Europe, Part Two. (Like riding a bike...)

Email update #2 from Super's European Adventures... Stay tuned, I throw a curve ball in update #3!

Hallo!
Today's email update will be a little shorter and somewhat a preview of what I've been up to.
What a few busy days!

Friday was amazing as I took the train to Lieden, a small college town about 30-40 minutes outside of town. Awout, Suzann's boyfriend, is a scholar at the law school there and offered to show me around. At first I was skeptical, wondering what could be so special about it, but it may have been the most charming city I have ever witnessed. There was a certain glow about the town giving it a magical feel. This is mostly a town made of the university, however, it is from where the Pilgrims came. Their version of 'old' is far better than ours! And all the tiny houses along the canals made it all a little bit dreamy at twilight. After Leiden, Arrogant Dutchman and I went to the National Ballet which was a little kitchy, but the dancing and orchestra were quite good.

Saturday morning began early as Arrogant Dutchman (AD) and I took the train about an hour outside of Amsterdam to Wegeningen and visited his mother and father, Tessa and Henk. As we were putting our coats on to go to the train station AD looks at me with a little worry and says, "You DO know how to cycle, right?"
Honestly, the only way I could answer was, "I... I... I'm not sure." The trouble on his face was disconcerting but we pressed on.

Tessa took us to the National Park where we rode bicycles to a fabulous museum in the middle of the forest. The way it works is, there are all these bicycles that belong to the park and you pick one out and ride around all day or ride to the museum. AD and I had another shared moment of panic when we could not find a bicycle with pedals I could reach. There was a brief time of me eyeballing a kids bicycle and saying, "Oh please please please NO." Then, Tessa spotted a tandem bike and suggested AD and I ride that. Sheer panic struck his face and it became his mission to find me my own.

After finding a fit, I then had to mount and ride the damn thing. Mind you, I have not been on a bike since possibly high school... fifteen years. It was also a challenge as I was bundled up in my long winter coat. I knew I was going to die.

However, obviously, I did not die and in fact did not even crash! And I only got caught up in one tree. I won't elaborate... it's too hard to explain how I managed to find myself stuck in the branches of a tree not even close to the paved trail.

We pedaled away and arrived at the Kroller-Muller Museum which is: A magnificent amalgamation of art, architecture and nature. Amidst unspoilt natural surroundings, the Kröller-Müller Museums collection centres on the extensive collection of works by Vincent van Gogh and the world famous sculpture garden.
And there was this little gem of which a print hangs in my kitchen. I'm so disgusted with the print after seeing the real thing...

That was the majority of the day, then they had me over for dinner for a bit of Dutch lifestyle. Very nice time but my ass hurts from the bicycle. But yes, I. RODE. A. BICYCLE. AND. DID. NOT. DIE.
More to come!
Love,
Super

Europe, Part One.

After much thought, I've decided not to hang up my cape and retire the blog. I'm back from Europe and can not wait for my next visit! To catch you up, here is an email I sent to family and friends while there. I will follow with other email instalments made during my visit.

Hello!
I just wanted to check in and let you know I'm doing quite well with my trip. The jet lag was horrible due to not one, not two but THREE babies crying the entire flight over. I felt badly for the babies, and quite frankly, having taken an Ambien with a glass of wine made me loopy. With the racket, drugs and wine I may or may not have been a disaster upon arrival. My schedule is still a bit wonky, but I'm working it out.
Wednesday I wandered around the city a bit and visited a couple of churches. The first church was your typical gaudy monstrosity that leaves you wondering just what to gawk at next. The second church I visited was a very neat 'hidden' Catholic church. It was built inside the attics of three houses during the prosecution of the Catholics. From the outside, it looks like a normal row of houses, but inside and up a windy staircase there is a large church. There were even two balconies and an organ! The organ was very cool as it was quite small; only 4 1/2 octaves and the keys and pipes were tiny.
Here I was going to try to find a clever way to segue into "The Miracle of Amsterdam", but really, it's too strange. Regardless, I want to tell the story because it's all over here. I'm going to get this wrong, but here goes anyhow... Waaaaaaaay back when, there was a man on his deathbed who a priest visited to administer the sacrament. The man vomited up the sacrament into a chamber pot. When the contents of the pot were dumped into the garbage and incinerated, everything was burned except the pristine sacrament. My reaction is along the lines of "Yuck.", but the people here think it's a pretty great miracle.
Yesterday, I spent the day at the Van Gogh museum and if I get the chance, I want to re-visit before I leave here! The museum was phenomenal and seeing so many impressionist works was beautiful! I truly love Van Gogh and it was the best collection I could have hoped for. After the museum closed, I met up with my friend, Arrogant Dutchman, and four of his (whom I now consider MY friends, as well!) friends for dinner and drinking. It was a lot of fun and they were all great people. One girl, Suzanne, was particularly nice and we compared our political party systems. Quite interesting; The Netherlands has many parties and smart voters have to think more strategically rather than just voting their heart, so to speak. Otherwise, the Parliament can end up with a very divided vote and nothing will get accomplished.
Today I am going to the Rijksmuseum and will have more to report after that!
Much love,
Super

Friday funny!

While talking to Radio Goddess this morning, she asked, "Have you packed yet?"

I informed her "Of course not; I wouldn't have any clothes to wear. However, I did get out my little red suitcase. There it sits, empty and alone in the corner... you know, like the emo kids."

DC, OH, WV, OH, DC, NL, DE, NL, DC -- wow!

The next few weeks will be a whirlwind for sure. The Chariot has been returned and this weekend The Mister and I are popping in to see the fams in Ohio and West Virginia. The Mister will fly back on Monday and I'll stick around for a little more quality time. It will be nice to see my Papaw now he is home after his heart attack. Papaw celebrated his 93rd birthday this past Friday and my well wishes are overdue!

After I return to DC, it will be time to pack up and zoom across the great blue ocean for my first solo-vacation. Although I will be staying with friends for most of the time, it is a big adventure as I have never done anything like this.

"Cultural Recuperation" might be a good way to look at it (thanks AD), and I am truly looking forward to time in museums, music halls, cafes and pubs. It's a bit scary but also exciting.

I will try to blog when I can and in the meantime, I send you my best wishes!

~Super

Twenty-ninth Olympics: My personal training.

Next month I will be marking my 29th birthday with a bit of an European vacation. I will be travelling alone, but luckily, have great friends with which to stay. My travels will take me to The Netherlands and Germany.

Approximately one month ago, I began my Training. My lungs and liver are terrified of what is to come for 10 days in February. My lungs are still unsure of whether or not to partake which has shocked my friends into a banter of, "Super-stoner won't smoke in Amsterdam?! What?! I feel like I don't even know you."

The thing holding me back from partaking in Amsterdam is I would be partaking alone; a very scary prospect if you cut me open and ask my bronchial tubes. A friend of mine who lives in Amsterdam (Arrogant Dutchman) has told me he and his friends often laugh at the tourists sitting or sprawling on the sidewalks. My friend does not smoke the stank (I know!) and therefore, I'm just a bit weary of the whole thing. Who will fish me out of the canal?

As far as my liver is concerned, the training is in full swing. The Mister has complimented my diligence and even bragged to somebody, "Little Super is putting away about 3 beers a day." The person to whom he said this lived in Germany for many years and was not impressed until he added, "She only weighs a super 100 pounds." Before you get concerned, I'm not doing this EVERY day and some days it's less... some days more. Regardless, I'm not getting tanked every night or anything, I'm just preparing my system for what is about to come.

I have had the occasional day when my liver says, "Sweet baby jeebus, Super, can you lay off the sauce for just one night?" Alack, alas, I must point to my midsection and say, "NO, dear liver, Mama knows best. Now open up and take your medicine!"