The Biggest Birthday Bash

I signed off my last post mentioning that today was to be Koninginnedag (Queen's Day) and last night was Koninginnenacht (yes, Queen's Night), and so they were. Queue lots of music, lots of drink, lots of dancing, and lots and lots of orange.


Queen's Day is supposed to be a celebration of the Queen's Birthday, but it's not, instead, it's a celebration of the Queen Mother's Birthday. When the current Queen (Beatrix) came to the throne, she decided to keep Queen's Day in April as her birthday was in January when the weather isn't really as good. What a good decision that turned out to be! Both last night and today have been lovely and provided the perfect opportunity for the whole of Utrecht to come out and have a Really Good Time.

There are essentially three parts to Queen's Day celebration: (a) The vrijmarkt (free market), (b) the live music, and (c) the atmosphere. On Queen's Day all trading restrictions are lifted, and the streets turn into a giant flea market with people putting out stalls selling everything and anything. There were stalls selling everything from skis to broken computers, from cutlery to LPs etc. If you wanted something obscure the chances are you'd find it. Children put on performances (musical and otherwise - one very enterprising kid was selling time on his megaphone), street vendors sell all sorts of food, and there's just a general carnival feeling to the whole place.



Unfortunately I didn't see anything that took my fancy (apart from a rather battered looking canoe), put I was gifted an orange hair-piece to make up for my distinct lack of orange clothing. Orange is the national colour of the Netherlands y'see, and some people really took the link to heart.


Alongside all of this, just about every square of wide street that was big enough played host to a music stage playing all sorts of music. The music was bigger last night, but it was still pulling in the crowds today, and it was fantastic having a constant sound of music in the background wherever you went in the city from the centre out into the residential vrijmarkt.


But the best thing has to be the atmosphere in the city. Everyone is there to have a good time, and with the weather, the music and the colour, Utrecht really came alive. People always say things like the atmosphere was electric, or there was a buzz in the air - but it's true, there really was. But there was no loutish behaviour either - the police were passive last night and today, and I can't imagine that being the case if something similar was tried in the UK. Utrecht can be a little quiet sometimes, but not today.





Apparently Amsterdam on Queen's Day is a completely different experience altogether - they expect about 2 million people to descend for the day - so it would have been interesting to see how much more crowded it was there, but Utrecht was great. It's left the city in a hell of a state mind, but I shalln't worry about that as at 4am tomorrow morning I'm leaving it all behind to visit Greece to see Cecily, so I imagine that by the time I get back, it'll be as if it all never happened. Which, in a way, will be a shame.

Doing the time warp. Again.

Yesterday, an intrepid and unprecedented four of us rallied to ESN's call to visit the Openluchtmuseum, or Open Air Museum, in Arnhem. I had expected something like the Zuiderzee museum, but was quite wrong.



It's not in as spectacular position as the Zuiderzee Museum, but it's much larger, and instead of being a recreation of a turn-of-the-century Dutch community, it's more an outdoor exhibition devoted to the Netherlands through the years. So there are plenty of older buildings, and of course, plenty of windmills dotted all over the place.



But alongside the more traditional variety of things they were also hosting a themed event, based on the 'Swinging 60s and 70s', which meant that mixed up with all this old-history, there were VW Hippie Wagons and people dressed up in, fantastic (had to be said) 70s clothing, all of whom were living in authentic 70s campervans on a field in the middle of the museum.




I of course lapped it all up. I'm a child of the 80s, but have always felt a worrying affinity for the 70s, so I felt right at home walking around the peeking into the little caravans and tents that people had set up. (Yes, I really do want that little mini-caravan.) And that's what made it all the more stranger, the whole 'commune' was open to the public to wander around, you could sit in their chairs, go into the caravans, use their equipment etc, but none of us knew who the people living their were. Were they employees? Enthusiasts? No idea. And that made it all the more surreal, especially when you saw them walking around and talking to people dressed up in clogs.

The whole place was pretty enchanting, and surprisingly empty for such a lovely Saturday.


There were plenty of examples of traditional Dutch industry, including a blacksmith (who must have been cursing his choice of profession given the weather), and a heart-warming indication that child labour is still alive and well in the Netherlands.



I guess that old habits die hard! A little historic tram line around the park and a lunch of poffertjes just topped off the day, as did the realisation that I haven't been charged my room rent this month - I wonder how long it'll take them to figure that one out?!

Things are likely to get a little less sedate today and tomorrow, for tonight is Koninginnenacht and tomorrow is Koninginnedag - a Royal celebration which provides a nice reason for the whole country to experience a 36 hour street party. Can't see Queen Elizabeth II sanctioning something like that in a hurry.

Adiós Buenos Amigos

Officialdom, bureaucracy and formality all have a place, preferably behind the scenes where they silently help to get things done. However, for Amadeo and Javi they've done the complete opposite, and have brought their time in Utrecht to an untimely end.

Owing to a restrictive approach by Valencia (their home University), and a less than competent series of decisions by Utrecht, they've been left with no courses left here that their University back home will sanction. Which means they can't get any credits from what they do here, and have to go back home. That in itself is bad enough, but the situation only came about through Utrecht cancelling their sanctioned courses. But this hasn't stopped the powers that be here denying liability for anything, and demanding that they still pay their rent through until the end of June. The Erasmus year is supposed to be an exchange programme where people get to study in another country and meet people from around the world doing so, and silly little quibbles like sanctioning courses shouldn't have any place in such a scheme. Unfortunately, people involved in the bureaucracy don't realise this precisely because they are behind the scenes, and here it has ended up in two people not being able to finish what they started in September through no fault of their own. Not impressed.

Nonetheless, on the second of May they're going back to Spain and I couldn't let them leave without giving them something of a send off. Javi might have left my old corridor in November, then I left in Janurary, leaving Amadeo, but they've remained good friends here and it'll feel odd without the two of them being around. So I invited the two over for a proper English dinner to repay Javi for all the Spanish one's he introduced us too. On the menu; Sheppard's Pie and Cauliflower Cheese, followed by the Victoria Sandwich Cake that I think I've owed Amadeo since January. It seemed to go down well, and I hope that while they might go back with bitter tastes about Utrecht, they'll at least realise that English cooking isn't all fish & chips and fry ups.

While I completely failed in my promise to them that I'd learn Spanish, I can at least muster enough to say "Adiós Buenos Amigos."As clichéd as it might be, I think it's all that's left to say.

The Final 25%

Today I started the fourth and final quarter, which means I've only 8 weeks left of courses here. However, on Friday things stop again as Utrecht belatedly starts its 'Easter' holiday. It's all slightly reminiscent of the odd thing where you'd go back to school on a Thursday after the Summer holiday, so just as you got started, you stopped again. I have to ask why?

It also means that at the time most people are revising for exams, I'm only just starting to learn a whole new set of courses. So, not that much different to revision then, just a little more honest! It was perhaps fitting that today was also the day that I brought down the curtain on my Epic Mooting Course. I had my final meeting with the Professor today and was awarded my grade. But alas, as with all such things, I'm wondering whether it'll ever actually end as we've now got to write a report to the people sponsoring our team, convincing them that it's worth them releasing the sponsorship money to the University. How convenient that they didn't tell us this before!

Both of my courses this period concern US law, and I'm taking 'The Role of the Supreme Court in American Law' which looks like it has the potential to be lively seeing as it's based around us re-arguing cases each class. My other course is the slightly drier 'US Constitutional Law', the primary draw of which was the fact that it's a self study course culminating in an oral exam. Great. Or it would be if I could convince myself that getting my 'self' to 'study' would be a wise course of action. The fact that it's averaging about 26C at the moment is certainly not helping matters. Nor is the fact that the class I had today is held in an non-air conditioned room, I'll have to try and find an unenumerated right in the US Constitution to air-conditioning - it must be in there somewhere.

A few days ago I came across a list I made before I came to Utrecht listing a few of the things that I wanted to get done before I finished. Out of 15, I think I've done around 6, which leaves me quite a lot to do! 60% of things in 25% of the time in fact. Better get on with it!

Cycling from Centraal to Centraal

If you want to get from Utrecht to Amsterdam, then you'd probably use a car or the train. I've been doing a lot of the latter, but today, while on my way to do something else, I decided to cycle there.

The past few days have been quite cycle filled in fact. After mentioning to Andrew that I couldn't remember the last time I'd dreamt, I then had several dreams concerned the bike I had stolen in the first year of Uni (with it oddly turning out to be the bike I'm riding here - it's not). I then decided to transfer this into the waking world, and yesterday with the sun shining I decided to cycle south and see what was there. Three hours later I'd discovered a number of lovely little villages in amongst endless fields, and I'd also got nicely sunburnt.


Today I had intended to catch a train, with my bike, to de Hoge Veluwe, one of the Netherland's National Parks that is supposed to be especially good for cycling around. However, I had a change of heart while cycling to the train station, and instead, headed up the Oude Gracht and onto LF7b - the rather bland name for the 350km cycle route that links Maastricht in the south with Alkmaar in the north, via Utrecht and Amsterdam. Somehow the route managed to completely avoid the industrial outskirts of Utrecht by following the Vecht river which winds all the way to Amsterdam.


I passed through some more lovely villages, including Bruekelen, the township that the better known Brooklyn in New York was named after - but no jokes about accents here. I hadn't originally thought that I'd cycle all the way to Amsterdam. After yesterday's little excursion my knees were making their displeasure evident, but after getting so far, I thought I may as well carry on.


The above sign, from the province, not the city, of Utrecht wishing to see me again soon, strengthed my resolve to go all the way to Amsterdam. Now, depending on who you speak to, Amsterdam supposed to be about two or three hours cycling away. Admittedly I did make some wrong turns on the way, including a rather picturesque 10km detour around some marshes, and a lot of confusing when it came to crossing the huge Amsterdam-Rhijn Shipping Canal, but it took me 4 1/2 hours.


Not that I'm complaining mind, it was a lovely ride through the countryside, it just took a little longer until I saw an Amsterdam sign than I was expecting, and to be honest, it was a pretty sorry excuse for a sign after such a journey.


Unfortunately, it also turned out to be 'Amsterdam' in the same way that the M25 is 'London' and 45 minutes later I was still cycling through industrial estates towards the centrum, which eventually came rather suddenly and unexpectedly.

By the time I got there I really felt suitable for nothing, and I'd already discounted any thoughts I might have had about cycling back, I had to get straight on train. The Dutch rush hour apparently starts at 16:30, from when no bikes are allowed on the trains. So I had to buy my bike it's travelcard and get straight on the train back to Utrecht, which took about 30 minutes, but wasn't half as fun.

The Lidl Labyrinth

While undertaking a little Blog pruning, I discovered this draft entry that I wrote back in April and never published. So here it is, rather belatedly, as a little throwback to those good times in Utrecht.

Shortcuts are curious things. Usually I like to think that I have quite a good sense of direction, but there's one route here that is still alluding me. I have just returned from a trip to Lidl. I remain convinced that there is a quicker way to get there than the one I usually take, but I'd gotten lost once trying to find it, and perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised when the same happened today. I got the feeling that things weren't right quite quickly this time, and knew that things weren't right when I began to cycle alongside fields and detached houses. Things got worse when I went past one of those 'Utrecht thanks you for your visit' signs, and the road signs starting pointing to Maarssen (about 10kms north) and, rather more ominously, Amsterdam (more like 45kms north). I still intend to cycle to Amsterdam one day, but I didn't intend to do it today when all I wanted was to buy some juice and vegetables in Lidls.

I ended up just cycling trying to guestimate based on the sun as to where Utrecht had disappeared to. I did though find a nice woodland path which I've no hope of ever coming across again. Eventually I unexpectedly found a different Lidl which I didn't even know existed, before passing past the one I originally set out for on my (again guessed) way back.

Perhaps I don't really know this place at all - but my mushrooms had better be good!

When my parents came to town

This week I've been playing the host to my parents. Before they came I realised that I just spent more time in America than I did at home this Christmas, so it was great to see them both again. And I don't say that just because they might be reading! I'm sure they'll thank me for the photo.


We spent the week travelling around the Netherlands by train, but due to engineering works I think we actually spent most of our time changing trains at Amsterdam Centraal! Nonetheless we managed to visit The Hague, Gouda, Schveningen, Leiden, Haarlem, Amsterdam, Enkhuizen, The Zuiderzee Museum, Kasteel De Haar and, of course, Utrecht. So that's quite an impressive list for a six-day visit. I'd been to most of the places before, but it was nice to go back to them for a better look around.

I'd been interested in seeing the sea front at Schveningen for some time to see how it compared to Zandvoort which is a little further north. I thought Zandvoort was a little tacky, but Schveningen manages to surpass it and comes pretty close to being Brighton. Still, it was a lovely evening when we got there with a terrific sunset setting things off nicely.


I fact, sunsets would become a recurring theme. With the weather being extremely nice (too nice?) here recently, the sun seemed to be putting on a show every night, especially in Haarlem.


It was good to get to Gouda as well. I've passed through it a number of times on the train without every getting off, but it was worth a little detour despite being very similar to Delft. I'll try and go back later in the year when they start up the weekly cheese auctions again. In Amsterdam we managed to take in the so-called 'premier' Farmers' Market in the Netherlands at the Noorderkerk, and it was indeed quite a place - stalls selling nothing but mushroom varieties anyone? I also found the time to fall asleep in the Vondelpark.

Highlight of their trip though was probably the Zuiderzee Musuem and the neighbouring town of Enkhuizen. About an hour north of Amsterdam the Museum is an open air reconstruction of a Dutch turn-of-the-centry fishing village, and it's very well done.


I'd been there before on the 'Discover Holland' trip last year and though at the time that it would be a good place to go back to, and it was, especially seeing how we got there on a 'Museum Weekend' which meant it was free. We were less rushed this time and we had a chance to have a proper look around and in it's multitude of ye olde shops selling everything from cheese to sherbet.


There's a place there where children can get fitted out in authentic Dutch clothing as well which is a good way to add to the atmosphere of the place, although I wouldn't imagine that many would choose to keep their clogs on for long!

After we'd done there we stumbled into the town of Enkhuizen which hides behind the Museum, and it's lovely. I guess it's very different in the summer when it's busier, but at this time of year it came across as being a quiet, laid back town on the water front with an extremely friendly and musical populace.


One of those "I'd like a house here" places that the Netherlands seems to be worryingly full of.

Perhaps though the most bizarre occurrence came about on the last day. Before leaving Washington our mooting coach, had suggested that he meet my parents while they were here. I decided that it was best to think of it as a kind of grown up parents-evening, but how wrong I was. On Tuesday morning we trotted over to his office, only to be taken on a guided tour around Utrecht where he pointed out all of the University buildings and their history, as well as telling us about the history of the town and the canals etc and he even explained everything to be seen in the Dom Kerk. This in itself was quite remarkable, but he topped it all off by taking us all to lunch in the Faculty members only restaurant! It was an incredibly generous thing for him to do, and certainly beat the boat cruise we'd planned on taking! Although he was quite quiet when it came to the subject of a grade for the mooting competition...

The award for 'piece of information of the week' though has to go to the apparent fact that my hairdressers back home apparently take note of the size of my sideburns each time I go in - such that they had enquired to my mum whether they were surviving in the Netherlands.

Coupled with the excellent weather recently, the week also gave me a nice opportunity to play around with taking photos.





It was also nice to confirm on any number of occasions that I am indeed my father's son, and that my mum and I are still capable of having a conversation at cross-purposes for quite a length of time before either of us realise. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Return to DC

Famous last words and all that. The previous entry was of course not my last USA entry, for I've not yet posted on the touristy side of Washington - an oversight than I intend to now rectify.

Washington is a grand city, it's extremely stately, but it's loosely modelled on Paris which lends it an almost European feeling in places, especially up around the Georgetown area which retains a really colonial era feel. Unfortunately after being caught out by a traffic-only bridge, which necessitated a three mile detour, I didn't get a chance to properly explore Georgetown, but there was enough time to have a good stonk around the main city. Of course, there's one sight that you can't go to Washington and miss - the White House.


The first thing that strikes you is how small and insignificant it seems, then you realise that George Bush is quite possibly sitting behind the window and it all gets a little more important. It was good to see that the security had been reduced since 2003 and that you could get right up to the railings. We were quite impressed by one schoolkid who marched up and proclaimed for all to hear that he wanted the White House to be his house when he 'growed' up. Full marks for ambition, slightly less for modesty.

Most of the main sights are clustered on The Mall which is basically a cross from the Capitol Building in the east to the Lincoln Memorial in the the west, and from the White House in the north, with the Washington Monument in the centre.


The fact that the centre of the city has been planned like this allows Washington to do something very well indeed - symbolism.



There's no shortage of patriotism, but it never comes across as patronising or intense. Perhaps it's because the whole place is built on it that it doesn't seem overpowering, but I can't think of many other places where you'd be able to get away with it. It was lovely to be there when the Cherry Blossoms were in full swing as well.


Personally, I'd say that the 'best' sight in Washington is the Lincoln Memorial, it's a huge and imposing structure at the end of the Reflecting Pool, but inside, despite its size it feels quite humble and comes with a simple message.



Beyond this, the Teddy Roosevelt Memorial seems oddly forgotten. Scene of my three-mile detour, I decided to go out and see it precisely because it seemed so far away, and sure enough, there was only one other person there. And that's odd. Something that struck me when I was there last, and this time, was how many people came to Washington on holiday. The Federal institutions there are so dominant that if you come to Washington, you're coming to the Federal City, and by-and-large it seems that that's why most people go there - to see the White House etc. I can't imagine that many people doing the same in London. We went to a lecture in the Supreme Court which looked at how the Court works, and it was packed full of ordinary people of all ages. Something similar in the Royal Courts of Justice in London would probably attract only lawyers and not many at that. But this enthusiasm only seems to go so far, about a mile, as shown by the lack of people at the Teddy Roosevelt Memorial. It's curious to travel all the way to the city and then only see the bits you've already seen in pictures. There's certainly more to Washington DC than that.

In a slightly worrying development though I think we might have stumbled across America's new weapon of mass destruction while we were walking along the Mall - ballistic children. Is nothing safe any more?

Going west to San Francisco

Some of you may remember me mentioning the rather interesting American I met on the ferry to Tangier, he asked if I'd been to California and realising that I didn't want to get into a conversation with him I declined to mention that I hadn't, but that I was planning on going. Perhaps not surprisingly he told me "Don't, it's wild. Too wild." I'd heard other people saying similar things, but with slightly different phrasing, along the lines of "Do, it's wild. So wild." So I was very curious as to what I'd find.

The train was late getting into so I didn't get a chance to really explore on the first night beyond the streets around the hostel, and the next morning I'd booked a trip to Alcatraz. So at 7am I dragged myself out of bed and grabbed one of San Francisco's cable cars down to the wharf.


Riding these things is actually quite fun. I didn't get to hang off the side on this occasion, but I did later in the trip when the conductor practically ordered me to do so. I don't know why every other place in the world seems to have such a fascination with trams etc, apart from the UK. I once read a slogan that trams have the ability to bring out the child in any bloke, and my, it's true. Perhaps they should have them in shopping centres... After a short ferry ride over to Alcatraz whereupon I met two English girls who rather gave themselves away by singing a rendition of 'Ferry Across the Mersey' and another English family, I found myself on the sight of the formal Federal Penitentiary.



It's a very odd place. It's so peaceful and tranquil now that it's a nature reserve, but by virtue of the fact that all the old buildings are still there, it retains a huge amount of atmosphere. I've never been in another prison, but they was something about this place that lived up to the expectation engendered by all the films and stories etc. It was suggested that part of the power of the place came from the fact that it was so isolated, yet so close to the sights and sounds of the mainland, and I think there must be a lot in that for San Francisco boasts a tremendous skyline which you could never really not notice.


After going slightly overboard in the island gift shop I got back on the ferry to the mainland and set about exploring the inward sea front area known as the Embarcadero, an area which perhaps better than any other lived up to the California image, with parks complete with palm trees mirroring the sea front, with old-style trams rumbling up the roads.


This was perhaps one of my favourite areas in the city, although bits were necessarily touristy. After walking down to the Ferry Building I explored the downtown area of the town and China Town, which was disappointingly un-Chinatown like compared to what I'd expected. The downtown area itself though is quite pretty with lots of impressive architecture more than making up for the relative lack of older buildings which were destroyed in the earthquake.


San Francisco's famous for its hills, and for someone basing his walking on a 2D map, such 3D features become enormously inconvenient as I found out when I decided to climb the Coit Tower. The street up to it was so steep that cars had to park at 90 degrees to the pavement (sidewalk) and there were steps up the side.


Given the gradient I felt the 'Stop' sign to be rather redundant seeing as most cars would hardly be 'Going' at that stage. This turned out to be incredibly common, and made a huge difference from Holland! But more often than not the climb was more than worth the effort as each crest provided some fantastic views over the city or the bay.


Of course though, the most famous hill drive is the windy road at Lombard. I left this until the last day as I thought it would be quite something to see, and it's quite a sight.



But it's also completely pointless! There are steeper streets that don't wind, it takes the cars ages to get down, and the place is so populated with tourists (me included) gazing and driving that there are signs everywhere telling people ot be quite for the sake of the neighbours. Which is really a shame, as it so picturesque compared to the had concrete look of the other hills.

Jeff mentioned before I left that the best view of the city was from a place called Twin Peaks, so the next day I decided (after breakfast in a very American diner) to climb up there as well. Unfortunately I hadn't reckoned with the weather. San Francisco is prone to fog of the pea souper variety and the bus drivers bemused look when I stated my destination said it all. After about an hour of walking around I came to the top of the city and was greeted by a fantastic view of... cloud.


But odd as it sounds, it was quite something in itself. To know that all around was this huge city, yet I could see or hear none of it and to be standing their alone was an oddly satisfying experience and I didn't really feel that cheated, although I would have liked to see the view! Given that the weather wasn't up to much I went for a stroll through Golden Gate Park, which turned out to be a lot bigger than expected and ended up taking a further two hours before I thought I'd walked all the way back to Holland.


I had lunch under the Windmill, where I was also, for the first and last time on the trip told that my accent was lovely. If all goes pear shaped over here then I think I might go and stand on a street corner somewhere in the mid-west and busk by just speaking! The park itself was oddly peaceful as it was so huge as to completely block out the surrounding city, and it emerges quite unannounced onto the Pacific Ocean. I'm not quire sure why, but I'd really been looking forward to seeing this. I guess it comes from growing up by the sea and not really being that close to it in Cambridge or Utrecht. It might also have been to do with the fact that the coast at San Francisco is known as 'Land's End', which happens to be about 12 miles away from where I live in Cornwall, so perhaps it was a home coming.


The weather was suitably moody and the scene wasn't dissimilar to Lands End back home, but it's quite strange knowing that the country across the water is Japan, rather than America. Next stop on the coastal tour was the Golden Gate Bridge, where again the fog lent an extra dimension.


It was wonderful seeing this huge bridge disappearing off into the fog so that you couldn't see the end, or the top of the towers. Amazingly I also bumped into Jans, the guy I'd sat behind on the train there. He'd just cycled across and back and advised against the same unless I really wanted to see the parking lot at the other side. Naturally I didn't, but I wasn't going to leave without having walked across, so I did anyway, and I agree, it's not great as parking lots go.

As it turned out I should have left the second day until the third day when the weather improved slightly such that I might have been able to see beyond my own hand up on Twin Peaks. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to go back there, but I did get back to the Golden Gate Bridge where this time I could see the other side of the Bay.


San Francisco is famous for its sourdough bread as well, which allowed me to visit quite a few bakeries and satisfy my obsession with bread, more on which here. I also had the time to stroll around the southern neighbourhoods, around Castro, which are the more Latino and bohemian areas of the city where I had dinner in a gay restaurant without realising until I was about half way through my southern fired chicken. That evening I had to get to the airport at about 4am, so I didn't bother booking a night in the hostel and instead found a bar that was showing the F1 Grand Prix until 2:30am which was good fun, and for a change the race was good enough to keep me awake throughout, before I shuttled off to the airport being so shattered that I fell asleep as soon as I sat down on the plane, with practically the next thing I knew being our landing in Chicago on the way back to Washington.

So that was a rather compressed three days in San Francisco, although with hindsight I could probably have fitted a little more in, maybe a trip out to Berkeley which most people say is really worth a visit, so it's on the list for next time! So is California really that wild? I wouldn't say so. The downtown areas of San Francisco didn't feel much different to any other city, but the rest of it did. The areas out to the west and the south really did have a different vibe that you could really detect, and although I hesitate to use the term, I did feel that there were a huge number of free-spirited and laid back people there who really added to an eclectic and electric atmosphere that people like the guy on the boat to Morocco must really hate. For me though it was fantastic to experience and it just adds to the fact that you really can't generalise about America. But despite all of that, I have to admit that I think Chicago just pips it overall.

Something about this photo, for me, sums up a lot of the above, so I think it's a good place to end this entry and my run of USA entries before getting back to my last two-and-a-half months here in Utrecht - scary thought!