Returning to Holland

I shall soon fill you in on details from my trip around Europe. First though, a brief post on my return to the Netherlands (NL). Having now traveled to a half-dozen European countries, I feel qualified to come up with an adjective describing my host country. The word I have chosen is: Simple. The Dutch do not excel at exciting food like Italy or Spain (their national dish is mashed potatoes with greens mixed into them...)The Dutch love their potatoes. On market day old folks fill giant bags with their favorite variety of potato for the week. Goodness knows what they will use so many potatoes for! They do not like difference (dress like everyone else and you will be okay.)Houses are plain--many thatched roofs--and small. Towns and cities lack the glitz and ornamentation of Vienna. There is not the historical monumentality of Rome. Even the land is simple: flat and human-made. There are no undulating Italian mountains, no wind-swept French hillsides and there are barely any castles! (Unlike England or Germany.) Holland is plain, harkening back to its strict Calvinist roots. This country does not have the vibrant architectural creativity of Barcelona, Spain (think Gaudi, the genius Spanish architect.) Shops close early. And so, when I returned to the Netherlands yesterday I did very Dutch things: simple things. Man I miss Parisian crepes. And the wind over canals in Venice. But the simple pleasures of Holland make me smile, too.

Today I.... posted a letter, went to the Tuesday farmer's market, studied in the library and then went to another farmer's market! I bought more food. At six, tired of studying, I packed away my books and biked and walked for two hours in the surrounding woods. Then I returned to my studies. Now I am writing this post. Soon I will light a candle, read a book for fun and go to bed before 12. Enjoy the lovely pictures summarizing my day in the Netherlands, enjoying the simple things in life. Remember, sometimes the most plain things—a West Virginia summer tomato, an ear of corn, a walk after dinner when the sky is clear enough to see stars—contain a certain grace.


The first stall when you enter the market, you guessed it--potatoes!