Kiwi Sees America

I will let Kiwi illustrate how we spent October: 



As for November - well, it rained.

November also found us, inter alia:

• Apartment hunting in Portland
• Moving into a new home
• Starting a new job (me) and attending a week-long conference (Jeff)
• Wasting perfectly good weekends at Ikea
• Researching wedding venues
• Revising law review articles
• Hosting family for Thanksgiving
• Dealing with the DMV

So yes, we've been distracted.  But there's still so many stories left to tell!  I figure it's never too late. Coming up this month: stories of Poland, Germany, expatriate adventures, and the cactii of the western US.

Why the Rhine Valley Rocked

Over the course of August and September, I ended up in Germany for three different trips - to Berlin, to Munich, and to the Rhine Valley (I know, life is hard, but bear with me). Of the three, I most want to go back to Berlin - but I have to admit, contrary to my expectations, that of the three, the Rhine Valley made the best trip.

Specifically, I'm talking about the stretch of the Rhine between Cologne and Mainz, with the addition of Baden Baden at the southern end.  Perhaps it was just the change of pace from our typical city destinations, perhaps it was just the sheer variety of experiences to be had, but this is the trip I'd recommend for other first-time visitors to Germany.  Our own perfect Rhine Valley itinerary went something like this:

Step 1: Lunch at a beer hall in Cologne.  Excellent German food, excellent local Kolsch.  We also revisited Cologne's massive cathedral.

Step 2: Castles.  The hills of the Rhine Valley are covered with them, like the rocky ruins of the massive Rheinfels castle perched above St. Goar. Our favorite, though, was on the nearby Mosel River: Burg Eltz, a fairytale castle nestled in a green valley in excellent (still inhabitable) condition - although unfortunately covered in scaffolding, and therefore temporarily unphotogenic.  

Schloss Rheinfels

Step 3: Vertical diversity. Coming from the flatness of the Netherlands, the rolling ridges of the Rhine Valley are breathtaking (like a green version of the Columbia River Gorge).  Doesn't hurt that every ridge is topped with a castle, and every hollow is home to a miniature village of half-timbered houses.  Which brings us to...

Step 4: Half-timbered houses.  I didn't think places like this existed outside of Epcot Center. We stayed in Bacharach, a tiny town of narrow cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses tilting slightly with age, window boxes full of geraniums, and vineyards stretching up the hillsides.  Perhaps because the weather was not fantastic, the town was surprisingly empty - except for the national petanque tournament down along the riverfront. 

Top 10 Den Haag Experiences

For a friend's visit earlier this summer, I compiled a list of our favorite Den Haag experiences.  As we leave The Hague for more American pastures, it seems a fitting adieu to our year of going Dutch*:

1. Classic tourism, Hague-style

By which I mean, an hour in the Mauritshuis (The Hague's world-class museum), followed by a walk around the Binnenhof (the Dutch parliament buildings).

The Binnenhof. Photo Credit: Lyza D. Gardner

2. An afternoon in Delft 

Take the tram, or better yet, ride a bike down to Delft, a condensed version of all that is charming about Dutch towns: canals with narrow streets and white-railed bridges, churches with tilting towers, big squares and little squares and a thriving market on Saturdays. If the weather's nice, have a beer in the Beestenmarkt, a smaller square lined with cafes and full of Dutch people hanging out under leafy trees. No matter what, have a meal at Rossio - our most favorite restaurant in all of the Netherlands.

Beer on the Beestenmarkt

3. Scheveningen in the summer

Dozens of these temporary cafes line the beach during summer.

 The  Hague's beach along the North Sea, Scheveningen is a surprisingly popular destination for German tourists, who like to dig holes in the sand.  (Not only is this in fact a stereotype that Dutch people harbor against Germans, it also appears, based on our limited observations, to be true.) The most fun aspect of the beach scene - even more fun than watching Germans dig holes - is the seasonal bars and cafes that pop up along the sand during the summer months.  These are neither permanent structures nor make-shift encampments, but full-on restaurants with stylish outdoor lounge seating that magically appear sometime in May and then magically disappear - entirely - sometime in September.  You have to see it to believe it.

Feeling peaceful yet?

4. A tour of the Peace Palace

Andrew Carnegie's gift to the world, the Vredespalais is stunning on the outside and full of equally stunning treasures on the inside, presents from grateful countries around the world. The Palace is the seat of the UN's court, the International Court of Justice, which peacefully resolves border disputes, fishery fights, and other heated arguments between countries.  We take it for granted these days, but it if weren't for the ICJ, countries would still be going to war every year over the shifting courses of river boundaries and over-depletion of cod stocks.  Unfortunately, the Peace Palace is largely closed to the public, but if you plan in advance (or know someone who knows someone), you can schedule a tour.

5. Biking in the Wassenaar dunes

This activity combines two ultimate Dutch experiences: bikes and the sea.  An awesome bike path leads north from Scheveningen; at the top of the tallest dunes, you can look back at The Hague in the hazy distance.

(Already missing our Dutch bikes...)

6. Coffee at Zebedeus and/or ice cream at Florencia 

Florencia is an institution in The Hague, serving cheap coffee and cheaper ice cream to pensioners, motorcycle gangs, children, and everyone in between for something like 40 years.  It has the interior decoration of a smoke-filled Italian cafeteria from the 1980s, but any aesthetic doubts are quickly soothed by the 70-cent icecream cones. Based on a significant sample set ;-), I can strongly recommend the caneel (cinnamon), gember (ginger) and stroopwafel.  

Hanging out like Dutch pensioners at Florencia. 
Photo Credit: Lyza D. Gardner

As for their coffee, you're much better off going down the street to Zebedeus, which serves - we have officially concluded - the best coffee in town. Plus it's built into the side of The Hague's Grote Kerk (literally, "Big Church"), which is kind of cool. Zebedeus also has very good food - indeed, it's my favorite restaurant in The Hague.

7. Beer in the Grote Markt 

Particularly recommended for a sunny afternoon, when the square is packed with people sunning themselves.  We are particularly fond of De Zwarte Ruiter, which has an atmospheric interior for those colder, darker days of winter.

At the height of summer, the tables are twice as thick. 
Photo Credit: Lyza D. Gardner

8. An off-beat museum

If you've made it this far down the list, it's probably time for some more cultural amusements. Among The Hague's more unusual museums, I particularly like the Panorama Mesdag and the Museum Meermanno (a.k.a., the Museum of the Book). (I've previously described both here.) 

9. Shopping at the Turkish Market 

A massive open-air market that runs Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, De Haagse Markt (it's actual name) is what we call "a slice of life."  (See also my brief description here.)

10. Lunch or dinner at Simonis

Hit up the main branch of this local institution, amongst the unromantic docks of the Scheveningen port, for the freshest seafood in a no-frills setting and at surprisingly reasonable prices.  (The Dutch like a good value.)  In fact, their raw herring is so good, I had to revise my initial opinion of that ultimate Dutch delicacy.

Photo Credit: Lyza D. Gardner

 * Yes, Dutch couples really do split the bill on dates.

Looking for more Hague ideas? Check out my map of all our favorite places: Our Hague.

Endings

Transitions are always hard.  Jeff and I are in our very last days here, trying to wrap up and close down the life we have built together in The Hague.  Meanwhile the weather has suddenly turned sunny and warm, beautiful fall days that make one feel prematurely nostalgic, like you are still living in what is already the past.

As a goodbye present for someone dear to me, I picked up a collection of poems by my favorite poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins - a Victorian whose language was ahead of his times and whose love of nature was deeply spiritual.  Looking over the book, I am reminded that I don't read enough poetry.  This one, which has always been one of my favorites, feels particularly timely:

Hurrahing in Harvest

Summer ends now; now, barbarous in beauty, the stooks rise

Around; up above, what wind-walks! what lovely behaviour

Of silk-sack clouds! has wilder, wilful-wavier

Meal-drift moulded ever and melted across skies?

I walk, I lift up, I lift up heart, eyes,

Down all that glory in the heavens to glean our Saviour;

And, eyes, hearts, what looks, what lips yet gave you a

Rapturous love's greetings of realer, of rounder replies?

And the azurous hung hills are his world-wielding shoulder

Majestic--as a stallion stalwart, very-violet-sweet!--

These things, these things were here and but the beholder 

Wanting; which two when they once meet,

The heart rears wings bold and bolder,

And hurls for him, O half hurls earth for him off under his feet.

What America Does Better

OK, so the Dutch might have figured out (in order of importance) bicycling, canals, work-life balance, public transportation, international law, windows, thrift and towel warmers. I love the Dutch, and the rest of Europe is pretty awesome, too - but after a full year here, I miss mightily those things that, frankly, the U.S. just does better:

• Handicap Access: London tube system, I'm looking at you. But it's a near-universal problem. God bless the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Asian (and Mexican) food: Not a good sign when tacos cost north of 15 euros. And never trust an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet in a region best known for its raw herring and mayonnaise.
• Target and Trader Joes: Our four-year-old guest last November, who otherwise loved Holland and Paris, was confounded by the idea of life without Target. As am I.
• Popular entertainment: No one here disputes the U.S. superiority in this particular category. But the love of American pop culture renders the constant criticism of American politics somewhat ironic. (Yes, now that you've used your beloved iPhone to tell everyone on Facebook how America should be doing more for the world, please enjoy your evening of McDonalds and Mad Men.)
• Drip coffee: For whatever reason, it's just not appreciated here. 
• Tolerance: I've mentioned Geert Wilders before, but one need only note the reactions of politicos around Europe in the aftermath of the Oslo shooting to understand how unprepared Europe still is for a truly heterogeneous society. At least in the U.S., we pride ourselves on being a melting pot, even if we're still trying to figure it out.
• Cocktails: Yes, the beer and wine are great, but sometimes you just want a kickass Sidecar.
• Netflix and Amazon: Actually, given Netflix's recent downfall, I'm re-considering our move back to the States. Drat you, Reed Hastings!

This game can also be played with "What America Gave the World."  As friend Megan wrote in a postcard last summer: "Just remember: we invented the Internet, French fries and cars. Fuck yeah." To this we could add jazz, cowboys, the personal computer, the Declaration of Independence, hip hop, Tex-Mex, the Marshall Plan, the lightbulb, and Michael Jackson. As Jeff likes to say, "You're Welcome."