Sat Jan 28: so I had breakfast with rob and emmy, they made rolls and croissants. Very hearty :-) I was in charge of squeezing the Oranges, and it was tough work! When I had enough juice to fill a glass I poured it, but spilt some! I was devastated! I learnt to be so much more careful cause you care about something so much more when youve worked hard at it! Then they went to robs sisters to deliver a present they made for her newborn. I went into the city again (being sure to take note of landmarks this time) and I went to the rotterdam history museum. There was a temp exhibit on the life of some wealthy general or something, so they designed the house as it would have looked in the late 19th cent. Lots of nice paintings and portraits and pretty furniture and objects. The permanent exhibit wasn't in English, which was a bummer cause it was relating to rotterdam. Then there was another temp exhibit relating to rituals in different religions so they showed how people deal with births and deaths and celebrations across the world, so that was cool. So there was also a section on festivals and they had some video clips but without subtitles so all I saw was a huge number of people dressed as smurfs and partaking in races and games, so that looked fun. Then there was this section where you write a secret message to someone and tie it up and the museum people are going to "release it to the world" in a few months. So I may have written a little note to a special someone! I just hope jelle gets it before I leave the Netherlands!! So after the museum I had picked up a mini card the day prior that entitled me to a free stroopwaffel at the market! So I headed there, but dear lord was it crowded!! Apparently its 2km long! So I had to fight my way thru the crowds and esp with lance. But I went and got my stroopwaffel from the stall and it was freshly made on the spot. Sooo good! Then as I was leaving a guy was handing out free lebara sims so I took one in case I have a similar incident with my geosim! Then I went to the maritime museum. My mini card got me free prints of boats (i love these cards!). I first went on a vessel that I can't remember the name of, but it was a "ram ship" and never used in combat. It wasnt as translated as I would have hoped but I got the gist of everything. They had naked mannequins in the bathroom section, I thought they were real for a split second!! So then I went into the actual museum, and it had a video footage from probably the 1920s of ships coming into the harbor for trade. Then for the remainder of the time I went to an exhibit on sea trade, expeditions and wars and everything related to the ocean and the Netherlands, starting from like prehistoric time. So I was just learning about some dutch guy who was famous for his charts of the world in like the 16th cent, when it was time to go. I headed straight back to rob and emmys cause I had agreed to help them cook curry (I offered to cook or take them out and they said that wouldn't be necessary so I said I would help them cook then). So they decided to be ambitious and cook 3 different dishes, 2 of which they never tried before. So it was a bit of an experiment, but it was fun! Wow I never realized how many spices go into these dishes, no wonder everyone says English food is bland! I was in charge of peeling and grating the ginger, which I had no idea how to do! I even used the wrong side of the grater! So that was quite yummy and even tho I don't like ginger I like the lemon and ginger rice. Then I went to sleep with a contented tummy! Sun Jan 29: so I left before breaky so I could make the most of the daylight since I needed to head to gouda. My lonely planet detailed a walking tour checking out the architecture and I still needed to do the self guided brochure one I got from the visitor center, so unfortunately this day wasn't as sunny as my first day in rotterdam and it was quite windy. I walked around the center, and of course with it being a Sunday morning, it was real quiet. I went to the Lawrence church, near where erasmus lived. a man working there said I could have a quick peek at the interior cause the church wasn't open but after a min a lady came over and kicked me out. So I continued to walk around, took pics of city hall and some buildings but I think rotterdam is quite ugly. I know post ww2 architecture is just atrocious but still, the whole city is just one ugly entanglement of tall glass and metal buildings. I went to the tourist info and read a small display they had about rotterdam and it mentioned there are 3 charge points in the city for electric cars. That's real nifty, I only hope theres more in the future! Then I passed more sculptures (a giant Santa with a butt plug in his hand, and abstract ones as well). I had 2 people on separate occasions ask if I needed directions cause they thought the walking tour leaflet was a map. I then had to pee so I tried a few department stores in that shopping quarter but you had to pay (or they didn't have any) so I eventually just hopped the turnstile. Then I went to an etos which looked like a cvs so I bought more floss, for €1.50! What a rip off! Then I tossed the receipt, but then literally walked for 3 more seconds and I see a 99c shop and what do you know 2 flosses for €1! So I bought that as well. So I went dumpster diving for the etos receipt and decided to return it at another point. So I then picked up lance from his parking spot and rode to museum park. I went to the natural history museum. There was a sperm whale skeleton in the lobby which was enough to entice me to go in, and anyway I was frozen! So some parts of the museum was translated but most weren't. Which might have been better for me cause then I wasn't tempted to stay later than I should have. So they had the stuffed animal collection as all natural history museums do, but they had some mutant animals which was kinda cool. So calves with 2 heads and stuff. Then there was this small section that had "mystery creatures" where taxidermists took various parts of different animals bodies and glued them all together so neatly that it looked like it all fit together, and then they tried to pass these off as new species! (That wasn't in English, but I overheard an American woman who obviously knows dutch, translating the text to her daughter). Then I went to the sperm whale skeleton and noticed they had its dork in a case. Damn that was intimidating. So after the museum I continued the tour along the river. I had lunch in a park near the euromast. Then I was so cold I doubled up my gloves and socks! Not too long after I just said screw it, its too windy here, so I just went on my way to gouda, leAving at 3:08 pm. My host lived near a point on the cycle network so that was easy for me. So I followed the cycle network and red signs to gouda. Got a little lost leaving rotterdam cause I went the wrong way along the river, and then again when I was on the outskirts of the center, but a helpful man gave me directions and from there it was smooth sailing. I passed through a village first, then polders (saw a nice windmill right underneath me :-) ) where I was riding on like a track that was cut out of the earth. The car road was at the top, farmland at the bottom, and bike path carved into the land in-between the two. It wasn't windy anymore so I was real happy I could get some sensation in my fingers and toes. I mistakenly thought the cycle network sign told me to go up to the road where the cars are so I did and I got honked at various times so I thought maybe bikes weren't allowed so I went down to the ground and rode thru some village called moordrecht(?), and found the network again. From there gouda was close so I arrived in 40 min. My host Louis lived right in the center of gouda so that was super convenient. When I got to the centre I just checked a map and found my way to his. So I had to keep lance in the hallway of his apt building but I wasn't too concerned since I was only staying for one night. So I arrived 5:38 pm just as it was getting dark, did 21.87 mi, max 15.9 avg 7.1. I literally just dropped my stuff and he asked if I wanted a tour (thinking he meant tomorrow morning) so I said sure, but he said ok let's go! I was thinking, I've been freezing all day and I've finally got inside where its warm, I don't want to go back out! But I said yes cause I wanted a locals insight to the town. He showed me the 2 windmills, the canal boat homes, and the candle factory . And I also met another couch surfer he has been hosting for 3 months, a 20 yr old student from Lithuania. He starts studying in utrecht in a few weeks but came to gouda in Nov to learn dutch. So that night we all ate dinner together, then Louis made really scrumptious Fondue for dessert which I had the majority of! Then Louis and I got talking, somehow it ended with me reading a passage from the bible about a father who gave his son some money and the son left home and blew it all and came back in poverty. But then we all went to bed, me on the air mattress next to Paul on the futon in the living room. Mon Jan 30: It was real good that Louis lived in the center of gouda but he lives literally a few feet from the church with the famous gouda windows, but every 15 min the bells would go off! I didn't hear it in the night but in the morning Louis woke up early for work and woke me but I couldn't go back to sleep because of the damn bells. So I got out of bed early, Paul followed shortly after and then he took me around gouda. We went to the town hall which was a super pretty building but Paul had already seen it so he rushed me through it. The meeting rooms all had cups and tea at each seat so we stole about 3 tea bags each! Then we walked around the town, being Monday all the museums were closed so we couldn't see much. We strolled along really thin and picturesque canals with super tiny bridges and thru a park and by one of the windmills again. I of course went to a shop where we sampled gouda cheese and then I bought a small amount. It started to snow lightly so we just walked around in it for like an hour or two, then went to the grocery store for him to pick up yogurt and then back to Louis's so I could get my stuff. So when we got back Paul told me to make him tea and I was like "I'm not your housewife!" And he said "you owe me for taking you around gouda". And I was like "Grr you're such a typical spoiled 20 yr old", but I made the tea anyhow. Then I left and went to the church. So I paid the entrance fee but an audio tour was extra so I didn't want to pay so I just walked around and saw the windows and the organ and stuff. Then a worker comes up to me and starts talking and asked where I was from and we got talking a bit more and he explained what some of the windows meant, like about the siege of leiden and the king and queen from that time, they are depicted in the last supper window. He then shows me the keys to the church (he was the custodian) and said they were original, which would make them centuries old. Not sure if I believe that. But he eventually asked if I wanted the audio guide for more info on the windows and I said no thank you and he said he would give it to me for free! So I couldn't turn down that offer. And I said "I really can't stay long though, I need to get to leiden!" And he was like "oh its the Netherlands, everythings close!" (I didn't tell him my method of transportation). So I said ok and did the whole tour, which was very useful because otherwise I wouldn't have understood the historical windows, or the st john the Baptist ones. So after that I returned the headset to the lady I paid admission to, she didn't look too happy that I got the tour for free! Then I quickly went back to the town hall and saw the rest of what I didn't see with paul and then went to etos and returned the expensive floss and then finally left for leiden at 3:22 pm. It was snowing this whole time, but not heavily, just annoying to have it keep hitting me in the face! I followed the cycle network out of gouda and (as Louis recommended to me) I took it thru the lake district (which is nowhere near as big as the English one!) So I circled around that for a while. I enjoyed it though, lots of storks (or whatever they're called) and ducks and swans. It must be real nice over the summer. But I then realized I went off the route I needed, so I looped around and eventually found my way back to where I started, just on the outskirts of gouda center! So I thought oh crap I'm in trouble now, I rode around for at least an hour and got nowhere! So I said screw it to the cycle network and just followed the red lettered signs to leiden. That suited me very well. I rode mainly along a major road, but the majority of my ride was at night time so not like I had much of a view anyway. The Netherlands does have some nice sunsets though!! So I followed this basically straight the whole way. I saw a biker who had straight handle bars but was riding low down like a touring biker, and that kept snow from hitting him in the face. So I thought that was a good idea so I rode like that and I went faster so I kept going back and forth between that position and holding onto the handlebars. The only problem with the former is that I mainly look at the ground, and this caused me to miss my turn off because I didnt see the sign! So I got lost and confused that the signs were telling me to go back the way I came. so I did and realized I was supposed to make a turn. But other than that I didn't get lost until I got into the center of leiden where I relied on the street maps for help, but half of them didn't have the "you are here" symbol. I eventually just followed my way to the central station cause my host karol said he lived 5 min from there. So when I got near I tried to call karol but the number didn't go thru so I was a bit frustrated but I asked someone on the street and he told me how to get to karols block. By now there was maybe 1-2 inches of snow on the ground. So I rode through that and got to karols. When he opened the door he said "you're michele?" Like he was expecting someone different. Because his name was karol, I had thought I had been messaging with a woman this whole time so I wanted to say "you're karol?" But I didnt. So I arrived at 7:45 pm, did 29.58 mi, max 16.2 avg 8.3. I was quite cold (my hands had gone numb pretty much once it got dark) so karol and his wife graza made me tea and warmed me up :-) I then met their 3 yr old son max who was a bit shy. They had eaten dinner already so I ate their leftovers cause I was too tired and couldn't bear to go back outside. Graza didn't know English very well so that was a bit of a struggle to talk to her, but karol was fluent cause he was raised in new York. He was born in Poland but moved to ny when he was very young, and moved back when he was like 13. Graza is also polish and max was born there too. They moved to leiden for their jobs so max goes to day care there so he picks up on dutch words and Graza is taking a dutch language course, but karol works in computers and he said everyone at his company speaks English, so he hasn't learnt dutch. So it was kind of late and I was tired so I made my bed, which was an air mattress on the living room floor (had some issues figuring out how to work the pump again!!). I checked my mail and rob emailed me saying my UK sim arrived, so I told him the address of my haarlem hosts so he could send it there, instead of it showing up in leiden after I left! And then went to bed.
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