Groeten from Utrecht 2012: June 2012

Orange flags, orange ice cream, McDonalds hamburger buns moulded like footballs( soccer balls), a new McFlurry flavour to match the dutch colours, M&M's in dutch colours, donuts decorated in dutch colours, coca-cola cans with a new design and the dutch flag, beer companies promoting beer dressed in the national colours and of course people decorated in dutch colours....It is a bit of a toss up of if I am going to be so sick of the colour orange when I leave here or miss it very much.
Euro Cup fever has hit the Netherlands in full force. I clearly remember my dutch present day society professor saying to us on the first lecture, "the dutch are very humble and do not display their national flag or colours so much as the Americans".... HAHA! okay well she obviously was not putting into consideration the time when the Netherlands are competing in any sport competition. The way from my flat to the city centre goes thru a bit of a residential area and people have decorated their homes completely. It is really neat to see this national spirit and be here for the excitement of it all. Fingers crossed the men in orange play well as the upset from losing to Denmark made the streets seem eery and quiet. Here are just a few photos of some of my orange findings. Hup Holland Hup!

yum.

my way to the city centre...

wearing a Bavaria Dress...

Last friday I looked out the window and tested my luck with the dutch weather. It appeared like it would be a sunny day but these last few months have made me trust no weather man, weather report or my own intuition about the weather forecast. Perhaps it is from the times I have showed up to class soaked thru because it suddenly decided to start pouring that I have such a untrusting attitude towards the blue sky above me. I took my chances and went on a journey to the town described by so many as cute, Delft. Arthur and I went along together so started the day by riding our bikes to the train station got on the train and it was still nice out there. Got to Rotterdam where we had to change trains to Delft and it was raining cats and dogs. Arrived to Delft 20 mins later and the sun was shining... lucky us!
It was a bit of a maze sorting our way out of the station as EVERYTHING in the Netherlands is under construction and Arthur and I apparently can't read dutch signs with big arrows showing us the proper way to go.
We figured it out and started to walk into the town... following the big church tower is usually a good way to find yourself in the centre of the town. To me, Delft seemed like a mix of Maastricht and Utrecht. There was the large centre square with city hall, one of the churches and many cafes and restaurants lining it but there was also many small canals. We ventured around for a few hours taking photos, roaming the streets, seeing the Vermeer gift shop and of course seeing lots of Delft ware. We noticed that one of the main church towers was very crooked, I hope you can see if from the photos I will post... must be a similar problem to the Pisa tower. Loved just wandering around Delft and I can see why it was described to me by so many as "cute" but I would rather use the word charming. Enjoy the photos!