Top 8 Coolest Things from Euro-Trip 2k12

Greetings from sunny Austin, Texas!  Becca graciously offered some of her blog space so that I could share a few of my more memorable experiences from my week in the Netherlands.  Obviously, the highlight of my trip was the opportunity to visit my beautiful girlfriend, (I was in no way obligated to make the previous statement under threat of serious bodily injury)  but there were also several other moments that will provide me with fond memories from my time abroad for years to come. So without further ado, and in honor of the Hoff, (whose bday I may have forgotten about while we were over there) I present to you the 'Top 8 Coolest Things from Euro-Trip 2k12".  Yes, I spent hours working on that title.

8.  Public Transportation.  In Austin, the bus schedules posted online and at the stops are good for only one thing: letting you know exactly what time the buses won't be there to pick you up.  Other than that, it's anybodies guess when the next one will come.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the train system in Holland was pretty darn precise, and it was easy to get just about anywhere on the continent.  It also might be the most soothing and stress free ways to travel, once you are actually on the train of course.  Which brings me to my next point...

7.  The mad dash through Heathrow Airport.  After our attempt to spend our remaining Euros/pounds at an airport shop ran a little longer than expected, we discovered that we had about 10 minutes to make it to our gate before it closed.  A nearby trip planner kiosk listed our gate as a 15-20 minute walk.   Long story short, I can now say that I've been that guy sprinting through the terminal whose rolling luggage refuses to stay on its wheels while assorted books and headphones fly out of his backpack.  Painful, humiliating, and terrifying while it was happening, nothing beats the feeling of barely making it to the plane, being the last person to board, and then happily taking your seat between a large Turkish lady and a German grandma, sweating profusely all the while. 

6.  Hanging out in Brugge.  You know how just walking on the street in certain cities gives you the feeling that you are in the middle of a movie?  Brugge is one of those places.  It seemed that every street was a set piece; the canals, buildings and numerous pedestrians all combined to give you the feeling that you were a part of something that was an event.  I kept expecting a motorcycle riding James Bond to come peeling around a corner of one of the narrow, cobblestone roads in hot pursuit of  some goofy looking henchman.  Unfortunately, the closest we got to any sort of international intrigue was the half-hearted surveillance of a sandwich lady who seemed to be breaking all kinds of sanitation guidelines while she prepared our lunch.   Beware future Brugge travelers, she remains very much at large to this day!  

5.  The Dutch have apparently evolved to the point that they are no longer susceptible to dehydration.   Due to what I've self diagnosed as an extremely active metabolism, I'm required to drink massive amounts of water on a daily basis. You can imagine my dismay when I discovered that "large water" does not translate to Dutch whatsoever.  They just aren't used to drinking water.  I was amazed that the guys I had been playing water polo against for over an hour and a half went immediately to the bar connected to the pool and were throwing down cold ones less than ten minutes after practice was over.  I've attached a picture that should illustrate the difference between my average water intake and that of my counterparts over in the Netherlands:

4.  Getting a taste of the local beers.  Before I go any further, I'd like to point out that the ratio of beer related to non beer related pictures on this blog is not an accurate representation of how we spent the majority of our time.  I think Becca just likes photos of beer in a fancy glass, something that bars don't often take the time to set up over here.  Having said all that, the beer over there was awesome.  I don't really consider myself much of a connoisseur of suds, but having such a great selection at every bar was a nice change of pace from having to go out of our way to find good beer like we do stateside. 

3.  Playing a pick up basketball game in the middle of a park in Amsterdam, against what we assumed were local kids.  Basketball is easily my favorite land based sport, and finding a game somewhere during my trip was pretty close to the top of my to-do list.  After passing by several empty bball courts throughout our trip, I had no choice but to sign us up for a game at the first active court we encountered.  Yes, they were most likely middle and high school aged kids, and yes, we might have lost the first game we played against them (there was a slight language barrier issue concerning the score, now people understand why I try to keep such a close eye on the score of any game I'm playing).  In our defense, they had two significant advantages in their favor.  First, 75% of our team was clad in sub-par balling shoes, namely Keds and boots.  Second, their best guy played the whole game with his Ipod earbuds in!  Why haven't I thought of that?  Talk about getting into the rhythm of the game.

(Becca gets to add pics for the rest of the blog and make comments, of course!)

Jackets off, it's getting serious.

Grady doesn't let those boots hold him back!

Neither do I!

But they've got skills too

Tom looks hesitant, but he did score most of our points.

So, I'm guessing that went in.

Tom and Mike on D

2.  Water polo with the Wave team.  By the time Becca and I hopped into this practice, I hadn't been in a pool or large body of water for a week and two days.  To put it simply, I felt like Superman enduring an Alaskan winter.  Diving into the pool revitalized me immediately, and as an added bonus, the practice was being conducted by a guest Dutch coach of some renown.  He put us through some interesting drills (which I figured out through context clues and by never going first) and then divided us up for a scrimmage.  Sports really do provide a handy universal link between us humans, and I felt right at home playing with the guys and gals that night.  

1.  Bikes!  In Delft, at least 90% of our transportation was supplied by one of my favorite childhood possessions.  There's something to be said for living in a city where you can easily get everywhere you need to be without once getting into a car.  I finally understand that quote about how being on a bike lets you feel like you are a part of the scenery, rather than an outsider observing it through a windshield.  Luckily, there weren't any perfect weather, "windows down" kind of days while I was over there;  else I would have had even more trouble getting on the plane back to Texas.

(Becca gets to add pics again)

MJ's the pro! Grady & Tom looking cute

Steph living life dangerously by looking backwards

You know you're tourist when you have a bright red bike!

That about wraps it up for me.  Thanks again to Becca for letting me share my thoughts with you guys, now back to your regularly scheduled pint glass photos =) 

Tom