In the name of Dark Knight....

It seems as though no one can shut up about the newest Batman movie and I was so bummed when I learned that it would not be released in Germany until September. September! That is an unacceptable amount of time for me to wait. Forget me, there was no way Ryan could take two months of smugness from his friends in the states about it. Our solution to that problem, however, was Holland. Who gets to be smug now? We went to the Netherlands yesterday, and just to watch a movie. That's right. The Netherlands. For a movie. There is a super cheap ticket on the weekend for groups to travel by train so we armed ourselves with a Canadian couple and crossed the border.

The city of Enschede is rather dirty and I have jokingly have dubbed it Münster's Tijuana. It is only an hour, maybe, on the regional line and just one or two stops after the border. Many people will travel there just for the cheaper shopping. Really, it's the shopping they go for. *winks*  Our travel buddies are quite the little hippies so the visit would not have been complete without a visit to the coffee shop. I felt silly snapping photos in there so the above photo is the only one you're going to get. It was a rather funny experience. Show your ID at the door, go up to the counter, check out the menu (yes, menu) and order your pot from a friendly local.  This man, aside from pot dealer, was the neighborhood economist as well and I enjoying listening him rant to the Canadians about the American dollar and how the stupid Americans have brought it all on themselves.  He he he.  I love being an observer.  I also learned yesterday that pot is actually illegal in the Netherlands but never enforced. Hmmm... additionally, the corner shop sold fresh mushrooms. But if you want a beer in Holland? Forget about it....much harder to come by than in Germany. Seems as though I chose the right country to live in.
We had to make a pit stop in the supermarket because Ryan had a request from his roommates to return with cookies.  What cookies?  Didn't much matter, just cookies from a Dutch supermarket.  Any would do.  I was in love with the baskets.  They were deep and they rolled!  Pure.  Genius.  Making this stop post pot shop resulted in the purchasing of more cookies than anyone would need for a few months and Ryan's run in with the confused cashier turned into one of the most hilarious jokes of the trip.  I will stick to not smoking for now, it is amusing enough to just observe those that are high. 

Oh, and the movie? It was fantastic. You already knew that though, didn't you? It was dark, well written, and smartly cast (hooray for Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes). I loved that we had reserved seating so there wasn't a worry about getting there early and saving seats. We were able to thoroughly enjoy the arcade until it was just time to start. There was an intermission (!) which I also loved. I would absolutely make the trip again for a movie.

The above is a little cheesy shot....OMG! It's so exciting to ride a TRAIN! We returned quite late and we were greeted by a wall of rain. Too tired to wait it out, I chose to bike home and was drenched.