First week in the Netherlands

Welcome to my first blog post! I decided to start a blog to keep you, my friends and family, updated about what I'm doing. 

My first two weeks have gone great! The trip here was a bit tiresome though. I had an overnight flight to London, an 8 hour layover, and then a 1 hour flight to Amsterdam. I only slept about 2 hours throughout the whole journey. Heathrow airport is huge! I mostly just walked around and read on my new kindle (thanks mom and dad!). Also thanks to Tara and the Gentry's for supplying me with some pounds to use at the airport! As soon as I go through security at Heathrow I saw a sign for a Doctor Who area so of course I made a beeline for that. They had a TARDIS and a Dalek.

Coming out of the TARDIS!

 My first few days in the Netherlands involved a lot of cycling. The center of The Hague is about 25 minutes by bike so it's quite easy to get there. I spent last Monday and Tuesday exploring The Hague, Voorburg (where I live), and a couple other surrounding towns. Have I mentioned how easy it is to bike here?! Nearly every street has a dedicated bike lane and on the larger streets the bike lane is physically separated from the automobile lanes. There's probably about as many people cycling in The Hague as there are driving! I am also getting used to riding the bakfiets. It's really sturdy and while it's a bit difficult to steer at first, I've gotten used to it; it's great for carrying kids or groceries. Parents also use baby seats on regular bikes to hold kids (often one on the front and one on the back). I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing young toddlers sitting in them without helmets!

Windmill!

Painted bridge on the way to The Hague

Peace Palace

Last Tuesday I went to my first museum here, the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. It's a big art museum in The Hague. Mauritshuis, which is another art museum here that houses art from many Dutch painters, is undergoing renovations. So, about 100 paintings from Mauritshuis were on display at the Gemeentemuseum. Unfortunately, their most famous painting "Girl With a Pearl Earring" is currently in New York City. Hopefully it will be back in the Hague before I leave! While at the Gemeentemuseum I bought the museumkaart which lets you into hundreds of museums in the Netherlands free or at a reduced price. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to visit many of them! 

Well, that's all for now! I'll try to make a new post every other week or when something interesting happens.