Well, I promised you all a blog update after the holidays, and I guess the time has come. I'll try to summarize as best as possible. Unfortunately I took next to no photos, so I don't have much for you to look at this time around. I'm going to try my best to take more photos, because there's always these wonderful things I want to share, and I have a hard time expressing them in words.

First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I don't think I could have asked for a better Christmas here.

I ended up celebrating with three Christmas dinners. The first was on the 24th with some friends here in Den Haag. Annie, a fellow au pair, was the hostess, and she organized an amazing gourmet dinner. There were about 10 of us, and basically everyone brought their own dinner, and grilled it on griddles she set up in the middle of the table. But she also had chocolates, and bread, and wine for everyone, and she had a homemade Christmas ornament waiting for everyone on their plates. She really went all out!

After dinner we all had some homemade dessert, drank more wine, sang Christmas carols, and got a little silly.

The really neat thing about the people I've met in Den Haag is that most of us are foreigners (au pairs and expats alike), so I get to meet people from all over the world. And they're really welcoming of new people, so there's always a new face. I love the diversity.

Anyway, Christmas Day was spent with Melissa's host family in Rotterdam. It wasn't anything too fancy - just me, Jess, Melissa, and her host family. Just like a regular family dinner because Christmas isn't a big holiday here in the Netherlands (Sinterklaas is the big celebration). Ineke (Melissa's host mom) had presents waiting for us under the tree when we arrived. We each got a Delft Blue Christmas ball... What a great reminder of my Christmas here!

Then on Second Christmas Day (which is what they call Boxing Day here), we did dinner at Ineke's sister's place here in Den Haag. There were appetizers and wine, a pre-dinner game of Twister with the kids, then a multiple course meal with champagne, and delicious dessert.

Seriously, I haven't eaten so good during those three days since I lived at home! Thank you to everyone who had me over... it really made my Christmas a great one!

After dinner at Ineke's sister's, Melissa, Jess and I went out for some drinks. We went to this bar, Vavoom! Tiki Room, which has become one of my favorite places to be in Den Haag. It's this tiny little tiki bar with a lounge type atmosphere in the Grote Markt. It's all done up with tiki (obviously), Hawaiian decor, and leopard prints, and they most often play tunes from the 50s. Plus the bar staff are really nice welcoming. It's really the type of bar you go to and feel like it's summer time, even in the middle of the winter.

Then we went our separate ways, and I met up with some friends at De Paap, another regular stop in Den Haag. I really like this place as well because of a few reasons: they're always open really late (5am, I believe), there's such a diverse crowd of people that hang out there, and they have free live music every weekend. Plus, once the bands are done playing, they throw on dance music, so you get to hear different types of music at the same place in one night. That night there happened to be a Beatles cover band playing, and I must admit, they sounded pretty similar!

New Years was spent in Cologne, Germany with Jess, Melissa, Chelsea, and Jeroen. I somehow managed to book a gorgeous hotel room at a really amazing rate. The room was originally about 750 euros per night, and for whatever reason it was discounted to less than 100 euros per night. I was pretty skeptical, but photos of the hotel looked really beautiful, so I took the chance and booked. And when we got there, we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it ended up being.

The hotel was only three months old, so even though Jeroen convinced me to take a smoking room, it didn't smell at all. Everything looked and smelled brand spanking new. And the room was huge, too! I mean, European hotel rooms are generally pretty teensy, but this was even a good size for North American standards.

So, naturally, everyone came to our hotel room for the pre-midnight festivities. We watched cheesy German TV, a dubbed version of Forrest Gump, drank wine and champagne, then headed down to the center of the city at about 11pm. We didn't really have any set plan in mind, but we knew we wouldn't be at a lack of things to do.

The big thing in Germany is to watch the fireworks at midnight, so everyone gathered near Cologne Cathedral to ring in the new year. There was no count down, but at midnight the church bells started ringing and everyone started lighting off fireworks everywhere. It's the only day of the year you're allowed to light them off anywhere you want (there were firecrackers going off all day, in both Den Haag and Cologne). Since we're used to the countdown tradition, we did our own.

It was a really beautiful way to ring in the new year, what with the fireworks and this huge, gorgeous cathedral looming over us. The bells are so loud that, even though you couldn't hear them that well over the fireworks, you could feel them resonating through the ground.

After that, we headed to a sports bar for some drinks, then called it an early night.

Since almost everything was closed on New Years Day, there wasn't a whole lot for us to do, so we did a little walking tour of the city. We headed down to the center, looked in some souvenir shops, took a peak inside the cathedral (which was actually open, but was just about to start mass when we got there, so we couldn't see the whole thing), walked over the Rhine and then back again, and had some drinks in a couple pubs.

I remember mentioning Sint-Pieterskerk in one of my previous entries - the church I saw in Gent that was the hugest most gorgeous I had ever seen in real life. Well, Cologne Cathedral officially tops that. This cathedral is MASSIVE, and every square inch of it is carved with intricate detail.

The next day (and our last), we headed back to the cathedral, where we walked the 509 steps up to the top of the tower. Not an easy task! But luckily there was a bit of a break near the top where we could check out one of the massive cathedral bells. And then we continued to the top where we got a pretty amazing view of the city.

After that we headed back to Hohenzollern bridge. The day before, when we were crossing the bridge, we noticed a bunch of locks spanning the chain link fence that separates the walkway from the train tracks. Most of them were spaced out, but some were in clusters, and upon closer inspection we discovered that people had these locks engraved (with their names, or a phrase) and locked them to the fence. We thought it was a pretty neat idea, so we bought a huge lock and wrote all of our names on it with the date. We had a pretty tough time getting the lock on the fence, as we bought a huge lock to fit all our names on it. We had to kick it a few times, and then when we finally got the lock through the chain links, we couldn't lock it because we had bent it. But knowing how hard it was to get the lock on in the first place, we knew it wasn't going anywhere. Then we threw the keys to the lock in the Rhine.

(Jeroen and Melissa wrote their names on each side of the lock).

It would be pretty neat to go back to Cologne someday, say in a few years, and find the lock still there.

Our last stop was the Ludwig Museum, a modern art museum. A lot of it was a little too conceptual for me, but there was still some really great art, and I was delighted to find out the museum houses some original Warhol paintings.

And then back in Holland, Amy came to visit! She's a friend from Canada, but living in England, and Melissa, Jess and I gave her a little tour of Delft, Den Haag and Amsterdam. In Delft, we did a tour of the Oude Kerk (which holds the tomb of Vermeer) and Nieuwe Kerk (which holds the tombs of the royal family), checked out some souvenir shops in the square, and had a bite to eat before heading back to Den Haag to have some drinks.

The final day of my vacation was spent in Amsterdam with Amy, Melissa, and Jess. Amy and I went to the Van Gogh museum while Jess and Melissa got the finishing touches on their tattoos. I'm a pretty big fan of Van Gogh, so I'm glad that I was finally able to check out the museum. Apparently a lot of people had the brilliant idea to check out the museum that day as well because it was packed. It took us quite a while to get through the whole museum (about 3 hours, I think), and we only breezed through the 2nd and 3rd floors. But it was really neat to see some original Van Gogh paintings, and learn little tidbits about them too.

After that, we just walked around a bit, checked out some stores, had a bite to eat, and then I headed back to Den Haag.

Unfortunately, Melissa and Jess head back to Canada on Saturday, and I'm quite bummed to see them leave. We all said our proper goodbyes yesterday (and Amy as well, since she went back to England today). It's been a fun 4 months with those girls, and I'll really miss them. Good luck to both of you in Toronto!

Next up: I've just decided to start planning a trip to Paris for February. I have a lot of research to do, as I know almost nothing about the city - I mean, aside from the most obvious: Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Arc de Triomph, etc.

Well, that's about it for now, so I'll end it on this. Til next time...

xxx

I just realized today marks three months. I still can't believe how quickly time is flying by. And it's only beginning to feel like Christmas, with exactly two weeks left. I gotta say, this year just won't be the same...

BUT, what I really came here to blog about was another amazing weekend in Belgium. So, let's start at the beginning!

Friday afternoon I left for Antwerp with intentions of spending a few hours there before heading to Gent. I made plans with my friend Emily to meet at Antwerp station, as she lives about an hour from me, in Zeist.

My train kept stopping after Rotterdam due to technical difficulties, and after realizing I was going to be pretty late, I grabbed my cell phone to let Emily know. When I checked my phone, there was a text waiting for me from her letting me know her train was having problems as well. So I called her, and I hear a phone ringing somewhere behind me. Turns out, she's sitting just a few seats back, and I didn't even know it!

Anyway, at the station we met a pretty cool guy, Jeff, after he approached us and asked if we were Canadian (Emily is a fellow Canadian, for the record). He was only in Antwerp for the night, and we all had a bit of time to spare, so naturally we went for a drink and some eats at a nearby pub.

We didn't really have a whole lot of time to explore Antwerp, so we took a mini tour of the area around the station. Seeing Antwerp all decorated at night was just absolutely gorgeous. It was the first time it really felt like Christmas was coming.

And then we continued our journey to Gent, where we met Jeroen, our host for the weekend.

After dropping our stuff off, we headed to the center for some drinks. We went to a few places, most notably the Damberd (a jazz bar Jeroen took me to last time I visited that I've grown to really like), and this really chill lounge that I can't remember the name of. But I also really liked the lounge because it was really atmospheric with the lighting and music, and there were tons of bean bag chairs to chill out on. Once I sat my butt down with a cocktail in hand, I just didn't want to get up!

Saturday was spent lounging around, mostly - had some good laughs, picked up some groceries for homemade breakfast (eggs, cheese, toast, wine, and lekker lekker speculoos pasta... the breakfast of champions!), checked out a flea market next to the grocery store (I always love poking my nose in those places... I always come across the weirdest things!) - until the evening when we did a bit of shopping in the center.

(Just a side note: "pasta" is the Dutch word for spread. And speculoos pasta is this absolutely delicious, and very sweet spread flavored like speculaas cookies, that at the moment can only be found in Belgium.We managed to go through an entire jar of it in one day).

=

Once all the stores closed, we took a bit of a tour before heading back to Jeroen's. I didn't think Gent could be any more gorgeous than when I saw it the first time, but the city became even more picturesque with all the Christmas lights:

There was also an ice rink set up in the center, near the carousel, which was about 100x more pretty than any outdoor skating rink I've seen with all the medieval buildings and churches surrounding. And of course, leave it to the Belgians to have an alcohol tent set up for such an occasion!

Later, we went to an 80s and 90s party Jeroen's friends were putting on. It was in this warehouse, and it was kind of a mix between a rave and a cocktail party, with 80s and 90s dance hits. I had so much fun rippin' it up to all the dance mix 90s tracks! I could've danced all night, but we opted to leave after a couple hours to head back to the Damberd where we had some more drinks and good laughs.

Aside from the fact that we had two really late nights, I was up pretty early on Sunday, so I took advantage of it by going to Brugge for the day while Jeroen and Emily slept in. I went there with having done almost no research on the city, so I basically just wandered around for a few hours. Nothing too exciting, but worth every minute. Brugge is equally as gorgeous as Gent, maybe even a little more so. And there were SO many people everywhere. Normally a lot of cities here completely close down on Sundays, but with Christmas approaching, the stores were open and there were Christmas markets set up in the center.

There were chocolate shops EVERYWHERE in Brugge. It seemed as if every other store was a chocolate shop. Some even had people lined up around the corner... I'm not sure if because it was a world famous shop, or because it was right in the center. But I definitely didn't intend on standing in line that long, even if it was the world's best chocolate.

I'd really like to go back on a Saturday so I can check out the interiors of some of the churches, and take a peak at the Salvador Dali museum.

So, yes, that's my weekend in a nutshell!

I always thought Belgium would just be the country that I had to visit because it's right next door. You know, to put it on the list of places I've seen. I never really had that much interest in seeing Belgium... I knew practically nothing about the country or culture, but I figure it's so damn close there's no reason NOT to go. I certainly didn't expect to love it there as much as I do. But I also don't think I would have had such an amazing weekend without the company I had.

Anyway, this Saturday I start my vacation! My host family is off to Switzerland for holidays, which means I get two weeks to myself! I've been so kindly invited to spend Christmas with my friend Melissa's host family (on the 25th in Rotterdam, and on the 26th here in Den Haag), and New Years will be spent in Köln, Germany! I'll be sure to give an update after the holidays, if not during. Until then, I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday season! I'll be missing you guys more than ever this month.

xxx

I've been a bit MIA lately, so I just thought I'd make a quick blog to keep you all updated.

First, and I guess most important, is that I recently changed families. I really don't want to get into all the specifics because these past several weeks have been pretty stressful. I've been here for 2 weeks now, and getting myself settled all over again. But the good thing is, I still live in the same city AND on the same road (weird, yes I know), so I'm already familiar with my neighborhood.

So, I'm now living with a family of 5: Volkert (dad), Karin (mom), and three boys: Floppy (Floris), Thommy, and Max. Oh, and a black lab, Bo. And they are very Dutch, which is great for me because now I can immerse myself in the language and culture even more.

But I'm not even really an au pair anymore because the boys are in highschool, and they have a house cleaner, so I don't clean either. Essentially, I make sure everything runs properly in the house... I run errands, make dinner, make sure the boys go to school and hockey practice on time, etc. Sounds easy, but things are actually quite hectic around here. Although, now that I'm getting used to things around here, it doesn't seem so chaotic.

What else... well, it's now Sinterklaas season here. He rode in on his steamboat on November 15th to all the port cities in the Netherlands, and paraded through the streets with his Zwarte Pieten. I'm sure many of you are wondering who in the hell Sinterklaas is, so I found a pretty good description, which you can read here.

And along with Sinterklaas comes the wonderful (lekker!) Dutch goodies: oliebollen, pepernoten, chocolade letters, speculaas... I can't keep my hands off! Especially because there are oliebollen stands set up in the cities now, and the wonderful smells waft through the streets.

Oh yes, and it actually SNOWED here. And it even stayed on the ground overnight! I'm sure this doesn't surprise most of you from Canada (since I know southern Ontario has been getting dumped on), but snow is a rare thing in the Netherlands. And I must say, it's much prettier over here than in Canada. I think mainly because Den Haag is such a beautiful city, especially now that it's all decorated with lights for the holidays. Mental note: another thing I have to get photos of.

AND, I've been in contact with one of my relatives here in the Netherlands. She's a bit of a distant relative (my dad's cousin's daughter), but I've been very interested in meeting some of my relatives here. And she owns a hair salon (which is what originally prompted my dad to get me in contact with her, as I was mentioning I need a haircut), so we've made arrangements to have my hair cut, and possibly dyed, and then have dinner together. And perhaps she can direct me to other relatives here, maybe some who are my age. It'll be really nice to finally meet some blood here.

Well, I haven't been doing anything too exciting lately (not exciting enough to blog about), so I'll end it on this. I really miss you all back home, and I hope you're all enjoying the beginning of the Christmas season.

xxx

Here are my favorite photos from the weekend, which was spent in Utrecht and Delft. Except the first one, which was taken in Amsterdam a while back. I've also posted more on my Flickr page.

On a side note, today marks two months since my arrival in the Netherlands. I feel like time is flying by way too fast... I feel like I've barely even begun exploring. But yet, I look back on these past two months and realize I've done quite a lot. So, let's hope these next two months will be just as eventful, if not more.

Well, that's all I have for now. Til next time... xxx

Yesterday I made my first trip to Rotterdam, where my friend Melissa lives. Her, Jess, and I spent the day walking around the city: we made our way through the shopping district, stopping in all the swoon worthy stores. Then stopped in 101 Pannekoeken (which was located right on the corner of Pancake Street!) for some world famous pancakes. It was kind of neat because the kitchen was right out in the open, and we had a table next to it, so we could watch the chef make all the pancakes and poffertjes. Boy, was he ever skilled! He flipped those pancakes and poffertjes with such ease! (For those back home, poffertjes are bite sized pancakes that are generally served with a dollop of butter and icing sugar, but you can also eat them with other toppings).

We took a peak at a market, where I found some great deals on souvenirs. Took a tour of Kubus Woningen (the cubic houses), which are exactly what they sound like: cube shaped houses! While they're really neat, aesthetically, they don't look like a very cozy place to live. But perhaps it was because the show version had no carpets or comfy looking furniture.

After looking around the shopping district a little more, we headed back to Melissa's for a very delicious home cooked meal by her host parents, Robert and Ineke, followed by the best of the best olliebollen (the first of the season!), and pepernotjes, both very traditional Dutch holiday goodies.

And then we got ourselves ready to party!

A while ago, we bought tickets for Full on Ferry, a masquerade party hosted by Ferry Corsten. Being a lover of trance, I was really looking forward to this party, especially knowing the magnitude of trance parties in Europe.

Since it fell on Halloween weekend, we figured it was a Halloween party, and got ourselves all dressed up: I as a 50s housewife, Melissa as a soccer player, and Jess as a cop. We found out pretty quickly that we were one of the only ones dressed up. Mostly people came in normal clothes and masquerade masks, and very few were actually dressed up. A lot of people were very confused as to why we were dressed up. We got a lot of comments and stares, and by the end of the night, we were all pretty annoyed with it. We decided that it was just a coincidence they decided to hold this party on Halloween weekend, even though it was advertised as a masquerade party. (For those who don't know, Halloween is a very very new concept in Europe, having only started to make its way over within the past few years. It's not nearly as celebrated here, but we made the assumption that this would be a costume party for Halloween).

So anyway, the stage show was AMAZING. There was fire, and visuals, and the stage actually floated! It was this UFO looking stage surrounded by lights, anchored to the ceiling, which actually lifted off the ground and floated over the audience. And the platform that the DJs were standing on inside the floating stage rotated as well. It was really neat to just stand at the back of the room and watch all this happening, while thousands of people danced and threw their hands in the air. It's really unfortunate that my camera decided to die just as the stage was taking off. I really wanted to capture it on film because I knew trying to explain it wouldn't give it any justice. So as soon as I can find a video, I'll post it for you all to see!

And aside from the stage show, the music was incredible. It's too bad dancing in heels is next to impossible! I normally don't wear heels out dancing, but it was part of the costume, and it just wouldn't look the same in sneakers. ;)

I think, though, that they ripped us off on the drinks. They must have watered down the drinks, or have been serving non-alcoholic booze, because none of us had even a buzz! Those cheap bastards!

Well, that is my weekend in a nutshell. I hope I can make it back to Rotterdam soon, preferably on a nicer day as it was pretty cold and rainy yesterday. I'd love to check out some more of the interesting architecture, and see more of the city.

I uploaded a few photos to Flickr, but not many. For now, I will leave you with a photo of us girls taken at the party last night. I hope everyone back home had a safe and fun Halloween!