Most of Dutch words are guttural in pronunciation. Such as the above - the place where I have been ‘nesting’ since last Saturday.
In the train compartment enroute to Groningen, Sadia listening to her Nek Mah
Halfway through the train ride
That Saturday afternoon, we took the train from Delft and changed in Den Haag (another guttural word) Centraal station for the Groningen-bound service. In total, it was a tedious 3-and-half hour journey, interspersed with an unusually warm weather (read: extra-hot train compartment) and strong manure odor (read: barf-inducing) that assailed our olfactory canals as soon as the train passed a vast farming area (read: incredibly rural part of the country).
Where is Groningen, you ask? It is at the northern-east part of the Netherlands and has one of the world’s largest reserve of subterranean gas. It’s the last port of call – the last big city – before crossing the border into Germany. Not surprisingly, the local twang sounds more Deutsch than Dutch to my unaccustomed ears.
This study trip is in conjunction with hubby’s two-week intensive course, which started last Monday and will finish next week on Friday.
In the playpen specially assigned to our room by the hotel
Upon arrival at the magnificent façade that is Groningen Centraal station, we took a taxi to the hotel, situated besides a very big lake. We then retired to our hotel room that is also large, almost suite-like. And that sadly is where my accolades end.
Now start of Rant. The room doesn’t have a proper Internet connection. What I meant by ‘proper’ is that it comes instead with a dial-up mode, using the phone line. That’s still fine with me, no matter how archaic dial-up might sound. I just want an easy and quick access to cyberspace, within the confines of my boudoir. But get this – we must sign up with a Dutch service provider in order to utilize the dial-up. What the heck?
In Delft, we rely on the university’s fast and reliable Ethernet line to get on the World Wide Web. When we first used it, we were amazed by the speed as compared to the one in our Malaysian home.
So when the hotel asked us to hook up with a local service provider (‘LSP’), I was miffed. We are paying customers for the hotel’s amenities and having to fork out an additional cost to sign up with a LSP is simply a rip-off to me! My husband retorted and likened the situation to having to bring your own Jaring network whenever you plan to stay in a hotel!
That’s not half of it…..The hotel, however, has a stand-alone PC in the lobby where I can freely access 24-7. No extra charge. But I can’t just sit there all day long while Sadia roams to her heart’s content in the lobby. Nor can I lug Sadia around as she naps just for me to use the free PC. A room’s connection is the most practical solution, you oaf!
Perhaps the hotel whose reputation hinges on its continual rapport with a corporate demographic – conference center and meeting rooms – causes it to neglect the non-business segment of its clients i.e., spouses accompanying their husbands or wives to courses at this hotel! How about non-business visitors from a foreign country? Wait a minute – the hotel might not have to worry about the latter since Groningen is not exactly what you would call a tourist attraction in the first place!
Or maybe, since the hotel is annexed to corporate offices, both on its right and left wings, the chances of its ‘business’ customers needing (or looking for) an Internet line after office hours are quite slim.
And to add salt to the wound, wireless connection IS available from the ground floor to the second floor. Huh?! This is probably because most of the conference/lecture halls and business offices are located at these three levels (yup, both aforesaid office wings are only two-storey high).
The hotel rep even had the gall to inform that the building’s Wi-Fi is not readily equipped to cover a floorspace up to Level 7 (where we fatefully reside). And to think the hotel used to be Headquarters for a well-known LSP!
End of Rant. Therefore, please excuse my absence from or delay in visiting, reading and commenting on my favourite ‘blaunts’ (that’s blogs-haunts and not to be mistaken for blondes). Alas, this must be the overriding pitfall of a generation relying too heavily on the Internet as a means of amusement. I vaguely remember what I did for fun before the advent of cyberspace. Three options come to mind: (1) hitting the cinemas, (2) hogging the phone till wee hours of the morning or (3) lolling about in favourite café hangouts in the Klang Valley.
Back to the present, I hereby proclaim this hotel as the worst I’ve so far been to in Europe. The Paris hotel, done up in a shabby provincial way, even could afford wireless in ALL the room (and up to 5th floor too!). Also, the a/c in our current room seems a bit whacked out. Or it’s just me feeling all heaty from the summery climate.
Beautiful, bright day to walk by the lake
Bumped into hubby's colleagues, Robert and Marit - Sadia was afraid of Robert
Still need sometime to warm up to Robert
Temperatures dipped to the mid-teens on Tuesday following five consecutive days of hot weather. People opted for the least amount of clothes possible and could be seen sunbathing on either the sprawling grass or the edges of the ample lake.
Yesterday, tiny droplets streaked our corridor windows after a brief interval of drizzle and gusty winds. Save for the walk along the soothing, nature paths around the lake, Sadia and I have yet to venture outside the hotel compounds (We already trekked quite a distance from Sunday to Tuesday). For a welcome breather, my husband joined us on this stroll. Cool breeze, breathtaking vista of the lake and quiet contemplation were just the ingredients I sought after to momentarily cast away my familial worries.
Oh yes, I DO have another gripe to air out. This hotel is quite far from the city centre and the nearest shopping square entails a 15- to 20-minute walk. With a heavy baby strapped to my body (pushchair is NEVER an option for outstation travels), that feels more like a mile of hiking. Daily shopping trip (inexpensive, non-hotel food for instance) is a laborious effort in itself. Sigh, it is NOT Paris where I can just walk out to the busy town square abundantly filled with shops galore and (halal) food choices. I have yet to find the typical ‘doner’ or ‘turkish pizza’ joint we always frequent back in Delft.
All things considered, it’s probably too much to expect that every town (or city) that I visit live up to my ideals of a suitable residence. Since I do not possess a car to shorten the distance between the hotel and Groningen’s (sparse) attractions, I shouldn’t pooh-pooh the city as a whole. Oh well, the weekend awaits us! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we have some spare time to explore the city centre…..
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