Birthdays and Adventures

The second half of January has proven to be just as fun and exciting as the first half. Katie's birthday came in the middle of it, which provided a good excuse to go on many adventures. Notably, we took her to a fondue/raclette dinner in Haarlem, at a wonderful and old little place, 'in 't Goede Uur':

There, we ate so much cheese we thought we would burst. But it was well worth it!

Further, on Sunday we took an adventure out to Apeldorn:

View Larger Map
to go on a pea-soup walk and see some free range monkeys. This was also incredibly fun. First, there was a nature hike through the forest. In the middle of the forest, the park employees set up a table, where you could get a stamp. This stamp entitled you to a hot cup of pea soup at the end of the walk. It was so nice to get out into the countryside and walk amongst trees instead of buildings.

Then, we went to the Apenheul, which is a primate park where many of the monkeys get to roam free among the visitors. They were only open one day all winter - in honor of the pea soup walk - so we were lucky to be able to go.

I have also kept up with my share of cultural events... everything from two operas in one month - Daphne and Snow White - to jazz dinner concerts to films. Now, classes are starting again on Monday, which means I have a full weekly schedule - Research Methods on Monday, Yoga on Wednesday, and Flamenco on Thursday. Of course, the idea is that I must use the rest of my time to work on my thesis... but more on that in the next post.