DDD

Just for dear old Dingbat Daddy Douglas, who can't wait for a blog post until we actually have something to say, here's an update.

The two of us are headed to Zurich tomorrow by train to meet Dr. Ellis and Mark Wyatt, who will be in Europe for a few days. Their plan is to get over their jet-lag in Zurich and then fly on down to Rwanda, their ultimate destination. We're only staying a night, so it will be a whirlwind trip, but we should have a good time. Then it will be back to Maastricht to do some grading and put the finishing touches on this version of Erik's thesis.

Ducks

On Friday, we went with Dr. Rust to 's-Hertogenbosch, a city about an hour and a half north of here by rail, to attend a klezmer concert. Dr. Rust has the group's first CD and really loves it, so he was excited to go.

We came into town about four hours early so that we'd have time to pick up our tickets and snoop around the city a little bit. The concert venue, an old synagogue, ended up not opening until about an hour before the show, so we had to spend most of our time walking around.

We decided that we'd like to eat some dinner, so we headed down a promising-looking street, one lined with cafes and restaurants. Most of them seemed way too expensive, so we were happy to find a place that was selling entrees for around 10 Euro apiece. Good deal! Erik ordered the "confit du canard" (duck something-or-other) with truffle sauce. Dr. Rust and I both ordered some fish fillet with risotto. Sounded good and especially appropriate for Erik, since the group we were going to see was the Vilde Katshke, the Wild Duck. Unfortunately, when our food came to the table, we realized why we were getting cheap prices on an expensive street. Quality over quantity, you see. Dr. Rust and I each had an okay-sized fish fillet on about two spoonfuls of risotto. Erik had a duck leg with a tiny triangle of puff pastry perched on top. Okay, it was a duck leg and part of a duck thigh. Have you ever seen a duck leg? Imagine a chicken leg, just 2/3 the size, at best. I really wish we'd had the presence of mind to take a picture of that thing. It tasted good, apparently. There wasn't enough to share, for sure, so I had to take Erik's word for it.

After leaving the cafe, we headed straight for Subway.

The concert was really fun and good. Unfortunately, the group tells stories along with the music. Everyone else in the audience seemed pretty amused by the stories and jokes, but none of us speak Dutch, so we were pretty lost. The group has an accordianist, a violinist, and one guy who can play anything even remotely related to the clarinet. It's kind of like Fiddler on the Roof music, I guess. Think Motl and Tzeitl's wedding reception, before the police come and break up the party. We'll be buying at least one of Vilde Katshke's CDs soon and will probably subject you to it at some point. Forewarned is forearmed.

Beer, Waffles, and Lace

Erik and I decided to take off yesterday after breakfast and travel over to Brussels, Belgium. It's less than two hours each way by train, and I slept most of the way anyway, so it really wasn't a bad trip.

There isn't too much to see in Brussels, really, since they destroyed most of whatever old buildings they used to have there after the 1830 revolution. There is one really nice square, though, the Grand' Place (or Grote Markt too, I guess. They speak French in the capital but have to use Flemish/Dutch on the signs, too, so the rest of the country's citizens don't freak.)

Erik with the Maison des Brasseurs - the Brewer's Guildhall. He was pretty excited to be in the Capital of Belgian Beer. I can't post a picture with him more than an inch high because he wants all of you to "See the Majesty of the Guildhall." So, there it is.

The town hall. You know, just one of those big Gothic buildings. No big deal.

250 Beers of Belgium. Erik didn't buy anything, but we'll probably end up going back. Looks like a possum eating bumblebees to me.

The Royal Gallery. You know, just your regular shopping mall. Europe is such a strange place.

Drinking Kriek Lambic brewed at the restaurant. Yum and not too sweet.

A real Belgian waffle. Whatever you're imagining, you're way off, because this was the most delicious dessert I've ever had. The waffle was sweet, and the cream was all melty, and the strawberries were yum. I think I might have to go back to Brussels just to get a Brussels-style waffle. Far superior to the Liege Train Station at 11:00 PM variety.

I also used up all my spending money for the trip in Brussels, but that's okay since I was planning on doing so. Want to see what I got?

Handmade Princess lace mantilla, in cream.

Handmade Princess lace mantilla, cream on black. I need to get that central crease under control!

And just because there's weird English pretty much anywhere you go in Continental Europe:

Lord Applecake, at your service. His American cousin, Mr. Muffin, was on display nearby. For only 1 Euro 20, either can be yours.

Thursdays

I start out every Thursday we have in Maastricht (well, after breakfast and all) with a three-hour Dutch painting lesson. It's kind of furniture painting, I guess - tables, boxes, trays, anything made out of wood. It's pretty fun. I spent several weeks painting on construction paper because I was too inept to work on wood. But I'll hopefully be finishing my first project tomorrow.

My first Hindeloopen project, almost finished!
Also, check out the new haircut.

Our Thursdays end with marathon card-playing nights. We solve the problems of the world through conversation and play pretty much every card game known to Man (besides poker.) Dr. Rust has been teaching us the German national card game, Skat. We've been teaching him Casino and Gin. Dr. Rust also knows about a billion Solitaire and competitive solitaire games. Here we are playing his version of Russian Bank. It's called Zank-Patience - Zank means spite. And oh, is it spiteful. Erik won't play.

Don't let the smile fool you. This is an evil, evil, spiteful man.

Here I am just having won a really fun Solitaire game Dr. Rust taught me. It's called the Switchyard, and you have to get all your "trains" in order. Or your "choo-choos," as Dr. Rust would say. Erik says that Dr. Rust even calls trains "choo-choos" in class. What a weirdo. :)

I shouldn't say too many mean things about Dr. Rust and how weird he is, because he bought us these really cool little cards! They're for playing Solitaire, especially for games that use two decks. They take up less room, so your game fits on the table. They're really pretty - one pink deck and one blue. The face cards are pretty, too. Erik says that they're the Habsburgs - it is the "Empire Deck" made in Austria, after all. The blue card there on the left is just for an idea of scale.