Nettle, occasionally.
Greetings from the Land of the Dutch!
It was an odd transition to go from the teensy-weensiest bit of Spring at home, to the full on bushy green Spring here in Amsterdam. It's still rather cool, especially at night but it's not freezing. The air isn't damp but the humidity is sure higher here, too. I hadn't seen much until this evening, when I'd finally reassembled by bicycle and took a quick jaunt around the Spaarnwoude. That is the name of the area where I'm staying and completely to my liking I am surrounded by forest. Essentially we are about 15 minutes to Amsterdam or 10 minutes to Haarlem on the train. Eventually I'll check out both those cities, but for now I'll say I sure like this 'Savings Forest', which is the translation.
I've not done much here so far but in my quest to sleep well at night, and therefore trying to drink less coffee in order to facilitate that, but having discovered I don't want to give up hot drinks, I've gotten on to tea. They had some nice teas in the store. Some are easier to read than others. Some words are pretty easy if you know German, though! Yes. Easy to read maybe, not easy to say, let alone pronounce! Earl Grey by day, Lemon Ginger by night.
In the forest I found nettles and hawthorn for teas. Actually I found I knew many of the weeds. I even found comfrey Symphytum officinale in four or five colours. That I'd like to bring home. Horseradish was everywhere, but I suppose I have that in my yard already. The nettle tea has the scent of vegetation, or the water left over after steaming broccoli, but a better taste, which like most teas, in my opinion, is improved with a little honey. Only other teas can actually be quite tasty. Maybe it could use milk...
This is easily the nicest location I've lodged in so far in the history of deployment. These Dutch are super nice! And thankfully, speak a lot of English and solved some situations for me. The home away from home is bigger than last year, and so quiet at night...
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