If you read my previous post (How Zen Is Citizen M?), you probably want to know the answer to the following question:
OK, how was it staying in a hotel room with a toilet in the middle of the room?
But hold on a second–there’s more to the story of the Citizen M.
When I checked in to the Amsterdam branch of the hotel, it wasn’t a good first start. I had made a reservation for the previous week, but had to cancel it. Unfortunately, they canceled BOTH reservations, and had no record of me in their system when I showed up for second reservation. Things were shaping up to be a fail.
[Read more →]
Tags:Amsterdam·Holland·hotels·Netherlands
The night before my first day at Regina Coeli (a.k.a. Dutch Princess School), I lay awake, and not just because it was the World Cup final, and rowdy Dutchies were still filling the streets.
What the hell am I doing? Who studies Dutch…for fun?
And did I also mention it cost thousands of dollars?
I had plotted out the route to the school the night before, winding my way through a series of wrong turns and construction zones until I found a reasonable path and knew that it would take me roughly thirty minutes to get there.
But the bigger question remained: Why wasn’t I on a beach somewhere, rather than heading to a classroom at 8 in the morning?
The night before, lying in bed, I thought: Maybe I’ve hit my novelty wall. Maybe going to a town you’ve never been to, to speak a language in the most intensive immersion environment possible, is actually beyond the pale. Maybe it was actually a bad idea.
[Read more →]
Tags:Holland·languages·Regina Coeli Language Institute·school
As already mentioned in a previous quick post, being in one of the two countries that made it to the World Cup final as the last few games were in progress was–well–really really fun. And, as someone who loves novelty, perfect timing.
[Read more →]
Tags:Holland·Orange·World Cup
When I decided to attend Dutch Princess School–an intensive language immersion at the famed Regina Coeli Institute–I chose to stay in an apartment in the town next door. Would I be able to actually bike between towns every day?
[Read more →]
Tags:bicycles·Delft·Holland
When I used to travel for a living, updating travel guidebooks, I would often think to myself: Why isn’t this making me happier? After all, for lots of people who don’t know better, being a travel writer is a dream job…in theory.
I realized that when you’re being paid to do something, it’s work. Period. It might not be anything as difficult as working in a coal mine, but it still is work. When I was in the Netherlands, rocketing from place to place, I would sit on the train, noticing the neat bicycle lanes that ran out across the flat fields into infinity. Where were people biking to on those paths?
[Read more →]
Tags:Amsterdam·Holland·Netherlands
I’ve already posted about how much I love the Dutch relationship to bicycling. I love Copenhagen Cycle Chic, and am trying to help bring Seattle Cycle Chic into being. But Dutch biking is simply beautiful.
[Read more →]
Tags:bicycles·Delft·Dutch·Holland
It has been a blast to be in the Netherlands for the World Cup. The entire country is enjoying a riot of orange–the traditional color of the royal family and of their winning “footballer” team. I’ll post more pics when I get back, but here are a couple of favorites:
Evidently, according to this tile, the [...]
[Read more →]
Tags:Holland·insanity·World Cup
Lately, I’ve been helping a lot of friends with their itinerary planning for trips to Europe this summer. It’s fun, and I enjoy doing it. There’s one recommendation, though, that never really seems to take off: Include time at the beach.
Admittedly, it’s a hard sell for those of us who don’t have a year to [...]
[Read more →]
Tags:Basque Region·beaches·Biarritz·cultural exchange·France·Holland·Paris·Spain
Hooray for the weekend! I have big plans. They include a three-day getaway to the Oregon Coast (whose virtues we’ve already discussed) and not wasting two hours at Sex and the City (which Betty and I expressed doubt and concern about, just based on the trailer). I’ll be trip planning for my upcoming adventure at [...]
[Read more →]
Tags:Holland·national parks·Van Gogh
We often comment on lazy travel writing on newelty, but every once in a while, we come across a great piece by a writer who seems dedicated to and knowledgeable about the subject matter. This month’s Condé Nast Traveler includes a great piece by Raphael Kadushin on the Boemen Route in the Netherlands–a bicycle trail [...]
[Read more →]
Tags:good writing·Holland·Netherlands
