belgian beer and dutch herring

I am back home and have been thrusted into the world of school, job searching, weddings, baby-showers, and shit-shovelling (literally). While happy to be here, I do miss travelling which already seems like long ago.

However, it was only 1.5 weeks ago that I returned from the Netherlands; land of bikes, land of tulips. I quite enjoyed my time here, mostly as a function of the people I met and the activities I did, than the things I saw. I went cylcling for long periods of time, ate uncooked herring (a.k.a. Dutch sushi), went indoor climbing, drank lots of beer, went to a Mexican-themed house party, and stayed with a friend. Although I also went for a walk through the red light district and tulip gardens, I was quite content to not feel like a tourist for the majority of my time here.

I was, however, in full-fledged and fine tourist form during my time in Belgium. Visting Bruges, Belgium capital of camera-totting foreigners, was nice although a bit superficial for me; there was no grafitti, no homelessness, as well as chocolate and beer everywhere!

Picture from the Keukenhof gardens outside of Den Haag and Bruges.