Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Utrecht

Thu I ventured out to one of the major cities around, Utrecht. Got hooked up with a friend of Cris', Wsl, who was kind enough to use one of his vacation days to play tourist with me. We had a late start 'cause of an interesting glitch on the Dutch transportation system: they changed track number for the train we were supposed to catch, but rather than announcing it over the speaker or post it on the board, they had an employee walk up and down the track asking people individually whether they were looking for the train to Utrecht, and if so, they had to go to the other track... After missing the first train 'cause of time, and the second 'cause of this... we finally caught the third one and we were on our way!

Similar to Den Bosch, but on a bigger scale, Utrecht has a couple of water channels running through it, making for some very pretty scenery. Old architecture mixes with some modern buildings. The oddest mix was a house designed in the Mondrian style, the Rietveld Schröder House, which sits at the corner of a street full of old-school brick buildings.

After walking through the indoor commercial center that is attached to the train station, we found our way to the cathedral. Part of it collapsed at some point, so now they have a tower and further back what remains of the church as a separate, repaired entity. Rather than looking into a tour for that, we did a tour of the Speelklok museum, which had a special exhibit going on, bringing together from all over the world clocks that incorporated music. Some were true gems and I was impressed. Interesting bit about this museum: it's set in an old church. The percentage of re-purposed churches is actually pretty high in this country. They are often converted to museums or venues for random events.

Trying to look for the Mondrian house actually took us a good chunck of the afternoon, and had us walking through a gorgeous park, and reach the outskirts of the city. By the time we made it back to the center we were pretty hungry, and we were lucky to get a table at a restaurant on the Oudegracht, the oldest canal in the city. So we dined by the water on some Italianish kinda food. And it was yummy... :)

After dinner, what best than a smoke? Yeah, I know, I quit smoking... but how can you go to the Netherlands and not go through the experience of buying pot legally, and smoking it, too? We found a *koffeeshop* and I got a pre-rolled skunk joint. There wasn't exactly space in the cafe, so I asked if it'd be ok to just smoke on the street. Wsl didn't know, but we took a chance anyways. No one said anything, but I later found out that it's a big no-no. Technically, *all* drugs are illegal, even here. There's just a tolerance towards soft drugs in small quantities. So keep your smoking to the inside of a koffeeshop or the privacy of your own home, and don't do like ignorant me and go about the street thinking it's ok. As it had been my previous experience, pot did close to nothing to me. *shrug* I guess I should be glad I don't like it. So we went to look for a bar instead :)



The rest of the time we had before catching the last train back home at 11pm (no all-night public transportation...) we spent at a bar, picking up a conversation with a Dutch who had relocated to the Czech Republic. Pretty typical bohemian type, said he used to be a programmer... lol.

The trip back had one interesting bit to it. Trains were all good. No prob with getting back or connections... Then I had to take the bus. Turns out I had looked some info wrong, and the bus that stops in front of where I'm staying wasn't running anymore. There was one other line that passed nearby, but I didn't know where exactly. So I got on, told the driver I needed to be close to such and such street, and could he please let me know when we got there.

About 30 mins later, I'm the only one left on the bus, the driver has been text messaging throughout the whole ride, and I am getting nervous. He finally lets me off somewhere, telling me he *thinks* the street I'm looking for is that way... I figured it was a safe area, I had a small hand-drawn map of the main streets, and worse came to worse I did have a cell phone. So I start walking. And recognize nothing. I reach a dead end. I turn back. It's *really* quiet. No one is out. I see that there is a major road and once in a while a car goes by. I think "No problem!" I call Wsl and get his voicemail. I explain I need a hand with some google mapping... could he please call me back. I hang up. Accidentally shut off the phone. Cursing, I turn it back on. The SIM card needs a pin. What was it again? Something with 5... 5555? ...nope. 1234? ...nope. 5678? nope. *lock*. Now it needs a different, special code. Shit. Now I can't call. No one can call me. I'm still in the middle of what I think is nowhere. And no clue how to orient myself. Ah well. There's worse things than walking about on a mild night in a safe area in the middle of Europe all alone.

As I reach the street, debating how to flag a car down, I see water. Another one of those random water channels that are everywhere. Even out here in suburbia. Elated, as my friends' house was near one of them, I walk to it. Still don't recognize anything. Maybe there's more than one of these things around...

Determined, I keep going. And I hear voices! A group of teenagers is hanging out in the dark. Is it safe enough to talk to them? Probably not... It's 1am and they could be hooligans... Then again, this *is* a good neighborhood. And I can run. So I walk up to them, and say "Hi, I'm kinda lost, can you help me figure out where I have to go?" With my little hand-drawn map, the light of a cell phone, and their 3 heads together, after 5 minutes they figured out a direction for me to take. I thanked them and they saw me off wishing me luck. That went rather well. With some hope finally back, I walk down where they tell me. And find home only 3 blocks away! The light is on, all welcoming. Everybody sounds asleep, and I'm glad I didn't have to bother them. Yey for positive thinking! ...and for good luck ;)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, that getting lost story sounds like something that would happen to me! That has to be the worst feeling, too.

I got the e-card by the way. Very cute :-D Tomorrow's my official last day. It will feel so good!

battlegirl said...

yey lila for getting a *real* job... ;)