I think that Eric and I came to the Netherlands with some preconceived notions. It is time to admit them. I will admit Eric's first, because it is both funnier to me and of course not my own notion. Eric was surprised at the number of tall, old trees here. I know that part of this came from the idea that the Europeans deforested their continent to build and to keep warm in their past, part comes from how densely populated at least the Netherlands are, and part of it comes from how often wars have been fought in this area in the recent past. Anyway, we got here and he was surprised to be driving through old growth forest not far from our bed and breakfast.
My preconceived notions stem from having come to Europe as a tourist who was staying with family when married before. It felt like I wasn't a tourist, because I was in their homes. It turns out that Europeans, like people everywhere, spend their weekends catching up on laundry, mowing the yard, cleaning the gutters, working on the car. Most do not spend every free waking moment traveling to distant cities to see the sights. I know, you guys are all shocked that I am not jetting off to Barcelona this week, Paris next, and sticking closer to home in Luxembourg the week after. Instead, we might get as far as Amsterdam or Den Bosch...and we might have clean laundry.
Other preconceived notions that have bit the dust: Europeans are more concerned about energy efficiency than their American counterparts; that a VW Beetle or other small car cannot haul a huge camper or horse trailer with a horse; that riding a horse means that your feet cannot touch the ground (they have some tiny horses here).
When we have Halloween photos, I promise to post them.
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