Touch-down in London
The next leg of the journey saw me shake hands with London briefly before heading to the Netherlands and Belgium to visit friends and whanau, and to reunite with my beloved ski-fanatic (some of you may have been following Nick's own journey - if not, check out the blog of his silk road ski adventures here).
The plan was to meet Nick in Amsterdam after a week in London solo - however, sneaky Nick decided to surprise me in London... which I promptly ruined by missing my flight from New York. It went like this: wake up for another relaxing day in New York to an e-mail saying "surprise! I'm at Heathrow - um, where are you?" Shit.
 |
| Hours after arriving in London - good laughs with old friends. A wonderful feeling after weeks of the unfamiliar. |
I hadn't been to London before. Having been in the states for just over five weeks, the feeling of cultural familiarity was overwhelming - and welcome. Seeing sights that I'd read and heard about all my life induced an astounding feeling of belonging that was very moving.
I know that as a post-colonial/post-modern New Zealand citizen it is not fashionable to go mushy over the 'motherland' - and for good reason. But I'm down with acknowledging the whakapapa.
After a happy week of exploring, it was time to visit Nick's Dutch whanau, and meet up with some of our friends in Amsterdam and Belgium.
The Netherlands
Our time in Amsterdam was spent staying with friends. Catching up with such familiar faces was surreal and wonderful, and Rob and Will proved great hosts.
 |
| Beers on the rooftop at Rob's |
 | ||||||
| At the speedway with a bunch of kiwis at Zaandvoort, on the coast near Amsterdam
We managed to visit the Rijksmuseum to pay homage to the Dutch paintings I love so much, as well as Rembrandt's house and studio, and still have time to admire the Dutch street fashion:
It was springtime in the Netherlands, and people were excited. Displays of blossom, feathers, eggs and bunnies popped up on windowsills, shop counters and gardens everywhere.
|
 |
Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam
|
I was surprised to see 'Easter' decorations out so early - but of course, what we know as Easter was superimposed over traditional, Pagan celebrations of spring. I felt I was witnessing something very ancient to be a part of such a whole-hearted, enthusiastic celebration of nature. And of course, any celebration that has its own cakes has my heart:
 |
| Easter brioches, Amsterdam |
In contrast to the American talk-and-talk-and-talk, the Dutch seemed rather reserved and, well, Dutch in that they were very matter-of-fact. One thing that I'd heard about was that the Dutch don't tend to use curtains - a minor cultural detail, but when you're walking through the streets at night and looking directly into people's apartments as they make dinner and watch TV, it seemed a very strange phenomenon!
|
 |
Amsterdam at night
|
 |
House-boat, Amsterdam
|
As well as visiting Amsterdam, Nick and I also headed up north to Beilen, Drenthe, to visit Nick's grandfather, Rob.
 |
| Nick and Rob cycling, Beilen |
After a week in the Netherlands and enough grandpa-stories to keep us going for a while, we set out for Belgium for a seriously chilled-out week before heading back to London.
Belgium
Our time in Belgium was pretty chilled, so I won't drive you nuts with 'there was a canal... and a castle...' stories. Mostly we kicked back at a friend's friend's apartment in Ghent - a central, medieval city which was stunning in its own right and proved a great base for exploring Brussels and Antwerp.
 |
| Student bar, Ghent |
We were kindly set up in the Ghent apartment by a wonderful Belgian couple I met whilst in Iran in 2009. We figured out halfway through the week that David had basically called his friend in Ghent and asked him to stay with his girlfriend, as he had visitors coming that needed the place!!
Needless to say we were overwhelmed with the generosity of this man who didn't know us from a bar of soap clearing out so we could make ourselves at home. The bunch of flowers and bottle of wine we left seemed a rather token gesture in the face of such a gift.
 |
| Frites in bread for lunch - cliche for a reason. Amazing. |
 |
| The obligatory waffle - Nick promptly had a coughing fit from the icing sugar. The highlights of the Belgian trip (other than the obligatory frites, chocolate, beer (delicious!) and waffles - this wasn't a weight-loss holiday...) had to be the antique furniture stores. The vintage clothing pickings were disappointing (perhaps I was spoiled from my Portland adventures), but the antique and salvage shops were where Belgium really shone. |
 |
| Some seriously fit, real-deal mid-century leather deliciousness. Stores like this often also sold first-rate paintings as well as fabulous oddities like ancient, hand-embroidered banners and clergy robes. |
 |
| Weekend market in Brussels - so many treasures! |
 |
| Ghent noses - the official sweet of the city of Ghent |
As well as seriously over-doing the frites, we were treated to a traditional Belgian meal at the home of our friends in Antwerp. It was lovely to re-unite with people I'd enjoyed meeting so long ago, and on their own turf - and when rabbit and plums stewed in brown ale was thrown into the mix, I was a pretty happy camper.
Marie also showed Nick and I her painting studio, in an industrial building in central Antwerp, whilst David gave us a hands-on run-down of local craft beers. Once more, I was humbled by the generosity we received, and look forward to being able to extend the same to other travellers once we're back home.
But after two weeks in Belgium and the Netherlands, capping off a full-on stint of travel for both of us, Nick and I were ready to head to London, unpack our bags and put down some roots. Staying in one place for more than a fortnight was what I wanted most.
 |
| Train en-route to the ferry to Dover. Nackered. |
