As I sit down to write, it is a foggy Sunday morning out my window. When I lived in New York City, I listened to the classical station WQXR when working and Sunday mornings were reserved for WBGO as it played a vocal jazz brunch. Recently I added the WQXR app to my phone and I thought this morning I’d see if WBGO has an app (of course they do!) and as I start listening, the first song played is called “Travels” by Charlie Haden and Michael Brecker. Synchronicity.
This week was a quick trip to the Netherlands to visit family. Dirk grew up in a town called Joure in the province of Fryslân in the northern part of the Netherlands. Frisians are very proud of their heritage, and shortly after I started dating Dirk, he had me watch a YouTube video about Fryslân. I was able to find it again! The video contains very brief nudity in one scene, but is a funny little video that pretty accurately portrays Frisian culture and pride.
In case you didn't know, the Netherlands has two official languages - Dutch and Frisian.
And Fryslân has not one, but two UNESCO world heritage sights - three if you count the Wadden Sea (an area in the southeastern part of the North Sea between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of low-lying Frisian Islands). The newest UNESCO site, named in September 2023, is the Royal Eise-Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker - the oldest functioning planetarium in the world.
We visited UNESCO site ir. D.F. Woudagemaal, the largest still operational steam-powered pumping station in the world. While you can visit the site many days, you can only see the pumping station in operation when the water levels are high enough to need the assistance of the pumping station. We were lucky enough to be there for one of those days. Our guide spoke a combination of Dutch and Fries, so I mostly just enjoyed seeing the station (and having the basics explained to me later.)
When staying with family or friends for a few days or more, it is often a chance to learn and become part of routines and the rhythms different from your own. And it doesn’t have to be in a foreign country - sometimes just a different region, city, locale (urban/rural) or household will unfold new experiences.
We certainly enjoyed the aperitivo in Italy. Similarly, when we visit Dirk’s family, afternoons involve a coffee/cake break and usually some wine/beer/nibbles in the evening before dinner. I asked Dirk if this is a family thing, a Frisian thing, a Dutch thing or a “we have visitors” thing. Turns out it is the latter.
I do enjoy sweets, and I am always a sucker for nice nibbles, and let’s face it, a glass of wine. Do these fit into my weight loss plan? Probably not so much if this were on a daily basis. Am I just not that committed to trying to lose weight? Do people politely refuse the hospitality offered? It got me to wondering if there is any Miss Manners advice about this. A google search brought up surprisingly little. Yourcoffeebreak.co.uk suggests “Try to finish the all of food given to you to show your gratitude.” Food Republic recommends that you carefully choose your words if you don’t like what is served (e.g. don’t call it interesting). Hmmm. Interesting.
I broadened my search to how to be a good house guest. I liked the articles by Real Simple and House Beautiful and laughed out loud when House Beautiful’s#1 rule was “Avoid asking for the WiFi code right away.” And I was surprised by “Always flush the toilet.” (folks really don’t do this? especially at someone’s house?).
I was happy that the etiquette suggestions made sense to me and are ones that we regularly do. Caveat: I DO like to help with clearing the table, putting things away and other household helps, but I draw the line at loading the dishwasher, LOL. I have found that most people have a VERY specific way on how they like to load their dishwasher and get a little fussed about a dishwasher not loaded to their satisfaction. That being said, sometimes not seeing a sink full of dishes might be worth it for your host.
So, did the world wide web provide definitive help with my initial question? Not really. For me, it just needs to be more about the people, social experience and the hospitality than every little calorie.
While travel and nutrition are largely addressed above, here are a few other tidbits from the week.
Travel
A few months ago while onboard Oosterdam, I had the chance to help out friend and former Cruise Director Michael Langley, who was producing a Holland America Line television commercial to air in the Netherlands. His target was to have the ad broadcasting by October. I was a background actor in a scene filmed in the Pinnacle Grill restaurant. As there were many shots, I thought there was a good chance I would end up on the cutting room floor. We asked family if they had seen it and they hadn’t seen it yet, but to our surprise we saw it the last morning we were there. And I made the cut. And it looks like I am eying the candied bacon. Fun!
Nutrition: Sticking with the Dutch and Frisian theme here….We had a nice dinner out at De Jongens van Joure, enjoying seasonal, local flavors.
And as part of the evening nibbles we had Filet Américain. I had never heard of this dish named after my home country! It is like steak tartare with tomato and paprika. Funny enough, the KLM lounge changed its (seasonal?) menu and they had Filet Américain! I have found a recipe to try to make this.
I am chuckling because I am thinking “do I need another recipe?” A task given to people trying to lose weight is to clear their pantries and refrigerators of items that don’t support their nutrition goals, hence reducing temptation. As Dirk always says “We’re eating it because it’s there...” Our kitchen is actually pretty good. But I am a recipe junkie. I love collecting and trying new recipes. I have many stored electronically as files or as bookmarked favorites (both of which I can in whatever kitchen I am). The challenge is two-fold:
Collected recipes that don’t support nutrition goals; and
Clutter! I can’t find what I am looking for because I have too many and they are not labeled. While electronic clutter is not physically oppressive, it can feel mentally oppressive.
So this week I have been culling recipes, removing the temptation recipes and organizing/naming the ones I want to keep. I am about half-way there, but it feels good. Part of the fun of traveling is trying new foods, so those recipes will stay in the fold, at least for now.
Hydration: Mixed. Back at home, I have my pitcher routine and this has been successful for daily water intake.
Sleep: Sleep has been good - always surprising when sleeping in a different bed.
Stress: Stress levels have been pretty low as well. Nice.
Movement: The theme has been walking. I was able to get one dance video in. Still not where I would like to be with this.
As I sign off, the lingering fog has lent a mystical quality to today’s memorials for Remembrance Sunday in the UK. (The blue sky in photo was yesterday.)
I extend a solemn thank you to the service members here, as well as to those from my home country. Whether active duty or retired, with us or in memory, home or abroad, thank you for helping to secure our safety and freedoms.
For now, Bon Voyage & Bon Appétit!
Post update August 17, 2024
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