sunday in Limburg. The weather forecast was good so we went to Maastricht for lunch and a look around. Everything about it was lovely. What else would you expect from a city that would turn the remnants of its 13th century fortifications into a park?


As we neared Onze Lieve Vrouweplein, one of the central plazas, we encountered many mostly older folks carrying sprigs of foliage, presumably returning from Palm Sunday service at the Basilica of Our Lady, an 11th-century church. After lunch at one of the many cafes on the square we visited the lady chapel at the basilica.

We then explored on both sides of the river, enjoying the sunny day, cobblestone streets, and architectural styles spanning nearly a millenium. No shops were open but people were out in force, sunning in the park along the canal, enjoying a coffee at one of the many cafes or strolling with a gelato in hand.

Tomorrow is Maandag (Monday) so it's back to work, school and settling in. Thankfully we had today to pause and refresh!

Don't Rent From Hertz

Photo credit: Nolleos

Today was the day we planned to get our resident visas and Tim's SoFi (Dutch social security number). To accomplish this, we had to go to Rijswijk and Den Haag (the Hague), both near the city of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe. That's normally a 2 hour drive from Venlo. It took us a little longer.

We left home at 7:30 am, dropped Hanna (aka Elizabeth, more on this later) at school more than 30 minutes early. But we had a 10 am appointment and didn't want to be late. Through a series of unfortunate events, we were quite late - arriving at the first office after 3 pm. This is where Hertz comes into the picture.

At 9:45, about 20 km from our destination, in stop-and-go traffic, the rental car overheated. Suddenly. On a major motorway. We immediately pulled over to the side, which was good, because the car then turned itself off. Okay. Now we are stuck by the side of the road, late for an appointment at a government office. Tim calls the rental agency. So far, so good. Except the car is under warranty and Hertz wants the Renault dealer to solve the problem. We give our location and phone number to Renault and wait.

After 30 minutes an incident response tow truck stops, loads the car and us, and hauls us off the motorway. This isn't related to our call; it's a government service to keep the roads clear of disabled vehicles. En route, the driver calls Hertz again, this time in Dutch, to let them know where the car has been moved to.

We wait. And wait. And wait. After about 60 minutes we call Hertz again. They say the Renault service truck had been to our initial location, didn't find us, had the wrong phone number for us, and gave up. They will try again. Repeated phone calls over the next hour produce no results.

After 2 1/2 hours, the Renault service truck appears. The mechanic does not speak English, but shows us by gestures that the radiator is damaged. We are invited to use his phone to talk with the dispatcher who explains that the car cannot be fixed on the spot, needs to be towed to the shop, and that they don't know when it will be working again. Hertz still can't help us - the car is under warranty and Renault is responsible for fixing it. The Hertz rep says "I'm sorry about your problem". Our problem? We are thinking this should be Hertz's problem. Guess not. We ask Renault to take the car off our hands - it's not doing us any good and looks like it won't for a while. The dispatcher isn't sure the mechanic can stay with the car (which has been parked at a bus stop for the past 3 hours, something the bus drivers didn't like at all). After some negotiations, the mechanic agrees to stay with the car so we can move on. At this point we've been delayed more than 3 hours.

Since Hertz is still refusing to assist us, we call a cab to get to our much-delayed appointment at the immigation office. The cab takes 45 minutes to arrive. Fifteen minutes and 44 euros later, we arrive at our initial destination and in another fifteen minutes have our visas, thanks to the very helpful relocation specialist Michel. Michel has been waiting so long his car radio has drained the battery, so his car is dead too. Fortunately, Hertz has relented and sent a car for us. It's about 5 hours after our car died on the motorway, but hey! who's counting? We hop in the car with Michel at the wheel and head over to the tax office for another 15 minute appointment. As that is wrapping up Michel learns that his car has been restarted and is waiting in the garage at the immigration office, with the engine running to charge the battery. We run Michel back to the immigration office garage and say our goodbyes, everyone happy to have a working vehicle again.

Now it's just after 4 pm, we are near the coast, we live on the other side of the country, and we need to get through Rotterdam on a Friday afternoon. Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands, with a metro area of 1.3 million people who all want to go somewhere else for the weekend. After nearly 3 hours of grueling traffic, driving a subcompact with manual transmission, we arrive home.

The happy ending: We got to cross the cool bridge in the photo, twice. We made it home safely, if a little tired. The girls reported good things from their first day of school. They had a long walk home (about 3 miles) but they were able to navigate just fine, which is pretty amazing, all things considered. We walked downtown for a delicious Indian meal, with something for everyone (lamb vindaloo, chicken tikka masala, naan and a yummy vegetarian dish). Then a pleasant walk home to Florence Nightengalestraat. It's starting to feel like home. Now to find some bikes ...

P.S. In his final conversation with Hertz, Tim was asked for the Renault dealer contact information - Hertz has lost track of the car. We never contacted Renault directly; Hertz patched us through every time. Tim's answer was "I'm sorry about your problem". He's learning fast!

The Adventure Begins

Photo credit (caribb)

After months of preparation, we are finally on our way. A friend dropped us at the airport, we checked a bunch of bags, then through security (third time in three days for Lizzie and me), and a short hop to Seattle. We wanted to say goodbye to Allison and Laura so we rented a car at the airport (no time for public transportation) and drove up to meet them for brunch at Portage Bay Cafe in the University District. Yum! It was great to see them, and although I was sad to say goodbye for now, I hope to see them in Venlo this summer.

Tim arrived the same day from Washington DC where he was getting his visa. He waited for us in the airport (see Schiphol) so we could go through passport control together, just in case. That was easy, as was finding our driver. We piled our gear and ourselves into the van and slept most of the way to Venlo.

Since we arrived in Venlo at about noon local time we decided to have a look around to try to stay awake. We walked downtown for lunch, got passport photos for our resident visas, stopped at Hema for some basic necessities, and did some grocery shopping at 2 Bruder. We dropped Tim at work for a meeting and went home to get started on dinner.

One of our neighbors stopped by with a big bouquet of flowers delivered earlier in the day. The florist had dropped a card in our letterbox but I hadn't had time to translate it. The neighbor, whose name is Jan, is an older gentleman, and very pleasant and friendly. The flowers were from Tim's colleagues and quite lovely. We also met our next door neighbors, a family from Taiwan with two kids in primary school. They were also very friendly and welcoming.

After being awake for most of the last 24 hours, we decided to call it a day. A goede dag.