Sandy Zandvoort

I've a question: Why is England the only country to have double-decker buses, but yet doesn't have double-decker trains, when all European countries have double-decker trains, but no double decker buses? This was just one of the many questions my brain asked itself at 06:46 on the train this morning. By the time I'd reached Zandvoort at 8:17 I had started to wake up a little more.

Today I went to Zandvoort Circuit Park to watch the A1GP motor-racing series, and the supporting events. It required getting up ridiculously early, but for a total of €26 it was certainly worth it. Zandvoort is a holiday village on the coast near Amsterdam, and if I'm being honest, is pretty awful. It's unashamedly touristy, which wouldn't be so bad if there were some around, but outside of holiday season it doesn't really work. I looked for some postcards, but ironically, they made it look better than it was, so I didn't think it was fair to propagate that view. Judging from the amount of planes in the sky all day, I got the feeling that all flights into and out of the Netherlands flew over Zandvoort - perhaps to show people what they're leaving behind, or coming to? No, probably not. Still, it was really nice to get out of Utrecht again and see the sea. I don't really appreciate the fact that I miss the sea until I come back to it, and I spent about half-an-hour just wandering along the coast. The weather was quite atmospheric all day:


The track itself was quite something else. It's built on sand dunes, so by the end of the day I had about a pint of sand in each of my shoes. The high dunes did though provide a great view of the action, but seeing as 99% of the people who read this don't follow motorsport, I'll spare you more information and just leave you with a picture of Darren Manning driving the Team GB entry to 6th place on the grid:


I spotted an empty Appletiser can in the hedge while there, which has rekindled my hopes that I may be able to find said beverage this side of the Channel. There were quite a few people there considering it was only the Saturday without any proper racing, and quite a few nationalities. The Dutch were all decked out in organge (the national sporting colours), and there were quite a few green Irish as well. I found myself sitting next to a couple from Leeds as well at one point. It's a small world.

The train journey back to Utrecht was uneventful, apart from me falling asleep and waking up to a carraige occupied by a number of different people. After playing through the scenarios (i.e. was I still in the Netherlands?), I realised that we'd just been through Amsterdam and hence were still on our way.

I came back to an Utrecht slightly more awake than when I left it, with a hot-air baballoon display in the sky:


Hopefully I'll be able to do things similar to this each weekend from now on. I think we're off to Amsterdam next weekend for Emma's birthday, there's a Discover Holland tour the next, and then I'm back to Cambridge. So I'll be keeping busy for the next few weeks at least!

I hope that everyone who is moving back to Cambridge this weekend, or who've already moved back, had a great time this week and doesn't work too hard. It would be great to hear how things are going.

Can it be?

Yesterday I ventured into Utrecht's English shop. It's really quite an amazing place and really feels like a Victorian-era corner shop. Upon informing the old guy behind the counter that "Ik ben Engelsman" I proceeded to have a conversation about some of the things in his shop - many being things that I haven't seen for ages in the UK - when something caught my eye. Among his racks of McVities biscuits, Heinz soups and pop-tarts (!), was a box with 'Caramac KitKat' written on the side. Oh my. My two favourite chocolate bars, in one bar? I pointed out my amazement to him and asked if I could buy the whole box there and then. Unfortunately though, the box was just for display and despite his impressive searching he was unable to find anymore. My hopes dashed, I consoled myself with a Heinz Sticky-Toffee Pudding in a can.

But then something else happened. I went to the local supermarket to do some Dutch shopping when I saw something that I thought had long gone:


Could it really be? Or was it the Caramac KitKat all over again? No, I had really stumbled across Biscuit Caramel Vienetta. This made my day. It inexplicably disappeared from British supermarket freezer isles years ago much to my dismay, but it's still here, and it was on buy-on-get-one-free!

That's quite a lot of time spent talking about pudding, but as you may have guessed, it made quite an impression. Today hasn't so far lived up to the highs of yesterday. I've figured out how to put cash into my Dutch bank account, and then promptly paid it all out again in rent. I have though officially registered as a residence of Utrecht, so perhaps it's now appropriate for me to say "Ik ben Nederlands". Or perhaps not.

It's a mini (golfing) adventure

Emma is awesome. There we go Emma, that's my obligatory content for this entry out of the way with!

We broke out of the house today, and then broke out of Utrecht itself on our way to mini-golf. It took 1 1/2 hours to cycle there, which is quite a long way, but it was a really nice scenic route through woods and some lovely countryside. It's great that everywhere here has a cycle path, even the most out-of-the-way country roads. Emma even found a new way to cycle involving swinging your legs rather than peddling, hard work, but surprisingly it works, as semi-illustrated by this photo:


Amazingly, we didn't get lost despite our destination being beyond the end of my map. The village itself was quite something, set in a holiday village like an open-air Centre Parcs. There were about 7 restaurants on a strech of road no longer than 100 metres and hundreds of cars and people. I think we went on the same day as a vintage car rally. The golfing centre boasted three different courses, so we opted for the middle-expensive one and set off on our 18-hole adventure. It's actually quite (deceptively) difficult to ge the ball to go where you want along those oddly shaped courses. Still, it provided much entertainment, both for us and the group behind us. Luckily, I wasn't the only one to get my ball out of the course and into the 'rough', but still, it gave Laura a nice photo opportunity:


The final standings saw Emma winning from me with Laura trailing. The scene is set for a rematch. We were there for about an hour before we headed for lunch at one of the many pancake houses. I was sadly fooled by my choice reading something that said like creme brulee, for with creme brulee. So my pancake just came caramalised. Was nice nonetheless though. I think I've promised to make pancakes tomorrow night as well now, so I'll have to make sure they live up to restaurant quality.

The way back was quite interesting. An (in)conclusive episode between Laura and Emma while cycling ended in Emma falling off, Emma discovered she could ride with no hands while I discovered that I couldn't, and we got in the way of a number of fellow cyclists while trying to prop up a camera so as to get a photo of all of us. In the end we found a fence pole that was slightly to low, resulting in this:


Amazingly once again we didn't get lost despite coming back a different way. We all though slightly saddle-sore. It's great to have found out how easy it is to get around Holland by cycling. Everything really is flat and none of us feel like we've cycled for 30 odd kilometres. My intended cycle ride to Amsterdam is looking more promising by the day!

Vending-machine and voice-mail vagueness

Here it as at long last, the picture of my once-loved, now financially crippling, bicycle:


Unfortunately, the wheel rims don't really glow like that, although a part of me now wishes that they did. Thankfully, it actually cost less than it was supposed to, and the repair bill came in at 90c under the magical €60, so that was a nice surprise. It was also nice to cycle home without squeaking - but now I have to warn people when I'm coming as my approach is no longer inherantly audible.

I woke up to a voicemail message this morning. Or at least I thought I did, as the message telling me so was all in Dutch. So I translated what I could and phoned the number. I was not prepared for what I got. After about 2 minutes the voice stopped talking at me and was clearly asking for me to input something. I'd understood something about needing a password to pick up the message. So I typed one in and after nothing happened, guessed at pressing the # key. There was a beep, and then more talking. I couldn't pick any of this up, but again it wanted me to key in something, so I tried the password, only to get a Family Fortunes esque denial. We then went round in circles for several minutes. In the end, I admitted defeat and took my phone into the T-Mobile shop, where it took the lady all-of 3 minutes to set it all up. She informed me afterwards that it wouldn't be much use though. The voicemail itself was in Dutch. Ho hum.

I'm not usually one for vending machines, but here you use a card called a 'Chip-Knip' to use them, so it doesn't feel like you're spending money. Not only this, but each time I choose something, it's quite a (mini) adventure. Owing to the fact I can't read what things are, I'm never quite sure what I'll get. Yesterday I got something akin to a slice of spiced apple loaf, and today I got a bar of seasame seeds stuck together in syrup. Neither was what I thought it was going to be.

This evening I shall be working on a presentation I'm giving on Monday regarding the Dutch law on childrens' surnames. A topic not aided by the fact that the most up-to-date textbook (circa 1999) talks of 'imminent' (i.e. now past) changes. Tomorrow though I shall either be visiting The Hague or playing mini-golf, so that'll make up for it.

Financial frolicking

Today's been an odd day. Firstly, the museum tour was cancelled owing to the fact that only four of us had booked for it so they couldn't get the group discounts. Fair enough. So I cycled over to the Sports Centre to sign up for one set of badminton sessions. Cycled back €66.50 lighter. This cycling trip reminded me of (i) the fact that it's getting hotter here again, and (ii) that I really needed to sort out my bike.

So I cycled back into town and took my bike to the bike shop. Bad news. In Holland, they've had the great idea of building the brakes into the wheel itself, rather than just haveing them seperate and clamping onto it. This means that my bent front wheel can't simply be replaced with another wheel. No, instead the brakes need to be replaced as well. I pointed out that my front brakes don't work anyway as they've been cut, only to be told that the bike wouldn't be safe without front brakes and that I needed to have them replaced.

But someone working in a bike shop would say that, I thought, but then it's probably true, especially as the back ones aren't exactly brilliant. Total damage = €€65. Yes, that's right, €€10 more than the bike cost me in the first place... I'm now going to be riding a €€55 bike with a €65 front wheel. I console myself by thinking of how nice it'll be to have a bike that doesn't squeak incesantly, that will actually stop when I tell it to, and whose lights will actually work. But €65? Would have been cheaper to buy a new one and merge them somehow, might even have been able to create a tandem. Fingers crossed that this one wont get nicked.

So that's over €130 so far, and it's not even 15:00 yet. It's an expensive business this Erasmus lark.

(Bad)minton

Today's been a busy day. I inexplicably woke up at 9am sharp and spent the next four hours actually doing some work outside of class - unheard of since arriving. I then had four consecutive hours of lectures, had some dinner, then went off to the student badminton society from whence I have just returned.

I'd forgotten how much hard work badminton actually is and how bad I am at it. I play a little bit back home with a friend once or twice a week, and he usually beats me, so I have to admit that part of my desire to play here comes from me wanting to beat him. This I did in the final game before I left, so I hope to return and carry on where I left off. Jon, if you're reading, be prepared. In the one hour of training I had today I learned that I've been holding the racket incorrectly, and that my forehands were laughable. So, that's me told. I played a doubles match, and predictably lost. I felt marginally better when I learned that my opponents were of tournament level. Unfortunately the place is a 15-20 minute cycle along one of those roads where you're convinced that each corner is the last, only for another one to appear. Still, hopefully I can work up the enthusiasm to actually go each week.

Which brings me onto a related point. My bike's 'quaint squeak' has become more of an incessant whining. Listening to it for a total of 40 minutes today has left me with a faint headache. It all stems from my wonky front wheel, which also prevents my dynamo from touching the wheel and thus shrouds me in darkness. I may have to do something to bring my bike into the 21st century. Especially if I want to cycle all the way to Amsterdam without going mad.

I discovered today that my final exam of this term is on the 21st December, which is fortunate, seeing as my birthday is on the 22nd! Not only is this the first time my birthday has been in term time, I almost had an exam on it! But the upshot is that I can come home on the 21st and be back in Cornwall for my 21st. I'll have two hours between finishing my exam and needing to be at the airport, but that'll only add to the excitement.

Baking with passion

Well today was the day. It's finally become overcast and is now a bearable temperature, so to celebrate, Laura and I engaged in our long anticipated bakeoff. Armed with our ingredients and utensils we set to work on our battle of the sponge cakes. It was her chocolate cake against my marble cake. As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and after some ruthless (yet harmless?) sniping, it was time for the tasting, which I think I can safely say was enjoyed by all - especially Javi, who was so moved by the marble cake that he felt it necessary to propose to me:


Surprisingly it's the second time that a cake of mine has prompted a marriage proposal since I've got here, but the first time I've had that response from a bloke. 'Tis all very odd, and I hope I didn't hurt his feelings to much when I had to turn him down.

The bakeoff ended in a nice diplomatic draw, so there's ample scope for a re-run at some point in the probably not too distant future. I don't think that I've introduced everyone to Amadeo and Javi, so here they are with the aforementioned English contingent (they've taken to referring to us collectively as the 'British Power' group):


Javi is on the left, and Amadeo behind Richard on the right. They're both lawyers from Spain. Not pictured is Antje who kindly took the photo.

Everyone was sat around the dinner table last night, and the predominant language was in fact Spanish, a language in which I am less than illiterate in. Javi has been working incredibly hard on improving his English since he got here and was made a huge improvement these two weeks. By contrast, my Dutch is no better than when I got here and my German is the same. It's only when you spend time in a foreign country that you realise how isolating not speaking the native language can be. It's very odd walking down the street, waiting in a queue, or sitting in a cafe and not having a clue what everyone else is talking about. To be honest, despite that, it's humbling how good everyone else is and how accommodating they are in speaking English all the time. They even get annoyed when they can't think of the right English word to say what they want to say, seemingly not concerned that I couldn't even say my name in their language. I was in a Chinese yesterday and I asked what something on the menu was in English, the guy didn't know and so went and actually asked another customer to find out. It's kind of a catch-22 situation, because it's always easier for them to use English than it is for them to struggle with me speaking Dutch or German, which just encourages me to use English all the time. I've had a few emails about language courses, but unfortunately the University here doesn't offer a dedicated German course, so I'm going to have to go down some informal routes. I said that I'd use my time here to improve my German instead of learning Dutch, and the fact that I haven't so far is starting to weigh on my mind. I feel that I owe it to everyone who's putting the immense effort into speaking my language to at least try and repay the compliment. English isn't the be-all and end-all that it's made out to be.

It's a virtual adventure

Today I went to Amsterdam. Yesterday I met my virtual self. Everybody say hello to our virtual corridor:


Yes, that's a faithful recreation of two-thirds of our illustrious corridor. From left to right we have Antje, Laura, Amadeo, Me, Emma, Javi and Richard as they appear in the Sims 2. I personally think that the likeness is rather scary. It's a kind of simulation to see how we get on when left to our own devices. The first thing I did was get to work on my term paper, but then I missed my class and started spending all day in bed. Not quite right, but perhaps a sign of things to come? Should they stay tasteful, I shall keep you all updated on my twin's virtual goings on.

Amsterdam was a good laugh. We didn't get to see that much, but it seems like quite a nice city from what we did see, if a little bit touristy. We firstly had a tour around the old city by a very enthusiastic volunteer guide for a few hours, before making our way to the Van Gogh museum. I never knew how incorrectly I was pronouncing the 'Gogh' before. Think 'Hooch' and you're halfway there. Not really my style, but it was good to see some of the famous paintings, including the one that perplexed so many as the infamous Selwyn library revision-busting jigsaw. The trains really put ours to shame, and it was only ‚€7 for the return trip. British Rail take note. Unfortunately we didn't get to take a canal boat cruise, so that's a reason for a return trip at some point. Highlight of the trip had to be being presented with a party blower by two girls dressed as fairies. It provided mucho entertainment throughout the day and beyond, as is perhaps illustrated by this rather unflattering photo (can I ever look good in a photo?):


Unfortunately, I've now blown mine to an early death, so that's that avenue of fun gone. In other random news, I officially know 80% of all there is to know about Emma and Laura, which isn't bad going for only knowing them for two weeks.

Changing tones

I'm going to give up mentioning the weather as everytime I do it just gets hotter to spite me.

Yesterday I went night canoeing along the canals of Utrecht and had a great time. I've only canoed once before when I was 11, but thankfully we were in twin canoes, so a big thankyou to Pete for providing the actual paddling while I just made it look like I knew what I was doing. We set off just before sundown and canoed from the University campus into the centre of town before stopping for a drink and then going on in a big loop around the city. Eventually we headed into some really narrow canals, and one wrong turn into a sewerage outlet later, we found ourselves going under some incredibly low bridges, some no more than 40-50 cm above the water. Considering I had to go lower than shown, this rather manic looking picture of me might give you an impression of what I mean:


Still, great fun and an ideal activity should anyone visit.

Last night also gave me a great opportunity to try out my new bike, and it's not as bad as I feared. When I point left it goes left and the gears actually work. The lights don't, and the brakes are slightly worse than I thought, but I was pleasantly surprised.

In other news, I fear I may have just signed my Utrecht life away. I've signed up to take part in the Philip C Jessup Moot Course, an international mooting competition based on International Law. Apparently, I can expect to spend two days a week on it until November when that'll increase before the Dutch national round in February. If we win this we have to do it all again for the final in Washington DC. Annoyingly I didn't bring any of my International books that I didn't sell, but the course does give me 7.5 ECTS credits, which means I'm well on course to not needing to study the whole year!

Aside from that, not much else is happening. I've had lectures in all of my subjects now, but it's going to take a while to get used to the Dutch way of doing things. They have a break in the middle of the lecture and the level of participation is slightly too high for my liking. Luckily, one of the courses is covering some familiar topics so that's lightened the workload a bit. I'm also in the awkward phase where I don't know which way to look when crossing the road. When I got here, I always looked right and consequently had a few near misses. Now sometimes I don't even look, so hopefully in another week I'll naturally be looking left, all ready to be run down as soon as I come back to England on the 20th October.

I'm off to Amsterdam tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that, it'll be good to get to know a little bit more of Holland beyond my doorstep. Well that was long, rambling and not terribly well connected. Thanks to everyone who has emailed, it's been great to hear from you all :).

Heat and work...

... Do not go together at all well. It's still rather too warm here. It's 28oC today and there's not a cloud in the sky. Lectures have started, but it's so warm that it's impossible to focus on actually doing any work for them. It's meant to rain on Thursday, but it's going to be 25oC when it's doing so which is mad.

I had intended to bring you a picture of my new bike, but it's too hot to venture to the bikeshed to take said photo. So I'll describe it. It's blue and purple, with bent back handlebars. On reading it back, that's not very good. Only one brake works, and even then, it's more of an incentive for the bike to slow down than a brake. The other one isn't even connected. The front wheel is every so slightly bent as well. It does though have two locks, a kickstand, and some bungee ropes for attaching things to the back. So overall, for 55 Euros I can't really complain. I might not be saying the same when it breaks/I crash/I hit someone though.

Lessons are quite an odd affair. I've had two so far; Dutch Law and Comparative Constitutional and Administrative Law. The former was held in a classroom and felt like a class. We sat around tables and couldn't get in until the lecturer arrived. Felt like being back at College, only with name tags. The second was more successfull and felt like an actual lecture, albeit with a little more participation than normal. Hopefully the former will pick up as time goes on, at the moment, I can just tell you that the Netherlands is a civil law jurisdiction, but still has caselaw, legislation and custom. So how does that work? Who knows. The upshot of the latter course is that I have to write a mini-dissertation for it, and it's on the same subject that I hope to write my dissertation on when I get back, so I can use it as a run through before the main event.

I'm going night-canoeing on Utrecht's canals tomorrow night which sounds like it'll be great fun. I would take my camera, but that would only increase my chances of capsizing, so I don't know if I'll be able to bring you photos of my less than poor canoeing skills. There's also a trip to Amsterdam on Friday.

I lied a bit earlier. It's very hot, but there's one thing I can do in this heat, and that's bake as you practically don't need an oven, and I needed to use up my eggs. So there's another cake on the way. See what you're all missing out on :)?

What I'm missing back home

Two posts in one day... What's going on? Well this isn't anything to Utrecht, but I spotted this on BBC News today. There's apparently nothing else going on in Cornwall worthy of reporting:

Arrest threat over police gnome

I suppose it keeps the police and journalists in their jobs.

An apology

I've offended some people, and I have to make amends for it. My English corridor-mates informed me last night that their non-appearance on my blog had upset them, so as I put things right before regarding the origins of banoffee pie, here I intend to put my non-mentioning of them to rights. Drum Roll...


To introduce, from left to right: Emma, Richard, Me and Laura. Richard is my roommate and Emma and Laura live next door. Unfortunately the waitress at the took the photo after we'd eaten our pancakes, but I assure you that they were huge and delicious, or rather groot en lekker. Should anyone come and visit, I think a visit to the same Pannekeok House might be in order.

Jack's return

Nothing much is happening here really. I've added another course onto my workload, so I'm now working Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and the more I do now, the less I have to do later! If I can get it right, I might not even have to be here for the final period, but I haven't told Cambridge that's my plan.

Since there wasn't much to do, I've done two things today, I've looked for a bike and I've baked a cake. There are some pretty banged up bikes up for auction, but I've picked out two that survived me riding them around the courtyard and seemed to have something resembling a braking system. The cake was my effort to introduce English bakery to the corridor, so after much ingredient shopping and some awkward translations, I produced this:


Not my finest effort I will admit, but it wasn't bad, and it went down quite well - hence there only being half of it left by the time I got my camera. If I manage to produce anything more momentous I'll let you know.

Anyway, onto the matter referenced in the subject. I'll be coming back to the UK later in October over the weekend of the 21st, so hopefully I'll be able to see everyone in Cambridge then!

Unconnected musings

It's supposed to be cold here. I've been in jumpers pretty much since I got here, but when I woke up this morning I felt like I was in a sauna - which is probably what woke me up. Today it is apparently only 25oC, but I didn't bring my sandals, a decision that I'm now regretting. I never thought I'd say this, but I'd quite like to get cooler soon to better match my wardrobe!

I had intended to write alongside a picture of my new bike, but I don't have a new bike, so that ruled that one out. I've decided to get one at a police auction on Monday instead, set I'm going to make sure that I brush up on my Dutch numbers before I go lest I end up paying away my whole student loan. I hope to bring you a picture of my mode of transport then, so you'll better be able to picture me cycling the wrong way down the road with a look of terror on my face.

I now have a Dutch SIM card and a nice and confusing Dutch phone number, if anyone would like it, send me an email. My UK number will still work, but I may not have it in my phone that often until I get back. Unfortunately my phone memory wasn't big enough to store all my numbers, so I've spent two hours transferring them over by hand and adding +44 to them all, which wasn't exactly the most exciting two hours I've spent. But now I'm all set and dual-SIM carded up. Coupled with the fact that I was hit by a bicycle yesterday, I'm starting to feel quite the native...

Comparisons

I'd like to make some observations. I've had my first day of introductions today, and I know now what my time table is going to be like. I've also met most of the other English people taking law here and I've been taken on a tour of Utrecht. So, if I may, I'd like to compare those three things to Cambridge in the following order; people, city, timetable. Here goes:

(1) People: I've so far met lawyers from a number of UK universities, but amongst the non UK-ers out there I've already spotted three people's doppelgangers, something that's most confusing at first. I almost went to talk to one person to exclaim my surprise at seeing them before I stopped myself. So on the first count, it's a lot like Cambridge, in a slightly spooky way.

(2) The City: Is basically Cambridge mark 2. The canals are like the Cam, only they have paddle boats here which is certainly a bonus. The streets are all like the one down by the market, and the market is about three times the size. Unfortunately, my lectures aren't in the one place I marked in the previous entry, they are slightly more spread around, but still no more than 15 minutes walk away. Also, the Dutch don't seem to do simple addresses, or entrances. Everywhere I've been today I've been told to go through the other entrance 'around the corner' or the entrance behind another building. It's all a bit confusing.

(3) Timetable: This is good. Until the 13th of November, I'm following two courses with each course's lectures and seminars taking place on the same day. Hence, my working week starts at 13:15 on a Tuesday and finishes at 17:00 on a Wednesday. It's not a word I use often, but I think it sums it up quite nicely; sweet.

I have course introductions tomorrow, so I'll find out then how much work I have outside these hours, but hopefully, my two day working weeking should allow for some travel opportunities!

The Netherlands, Utrecht and some things in between

Well, it's started, almost. My year abroad officially starts tomorrow when I have a marathon session from 9:00 until 18:00 being inducted, registered, questioned and probably poked and prodded in addition. I'm hoping that come then I'll have a slightly better idea of what I'm in for as at the moment, I haven't got a clue.

I arrived on Thursday and moved into my accommodation on Friday. It's not too bad really. There are 12 of us in a corridor, each sharing a room with another person - that's a bit odd, but it hasn't been too awkward so far. My roommate is also doing law so we'll either get on famously or, well, quite the opposite. There's a big kitchen with an oven without temperature markings (cue burnt pizza), and to my horror, there wasn't a toaster, but that's now been rectified. If anyone's curious as to where I actually, then this probably won't help, but here's a map:



I'm staying in the Kruisstraat on the right, and the Law Faculty is about 10 minutes walk away on the left, which isn't too bad considering how some people seem to be about a 15 minute car journey away or more.

I've spent a bit of time wondering around Utrecht and it seems quite nice, not dissimilar to Cambridge really, but it's bigger with smaller streets and more boutique like shops. It's strange how many things like shop signs, menus and slogans are in English, I'm quite sure that it would be easy to forget you were in a different country. So far, I can ask 'spreekt u Engels?' and little more, but I'm sure it'll come on from that. Dutch is annoyingly similar to German and I keep falling back into speaking German instead, which never seems to go down too well!

Before I left, a friend from work who used to live in Utrecht could tell me one thing about the place; it had a nice pancake restaurant. That was exactly what I wanted to hear, forget the University etc, food is all important. While I haven't sampled it yet, I have tried a Stroopwafel, which, if it's anything to go by, suggests that the pancakes will be very good indeed! Perhaps I should officially end my muffin competition and switch to waffles instead.

I shall update once more when I officially become a student of Utrecht and hopefully have something to talk about.