May 2024

 5/5/24?

I’m back from my trip to England!

Against all odds I survived a lot of travel on the island in the North Sea. I’ll break it up into a few installments, because although it was just six days I visited seven cities, not to mention the countless kilometers of rural Belgium. 

I left on April 27th, King’s Day in The Netherlands. It’s HrH Willem Alexander’s symbolic birthday, but it’s mostly an excuse for everyone to party and relax. I loaded up my bike and rode south from Middelburg at 8:00. Later that evening, after following many long and shady canal-paths, I arrived in Dunkirk, France, where a ferry would take me across the channel to Dover.

The ferry, while a super cheap option for escaping the continent, is a lackluster experience. The duty-free shops and slot machines are only augmented by the overpriced food and squealing kids running around. Luckily, it’s just two hours. Upon landing in Dover I sought some authentic British food: shepherd's pie. It was fine, though the appearance was quite terrifying as you’ll see below. 

From Dover I rode my bike to Canterbury, home of the famous cathedral and well-preserved medieval buildings. I visited St. Augustine’s Abbey, and learned about the lives of monks there. Canterbury has 55,000 residents, and 30,000 of them are students– so it’s easy to find discounts on stuff! The day’s highlight was eating cheap chinese food down by the river and watching the sun set. 

The next day, Monday the 29th, I visited the famous cathedral. Having seen a lot of monumental churches, even this one is impressive: it’s the world headquarters of the Anglican church, and renowned for its giant stained-glass windows. Five stars! I had gotten myself a four-day rail pass for getting around the country, so in the afternoon I traveled north, via London, to Keswick in the Lake District. Usually this area would be swarming with holidaymakers, but it was the off season so I had the mountains and lakes more or less to myself! 

On the final leg of this long day (a bus ride since there’s no trains to Keswick anymore) I met a few interesting characters: Keith, a local who recommended a whole bunch of restaurants and hikes (“Good to see young folks traveling”, he said) and a drunken Scot and his dog. The Scottish are hard enough to understand when sober, so I played along with this guy. He hugged everyone on the bus and then staggered off into the night– it was pretty funny! 

This Lake District terrain feels more like Norway than the British Isles: cliffs, steep valleys, waterfalls, and pristine lakes all around. Keswick is a former Victorian holiday-town, very quaint when it’s not busy. I started one of the best days ever with a full english breakfast: (traditionally bacon, sausage, eggs, a tomato, baked beans, black pudding, toast with butter and jam, and tea) very greasy and not so nice to look at but quite tasty. I packed a few pasties (meat and vegetable pies, historically a coal miner’s food) for lunch and rode my bike to a trailhead for a day-hike. I went for about 10 miles, along a high ridge overlooking the town and Derwentwater, one of England’s largest lakes, then back down into a pastoral valley full of sheep. 

It was strange weather up there, really windy and sunny but still drizzling. A rainbow was somewhere to be found all day, and despite the rain the views were still excellent. I stopped for lunch next to a waterfall among a herd of sheep– if there’s a national animal for England, it has to be the sheep. There must be millions of them!

That evening I went for a swim in the lake, had some sticky toffee pudding, (a sort of caramel-date-nut cake, very gooey and unhealthy) and at sundown biked up a really steep hill to the Castlerigg stone circle, constructed by the ancients to coordinate festivals, plantings, and harvests. The stones line up with the peaks and valleys, and the sunset was breathtaking. 

I was staying in a bunkhouse at the edge of town, an empty place but comfortable and affordable. Denton House is the name if you’re ever looking for a place to stay! My only regret in this trip is that I didn’t spend more time in the Lakes, I could spend a whole summer here and not see it all. A very poetic landscape. So on Wednesday morning, May 1st, I rode my bike back to the train station at Penrith to head back south. But the second half is for next time! Thank you for reading as always.

No goofy Dutch phrases this time, 

Aaron

—

5/12/24

Time for Part 2!

I suspect you’ve all been on the edge of your seats, waiting to hear about a certain expatriate student’s trip to an island in the North Sea. Natuurlijk, as the Dutchies say, I’m happy to oblige.

The trains which I had been spending so much time on in England are much nicer than the ones I’m used to in Holland. The high-speed ones are about as expensive as planes and feel similar on the inside! Since I have my bike along, I get to store it in a special compartment next to the driver. The countryside is really pretty, but it’s hard to see while moving at 200 kilometers per hour!

I arrived in Oxford at 4:00– it’s a long trip from the north, and I changed trains in Birmingham. (i.e, the ugly side of England!) I’d made reservations in the only hostel in town, so I went to check in. Except there was an issue: their system had put me in the all-female dorm when I booked a bed online, since the place was totally full for the night. So I was bluntly told there was nothing they could do, no refunds. Frustrating! This might be my last time dealing with an independent hostel… while the place looked really nice, I’m sure they just wanted to keep the cash and have a little less room for the other guests. 

The next cheapest place I found was a scrappy guest-room a mile from the city center, £50 per night. It was fine, though I had to haul my bike up narrow stairs to a cheaply furnished room. Clean enough and no bedbugs, that’s what matters! My greatest regret here is losing the social aspect of the hostel, so to console myself I went to the nearest fish and chips place. Now that was tasty! I think they could adopt the mainland tradition of mayonnaise on their fires though. 

The next day was entirely for exploring Oxford. My intention was to sneak into a lecture there but security was tight– unusual for a university! And it’s not just one campus like an American school, there are many colleges scattered across the city. Each with equally stunning architecture and history. And there are many museums and galleries celebrating the academic heritage: I saw original manuscripts for the Lord of The Rings series, a chalkboard with calculations by Albert Einstein, and the original penicillin culture. 

I did manage to sneak into a private garden at St. John’s college, which seemed to be for students and staff only. For a while I was trapped in there but if you just act confident and casual nobody questions your presence. After my escape I hit a few bookshops: Oxford is a really good place to buy cheap books! I could easily have spent all day at Blackwells, a shop which claims over 200,000 unique volumes on three kilometers of shelves. I limited myself to three titles: (plus a copy of the Quran which I got for free on the street) 

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

A Short Account Of The Destruction Of The Indies by Bartolme de las Casas

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

The best part though is just looking at what’s on display. I heard that the official Oxford University library-system has somewhere on the order of 13 million books, growing at over 200,000 per year!

And when in England, you’ve got to stop for afternoon tea at least once. There are dozens of tearooms, cafes, and coffee shops to select from, and I was very pleased with my scones and clotted cream. After tea I climbed one of the many church towers and was surprised to meet Dutchies from Eindhoven! So we talked in Dutch for a while– I think half the country is on holiday for the early-May break.

The next day I took the train to London, where it predictably was raining a lot. Like I said on my previous visit, it’s a terrible city for bikes. So I walked around, down Whitehall, saw Big Ben, Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, and got fairly soaked in all the rain. I saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and it was underwhelming– the crowds were insane just to see some soldiers walk around! 

The next train was to Dover, where there was just a little more sightseeing to do. They’ve got an excellent city museum there with a preserved bronze-age ship and many Roman artifacts. I also saw the famous white cliffs for real this time, and amazingly there’s nothing to stop one from walking right up to the edge. Crazy views and crazy wind!

That night I stayed in Folkestone with some Warmshowers hosts, Julian and Judith. Warmshowers is an organization for cyclists looking for a place to stay the night, often at the homes of other bike-fanatics. And it was great! I was only at their house for twelve hours but we had tea five times. Excellent food for supper, (chili and baked potatoes, mmm) and incredible views of the English Channel from their living room. I’m very grateful for it, and someday if I ever have a house of my own I’ll have to be a Warmshowers host too!

Time seems to warp when I’m traveling, and on Saturday the 4th I rode all the way back to Middelburg. One of my longest rides ever, around 91 miles for the day, and my fourth time crossing Belgium in one day. I wasn’t in a good area for sightseeing, this was mostly a commute  for me. It was an especially long day considering I didn’t hit the road until 11:00; with the UK/Europe time difference and all. 

Near Brugge, most of the way there, I encountered a fellow American on a bike. He was from New Hampshire and was shepherding a bike tour group into town for the night. I must’ve scared the guy when I told him I’d come from Dunkirk that day, he offered me all his energy gels and granola bars! (Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing when I do crazy rides like this. Experience and disaster are great teachers) It must have been my disheveled appearance, smell of sweat, and muddy bike that did it. 

So yeah, a pretty cool trip. The realization that I rode my bike to England and back is still rolling over me. It was lots of fun, and nothing much went wrong, but next time I’d like to go for either an all-biking trip or all trains, not a compromise like this one. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed these misadventures, and thanks for reading!

If you can’t bike there, it doesn’t exist/als je er niet kunt fietsen, bestaat het niet, 

Aaron

—

5/18/24

Back to school!

Well, I never really left. My trip to England felt like more of a long weekend than an actual travel-experience. I don’t have a ton of classes, just three to keep track of until June 20th, but they all demand a lot of homework. Particular my investigation of Spatial Planning, where we’ve been tasked to redesign the town hall square in Vlissingen. So I spend my days in the garden and my nights working on sketches and maps! 

Last weekend the Northern Lights were supposedly visible all over the country, as they were in the US. Since it was the largest geomagnetic storm in 19 years I just had to get out and look for them. Unfortunately, the sun here rises at 5:30 and sets at 9:30, so there’s a pretty small window of twilight to see the lights. Feeling both foolish and adventurous, I got on my bike at 1:00 AM on Saturday morning and rode out to the countryside. 

And while plenty of other people in Zeeland saw this rare event, I wasn’t one of them. The trip was worthwhile just to walk on the beach and in the dunes at night, and to see the bioluminescent plankton in the sea. They make a sort of sparkling flash when disturbed by footsteps or waves– just as cool in my opinion! I didn’t see another human out and about, just scores of bats and several skittish cats. After this outing I slept really well!

During the day it’s been a little warm here. While low 80s fahrenheit doesn’t sound that bad, it is uncomfortable at night without air conditioning. (especially when you’re sunburned!)  I’ve also gotten used to five months of cool rainy weather, so hopefully I can adapt to hot and still weather that frequents this country in the summertime. 

As I mentioned above, I work on my sketches for class at night and garden a lot in the daytime. While I was away things really went crazy, with warm weather and plenty of rain. Over the weekend I made my first of many future visits to IntraTuin in Vlissingen, a sort or gardening warehouse store. Like IKEA, but for plants!

This week I’ve also been busy with my Spatial Planning work. We visited Rotterdam on Thursday to see some interesting neighborhoods and water-features. Graciously, the HZ rented bikes for us to ride around the city. (But it was up to us to find a way to get there… I’m still grumbling about taking the trains during rush hour!) We had a little rain, a little sun, and a lot of detail on this amazing city. 

The entire area was leveled during WWII, so everything has been planned and built since. “It’s a Spatial Planner’s dream!” quipped Olivier, our professor. “And tantalizing if you’re in the concrete business.” The two other profs. who were along for the day agreed, and I’ve never seen them geek out so much. My favorite spot was a parking garage that’s also a sewage-overflow during heavy rain– great if you’re a river, not great if you park your car in there. 

My modeling career in Vlissingen has continued! I’ve given these artists quite the challenge, they’ve requested an extra session and everything. More practice for them, more snacks and coffee for me. “Dit is een heel moeilijke kaaklijn te tekenen."

Next week I’ll be riding to Brugge, Belgium for a school trip. It was my idea which I submitted, and I’m still amazed that it was accepted! Although it’s being sold as a long day on the bike, it’ll be an easy day out– just 25 miles from Middelburg. The only conflict arises in that I have to sit for the artists on Friday morning and in class in the afternoon. So I’ll leave pretty early, but that’s what I’m used to on the bike. 

The year is just a month from its end, somehow. Moving here back in August, it seemed like the year would be a long one. In truth, I wish it was longer. One month exactly and I’ll go to Barcelona to rendezvous with my family. So many books, so little time, as the ancient saying goes. On July 3rd I’ll return to Saint Peter, and hopefully see some of you folks! Until next time.

Vrolijke paden/happy trails, 

Aaron

—

5/27/24

Hello again, 

I’ve got another trip under the belt! Last week I and a few other friends rode bikes to Brugge, Belgium for an interesting 38 hours. Under the supervision of the HZ, it was good for our extracurricular credit requirements too. Only 10 of us were crazy enough to bike 20 whole miles to this amazing Flemish city. (compared to over 70 students who signed on to travel to Berlin and London last year!) 

It’s a very easy ride, no hills, and all of it on bike paths. Among the Water Managers it was myself, fellow American Ethan, Paul from Germany, and Tané from Thailand. Our group was the counterpart to six dutchies who had signed up to investigate the beer scene across the border. So I left early in the morning and rode to the ferry across the Westerschelde in Vlissingen. 

Both of the professors that accompanied us got e-bikes, unfair but no advantage on flat ground. On our way there we stopped at Het Zwin, a former estuary which is now a gigantic nature reserve. It’s the nesting ground for storks, some of which migrate all the way to Sub-Saharan Africa and back each year. They’re remarkably unconcerned with people– we walked right beneath their nests, built on artificial poles, and they couldn't have cared less. What amazing birds!

Brugge, like Amsterdam, Utrecht, Leiden, and Giethoorn, has been called the “Venice of the North”. An easy comparison to make when there’s so much water around, but at least this Belgian city has the architecture and history to back it up unlike its North-Holland copycats. Everything is low and close to the water, and the canals are pretty dense. I can’t really put it into words, but the city just has a calm feeling about it. An example: we were walking around on a side street and found, by chance, an entrance to an ancient-feeling public garden on a quiet canal. We had the place to ourselves, try finding something like that in Amsterdam! 

Typical of student travel, we stayed in the cheapest hotel available: between the train-tracks and the highway! But no bedbugs and all-you-can-eat breakfast, so no worries there. For the evening, my friends and I strolled around and got cheap shoarma, visiting all the corners of the city. In the morning, I wasn’t around for long: I had my modeling job to get to before 9:00 AM! So I left early, on the bike path at 6:30, skipping the canal-boat tour and city walk. The artists were waiting, and I made record time going back north: 1 hour 22 minutes to Breskens, where the ferry lands!

On the domestic front, I’ve learned that my roommate Emil is moving out next year– off to a single studio. I don’t smell that bad, he would just like more time to code and do his esports. After all, our days don’t align at all: he sleeps while I’m awake, etc. So that means I’ll be getting a new roommate this fall, fingers crossed that whoever they are they can tolerate my cooking!

Meanwhile, in the garden, we’ve been having lots of trouble with snails and slugs. The year has been historically wet, (in The NL, twice and sometimes thrice the usual amount of rain this month!) and in damp weather our land-going mollusc friends thrive. Much to the detriment of all the plants, even with scrupulous weeding and mulching the slimy lads still find almost all our plants. So hopefully dry weather will arrive soon.

The Vlissingen Maritime is going on right now, and while I think the name suggests some race or competition, it’s just a showcase of old sailing ships that visits the city each year. A few are already docked in town, so as I was passing through the other day I stopped by to have a look. Aboard one of these schooners I spied two dutchmen loading crates of shelf-stable milk into their vessel. It had to be at least 30 or 40 liters of the stuff! “Waarom heb je zoveel melk?”, “Why do you have so much milk?” I asked them. I don’t remember their exact reply but it was along the lines of: “Well, there are no cows at sea, are there?” 

Three weeks to go in the academic year for me, so the game is on for maps and sketches. Although June and December are on opposite sides of the year, for me they have the same feeling: of anticipation for going home! And an unholy amount of work to soldier through between now and then. So until the next installment, that’s what I’ll be doing!

Hope for a tailwind/hopen op wind in de rug, 

Aaron