Entered on 10 July 2002 at 9:48 a.m..

Back from The Netherlands

I'm back and refreshed :) I had a great time touring around the Netherlands. I stayed with Amy in the heart of historic Delft. If any of you have read The Girl with the Pearl Earing, that is where I was. It was beautiful, I fell in love with the place. Most of The Netherlands/Holland is below sea-level and so there are canals running everywhere to hold the excess water. Historic Delft is set in the middle of all these canals. I rented a bicycle for the week, because the easiest way to get anywhere in Delft is by bicycle. I took a 60km ride on my second day there and covered a lot of the country, which is pretty easy because Holland is flat. and windy, the wind made up for the lack of hills. I found myself in this little town of Maasluis for lunch, and seriously thought of just giving up engineering and moving there for the quiet life. They had a green grocer, butcher, cheese shop, and bakery. I felt like I had stepped back in time 100 years.

For most of the rest of the week I toured around Delft as the visits to NLR and Eurocontrol fell through. On the weekend I toured around Amsterdam and Delft. Amsterdam was neat, but as with most big cities, I didn't really like it. Too many people, and too much smoke of all kinds. I got to see all the stuff that Amsterdam is famous for, and it wasn't all that shocking. I had good weather and enjoyed just ambling up and down the streets. I did visit the Anne Frank house, which was interesting and depressing. I also took a canal tour, which was very interesting. Best of all I enjoyed paying reasonable prices for everything and eating very well.

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