so put me on a highway, and show me a sign: dutch lessons

because it's just too much to try and describe the awesome ridiculousness of this weekend, i shall instead present some of the lessons that i have learned in the last 72 hours:

speculoos = gingerbread. otherwise known as the food of the gods. it comes in all forms in this wonderful country, from cookies to sprinkles (hagelslag!) to spreads to bread with marscapone filling. food of the gods, people. for serious.

rotterdam may not have the needle, its ferry may be called a "waterbus" - but its harbor totally beats seattle on bridges.

and boats! happy harbor festival weekend!

if you can take a boat instead of a train, do it. even if you have a bike.

i still can't figure out this perspective, but it was pretty cool.

(waterbus from rotterdam to dordrecht.)

canals continue to be awesome. (dordrecht, den bosch)

always bring your bike. it may seem like too much hassle, but it will always be worth it. there is nothing better than hopping from boat to bike to train to bike and getting to wander as much and as far as you like... on a bike! on my trip out from boston, my favorite part was parking the car, pulling off the bike, and riding around the city. why did it take me so long to remember this?!

every good dutch town has at least one massive church. also, the "nieuwe kerk" (versus "oude") is likely still at least 500 years old. (dordrecht, den bosch)

um. this church is not hiding.

cities that are called "den bosch" may not actually be named "den bosch." (apparently 's hertogenbosch is just too much of a mouthful for the dutch, as well as non-dutch. really? i never would have guessed. (however, this does prove complicated sometimes. thankfully the train station is listed under both names.) despite identity issues, though, it is a lovely city - pretty much just what you'd think a city named for "the duke's forest" would look like - medieval, lots of cobblestones, picturesque canals, even a giant floodplain on the other side of the original ramparts that protect the city... you know, back when the city was a fortress. in the thirteenth century. yeah.)

the dutch national team had never scored more than 9 goals in a single game. until last friday night. (11-0, netherlands v. san martino.)

this kid was so. happy.

(though he did not just vomit up confetti. even if it appears so.)

always take the scenic route. but remember that maps come in handy for a reason.

netherlands fietspads can be tricksy, even when they call you by name. (erica is the genus for heath plants.) but generally they lead you to, from, and through, some pretty awesome scenery. (it helps when you're in a national park, too.)