Eliot's Travels

We've been enjoying our morning rides to school. The temperature has been cool but pleasant, and it certainly is invigorating jumping on the bike for a quick sprint to the school. I usually ride pretty quickly, as we always seem to leave a few minutes too late.

Our route takes us to the end of our street (Westvest), by the Kolk (old harbor), along the Schie (the shipping canal), under the train tracks, by a firehouse, along a few residential streets, onto the bike path that follows a few small canals until we turn right before the Delft Zuid train station. Eliot's school is by some tall apartment complexes. Along our way, we usually see:

Big barges: some loaded down with sand, others riding 8 ft above the water on their way to pick up a load down the Schie. Sometimes we get to see the turning bridge turned 90 degrees to let a boat pass.
Bicycle touring barges: from what I have observed, these large barges come into De Kolk and dock at night or early in the morning. The boat seems to have 20-30 people on board. They eat breakfast on the boat, load up on their bicycles and then head out to tour Delft. When I go to pick up Eliot at noon, the barges have left for their next destination.
Watervoegel: we see lots of eend (ducks) and coots along our route. There's a wooden board floating in the smaller canal that usually has a couple of coots on it. The canals have this green plant growing on top or floating that the ducks make tracks in as they swim through it. We've also seen at least one great blue heron (they are everywhere here) and the swan family two times.
Trains: one of our favorite things is trying to catch the tunnel when a train is crossing. It doesn't happen very often but it's fun to "race" the train to the underpass.
College Students: When I return from taking Eliot in the morning, I pass literally hundred or more bicyclists all racing to classes at tu-Delft (the techinical university). I am going against traffic, so I always have to keep watch that there's room for me. This morning I saw Gina on her way to work.

On Fridays, Lucien takes the day off and Edith is Eliot's teacher with Marry assisting. We were nearly late for this first Friday. When we walked in and Eliot saw Edith and the whole class already in circle (kring), he burst into tears. The change was too much, but after good-byes he went in and found a seat. When I picked him up, Edith said he was tired and quiet (pretty normal), but that he did fine. He was very glad to see me and immediately handed me the pictures he had colored for me that day.

posted by Whitney @ 7:16 AM