One of the employees here in the Dutch office had a baby over the weekend, so today we were all treated to Beschuit met muisjes (little toast rounds slathered with licorice sprinkles) to celebrate: blue for boys, pink for girls. They tasted better than I thought they would, but I wouldn't make a habit out of eating them. I should also mention that my attempt to pronounce "Beschuit" came out very similar to the sound of a cat coughing up a hairball, but since it also sounds like that when pronounced by the locals, I didn't feel too bad.

I also discovered that the butter sammiches with chocolate sprinkles are called Hagelslag.

This is the best site I've found so far for explaining Dutch food and how and when it's eaten. I should mention that Stroopwafel are incredibly addictive. I'd buy a case of them to bring home if I could fit it into my luggage, but I'll have to content myself with a couple of small tins full.

I'm going to have dinner with my students tonight at the hotel restaurant; it looks pretty traditional, so expect further reports.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Greetings from Utrecht. I'm killing some time here in an internet cafe while waiting to check in to my hotel. Other than the half-inch of snow that fell last night, it's been an uneventful trip. I spent a leisurely afternoon strolling around Amsterdam's flower market yesterday, then had dinner at my fave Indonesian resto, Bojo.

I picked up my rental car at the airport this morning and drove out to my hotel in the tiny village of Harmelen. Since there's absolutely nothing to do there, I drove back to Utrecht and wandered along the Oude Gracht, stopping at the cathedral and the convent museum, where I ogled many a holy relic of bygone days.

I ate a simple lunch of pea soup and bread at a very cool old "brown cafe" called the Ledig Erf. I washed it down with a couple of Trappist dubbelbocks. I could've hung out there all day, but figured I better cool it if I wanted to be able to walk out instead of being carried.

Guess it's time to head out into the boondocks and check in. My students are all staying at the same hotel, so at least I'll have some good company for dinner.

Tot ziens!

Posted by MrBaliHai at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)