Middleburg

Checking out Middleburg

 We got to sleep late and spend some time catching up on email, John paid bills online, and take care of some housekeeping things like laundry again.  The email brings me to a rant:  I love the ability to plan this trip online (even though I screwed up nearly all of our hotel stays – I made John book the hotel in Ireland after my screw ups in Miami and Venice), but there is a down side to this.  We have received emails from EasyJet about our upcoming flight many times and them trying to get us to get a hotel or car rental through them.  We have received numerous emails from hotwire and hotels.com telling us that our stay was coming up or asking how we liked our stay.  Which leads one to just look over the aer lingus 

email about our upcoming flight to Dublin, but shockingly this one was important.  I have always been checking these emails even if I’m sure that they are going to be the frivolous things above, but the one for our flight requires the advance passenger information for anyone flying into the US with at least 72 hours advance or you don’t fly.  Now, seeing as how we have a “layover” of 3 days in Dublin, we weren’t sure if it needed to be in 72 hours before we left

 Amsterdam or we would be “stuck” in Europe.  I know that I made jokes about just staying here, but that would be by choice dammit, not by some bureaucratic bullshit like this. 

Anyway…we tried to do this online, but for some reason (probably the 3 day layover in Dublin) they couldn’t handle our request online, which means we had to call.  We used Margaret’s computer to skype the call to the UK call center because the US one wasn’t open yet since it was very early in America.  We were able to get our information logged in and will hopefully be allowed onto the plane in Amsterdam and then again in Dublin to come home next week.  Again, if we hadn’t had friends here that were helping us out…  We went on a walking tour of Middleburg that we arranged ourselves since everything is pretty much in a series of circles surrounded by water.  Now, I know that we have Holland, MI and I can see why the Dutch settled in Michigan because it is very flat here with dunes and water, but did you know that the province that Middleburg is in is Zeeland?  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked into a store and saw all this Zeeland paraphernalia with pictures of dunes, water, tulips, and birds that could have come from the other side of the ocean.    

We checked out their church which had been reconstructed after bombing in World War II and still houses the tomb of Willem II the Holy Roman Emperor from the 1200’s.  We couldn’t get into the Long Jon for a climb up to the top which would have been a similar climb as the Leaning Tower, but continued to walk to the edges of the canals to get some obligatory pictures of windmills.  We went past the Jewish cemetery and went in a lot of the stores that we passed along the way.  Most of the Dutch speak English and even when the language barrier breaks down, we’re able to make ourselves understand in sign language.  We do need to learn a few key phrases in Dutch before we ever return though because I feel bad when I can’t even ask if they speak English in the language of the land. 

This is my first trip to the Netherlands and the first country I haven’t been to before on this trip and I have to admit that I underestimated the Dutch.  First, as the picture from Amsterdam showed off the bike parking lot, they really like bikes.  NO, I don’t think you get how many people are riding bikes here and it is winter.  It’s cold without moving quickly and creating more wind, so I can’t imagine how many more people are biking in the warmer months than now.  And these people will run over you if you’re walking and ride out in front of traffic because they take precedence.  I have never seen so many bikes in my life and so much entitlement from a bike.  Second, I have never smelled so much marijuana in my life.  I mean, I know that it’s legal here, but Jesus Christ, do we have to smoke 24/7 and everywhere?  I mean, even alcoholics know that you shouldn’t be taking a pint in to the church in town.  It’s really ubiquitous and, again, it’s winter people.  What must this place be like with a whole bunch of tourists renting bikes, smoking pot, and riding around?  Frightening…