Day Seventeen, part 2 - Walter (and Amsterdam/Utrecht/Eindhoven)

I arrived in Amsterdam to grey skies and light drizzle -- and the ray of sunshine that is Walter, resplendent in a yellow GoreTex jacket that clashed horribly with the coral-colored bag that he lugged around for me. Friends and faithful fans of Walter will be pleased to hear that he hasn't changed much -- he is still bearded, he still likes to bike (there are three in his room, which I am staying in), and he is still the coolest kid around (according to Julia -- more about her in a moment).

After exchanging brief greetings, we stuffed most of my luggage in a locker in the Amsterdam airport and made our way to a train bound for Utrecht. We walked around Utrecht for a bit, and Walter said that once I've seen one Dutch town, I can just imagine that same town, rearrange the shops a bit, and I will have a picture in my mind for every other Dutch town. Fair enough, I suppose. We had lunch at Winkel van Sinkel, based mostly on the name -- the interior was this overwhelmingly-decorated monstrosity of a place, with strange orange lighting, which I enjoyed immensely. I also had a sandwich with tuna, celery, and 'dragon', which neither Walter nor I could guess a meaning for, so I like to think that the sandwich was so tasty because of the rare dragon meat included in the tuna salad. We then left Utrecht and came to Eindhoven, where Walter has been living for the past year and a half.

Once we got here, I finally got to meet Julia, Walter's fiancee. She's a lovely girl whom Walter has somehow tricked into agreeing to marry him -- it seems clear that he's getting the better end of the deal, since her apartment (four floors above his) is beautifully decorated, she occasionally cooks for him, and she's looking to work while he goes for a PhD in the US next year. Lucky devil. So we went into the center of Eindhoven for a drink, followed by a delicious dinner at a Greek restaurant, followed by hot chocolate and Diet Coke at a cafe.

Even though I can admit that hatred for Amsterdam may have been a bit influenced by the events of the trip, I can safely say that I would not want to live in the Netherlands. Having said that, however, I'm really happy that I came -- hanging out with Walter and getting to know Julia is a great end to an already-great European adventure. I'd last seen Walter at Errol's funeral in February 2006; before that was our brief rendezvous in London in August 2005; and the last significant time we spent together was when we lived together before he went to Scotland in September 2004. That's a v. long time, but I'm happy to report that we quickly picked up where we left off.

So I'm here tomorrow, and then will either spend tomorrow night in Eindhoven or go up to Amsterdam for the night so that I'm near the airport on Monday for my flight back to the US. My trip is coming to a close all too soon! But I'll blog tomorrow night, and when I'm back in the States next week, get ready for the 2008 European Photo Competition! Now, though, it's time for bed.