Staying close to home

In my last post I filled you in on my trip to Italy and to Greece. It ended up being a lot more expensive than I had planned so any more trips before Christmas had to be put on hold. Instead I stayed a little closer to home and did some day trips. Amidst all of that I experienced my first Sinterklaas is the Netherlands and am now gearing up for Christmas and a visit home to Canada.

In mid November everyone was a buzz with the excitment of Sinterklaas arriving in the Netherlands. He came from Spain and had a busy few weeks before he headed home in December. The day he arrived in the Netherlands, I went to Den Haag. It's about an hour and half by train and is a beautiful beach side town. I spent some time along the peir and sitting in the sand. It was actually pretty warm in the afternoon so I got to enjoy some November sun.

Later when it cooled down, I headed back into the centre of town and warmed up in a museum. I checked out some beautiful spots including this gorgeous square right in the centre of Den Haag (The Hague). At the nearby Mauritshuis gallery I saw the girl with the peral earing painting. Always amazing to see these incredible paintings in person.

 After the museum the sun was going down, but Sinterklaas was coming out. He was like Elvis surrounded my tons of adoring snotty nosed fans. He came with his own security...

...ever controversial Zwarte Piets (Black Pete). By the time Sinterklaas came around on Dec.5th I was starting to get used to the idea of seeing the Zwarte Piets around, but it did come as a bit of a shock initially.Not so PC, you know.

Sinterklaas was fun actually. I got to be sneaky and knock on the door for the kids when Sinterklaas dropped off the gifts at the front door the evening of December 5th. He even left me a chocolate letter and a little gift. So nice of him.

Later in December I ventured to Dusseldorf with some Aussie friends I met in my Dutch classes. The German Christmas markets are in cities all over Germany. Jess, Adam and I enjoyed some Gluhwein and Christmas cheer on a rainy day. It actually started to feel like Christmas rather than being surrounded by the Sinterklaas hoopla.

It was a good day and got me into the Christmas spirit. I started getting really excited to go home for Christmas. It wasn't originally in the plan to go home, but I am so glad I decided to go. I can't wait. I have been doing Christmas crafts with the kids and decorating the house. So fun. I am quite proud of the centre piece we made. I got the idea from someones pic on facebook. And I think it turned out pretty good.

All in all it's been a great couple of months. But I am looking forward to my trip home and then some more trips around Europe in the new year. Until then I am enjoying the awkward after Sinterklaas sales on politically incorrect chocolates.