Final Reflections on Utrecht

Okay, yeah, I've been a bit derelict in updating, but that's mostly because stuff was pretty run of the mill. I went on this gorgeous bike ride out into the countryside along the Udegracht (last part pronounced the way you say yacht, though I'm not positive on the spelling here) which is an old old canal that runs through Utrecht and eventually flows into a river that flows to Amsterdam. So, theoretically I could have biked to Amsterdam, however the fact that everyone in The Netherlands is a giant precluded me from finding a rental bike that was small enough for me, so I struggled along on a bike that was a bit too big because, damnit, I wanted to go on a bike ride. I only made it a couple miles out before I had to turn around because I was really thirsty and I couldn't find anyplace to get water. In anycase, it was lovely. Here are a few highlights:

-The complete and total gorgeousness, as seen in the picture to the left. Also, the paths were flat as hell, so it was really stress free biking (except for the fact that I couldn't get a handle on the brakes and I was on my tiptoes pedeling). There were few places to look that weren't just plain beautiful. It was a sunny day and that just made it all the better.

-the amazing houseboats and with them












-houseboat window prostitutes! Some woman came out and started yelling at me for taking this photo, a reasonable reaction, to be sure. However, I took special care to not have any pictures that showed people themselves in it, but just the stretch.








Apart from that, I went to Amsterdam twice. Once was just with friends, and the second was to get a lecture from the founder of Women on Waves and the founder of the Prostitution Information Center. Also, a bunch of drunk tourists. Ewww. It made me thankful to be staying in Utrecht and not Amsterdam.

So now, my boiled down list of pros and cons of The Netherlands:

Pros:
drinking age (though that's true all over Europe)
other illicit things...
gorgeous archetecture
great conceptual museums
nicest people I have ever met
everyone spoke english
NOISE program
biking everywhere
french fries for lunch every other day

Cons:
shelf toilets (I don't need to see my poo that up close)
always in danger of being run over by overzealous bikers
narrow streets where you couldn't tell where the road stopped and the sidewalk began
the Euro