Aug 2006

Sooo tired, so I´ll keep this post brief.

I have just arrived in Paris, and spent the last 8 hours on various trains travelling south through the Netherlands and Belgium. The last 4 hours have been on a Thalys high-speed train in first class, however, so it hasn´t all been hard I´ve definitely been well-fed, what with all the sandwiches that DJ´s mum made for me and all the food on the Thalys.

Since arriving in Paris Chye and I went for a walk all around the area. Since he lives in such a central location, however, walking around ´the area´ encompasses Cathedrale de Notre Dame, the Pompidou Centre, Jardins du Luxemboug and the Pantheon. Not bad huh?!?

And to top it all off, Chye has offered me his bed whilst he sleeps on the floor! Thanks!!

Tris.

Firstly I must thank Soren for the loan of his train discount card! It saved me a load of money, and was definitely appreciated!

Hurdegaryp, in case you haven´t heard of it (!) is a small town of about 2000 people to the west of Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands. It´s in the middle of Fryslan, the only semi-autonomous province in the Netherlands. English is almost entirely understood, but very rarely spoken. All the street signs are bilingual - Dutch and Fryslan.

And so it was that I was picked up at Hurdegaryp station by Duurt (a friend I met in Singapore). We dropped off all my stuff and headed into Gronigen´- the ´big town´ 45min drive away that DJ, Jelle and Oscar all study at. Gronigen is known as the largest town in the north of the country, and has an impressive bell tower that looms over the rest of the city. This tower, known as Martini Tower, was our first stop before grabbing some chips (fries with mayonnaise are fantastic here!) and meeting Oscar and Jelle for dinner. It´s been a long time since I last caught up with these three - over a year - so it was great to relive old memories!

The next day Duurt and I cycled to Leeuwarden - about a 20km roundtrip I think. This was the first time I had cycled in probably 10 years, and boy did I feel it the next day!! Oh, and I had muesli for brekkie. That might not sound that amazing, but I really dislike muesli back home, but this stuff was sooo good. I think it was a home-blend though, so I can´t exactly bring any home with me

Once in Leeuwarden, Duurt and I rode all around town (it´s not exactly huge!) and visited the Freis Museum - the Fryslan national museum. It´s dedicated to preserving the Freis culture and has excellent exhibits on all the unique aspects of their history - like the Terps. The Terps are the old-style villages that used to exist here, and cover a large area. Now they account for the many small hills in Leeuwarden, having been covered over in the 2000 years since they were last used.

After a quick drive to the coast for an amazing sunset (my first real sunset in a long time actually) it was time to say farewell to Duurt and his family. Thanks again for having me, and for being so generous as to let me stay in the caravan (!! - believe it or not the first time I have ever stayed in one!). And Happy Birthday again to Duurt´s mum for August 3.

PS: For photos of Hurdegaryp, Leeuwarden and Groningen, click here