Olanda Olanda Olanda.

I've been to Holland a couple times before, but this time, I fell in love with the country. beautiful countryside (apparently there are more pigs than people), beautiful cities and villages (Utrecht, Handel, Gouda, Rotterdam), beautiful people (seriously, jaws dropped, frequently), beautiful food (mmmcheese). our first stop was to asher's home, a beautiful former monastery that not only is a retreat for groups, but self-sufficiently produces it's own fruits and vegetables in the organic fields and orchards. his dad spoiled us by baking fresh organic wheat bread in their wooden stove oven, we ate red currants and tomatoes straight from the garden, drank naturally-pressed nothing-added apple & pear juice, his mum was in the process of making calendula cream (marigold) and gave me st john's wort essential oil to soothe my dry skin. after a bike ride and swim in a nearby lake, we had a feast for dinner with asher's friends and family. from what i had heard and from how knowledgeable asher is, i had imagined his home to be wonderful, but this was really more than magical.

the next day, we were off to Utrecht. what a beautiful city. full of bikes chained to any free spot and ring-ringing you out of the way on the street (yes, one girl's bell was actually broken so she rode by singing ring ring), gondolas floating down the canals, overflowing flowers in baskets hanging from street lamps, intricate architecture with plaques indicating who lived there or the former purpose of the building, beautiful people (i don't know what dutch people eat but they are all tall, skinny and look like models - italians are not tall), cafe tables spilling onto the street, street vendors calling out absurdities in dutch to tourists while trying to sell flowers in every colour, huge windows on street level that looked like stores but were actually clear glimpses into people's homes, people/bikes/cars decked out in orange to support the upcoming world cup futbol game, and of course fries with mayonnaise, beautiful assortments of cheeses, and local beers on patios. it was good we were with two boys who kept us from going into every shop and buying everything. we had a wonderfully hospitable bbq with arina and her family and friends then were off in the rain to the local disco where we donned kanye west glasses and were the only people there.

bikes and cheese! 

after a breakfast of cheeses (french morbier, truffled brie, cahill porter cheddar and english white stilton with cranberries) we were invited by arina's friend Willow to Gouda where she works in a cheese shop. it was sunday so it was supposed to be closed, but she gave us our own tour and tasting session. it was really wonderful. i love cheese.

our own cheese tasting lesson. even when we're not with school.

stonewall kitchen products in gouda!

then it was off to Rotterdam to watch Holland play in the World Cup 2010 finals against Spain. everyone was decked out in orange (i learned that orange comes from king william of orange even though the flag is red white and blue). the pub was full of energy, full of hoegaradens, every stool, seat, bench, and empty bar spot was full. it was exciting, it was stressful. Holland pulled a lot of yellow cards. Unfortunately, Spain scored a goal in the 116th minute during overtime causing a sudden silence in the entire bar, probably throughout the entire country. second place isn't so bad. it was probably better for us though since we had to wake up early the next morning to catch the first train to Brussels and meet up with the rest of the university for our second international stage study trip....

orange everywhere.

olanda enchoosiasm.