A TRIP NORTH

after being in holland for almost a month it was time to take my first trip. my cousin, anne-krijn, lives in the north of holland in a town called groningen. so my friend hanna and i left thursday evening and headed there for a few nights.

when i would tell people i was going to groningen, they thought it was very far away. and i guess it is by dutch standards. it's on the complete opposite side of the country from tilburg and it was a 3.5 hour train ride. for hanna and i it was not a big deal since we drive that constantly to get between calgary and edmonton.

during the day on friday and saturday, hanna and i explored the city. we visited the market...twice, we shopped and we had tea :). the city is so beautiful! it's much older than tilburg and it has more of a dutch feel. there are beautiful canals and old buildings so walking through it was amazing. we also went to the groningen museum. it's an art museum. there was a special exhibit for j.w. waterhouse which was amazing. even though i hadn't seen his work before, it was great to walk through and see his paintings. there was also an explanation of each painting: where he got his inspiration from and what the subject is etc.

it was a busy weekend for anne. he recently moved in with his friend, wouter, so they had a housewarming party on saturday night which was really fun. we were able to meet a lot of his friends and they were all fascinated that we were from canada. anne and wouter are also in a band. they were participating in a contest on sunday afternoon so we were able to be there for that. they are an amazing band - eisenhower. they won the contest! they have another show on march 7, so i may head up north again to see them. anne's parents and brother also showd up for the houseparty and the show so i was able to spend time with them. sometime soon i will be visiting my aunt and uncle in zwolle and anne and bram were excited about coming to visit tilburg.

difference between the north and south of holland?

1. definitely a lack of hair gel in the north. and longer hair in general.

2. the north reminded me quite a bit of north america actually. especially the way people dressed.

3. less of an accent when talking english. i'm not sure if that was because we were hanging out with an older crowd, but it was an interesting observation.