First week in Holland

So, we gave up coffee and are drinking tea in an effort to embrace those things Dutch. That's not hard for me to do given that Tamara is Dutch. That's us drinking tea to the left. The wine, chocolate, dairy and processed meat are fantastic, as are the "frite" (french fries) with yup, mayonnaise.

Our first week here we stayed in the town of Schevinengen, which is about 20 minutes by tram from the Hague's town center. Scheveningen is on the beach by the North Sea. During WWII, the Dutch would ask suspected German spies to pronounce "Scheveningen" as a test to see whether he or she was a native Dutch speaker. If they failed to pronounce it correctly, they were immediately shot or forced to eat a raw herring on white bread with onions. Tamara once said that I came close to pronouncing "Scheveningen" correctly. She made me eat the herring.

The wind comes off of the North Sea most of the time, and is always very cold and usually very strong. The temperature here now ranges from just over freezing (most of the time) to a high on the very warmest day to about 53. There are some sunny days, but mostly it is overcast with low slung clouds and rain/mist. So we're cold but getting used to it.

Don't be fooled by sunny clear skies, because when you go more than two blocks from your hotel it will start to rain. There is a Dutch law requiring you to carry an umbrella at all times, among many many other laws. For example, if you own a dog, you must pay an annual dog tax of about 200 bucks, more money if you own more dogs. Anyway, when we leave the house we always bring enormous, heavy bags stuffed with umbrellas, sunglasses and about a thousand scarves, jackets and hats.

I have been sketching outside until my fingers get too cold to hold the pencil or pen, about an hour and a half. You can see pictures of us and images of the artwork here.

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