Stupid girls
I saw this group of teenage girls who stripped down to their innermost layer of clothing (on top at least) and took a picture. It was only 4 degrees, the air was calm and it was sunny to boot. I dare them to try this when it's -2 degrees and snowing heavily! That'd be a sight to see. Furthermore, I thought only guys did this sort of stupid (but fun) thing. And this isn't the country which gave us "Girls Gone Wild"!

I finally got down to climbing the Dom tower. The international students got to do this during Orientation, but since I missed it, coming a few days late, I had to do it myself, paying €6.50 for the privilege of doing so.


The largest of the 7 bells, which dates from 1505. The 7 new ones are from ~1982.


Inside another of the 16th century bells

The guided climb made stops at 25m, 50m and 70m but I went on to the 95m mark myself - I'd done St Paul's 5 years ago, and both structures are 112m tall, though I suspect I climbed somewhat higher this time, since it looks like the highest point you can climb to in the Dom tower is higher than the comparable point in St Paul's:




View from 70m. Amsterdam is in the distance.


View of the main part of the Dom from 70m


The bells for daily use mounted at 70m


View of the town


Carvings at 70m

Pity about the graffiti at 95m (since the guide doesn't follow visitors to that level). Maybe they'll figure out a way to wire a CCTV camera up there.


View of the 112m point from 95m


More carvings


View from 95m


Ditto


Ditto


Me at 95m


Going up and down staircases like this gives one vertigo


Ceci n'est pas une église - how the Dom looked like before the hurricane


I've always liked vaulting


A lot of fast food places have niches in the wall where you can insert coins and buy snacks. When the niches are empty, they can refill them from their side. Good idea, but unfortunately the machines don't give change - I was overcharged for my bamiblok by €0.10

People here are so helpful. This old man was jogging to chase his bus, and people at the bus stop waved to the driver to wait.

Someone bought pre-made pork lasagna. I didn't know they made that.

The cheapest Vla I've found so far has the colour, texture and viscosity of mayonnaise. Yet, it's also the best tasting - the vanilla flavouring tastes the least artificial. It also comes in a tetrapak and so needs no refrigeration!

I'm wondering if I should pay €7.50 to watch Waiting for Godot on 24/3 at the Theater Kikker. I'm told it's boring, and it sounds stupid ("in the classical tradition of French playwriting" is all I need to know).

I was trying to figure out how a Dobben kroket differs from a Kwekkeboom kroket. It seems they're both krokets, but just made by different companies. The Dutch take their krokets very seriously.

I paid €2.50 for a satekroket broodje (satay croquette sandwich) and was expecting something decent. In the end I only got the kroket in a bun - not even a leaf of lettuce. I was very pissed off, especially since a satekroket alone goes for only €1-€1.20.



Red wine stew: pork cubes, minced garlic, onions, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, red pepper, with a sprinkle of sugar to offset the sourness of the wine
I used pasta sauce instead of canned chopped tomatoes for this, since I didn't have any of the latter. Besides, the former already has herbs inside, saving me the trouble of adding my own. I added too much vegetables, and so had to put in more red wine and pasta sauce (from a different brand no less, but it turned out alright). The final product was good, except that there was too little meat and too much vegetables. For some reason when food is in the pan or pot it tastes less salty than when it's on the plate, so I end up sprinkling a touch too much salt. I have to remember to compensate for this curious effect next time.