Utrecht, Netherlands

After our first train ride with wifi since..actually since the ferry ride from Dublin to Wales, we arrived in Utrecht, a college town thirty minutes from Amsterdam. Rachel's friend Nabi greeted us at the station with water (not quite a 30 pack of beer, but still a nice gesture). Nabi attended an international student conference at MSU last October, which he and Rachel worked on for two weeks. They kept in touch knowing a Eurotrip was in the works. First Nabi led us to his friend's centrally-located bachelor pad for dinner--he turned out to be a chef. We ate a truly fabulous meal with about eight different dishes, including mashed "carrot potatoes". We're still not sure what the vegetable is actually called, but boy it was delicious. We also ate steak (well...Rachel ate the steak while Colleen indulged in baked goat cheese), two more kinds of potatoes, spinach, salad, onions, and the list goes on. 

Nabi spent the entire meal scaring us about where we would be staying for the weekend. It turns out we could not actually stay with him, but instead were staying at his old house where no one had lived for weeks. We thought he was kidding, but for the most part he really described the place accurately. After dinner we brought our luggage there and found that he was serious about the lack of furniture, collection of garbage, and plethora of crawling residents. To be fair, we slept in a clean room, had light and hot water, access to a kitchen, and hey, it was free! Colleen essentially slept on a pool raft, while Rachel lucked out with a real mattress. For two nights, it was actually kind of perfect (and honestly how many college guys live all the time--probably minus the shower in the kitchen). 

Saturday morning Nabi met us at the house, we picked up an armful of fresh foods from the supermarket across the street, and we ate a huge breakfast in a nearby courtyard. The Dutch definitely know how to eat healthy; they also know how to eat anything but Dutch food, opting mostly for Mediterranean cuisine. After breakfast we headed downtown for very sour Dutch espresso and a surprisingly lengthy conversation comparing American and Dutch cultures--don't worry we'll spare the details. In short, we wonder why Americans lag so far behind the Dutch in social progress.

We then spent the afternoon wandering along Utrecht's beautiful canals--see, we didn't need to stay in Venice anyway! First we saw a cathedral built in 1295 that lost half of its nave to a hurricane in 1674. They're finally turning the empty square between the front and back of the church into a courtyard. The cathedral's gardens happened to be hosting a dog show that paired neighborhood dogs with nursing home residents, so of course we stayed until the end. It was adorable. 

We also walked into a few interesting shops along the canal, including a game shop where 10ish year old boys were painting very (very) intricate action figures, an antique store, an art gallery, a chocolate shop, and a workshop where a man was chiseling sculptures from logs. The Dutch are much craftier than we are. While walking we had to be on high alert because Utrecht is dominated by bikers. As in their rush hour is not on the roads, but on the bike paths. 

That night we ate dinner on a small boat Nabi and his friends built. Of course we got lucky again, and dinner was made by two people who work in the food industry. Even if we get lost all the time, at least we do know how to find very good cooks. We floated along the canals for a few hours, then returned home for the night. 

It's important to note that, overall, The Netherlands does not fulfill its reputation of being a radical drug-infused country. While marijuana is sold legally to residents, we really didn't notice more than four people using it during our couple of days there. Instead, the area was full of very quaint shops and bustling activity the whole time.

Today was a lazy day, mostly spent catching up on sleep and chilling in a cafe. Now we are on an overnight train to Copenhagen, which is proving to be most uncomfortable. We did not luck out with beds like the first overnight train we took, and are sitting in very upright chairs with people on either side of us. It is currently 3:24 am, and we have yet to get any sleep. Hopefully Danish coffee is good. And strong.