A Month in Review

My apologies for not updating in so long!  I'll try to go through the highlights of the past month so you can get an idea of what I've been up to:

Third Week of March:  My friend Kim comes, and we take off for Brussels the next day.  Unfortunately, this trip ends unhappily with the contents of my purse being stolen, but I'll focus instead on the extraordinary Belgian waffles we eat as soon as we arrived.  They are at least 10 times better than the one I had in Antwerp (which was great itself!), and enough to lend a bright spot to what otherwise is a rather dark trip.

Also with Kim, I go to a wonderful library of 17th century books in Leiden.  The collection is the former estate of a very rich orphan from the Golden Age who basically had enough money to do whatever he wanted, and chose to invest in books of all sorts.  Especially amazing are the Atlases and hand-written records, and even the building itself, which is specially designed to best preserve the books, is a sight to see.

My sister arrives the last week of May, and we go to Paris with my Dad.  We'd been there as a family several years before, and this time we arrive after an amazingly comfortable first-class train from the Hague.  We go all around the city in the next few days; highlights for me are L'Orangerie, a museum with two rooms lined with huge, custom-designed Monets, and San Chapelle, a chapel with an amazing display of stained glass on the second floor.  I also get to meet up with my friend Sam, who is studying in Paris and directs my family to an excellent, Rick Steves-approved, restaurant for dinner (Rick Steves is everywhere in Paris!), and our last night I meet up with Sam and my friend Dave, who is coincidentally also on vacation in Paris.  Overall, Paris is great, and the pastries unparalleled, but when it comes to overall friendliness, I'll take Holland hands-down.

Back in Leiden, it's finally feeling like Spring, and I've been trying to take advantage of the good weather.  The city itself seems to feel the same way; as soon as the sun is shining, the streets are crowded with tables for people to sit outside.  The Hortus Botanicus, a large botanical garden near my academic buildings, is free for students and a great place to go and read during the day.  Last Saturday, I biked to the beach with my friend Alex.  It was a very pleasant ride and the beach itself is nice, a little windy (like the rest of the country) but generally calm and pleasant.  I also went to the Keukenhof with my Dad last week, which is billed as the world's biggest flower park.  The Dutch consider it strictly for tourists, and I guess I can see why - it's a beautiful collection of flowers, but also filled with touristy shops and stands, and the admission fee is probably enough to keep a Dutch person away.

Alas, as my camera was stolen in Brussels, I have no photos to post for this entry.  Don't worry, though - I've semi-hijacked my Dad's camera, and as soon as I get a cable to connect it to the computer I can show you Spring in Leiden in all its beautiful colors.  That's all for now, I promise the next update will come sooner than this one!