Utrecht & Maastricht

Two beautiful cities with two important things...

Like I told you last time, I got a room in Utrecht. Very nice location and not too expensive. Got a couple of kewl house mates as well and start to know more and more people that live in Utrecht. And it saves so much time going to work every day... great!


Last weekend Shos and I went out together with Mark and Judith. We went out in Maastricht since that is where Shos lives and studies. Judith never had been to Maastricht and the rest of us was fine with Maastricht for a change. We had an awesome night together! They did some shopping, we went to see Shos's volleybal game, had some dinner at home and finally went to the city for a lot of fun. Sweeet night!


Next time I will tell you more, but since most of my life is spent on working these days, there is a lot less to talk about. Nevertheless I will make sure there is something nice on the blog next time.

Groetjes,
Der Rudolph

Cuckoo

New job, new friends, new experiences & a new room

After enduring the 4 hour travel time per day to get to get work and back I now am moving to a place close to work. This place is also known as Utrecht, where I found a nice room on the Cuckoo Square (isn't that an awesome name...)! It is close to the train station and the city centre (click on the picture to check it in Google Maps). Trains to work only take 17 minutes and go very often. And if I feel a need to go out in Amsterdam, trains ride all night long :-) The only disadvantage is that I'll be even further away from Shos, but well, it wasn't like I was going there every day. We see each other in the weekends and whether that takes a 1 hour trip or a two hour trip doesn't make a difference.
(Click on the picture to view the location in Google Maps)

This Sunday we'll be moving a bunch of my stuff over to the new place and do some of the usual "moving-to-a-new-crib-stuff" like cleaning, painting, fixing and so on. Of course pictures will follow! But to give you an impression of what it is:a 16 sqm room with a build-in closet in a house where 7 more people live that are all about my age and who share two kitchens, two bathrooms, a balcony and a roof terrace.

A couple of weeks ago Shos, my parents and I went to the south for some a little walk to enjoy the nice weather. First we visited Thorn, the white city and had "pannenkoeken". After that we went towards Vaals. The south of the Netherlands (het Limburgs Heuvelland) is one of the only hilly parts of the country and home of the three-country-point (Holland, Belgium, Germany). This resulted of course in a nice day and some nice pictures.


After the weekend I'll bother you with some pictures of my new room!

Cheerio,
Ruudje & Shos

Weekend in Amsterdam

Canals, Red Light District, Rijksmuseum, Wolfgang...

Last Thursday Shos came to Amsterdam. Not just to spend the weekend there with me and sightsee Amsterdam, but also to say hi to our good friend Wolfgang from China. After picking both of them up at the train station and dropping our stuff at my friends' appartment we went out for dinner. We found a good Greek Tapas place and had a couple of drinks afterwards in some nice brown bars.

On Friday Wolf left for Paris, Shos went to see Amsterdam and I had to go to work. That afternoon, evening and the next day Shos and I spend sightseeing the city. No rush because we will be in Amsterdam many more times. We checked out the canals, "de Wallen", the Rijksmuseum (to see de Nachtwacht) and walked through big shopping streets as well as through cute, little old alleys. Shos and I had a very good time! But I still like visiting cities better when you can walk around in a t-shirt ;-)


That evening we had a double birthday party of two of my colleagues and I went home with a couple to many beers in me! That Sunday I haven't done anything and I have to say that it was pretty nice to spend a day doing nothing but eating and watching tv...

This weekend I'll spend in the south (Maastricht) with Shos and we will go to my cousin's birthday. I still need a room/appartment in Amsterdam/Utrecht so if you know something, don't hesitate to contact me!!!

Till next time,
Ruud

My new job

ING Trainee Operations & IT Banking (OIB)

Since the first of October I work at ING in Amsterdam. The first week all new OIB Trainees had a training in Six Thinking Hats & Lateral Thinking. Very nice course given by a very good teacher! It was a great opportunity for us to get to know each other. This week was my first real working week. I got to know all my colleagues and figured out what is it exactly that I am supposed to do for the coming six months (after that I'll switch to another project).
There also was a nice drink on Thursday and that once again was a good chance to informally chat with other INGers. So far so good, I really enjoy being there and am looking forward to all the challenges that come with the job! (all I need now is a room somewhat closer to work, preferably in Utrecht!!!)

The previous weekend was a pretty intense one: My sister moved to her new house (and of course I had to help her move) and it was Sven's birthday which meant that we had to go and have a "couple" of drinks on Saturday... Nevertheless it was a great, but heavy weekend ;-)

This week Wolfgang will pay Shos and me a visit from China. I'm going to pick him up on Thursday and the plan is to spend a couple of days in Amsterdam. That has to be fun!

Cheerio,
Ruudje

A lot of Frietjes and a Fair

Old work, fun and new work...

The entire last week I spent working at Parc de IJzeren Man, the restaurant where I used to work when I was still studying. The restaurant is situated near horse stables and there was a big horse auction that week. My main job was to provide the visitors with French Fries :-) Nothing spectacular, but for me it was just nice to be back amongst the people I worked with before I left. And I have to say, it was an awful lot of fun once again!!!

This weekend there was also the big fair in Weert. Lots of rides, candy shops, gambling machines, food and drinks all spread out over the cities seven main squares. Of course Shos and I had to try several of the rides and drank a couple of beers with our friends later on.



One of the rides Shos and I did is called the Booster. It's a 50 meter high machine that makes that you spin around in a big circle very, very fast... The video below shows you what that looks like and you can take a guess what was going through Shoshannahs brain during the ride! Haha!

This week will be an intense one: I start my job at ING, it's Svens birthday and in the weekend my sister is moving into her new house and I have to celebrate the fact that Shos and I know each other two years! Besides that I still have to find a room in Amsterdam, so if you know something...

Greetingzzz,
Rudi

Krakow, Poland

Tyskie, Zywiec, Cellars, Zurek, Auschwitz, Bar Mleckny, Snow.....

Mark and I left on the 11th for a well-deserved trip to Krakow, Poland. And it started out with a big surprise... in the train to Brussels we ran into a guy (Bart) who was also going to the airport. Since all of us were way too early for our flights we decided to go for a beer in Charleroi. There it turned out that Bart was a "hobby-magician" who also did trick with balloons. And of course now Mark and I are expert-balloons-men ;-)
The Hostel we ended up in is called the Let's Rock Hostel from the Goodbye Lenin hostels, just 2 minutes from the main market square in Krakow. The hostel had a great vibe to it and an awesome breakfast was included (oh yeah, and all-day-long free, good coffee!!!).



So why visit Poland and Krakow in particular? Well, it's cheaper than i.e. Spain, they have good bear, there is a long history and we heard it simply is a great place to spend a couple of days. First thing we noticed it that beside historic buildings, they also have historic cars and they did cause a laugh or two... The most famous spot in Krakow is the Main Market Square, supposedly one of the largest mediaeval squares ever built. Just look at the photos to get an impression.





Another famous attraction is Wawel, a castle/fortress with a cathedral on the premises for the old Polish rulers. We were lucky since we had very nice weather (the only nice day we had during the entire trip...) and could enjoy the sights. Although neither of us is really interested in religion, the church was pretty impressive (although the interior was pretty "tacky"... haha).




The place we really enjoyed is known as Nowa Huta. This is a neighbourhood built especially for the laborers of the nearby steel factory which was owned by the (at the time) communist government. Therefore all the buildings in that area are very commie as well. All similar, big slaps of concrete surrounding an even bigger and emptier main square. Efficient, yes; pretty, no! But the best experience of this trip was our visit to a local bar. No one spoke English or German, but we still managed to make new friends and celebrated these new friendships with a couple of beers and vodka-shots. But the greatest guy ever was 95-year-old Jan, who was so sweet and nice we almost wanted to take him home with us!



When in Krakow a visit to Auschwitz is almost compulsory. Not that it is a fun trip but it is just something you have to have seen (I had been there already once about seven years ago, but joined Mark anyway). The story of Auschwitz is well-known, so no reason for me to elaborate on it. Just check the pics...






Time for some active things. We took a bus to Zakopane, which is knows as the place to be in Poland for skiing in winter and hiking in summer. We decided it still was "summer" and went there to go hiking for a couple of days. But the weather was being a bitch. It rained non-stop and on the morning we wanted to go for our hike it even snowed... but of course we went anyway and it proved to be beautiful! The day before we enjoyed a healthy, heavy dinner and were totally prepped for a good walk. During the hike we had absolutely no views of the surrounding mountains and lakes (which are supposed to be beautiful...), but we saw snow, snow and more snow. Nevertheless I loved the hike and it was a good opportunity for some pretty pictures. After our 6,5 hour hike we still felt great but decided to leave this area and head back to Krakow.




Back in Krakow we planned a trip to the Wielizcka Salt Mine. Amazing to see and a lot cleaner than for example a visit to a coal mine. The place is enormous and is very nice to go to on a rainy day (as we had every day...). They even have a church and restaurant 125 meters below the ground. Of course Mark and I had to take this chance and we drank our deepest beers ever ;-)



On the last day we walked to a fortress with an akward cone in the middle... kind of a strange description but it was a strange place as well. In the old days it was used to defend the city against intruders and now it is a symbol for Poland's independence.

Of course we also had quite a few drinks, heaps of food, the occasional party, lots of fun, but I won't bother you with any stories but will show you some pictures. The only thing I do want to say it that I really love Krakow's underground scene, in the literal sense of the word. Almost all bars are underground. This is a result of raising the land around the main square, causing old living rooms to become cellars. And these cellars is where you find the most relaxed places for a beer and music.





That's it... quite a lot, but worth it. This week I'll be working at Parc de IJzeren Man and going to Amsterdam. Also there is a fair in town this weekend, so I'll have something to show you before my working life starts ;-)

Hastelavista,
Ruud