* cababarant *

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Yesterday we went up to Scheveningen, which is the beach area here in The Hague. It has a mixed feel to it: kind of a faded beach town, but it's cool anyway. They are preparing for the warm weather, with tons of restaurants set up on the beach. It's wild-- I guess these restaurants temporary, and set up strictly for the warm season, but they feel totally permanent. Most of them have rattan furniture with cushions for their huge outdoor seating areas. Where they put it when it rains, I have no idea. We finally had some decent weather yesterday-- it was in the 60s, and I swear, everyone was out at the beachside restaurants trying to get a taste of the sunshine (some in bathing suits!! Kids: it's not that warm!). This was at 2:00 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. Kyle has the impression that when it starts getting nice, everyone in the area starts sneaking out of work. Sounds like Seattle. :)

Dario pointing to the North Sea

Dario had a great time on the beach, but because it was a little cold with the breeze yesterday, now he's home with a fever and a little cold. Poor baby.

A Denim-clad Daddy pushes a stroller through the outdoor restaurants

Speaking of denim: Yes, this guy is wearing a Texas Tuxedo, but with a Euro-touch (rather than a regular ol' jeans jacket, he's rockin a suit-style jeans jacket). There are a lot of Bad Denim Fashions here (BTF, trademark Kyle) as well as TPS (Tight Pants Syndrome, tm Jimmy). I remember this from Europe years ago as well. It seems to have gotten better since then, but there are still great examples. I'll post more pictures as I see them. :)

posted by sheryl | 1:11 PM | comments (0)

Sunday, March 28, 2004

My new favorite cookie.

Dari and I can sit down and eat a whole package of stroopwafel in 10 minutes. You don't understand-- these cookies are off the hook! So much for trying to cut down on the sugar in his diet!

posted by sheryl | 6:05 PM | comments (0)

We went to Amsterdam yesterday. It's about 45 minutes by train, and easy to get to. Basically, we walked around a lot, just so I can get oriented. I think the trick is to get right out of the central Nieuwe Zijde area that is right near Centraal Station; it's a big touristy shopping area. That whole part of town has the same feel as Bangkok's Khao San Road, otherwise known as backpacker central in Thailand. I thought that scene would be totally played out in Europe by this point, but I guess not-- lots of dreads, tall backpacks and Tevas. Please. That is so 10 years ago!

Anyway, I now have a discount ticket, so we can go whenever we want (actually weekdays after 9 a.m. and weekends anytime) so we'll have many opportunities to explore. We came across some really great neighborhoods outside of central, kind of in the Canal ring part, so we'll have to check that out some more, and of course the museums and markets.

Dari getting sleepy from all the bouncing on the cobblestone

Dozens of those heavy Dutch bikes parked along the canal

posted by sheryl | 5:36 PM | comments (0)

Friday, March 26, 2004

I like the baby version of the Mercedes M-Class that they have here, otherwise known as the A-Class:

Aww, isn't it cute?

And while we're thinking about little cars:

The ubiquitous Smart Car

posted by sheryl | 10:56 PM | comments (0)

D. took his first steps today! Pretty soon he'll be off and running. :)

The little guy looking pretty pleased about his baby steps

posted by sheryl | 5:18 PM |

Thursday, March 25, 2004

The other day we went to the big open market here in The Hague. It's a tram ride away, and totally worth it. It's like a combination of a farmer's market and the random swap-meet stuff that you would find in a market like the one at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, or in Southeast Asian cities: batteries, weird random used furniture (including mattresses!), AC adapters, etc. The interesting thing is that it doesn't seem to have a tourist slant at all-- I saw no souvenir-type stands. It's mostly brown folks shopping there, or 'Turks' as brown people seem to be generally called here. (I understand that there are lots of actual Turks, but I think it's a catch all for anyone Middle Eastern when referred-to as a group. We'll see if I'm on point about that.)

I loved it. Being as koriput as I am, it's a great place to get vegetables etc. for super cheap, and they look much better than the ones that I've run across in the supermarkets so far. Dari also discovered frites, which he totally wolfed down, and poffertjes, which I totally wolfed down. Basically they are tiny pancakes slathered in tons of sugar and butter. My cholesterol goes up just thinking about them.

Dari enjoying the frites zonder at the market

posted by sheryl | 10:25 AM | comments (0)

What is with all the expensive strollers in Statenkwartier? Since I read an article in the NY Times a few months ago, I've been obsessed with the idea of stroller-as-status-symbol. Basically, it's the new bling for the mommy and daddy set. The new techie crown jewel of all this is the Bugaboo Frog, a Dutch creation that costs seven-hundred dollars. I've had my eye out for it in Seattle, but had not yet seen it, not even in U-Village where chi-chi strollers are the norm. Since arriving in Holland less than a week ago, I've seen at least 10 in Statenkwartier alone. They still retail at 679 euros in Holland, so it's not like it's cheaper here. What makes a stroller worth 700 dollars? I'm not sure, but maybe it helps when it's a stroller equivalent of the Vuitton Murakami bags, not quite a Birkin, but a status symbol nonetheless. We'll know the Bugaboo has arrived when the knockoffs start showing up. :)

The fancy-pants Bugaboo kinderwagen at the Frederik Hendrikplein playground

Sofia hanging out at the playground on a blessedly sunny day

posted by sheryl | 9:49 AM | comments (0)

Princess Juliana, the queen mother, died last weekend. Her funeral is today in The Hague.

posted by sheryl | 9:42 AM | comments (0)

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

We've been going up to Fredrik Hendriklaan a lot, the main business drag in our neighborhood of Statenkwartier. Tons of expats live around here due to the proximity to the UN organizations; you can't go more than a few blocks without hearing an American or Brit accent. Dari and Sof are already big fans of the bakeries on 'de Fred'-- there are lots of them and it's my personal goal to try each one. :) What's nice is that Dari always gets a biscuit with the koffie verkeerd (a little long-shot espresso with milk). I accidentally learned to order that thanks to a baffled look at the croissanterie the other day when I ordered a 'regular coffee, but with milk'. There's actually decent espresso here, if you know where to look. Holland has a reputation for good coffee, but being super-picky about it, I don't always believe what I hear. (Seattle also has a reputation for good coffee, but it's actually hard to get great espresso except for at a few places, and definitely not at the chains.) Back home, I was tempted for one ridiculous moment to bring Francis with me (my Francis Francis X5 espresso machine), but Kyle reminded me that it would be a waste of time because I'll get hooked on Dutch coffee. We'll see about that!

posted by sheryl | 3:18 PM | comments (0)

Sunday, March 21, 2004

Got the webcam going on IM. Yay!

There's a Dutch version of "I Love the 70's". How funny is that? It looks really similar to the American version except it's a bunch of commentators I never heard of saying stuff I don't understand. Oh well.

posted by sheryl | 7:44 PM | comments (0)

Still pretty jetlagged. We spent nearly the whole day Friday and Saturday sleeping away the daylight hours. I'm exhausted but am forcing myself to stay awake today to get things back on track.

When we arrived on Friday morning, Kyle met us at Schipol Airport. We got a ride back to The Hague from his generous friend Peter, a friendly New Zealander who has a minivan. Thank God, because we needed every inch of the van for all of our junk. He even had carseats for the kids as his own kids are ages 2 and 5. Thanks Peter!

Dari was pretty good on the plane. I just kept him satiated with snacks and toys. :) Sofia stayed up and watched the movies: Intolerable Cruelty (she didn't know what the heck it was about, and totally not appropriate for a seven-year-old!) and Cheaper by the Dozen (she liked that one).

We met Kyle's other friend Peter last night, a chatty Brit filled with loads of trivia about England. He's really entertaining. Going with him to Britain is definitely on our to-do list, and he's already invited us!

posted by sheryl | 11:39 AM | comments (0)