In my last posting, I was having difficulties adding pictures and videos. I figured out that I had used the free 3 GB’s and if I wanted to continue this blog, I needed to upgrade.
I’m back so that mean I fell for the trap and I am now a paying member of this society. pshhttt.
So, we left off in Baarn at Kasteel Groeneveld. After wandering the grounds, we took a stroll on the inside
I read somewhere this Castle has the largest collection of copper ware in the Netherlands – I did not see it but next time I will ask because that would have been neat to see.
After a quick walkthrough, we all piled in the Countryman Mini Cooper. All five of us. Esther, Yvonne in the front, Jason, Brian and Shannon in the back seat and me…in the hatchback.
Hind sight, I should have asked someone to take my picture because you just cannot get the gist of it. It was fun and thankfully a quick ride back to Esthers house. We dropped off Oma (Yvonne) and headed back to downtown Utrecht so we could catch our tour of the DOMunder.
DOMunder is a subterranean tour that explores over 2000 year of history. From Roman times to medieval times and post. The destruction is all down there, underground. Before you get to the real cool stuff, the guide talks to us about the significance of what we are about to experience. The guide spoke in Dutch so that was fun trying to piece together what he was saying. My Dutch is extremely limited, like first grade level limited. When that is done, they give you a flashlight and some headphones so you can flash the light on the pieces and get a narrative in your ears of what you’re looking at.
That is all the photos I have and since today is March and this happened a month ago I don’t remember what we did after. Probably went to eat, packed up and then off to sleep because we had a long trip a head of us the next day!
We started the day at he market, one last time, Jason really loves the herring! I did not partake this go round but I did peep some pretty pretty mushrooms
After the market, we took a short walk down one of the many side streets from the market plain. It was time for a real breakfast, well that was the idea but I ended up ordering a salmon salad. Way off base but super delicious.
This was our view while we waited for foods. Sadly I do not remember the name of the place.
After brunch, I guess I’ll call it, We hoofed it back to the cave to wait for our ride. Esther came to pick us up – we all 5 piled into a Mini Cooper Countrymen – the driver was only about 40 minutes – we walked around Soest, the childhood home of Jason and Shannon. It was neat to see their faces light up and all the fun memories bubbling up.
Shit picture but this was in the right behind their old house, I thought I had a pic of them in the front of their house but I think Brian took that one and not me.
Cute little pond that in the coldest of winters will freeze up and they could ice skate, right behind their house. So cool.
We popped back into the car and headed over to the Castle! Kasteel Groeneveld is in Baarn, NL. Esther and her family lived at this castle for 6 years in while growing up. I can’t even imagine, ME: Oh yes, friends, just droppedp me off at my house. FRIEND, uhmm, yea OK. You guys, this was her literal home. Built in 1710 as an example of a typical country home.
Esther dropped us off and headed back to her house to pickup Oma (Jason & Shannons mom). We met at the cafe at the Castle and had some Frites and Coffees. Our time was pretty limited because we had to be back to Utrecht for our tour of the DOMunder. More on that later. Here are some pretty pics of the Castle outside for you to enjoy.
Stay tuned for part 6, I ran out of space on this post. I did not know that was a thing but here I am. No more space. booo.
Not every day can be perfect when traveling with a group.
This morning started out a little rough, some schedule confusion led to a wee bit of one or two of us melting down. The plan veered off course but it’s fine, we regrouped and will hit the Castle tomorrow.
So, we relaxed for a bit then took a walk about.
Back to the apartment for more relaxing and a little cleanup. Jason’s mom & a few long time family friends were set to meet us at the air bnb at 3pm.
They arrived on time, we sat, had coffee and talked until it was time to start walking to the rondvaart (canal cruise) launch.
Our air bnb view from the canal cruise
Back on land, we hoofed it up the stairs to street level and went to the OUDAEN for tea, beers, wine and tapas.
The Oudaen, was built in 1280 and is now a cafe, restaurant, brewery and hall rental. 746 years old 🤯
We don’t have these options at our establishments at home. mint and hot water, ginger and hot water and earl grey.
Goodbyes were said and we headed back to the apartment.
More bread and cheese then off to sleep!
Only one more full day left. I’m so glad we decided to stick to Utrecht and not try to cram too much in to one week.
So many hours in the bed last, my sleep score was 73 even though I woke up many times. I did feel good enough to start my day at the gym.
This view! Sure, after a hard leg work out go ahead and try your luck with these stairs.
Not only did I survive but I didn’t even break anything.
So I headed back to the apartment to shower so we could all start our day of wandering.
#OOTD Looking like a fisherman
First, coffee. At the bagels & beans. And while I was waiting for my coffee I ran to the media markt so I could get a new SD card, the one I brought only was 8GB
Caffeinated!
Off to the market for some fresh herring and stroopwafels!
I ate mine with bread.
So, the flavor was delicious but I do not like the texture of the herring. If I were to order this again I would have to asked for more pickles.
Then, more bikes
Walked over to the Dom Kerk again to try to book a tour of the tower and the basement of the tower. Sadly, they were sold out. This week is some kind of off week for the schools so they booked up quickly.
More walking around, went to some gift shops, ate some frite and krokette of course.
Another sleepless night, my watch told me my sleep score was 53 last night. Needless to say, I did not get out of bed until almost 9am.
No gym today. 😊 I thought we were going to hike up the Dom Tower but… that did not happen. We did tour through the Dom Kerk and its courtyard. It was beautiful. So crazy to think how long this has been standing.
On the way over we spotted these bikes that were just pulled out of the canal!
Canal bikes
Apparently, they pull out about 3000 bikes from the canals in Utrecht every year. What are you doing, people lol 😂
Coming up on the Dom Tower made me audibly gasp. It’s enormous, intricate and I was in awe.
We spent about an hour in the church part. Heads up, if you have to use the restroom, it costs .70 euro so make sure you bring some coins 😅
The cost to get in to the church is a donation n a denomination of your choice.
Back outside, we took a left to check out the courtyard. Pretty sweet architecture here too.
Of course a selfie 😊
With that we were done. I was ready but not ready to tackle the tower and all 465 steps however my traveling partners do not seem too into. So we walked back to the apartment where we brainstormed dinner ideas.
At 4pm. Like true US residents in their 50’s. 😂
We were the only ones in the restaurant, we walked in and they were cleaning. Specifically, mopping the floors. A black cat with white spots ran past us while I asked if they could seat the four of us for dinner.
He looked confused and then asked someone if it was ok. We must have passed the test because we were seated .
Cute spot at the canal level
The… best… food I have had this trip.
The cuisine is Balkan and i am a new fan.
My plate. Yes, I ate it allJason’s plate
What I love about dining in Holland (I think it also true for other EU countries) is that they seat you, take your order, feed you, then leave you along until you ask for the check.
That said, we stayed a while to let our food settle, then you walked back to the apartment. We all just chilled for a while and then Shannon and Brian went out to a bar, Jason and I hung back not really feeling the bar scene.
Friday the 13th, Thursday was galentines with the friends. There were 5 of us,
We each brought 4 gift bags of items we each like and use daily. It’s a cool theme that introduces our friends with things we love and can’t “love without”.
There was a full on delicious spread of food and drinks. Amy made a tasty and gorgeous charcuterie boards with all the meats and cheeses and grapes. Tracy brought cookies and chocolate covered strawberries, Jessica (?) brought carprese salad and toasted baguette. Amy also made a non-alcoholic sangria. So good! Cherry juice, sprite, lemon and limes, I added a splash of seltzer water and it was bomb.
We opened and shared gifts, snacked, talked and watched Pitch Perfect. I didn’t get to finish because I wanted to leave early to make sure I had all of my stuff together and ready for our flight to the Holland the next morning!!
I had packed the majority of my bags a couple of days before hand, after all, in Arizona the weather has been in the 80’s I did not need anything i was taking with me. I picked up around the house a bit then went to bed. I did not sleep much. Alarm was set for 4am, I woke up but did not get out of bed, just watched some TV for an hour.
Shannon and Brian came to our place, uber doober picked us up super early but it was fine, we had it in our heads this whole day is only for travel. 👎🏼
First flight to Salt Lake City.
The second leg of the flight, from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, was lonnnggg. 9 hours and 35 minutes. I watched 2 movies and flip flopped in my seat uncomfortably. I won’t bore you with too much detail here, most of you know how it feels to fly coach.
Passports stamped, luggage retrieved we headed to arrivals where we met our family friends, the sun and a burst of ice cold wind!! It was enough to give us the energy we needed to wake up after a long flight.
The 30 minute drive to their house went by fast enough, I wasn’t paying attention to anything outside because I can’t even tell you what I thought about the landscape.
At the house, we had coffee, pastries and caught up on the little things.
It was gezellig ☺️
Chats at the tablePatio poses
After a couple of hours it was time for us to head to the train station. Just a five minute walk from the house.
Another 30 minute ride to Utrecht we go!
This is what exhaustion looks like
We hoofed it to the air bnb which was not the easiest to find for us in our current mental state of exhaustion. But we did it! side note, when I say we I meant my 3 companions, between the 3 of them, they figured it out. I’m shit with a map.
Down a steep flight of stairs to canal level we found our home for the week.
From floor to ceiling the little cave is 7 feet tall. I just measured it with my phone.
A quick walk to the grocery store and we had dinner.
Too lazy to cook, too tired to go out to eat, we had boterham, kaas and brood.
Another walk about because…. Sneeuw!!!
Sneeuw on the canal More sneeuw ❄️
Back at the air bnb we hung out and tried to get sleepy… it took forever. 1130pm, and then I woke up every hour until 2am then sleep until 5am and then sleep until 745.
Coffee time! Took some me time and went to the gym next door. 15 euro for a day pass. Super cute and functional space.
Who needs the stair master 😂
The place was an amazing maze with multiple levels. Side note, their weights are in Kilos so, to me, when I was lifting them it looked like I was lifting soooo much weight 🤗
After gym.. shower time then lunch
We took a little walk around the canal and found a not so busy kitchen & bar called, Quignon. Of course I had krokette and frite .
Yes, I did.
Snarf, snarf, snarf, we ate, we paid, we left.
Stopped at some shops where I bought nothing 😌
Back to the grocery store for foods for the apartment, then a luxurious nap!
I don’t know if I slept for one hour or two but I do know I needed it and I feel like I need more. This jet lag is real.
May 16th I packed up and headed to San Diego. Before I checked in to the hotel, I made a pit stop at ASAP IV for a basic hydration, it was called the athletic drip, (their online description) “fluid with ASAP Total B Blend (Vitamin B Complex and B12), to get you rehydrated and ready to crush your next activity”. I’ve never done this before, I’m not sure if it worked but I can tell you it didn’t hurt. Well except me, I was left with a gnarly bruise that lasted over a week.
Feeling rough after a 5 hour drive and another five hours to find parking in La Jolla.
After 30 minutes I was done and headed to check in to the hotel.
While waiting for my running buddy and her son to arrive, I unpacked and organized my gear for the morning.
Stuff
I was pretty early so I had some time to hit the grocery store to pickup some bagels, boiled eggs, banana ( for the morning) and a gallon of water.
I ate a light lunch at Mediterranean Grille, filet mignon over herbal rice.
Back at the hotel, I just read and relaxed. I was reading, Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea.
A few hours later my running buddy, her son and I headed to the park in La Jolla to pick up our race packets. Tomorrow…. race day ! La Jolla half.
We took a Lyft there because I knew parking would be super limited or impossible all together. I was right , the place was packed. I think they had like 7-8 thousand people this year. I tried to find the exact number online but failed.
We found a restaurant (easy to do, there are tons of options) I scarfed down a bowl of pasta with pesto and shrimp. Nothing special about this place and I don’t even remember the name. It kind of had a pub vibe to it but we ate outside, which was straight up lovely. Cloudy evening, a little breeze & good. Happy girl.
Back to the hotel, I got a decent night sleep and met my friend in the lobby at 530. We tried to get a Lyft and after 2 dropped drives, ended up using Uber (reluctantly but necessarily) we were running out of time. The race was to start at 630.
We ended up getting to the race just in time! Backwards! The first wave of runners were coming at us like the running of the bulls! Honestly, I preferred getting there at the last minute. No time for nerves or playing the waiting game.
This course is so beautiful and the morning was overcast. It was a really great day for a run.
I finished the race, my friend was faster than me so finished first but I ended up beating last years time. Last year was 13:31 per mile average and this year was 11:59 per mile. I’m quite happy and really feel like I could have done faster. Maybe next year 🙂
After the race it took sooooo long to get back to the Del Mar race track (starting line) using the shuttle but it felt great to sit and relax 🙂
We got to the hotel with time for me pack up, rinse off and sit in the hot tub.
I even checked out early and headed to my friends house to get ready for some baseball.
We watched the Mariners beat the Padres (which would end up in a sweep the following day)
I forgot to take pics of me and my friends and I’m bummed about that but we had a good time.
We ate at Pacifico Market in the park and oh my lanta, we had a lob dog, it was grilled lobster tails, mixed in garlic lemon aioli and chives, on top of a chorizo sausage on a brioche bun. SO good 🤤
First Friday of 2024. I’m spending it at home, with Mork. We just got done walking the neighborhood, it was only 1.70 miles but took us 45 minutes because… BEAGLE.
The max amount of time I can kind of jog with him is like 15 seconds.
I dropped Jason off at the airport this morning. He’s headed to CSP to spend the weekend with a couple of his good friends. That was a fun ride to the airport lol. My car told me I had about 44 miles left before I had to get gas so the gas light was on and made Jason extremely nervous. Yes I am that one person who likes to live on the edge and push my car to it limits to see how far I can go on a tank of gas. This particular tank of gas lasted me 479 miles. I made it to the airport and almost home.
It was a full day of work but it was at home and drama free – love that!
I’m on day 10 of dry January. Yes, I’m aware that it is only day 5 of January but I started early. So after work I went to a Pilates class hoping it would curb my craving to drink alone tonight.
Cutest Pilates socks, huh?!
I don’t know about you guys, but I love to drink alone. In fact, I prefer to drink alone I can get stupid and nobody is here to judge me. My dog doesn’t care. But I am doing dry January so I’m not going to drink alone and instead I took a Pilates class. That did not help I came home. I still wanted to drink so I took Mork for a walk.
That helped. I’m good now. At the moment, I’m thinking about how I’m going to do my 1st outside street run tomorrow. I’m supposed to do 4 miles and I want to give running outside a shot, I’m scared but what’s the worst that’ll happen? I get tired and my shins and ankles hurt and I have to walk home? Or better yet… I can always stop and get an Uber. 😂
I’ve run 8.5 miles since January 1 – 13.1 miles seems impossible in one day 😅
Hoi! I’m back, earlier than even I thought. I think I am a bit more motivated to get the Oregon trip documented because tomorrow I am headed to Denver for a short trip. I am hoping getting this in the books will help me transition into posting on the Denver trip. Any hoosier… Here are some of my favorite pieces of eye candy from a day or two along the coast of Oregon.
Thors Well
Thors Well just outside of Yachats is a hole in the rocks in along the shoreline. It used to be a sea cave but it collapsed and now, during high tide, the water drifts in spouts with awesome splashes and then pulls back out to sea. The walk from the parking lot along the 101 was easy until I got to the slippery volcanic rock where I had to be careful not to slip and crack my skull. Also there are tide pool creatures laying about so I had also pay mind not to squash them. Its pretty epic and I could have sat there for hours watching, it never got old and the funny thing is that every time..I mean, every time the splash came we (there was quite a crowd) all ooooooo’d and awwwwww’d like we had never seen it before.
Mo’s
Next up, the obligatory Mo’s stop. Not necessarily next as in after Thor’s Well we went to Mo’s because I am pretty sure it didn’t happen in this order. Next up as in this was the next photo amongst the photo dump. Fresh seafood so of course no complaints. Well, one complaint. They did not even have fresh oysters. What was going on?
Heceta Lighthouse
This lighthouse sits high up on a headland between Florence and Yachats. It sure was windy up there. I was disappointed it was not opened for me to climb around in but still cool, I do love a lighthouse. 205 feet below was this
Patrick had one too many last night Super green = super slippery
These next round of photos I think were near the magical Hobbit Trail Head also in or near Florence.
We walked through gorgeous forestry and found ourselves at the end pretty quickly. The end was a secluded beach.
Welcome to my happy place. Next stop, Denver! TTFN
I cannot believe this trip was two months ago. I’ve been to Oregon now two times and I love it there. Not Portland though, Portland is a super sad, dirty place in dire need of assistance. That’s another blog that you won’t see written by me. I’m sorry Portland but I’m moving on. Moving on to the beautiful coast.
We flew in to Eugene, picked up our rental and headed out west like Fieval! The drive was filled with the color green at every turn. There first two nights we stayed in Yachats. Small little coastal town that I now keep checking Zillow for houses for sale. Yea, I have dreams. In this post, I will be ping-ponging around because I just did a little bit of a photo dump and I don’t feel like trying to remember places and things or order in general. All good, it gives you a teeny look into the inner workings of my brain. No order and super random.
Giant rock off the coast near her Devils Punchbowl. I think this actually may be called Otter Rock? Devils punchbowl Tide pools. See the little crab? Stairs, stairs and more stairs.
Otter Rock seemed to me to be a quaint surfer town of which I could see myself being a part of. At the top of the hill was a winery, it was a bit early in the morning to do any tastings but we did by a couple of bottles of wine. I mean, we had to of course, Jason is a Dutchman and the winery is called, Flying Dutchman Winery
I’m pretty sure this visit was our last day on the coast before we drove back to Eugene to stay one night and be close to the airport. So we grabbed our bottles and headed to Eugene. I am not sure how I feel about that town. I have a friend that lives there but I have never visited. The hotel we stayed at was not in the best neighborhood but it was just a place to lay our heads for a few hours before we woke up at dark thirty to get the airport.
On another day we spent the day in Depoe Bay (yep, poet and I don’t know it) whale watching. It was still wonderful to be out on the water even though there was no breaching and it was rainy. I had a an amazing breakfast omelet at the Gracies Sea Hag ocean view restaurant. Ok they ocean view but there is only like one or two windows and the restaurant is too dark for my liking but..but…but.. I had, for the first time ever..an OYSTER omelet. Yum. I have a can of oysters in my pantry waiting for me to be brave enough to try to recreate the Sea Hag omelet. Oysters in the pantry, gross?
ahoy matey! Depoe Bay, smallest natural harbor in the world.
After whale watching we drove down to Newport, it may have been the same day or it could have been another day. Either way does not matter, what matters is that we went. Right? Right.
All the, fried things. Quest for oysters
Our first trip to Oregon consisted of the continuous search for clam chowder and oysters, it was basically the only thing we ate. This time around, the search was not a success, we ate fresh oysters a total of one time. Disappointment.
After lunch we walked to Rogue Brewery, Was driving so I had coffee and Jason had some tasters.
To be continued. I think I have another day or two in photos to share. I am done concentrating for the day. Thanks for understanding. Until next time! Who can guess when that will be? Maybe tomorrow? Maybe next week or maybeeeee next year.
Is this your new site? Log in to activate admin features and dismiss this message
kristilynk 