weekend whirlz
all in all it has been a good past few days!
saturday i was in Rotterdam with Wouter and his entire family for the wedding of his sister. a Dutch wedding isn't all that different from a Canadian one, but i liked going because i got to practice my dutch all weekend and was pleasantly surprised that i understand even more! the ceremony started out with the couple's story, which is one difference. normally we do that sort of thing at the reception i think. there was also an extensive history lesson about the Mayflower which left from Rotterdam before stopping in Southampton to get the English settlers onboard. I hope i don't have to elaborate on the Mayflower: everyone think back to gr. 3 history around thanksgiving time. you know, plymouth rock and pilgrims and such. at the brewery where the wedding was held, there was a very interesting poster listing the passengers and their fates. neato. after the ceremony, we went to the couple's apartment for a reception. I was forced to eat oysters which i still think are disgusting despite the enthusiasm of the caterer. There were french wines as the couple's next stop is France for the "real wedding" in a chateau in the south. tough break! Wouter and I stole away for a little while to walk around Rotterdam a little bit, in search of magnet, but my mission failed and i only ended up with sore feet. the world cup qualifier between the Netherlands and Romania was in Rotterdam that day so the streets were full of soccer hooligans wearing orange and getting blasted. Netherlands won, 2-0 i think.
After the reception and our hike, we all went out to dinner to another spanish place...Mr. Gronheid was quite merry. He told me I had to stay in Europe at least another 2 months and that he'd pay. haha. tempting! Ike, Wouter's sister, and her boyfriend Roy were also very nice people and hopefully they come to Ontario to ride bikes sometime. Roy says he has one of those giant stunt kites and he invited me to come to Amsterdam to try it out anytime. it was a very nice day! Everyone was really friendly, and i am glad that I went.
Sunday was race day! I got up early to meet the ladies for 11 so we could be in Den Bosch by 1. It poured the whole way there and i was reminded of the Head of the Trent last fall. A hypothermic experience I care not to repeat. we sat in a café for a long time because i guess someone mixed up the start time and we were there far too early. oh well. finally we got on the boat and then went to wait some more at the start line. sunday was all about waiting really. even during the race i felt like i was just waiting for it to be over....it is a different experience racing with a recreational crew. on the way back, they wanted to do drills, but i just wanted to go pee, so i had to veto that one. then we de-rigged, which was stressful because of course, "I know best" is the ever current theme in a group of women working together. I just pretended i know nothing and did as i was asked and kept my mouth shut. this was in the interest of getting home sometime before nightfall...it was already 7 before we got out of the parking lot. oh how i miss rowing in canada. that night, 2-seat threw a little bbq party which was excellent, however we didn't get there until about 10:30pm. i was starving and it was a nice end to the day.
I hear i wasn't hte only one racing on sunday and I am curious about the Canada Cup! nobody has posted results on the message board and i can't find them online. maybe they're not available. :(
yesterday all i did was ride my bike. i put on a record amount of kilometres and then had some dinner, watched napoleon dynamite for the umpteenth time, then crashed like it was my job.
today, i have to return my pumas because they ripped and that's just not right after only 3 months. clearly a defect. i want new ones.
then i think i am going to a giant bike store with prices that are el cheapo so that should be fun. i love a trip to the bike store!
saturday i was in Rotterdam with Wouter and his entire family for the wedding of his sister. a Dutch wedding isn't all that different from a Canadian one, but i liked going because i got to practice my dutch all weekend and was pleasantly surprised that i understand even more! the ceremony started out with the couple's story, which is one difference. normally we do that sort of thing at the reception i think. there was also an extensive history lesson about the Mayflower which left from Rotterdam before stopping in Southampton to get the English settlers onboard. I hope i don't have to elaborate on the Mayflower: everyone think back to gr. 3 history around thanksgiving time. you know, plymouth rock and pilgrims and such. at the brewery where the wedding was held, there was a very interesting poster listing the passengers and their fates. neato. after the ceremony, we went to the couple's apartment for a reception. I was forced to eat oysters which i still think are disgusting despite the enthusiasm of the caterer. There were french wines as the couple's next stop is France for the "real wedding" in a chateau in the south. tough break! Wouter and I stole away for a little while to walk around Rotterdam a little bit, in search of magnet, but my mission failed and i only ended up with sore feet. the world cup qualifier between the Netherlands and Romania was in Rotterdam that day so the streets were full of soccer hooligans wearing orange and getting blasted. Netherlands won, 2-0 i think.
After the reception and our hike, we all went out to dinner to another spanish place...Mr. Gronheid was quite merry. He told me I had to stay in Europe at least another 2 months and that he'd pay. haha. tempting! Ike, Wouter's sister, and her boyfriend Roy were also very nice people and hopefully they come to Ontario to ride bikes sometime. Roy says he has one of those giant stunt kites and he invited me to come to Amsterdam to try it out anytime. it was a very nice day! Everyone was really friendly, and i am glad that I went.
Sunday was race day! I got up early to meet the ladies for 11 so we could be in Den Bosch by 1. It poured the whole way there and i was reminded of the Head of the Trent last fall. A hypothermic experience I care not to repeat. we sat in a café for a long time because i guess someone mixed up the start time and we were there far too early. oh well. finally we got on the boat and then went to wait some more at the start line. sunday was all about waiting really. even during the race i felt like i was just waiting for it to be over....it is a different experience racing with a recreational crew. on the way back, they wanted to do drills, but i just wanted to go pee, so i had to veto that one. then we de-rigged, which was stressful because of course, "I know best" is the ever current theme in a group of women working together. I just pretended i know nothing and did as i was asked and kept my mouth shut. this was in the interest of getting home sometime before nightfall...it was already 7 before we got out of the parking lot. oh how i miss rowing in canada. that night, 2-seat threw a little bbq party which was excellent, however we didn't get there until about 10:30pm. i was starving and it was a nice end to the day.
I hear i wasn't hte only one racing on sunday and I am curious about the Canada Cup! nobody has posted results on the message board and i can't find them online. maybe they're not available. :(
yesterday all i did was ride my bike. i put on a record amount of kilometres and then had some dinner, watched napoleon dynamite for the umpteenth time, then crashed like it was my job.
today, i have to return my pumas because they ripped and that's just not right after only 3 months. clearly a defect. i want new ones.
then i think i am going to a giant bike store with prices that are el cheapo so that should be fun. i love a trip to the bike store!
posted by Unknown at Tuesday, June 07, 2005
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