So here in the UK, and in other places, we are expected to stay home and only go outside for essentials. I have seen comments on Facebook and around the web of how hard that is. For me not so much – I am introverted – maybe I shouldn’t label myself but it certainly seems to be true. I don’t like crowds and sometimes I don’t even like small groups. Having to be at home is not that much of an issue for me.
I don’t mean for one moment to underplay the seriousness of what is going on in the world – I simply wish to express my experience. And at the moment I seem to be doing okay. I have been out only the once this week, to the supermarket, I do need to get more exercise, and maybe I am going a little weird but for the most part I am okay.
At the beginning of the month I was in The Netherlands. The above picture is from the town of Hoofddrop and was from my last day. I picked a town at random, that was one train from where I was staying, and just went. I wanted to see this stature, had no idea where it was, so I just started walking and it happened to be on the way to a restaurant that I had also picked out at random.
I was relying on google translate while I was away. Language is a fascinating thing to me. For example I was translating a sign which appeared to be saying ‘artisan sausages’ but as I continued that changed to ‘traditional sausages’ – so me that connection was interesting.
The above picture is a dish called ‘Kapsalon‘ which translates to ‘Hairdresser’s’ – which was rather a confusing thing to see on a menu. The dish consist of french fries, shawarma meat, and salad. And the name? It was invented by a hair dresser.
I also visited Amsterdam. In Amsterdam I just wondered about the city wanting to take it all in and see everything. In going on this trip I didn’t have a plan. I simply wanted to experience a new place. It was a test bed to prove to myself that travelling alone was something I could do – and I can.
Food wise I didn’t exactly eat healthily. This is what I had the first proper day: battered fish with a sauce – so that made me feel right at home. I got this from a street market that was only there the one day. There were lots of other things available but I couldn’t get close enough to use my translator.
On the first proper day I went to the Muiderslot. This is a small castle which I decided to walk to it tool about 45 minutes and I only went wrong once – I nearly walked up someone’s drive!
Inside there are many paintings. This one is my favourite:
You can read more about the painting by clicking here.
I was staying in a little town called Weesp and I saw this on the first day. It was a nice quite place to stay away from the business of Amsterdam but close enough to be easy to get to.
No discussion of the Netherlands would be complete without talking about bikes. They have big parking areas like this one all over the place. I think I saw more bikes in these few days than in the rest of my life combined.
The trip was, overall, a great experience and I really look forward to when travel is possible again and I can look to my next adventure.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
I have a Patreon page. I hope you will consider supporting this blog: https://www.patreon.com/unstableorbit
Today is Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day. This post has nothing to do with either of those things but since they are on today I should probably talk briefly about them.
As for April Fool’s Day? Well that is a rather none event. I don’t really like pranks as they can often be cruel – so there is not much to say about that. So here is a cat in a bowl to make you smile.
Unstable Orbit 