Dec. 23- Utrecht

     Friday morning, Arjen and I went into downtown Tiel. I never really realized how much water there was going through Holland. There are rivers and canals everywhere! Arjen told me that there are a bunch of dams holding water back. If these were not in place, 2/3 of Holland would be under water. We took a little ferry across the river to a very very small town. Bridges are not built in towns, but they are built in between towns. In order to get to this town by car, we would have had to drive out of Tiel to the bridge and then drive all the way back on the other side of the town. The town is so small that there isn’t a high school there. Many students take the ferry back and forth from their town to Tiel where they have to attend school. We only took the ferry across to have a coffee on the other side.

      We hurried back across the river so Arjen could take me to the train station. This day, I was going to Utrecht to spend the day with my friend, Ellen L. She met at the station. After getting some Starbuck’s, we continued on to shopping. She had to do some last minute Christmas gift shopping. It was great to catch up with her and see the city of Utrecht. Utrecht is home to the largest university in all of Holland. It was nice to be back in a university town. It is very comforting to feel like I am surrounded by other people my age. 

     We stopped for lunch where I had a traditional Dutch food. It was called broodje kroket. It has potato and beef on the inside. Mine was a sandwich so I smashed the broodje kroket on the bread.  

     Ellen L. and I did some more shopping before stopping for a drink while we waited for our friends Ellen K. and Thijs and the Ellens’ friend Ruth who were going to be meeting up with us later. I was very excited when I saw ‘margarita’ on the drink menu! I haven’t had one since leaving America. In fact, most Swedes have never had one in their life. It tasted fantastic.

Ellen K., Thijs, and Ruth met up with us for dinner. I had a Dutch pea soup and some seafood. It was all very delicious! This was also when Ellen L. gave out the gifts that she got for all of us while we were shopping. I think the picture explains better than I can!

     We went back to Ellen L.’s apartment to get ready to go out. Ellen K. curled my hair! It looked really cute except that as typical it was flat in about an hour. My hair just does not hold curl. Thijs and Ruth both went home, the Ellens and I headed to a bar to dance! It was a lot of fun to go out to a real bar with dancing. We don’t have anything like that in Ljungby. They played a lot of American music so it was easy to sing and dance along. I don’t even know how late the bar was open. We left at 3:30, and there were still people coming into the bar at that time! I passed out on Ellen L.’s couch as soon as we got back.