Two Beers and a Pretzel

I was kind of sick of daytripping, so I took a break and just hung out in Dordrecht.  It was overcast, but very pretty with the fresh snow…

I also experimented with Calvin & Hobbes style snowman art.  Not bad for my first try…

I wandered into town at lunchtime and found the Asian Grocery (yay) which had some panang curry paste and jasmine rice.  So I figured I’d whip up some more Thai food for Ingrid after work.  Upon my return, some kids had destroyed my snowman.  Ingrid enjoyed the Panang chicken, but it may have been a little too spicy for her…

Then Ingrid had to make a house call for a client and clean her 17 year old pet turtle’s aquarium back at her parent’s house.  During the housecall, the snowman came back to extract his revenge on humanity…

We got to Ingrid’s parent’s house and they were just leaving for a play, but I got to chat for a bit, and we made plans for dinner (and cigars and whiskey) tonight before Ingrid and I have a full weekend in Amsterdam. 

I’ll spare everyone the turtle cleaning pictures – just imagine a nasty aquarium cannister filter being cleaned in a small sink by a skinny Dutch girl in old ‘cleaning clothes’.  Aside from watching the mess and taking a video, I read a Dutch travel guide to the USA.  The entries for Ohio were Cleveland’s R&R Hall of Fame, the Statehouse in Columbus, Cedar Point, Amish country, a blurb about Toledo, an Indian mound site, Cincinnati’s Union Terminal, the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and a note about controversial ‘honkballer’ Pete Rose.

Tonight is dinner with Ingrid’s parents, then a weekend in Amsterdam – where even the cheap hostels are $225 for a non-dorm 2 person room for 2 nights.  I splurged on the Best Western near the museum and the bar district and actually saved money ($210).

The only bummer this weekend will be missing Shelli & Joe’s annual Santa Clause Happy Hour back in Cincinnati for the 2nd year in a row… although I will get to drink some Scotch tonight…  I might find a nice bottle to bring home and split with Joe.

Driving in the dark last night, Ingrid promised me that the hostel was in the middle of a nature preserve.  She was not lying… when I got downstairs the next day for breakfast (after a ‘refreshing’ cold shower), there was a nice view of dawn over the canals.  I went for a walk thru part of the park.

After I got back to the hostel, I tried texting Ingrid to no avail.  She was apparently in church with her friend.  So I found a map of the area and decided to walk to the city center for the Christmas market.  I didn’t realize it was roughly 6 miles from the nature park to the city center.  Luckilly, I caught a bus a little after 1/2 way – because my daypack was loaded with toiletries, my PC, a change of clothes, books, etc…  it weighted about 20 pounds (9 kilos) and I was getting tired.

I made it into town and the Christmas market was hopping.  People everywhere – and lucky for me, food vendors.  I started with Dutch Fries.  Note:  ‘French’ fries were actually developed in the Flanders area of Belgium, and the fries in Belgium and Holland are fried twice, then have the sauce (usually mayo or mayo with mustard) slopped on top, then eaten with a small fork or toothpick.   Just past the kiosk with the fries, there was a place serving hot ham and mustard sandwiches on fresh baked bread… so I had to have one of those too.

Then I just people watched for a while.

I wandered thru the market to the Grote Kerk (big church).  Dordrecht is the oldest city in Holland.  Holland is actually a kind of county within the Netherlands.  It’s just tourists that call the entire country Holland.  Being the oldest city, they were the first to be able to build their own church independant of outside rulers.  It also has near perfect acoustics to carry the sounds that eminate from the bell tower.

Speaking of the bell/clock tower, I climbed it.  The tower is actually about 7 ft off plumb and is kept from falling with a 26.5 million pound counterweight on the Northwest side.  I didn’t learn that until after I climbed it…

And looking back on the old town of Dordrecht with the river in the background.

Then back to the fair to take in some of the street musicians and some Glühwein (hot wine).

I eventually got bored with the market and wandered the old town.  Just before sunset I caught a nice shot looking back at the clock tower.

After a few phone calls where I completely failed to explain where I was, I met up with Ingrid and her friend for a while.  They were going to her friend’s house for dinner.  I had been snacking all day, so I cruised the market for a while longer before meeting Ingrid back at her place around 8 PM.