Nearly, If Not Entirely, Pointless

A little while ago I made a trip to the American Book Center. It is near Spui where they have other Dutch bookstores and a bookmarket every week. It’s a very bookish place. Anyway, while in the American Book Center I felt like a kid in a candy shop. If candy costs a million euros each that is. I spent forever browsing the three floors and finally settling on a book to buy. It was super exciting. I decided to savor my new book and read a little each night. What I really did was sit down and read the whole thing in one night. Today I went back again, and found a reasonable priced, longer and more difficult book that will hopefully last me longer. So in conclusion, books are thrilling.

Lately when I wander the city, I tend to think of Anne Shirley wandering Avonlea and taking one her rambles through the wood. The other thing that keeps coming to my mind is that line from Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth thinks “She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste.” I am not entirely sure why these two things come to my mind but it might be in part because I am not a big city girl at heart. It’s fine but, as it is slowly becoming a theme in this blog, I like nature which city life does not always promote. The parks are sculpted rather than parts of nature left untouched. One of my favorite parts of Rome was Palantine Hill because it was the one place we went where it was quiet and where, from a naturally high point, you could look out over Rome.

In addition to Stroopwaffels which I can not say enough about, the other food that I have found, that I can’t get enough of, are Sultana Biscuits. They are really just dry biscuits with dried fruit in the middle but I am kind of obsessed.

I have now come to a place where I think I can spot the British and the Americans. Americans are always easy. As Americans, we certainly love our windbreakers. This is not a criticism, however, because windbreakers are practical and work well. Older British people, are especially easy to spot by, I guess, the way they hold their jaws, and their Paddington bear/Gardening appearance. Don't you like the way I generalize entire groups of people? I would also like to note that after taking years of Spanish class, I feel entirely uncomfortable using the word “American.” Yes, I know that people from the U.S. aren’t the only Americans but until we come up with a word like United Statesian that doesn’t sound so ridiculous, American it is.

Also, today I stopped by Hema. I noticed around Easter that they had boxes of Matzo next to the giant chocolate bunnies. Today, however, no Matzo. Like the annual showing of the Ten Commandments on Easter in the U.S., apparently there is some sort of a holiday miscommunication/miscegenation going on. Maybe there will be Matzo there by Sunday. I doubt it.