Ok, so after I was talking to ye last night, I went for a walk into the main square in Groningen. I could hear music and it turns out there was a big open air concert on. There was over a thousand people there I'd say. The band was Dutch though. The crowd seemed to know all of their songs though so they must have been pretty famous. I didn't have a clue who they were though.....
I'm like so out of touch with Dutch culture! I headed back to the hostel soon after.
Today was another lovely sunny morning. I got up, had another crazy shower and headed to the train station. I found my train pretty easily and headed for Eindhoven, via a changeover in Utrecht. As I travelled south though, the skies started getting darker and darker, and when I arrived in Eindhoven, it was absolutely torrential! And here was me in my shorts and t-shirt! Also my hostel was in Valkenswaard, a town about 8km from Eindhoven. Ugh....I forgot what cycling in the rain felt like....
On the bright side though, I got so drenched in the first 2 mins that I couldn't possibly get any wetter! I was completely 'fliuch go craiceann' as they say, but I was in surprisingly high spirits! Again, never underestimate the power of positive thinking!
The route to Valkenswaard was pretty straightforward and I found my hostel straight away, it was my fastest hostel-find ever! The thought of getting into a nice, hot shower and putting on some dry clothes was keeping me going, but when I got there, I was told my room was being cleaned and wouldn't be ready for 2 hours! Also, the rain had seeped through my bag and most of my stuff was soaked! Even that didn't get me down though! I went online for a while and I think my positive attitude gave me good karma, cause when I was on the hostels website, I found a 15E discount for staying this weekend! Karma!
I finally got my room anyway and tried to air out my wet clothes, it gave me an excuse to reorganise my bag anyway. Also, my hostel is next to a sports facility so I might go for a swim tomorrow before the match.
The rain dried up after a while anyway so I cycled into Valkenswaard town centre, it's pretty crap really.....so, I got the bus into Eindhoven! It's a nice city. Not a single internet cafe though! I'm writing this on the computer at the hostel, 5 Euro an hour! What a rip! Still, what I wouldn't do for my loving fans :)
That's about it for today really. Tomorrow should be really good, with the match and swimming. Hopefully it'll be dry, that's all I ever want! I'll talk to ye again tomorrow.
Peace out for now!
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4 comments:
Sounds like you're having a great trip. I stumbled on your blog because I get regular Google alerts for the name "Mark O'Leary," since that is my name too. How about posting a bit more in your profile?
Have a safe and fun time. I'll be reading your blog from now on.
Oh wow! Another Mark O'Leary! What are the odds?!
Are there many more of us out there?
Hi Mark,
Yeah there are quite a few. There's an excellent jazz musician from your neck of the woods. There's an Auzzie composer of choral music (music seems to run in the group). a minor league pro hockey player in Canada; my cousin in San Francisco; a high tech consultant in the UK; and a few others, including myself, a part-time actor and videographer in Boston.
I also ran across a press clipping about a gaelic footballer, but I forget exactly where. You could Google it.
Where in Cork are you from? My family are all from around Carrigaline.
Happy cycling!
Thanks for the encouragement, Mark!
I've heard of the jazz musician alright and there was a hurler alright from Tipperary, I think. They're the only two I've heard of though. Oh wait! There used to be a reporter on Sky News as well, I dunno if he's still there now.
I'm from just outside Glanmire myself, less than 20mins from the city centre.
I updated my profile a bit more there.
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