The last few days have been, in many ways, really beautiful. A whirl of tasks to complete but without the burdening pressure of the previous weeks. I like being busy and I’ve relished having that balance which keeps me on my toes without causing a struggle, mentally or physically.
Perhaps the greatest success story of the past few days has been Dania and me taking ourselves out early on a Sunday in order to practice riding when the streets were pretty empty and, not only managing not to fall off, but having a good time too. We’re not quite ready for traffic but we are getting there slowly but surely and it’s fun. Yeah, I didn’t think I’d ever say that either!
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| Dania’s selfie skills coming in handy! |
We’ve been slowly building up to this moment over the past few weeks with short rides of a maximum of twenty minutes which usually last for about ten meters. There was something liberating about riding through the morning air, covering ground with minimal effort. Once others started to wake up and join us on the paths it did become harder but that’s something to work on.
Talking of liberating, I’ve been having issues with the tax office deciding to mess me around, basically, and had a terrifying early morning meeting on Tuesday. Laura kindly joined me for that and was my moral support and my Dutch translator (both were exceptionally useful roles and I’d have been lost without her!). Anyway, it appears that has been sorted, or at least has eased for now, so that’s been a real weight off my mind. It also meant that both of us got a dark morning walk and saw a little of the other side of the city.
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| Tourist shot, taken in Leiden, for my mother 😉 |
However, my greatest escape of the past few days was yesterday’s jaunt to Leiden for my art history class. The museum we visited, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, is the Dutch antiquity museum and is really worth a visit. It’s got some interesting artifacts and an intuitive layout that makes it a very comfortable place to look around. Apparently you can get married there too which would certainly be a conversation piece!
As for Leiden itself, I only got to see a few streets but I was lucky enough to have glorious sunshine. It feels like a pleasant place to spend time with interesting things to explore and some generally attractive architecture and town planning. I didn’t spend so much time there, sadly, but do plan to return when I have time… one day I’ll have time!
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| Eating lunch in the sun with this view. Perfect. |
Right, enough blog related procrastination! For all the pressure might be off I kinda have to write several papers and do a fair few assignments. Determined to get some painting in this week too. Oh and then I need to go buy food. Yep, better do the adulting first!
Havanah 