Finally! I'm in Delft!

Technically speaking, I arrived in Delft 5 days ago, but the last few days have been so busy that I haven't had time to post anything. So, as I sit here sipping wine and waiting for my dinner to cook, I finally have a chance to summarize my trip, arrival and first few days of settling in.

The week before I left was BUSY. From the time I came back from a trip to visit extended family to the time I left, I ended up meeting up with friends for every single lunch and dinner. There was last minute preparations, packing and shopping for necessary gear. All in all, I didn't get much sleep.

My flight was in the afternoon on a Friday. The check-in counter was less than pleasant. The lady at the counter first weighed my carry-on, then informed me I'd have to reduce the weight by 2kg. Fair enough... Once I repacked my bags, she then asked me to measure its dimensions in the device they had. It was very very close, only one of my wheels got caught on the top rail. Because of this she made me pack as much as I could into my backpack and check the bag. I was not pleased, to say the least.

Once I got though security, however, things got significantly better. I was called to the flight desk, where I was informed that I was randomly chosen to be upgraded to first class for free! Needless to say, this was the most pleasant flight I've ever been on. To top it off, I had some great conversations with the Dutch guy in the seat next to me.

After I arrived, collected my luggage and went through customs, I was greeted by TUD volunteers who brought me to the Welcome desk where I was given important documents. Shortly after I was taken by shuttle to my residence in Delft, where another volunteer was waiting to guide me to my apartment.

My first weekend involved some pre-organized evening activities and unpacking my bags. The was a daytime city rally organized, but my cell battery died, and so I ended up sleeping through it. It was just as well, since the extra sleep likely helped me to be more energetic at the welcome party that evening.

This week is introduction week. I've attended some lectures, met up with and worked with a project group, met a tonne of people and bought many things for my apartment. Today I (finally) found a bike. Now, I need to get a local cell phone, buy a few more items for my apartment and take care of a few more things.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is my last day for this week. Next week my faculty has organized a four day camp in a "secret location". All in all, I'll say that my trip to Delft has been great so far. I've met some wonderful people, seen some of the beauty of the city and I am becoming more organized. I am almost ready to begin my studies. I am so happy to be here, and I'm sure the next year will be great!

Great Wine and Tan Lines

Before my departure for Europe, I really needed some quality RnR time with one of my closest girl friends. The solution? A road trip to the beautiful Okanagan of British Columbia, Canada. The hot sun, crystal clear lakes, orchards, wineries, food and many other attractions was a perfect way to fill five days of quality girl time. Of course, this region is great for guys, couples and families as well. We spent most of our time in and around Kelowna.

Our most frequent activity was cruising around the side roads looking for wineries and fresh fruit. Most wineries have free tastings. The ones with a fee (three to five dollars)  allow you to apply the cost of the tasting towards the purchase of a bottle of wine. One mistake I made was buying too many bottles from the first winery we visited. With my flight to the Netherlands approaching, I had to limit the amount of wine I bought to what I will be able to polish off before the flight. Another worthwhile liquor tasting is the Raven Ridge Cidery, which features iced ciders. These are similar to ice wine, but for a fraction of the price. 

Rainier cherries and peaches were the main fruits in season. Both were very flavorful. Also an awesome find were strawberry-rhubarb and blueberry-rhubarb-apple pies. We were sad to discover that the grapes were nowhere near ripe... I love wine grapes. 

Most of the restaurants we visited were good, other than a couple of breakfast locations. Of note is the last place we went for dinner, RauDZ. It is somewhat pricey, but worth it. The stuffed calamari appetizer (in the picture) was fantastic. The filling was perfectly moist. It was a nice change from the typical battered and fried varieties that are found at most restaurants. We loved the fresh fruit sangria. I had the blue cheese new york steak and my friend had the arctic char. For desert, we shared the featured cherry mousse, which was just a taster size.... perfect considering we were already stuffed! Overall, RauDZ was a very good food find. 

Also of note:

Moo-Lix Icecream Shop: many fantastic flavors of ice cream on freshly made waffle cones.

Blenz Coffee: We had many shaken iced-teas from here. Their baked items were also good.

Siam Orchid Thai Restaurant: I loved my greed curry and the atmosphere.

Momo Sushi Cafe: Very fresh and tasty sushi for a decent price and friendly staff.

Marmalade Cat Cafe: Awesome Sunday brunch. I got the Eggs Benedict with sweet potato and regular potato hashbrowns. Yum.

If you like goat cheese, check out Carmelis Goat Cheese Artisan. They offer a free tasting of all of their cheeses. There was a nice variety of flavors. Some are quite strong in taste, but worth trying at least once. We ended up buying a softer cheese and ate most of it for dinner along with some French bread, fruit and, of course, wine. If you make it out to the farm, definitely try the gelato. I found it to be slightly creamier than the cow's milk variety. The flavor of the goat's milk was noticeable, but overall pleasant for most flavors.

This post wouldn't be complete without mentioning the lake. The water was clear, the sun was hot, the atmosphere was wonderful. I would have loved to cruise the water on a motorboat, but that will have to wait for a future trip. While we were there, unfortunately there were some nearby forest fires that added a haze to the lake, so in some places it was difficult to see across the lake. On the upside the smoke wasn't too thick and we couldn't smell it.

  

While the food and lounging in the sun took up most of our time in the Kelowna, I should also mention some of the other things we enjoyed. Downtown Kelowna is beautiful. We loved the flowers, street performers and Japanese gardens. Our visit to Croc Talk, a Crocodilian conservation facility, was surprisingly fun. We did not expect to get so close to crocodiles, aligators, wild cats and tortoises. 

As far as accommodations go, our first couple of nights were in the Samesun hostel, and our last three were at the UBC Kelowna campus. They were of comparable price. Samesun had the advantage of being close to downtown. We got a private room, but the washrooms were shared. UBC had the advantage of separate rooms with our own private washroom. It was very new and clean. However, we did notice that noise travels through the vents when our young neighbors above us attempted to have a conversation though the washroom vent. The out-of-town location made it harder to go out at night, but didn't really make a difference otherwise since we had to drive around to get to the wineries and farms. 

This trip to the Okanagan was just what I needed before I fly away to Europe. We didn't have a strict schedule, which made it easy to relax. If you need to unwind, take a trip to the Okanagan.