Andre van Leijen Linda Tluckova
we like travel around a world.Andre and Linda
Travel Blog Posts
Meetings in New Mexico April 10 - 12/2012
Published: May 23rd 2012North America » United States » New Mexico
April 30th 2012
Every European who comes back from the USA tells us how friendly the Americans are. And indeed the people we meet here are friendly, helpfull and open. Everyone welcomes you with a smile and a 'Hi, how are you doing today?' We know now we have to smile back and answer 'I am fine and how are you?' The next question is almost always: 'Where are you from?' We answer: 'From Holland and Slovakia.' 'Oh nice', is the reaction. It is like playing chess. The first moves are the same: e2 - e4; e7 - e5 etc. But unlike the chessgame where the identical first moves lead to a intriguing and complex game, the initial conversation seldom gets a interesting follow up. Once when we told we came from Holland and Slovakia, the reaction was: 'Oh ... read more
April 18th 2012
When we stand early in the morning at Louis Armstrong Airport, we hear that our flight to Dallas in Texas has been cancelled. Only tomorrow afternoon we can leave. Later we hear that Dallas has been struck by several tornados and that half of Louisiana is under the water. Our plane is damaged like half of the fleet of American Airways and parts of the airport in Dallas are destroyed. For me it is not that bad, because I feel really sick and spend all day in bed at a luxurious hotel near the airport in New Orleans. In Dallas we pick up our motorhome. It takes half a day to arrive at Travelhome. Public transport is not that good in this region. When we finally leave with our car it is late in the afternoon ... read more
April 10th 2012
As jazzlovers we cannot visit the USA without seeing New Orleans, the cradle of jazz. The town is fully aware of its historic value. It is a short walk to the Louis Armstrong Park. Here it all started once, specially on the Congo Square, where the slaves gathered to dance and to sing, inspired by old voodoo-rhythms from Africa. A little bit further on we see a statue of legendary cornetplayer Charles 'Buddy' Bolden, the first bandleader in jazz. He played harder, higher and faster than anyone else and was allready institutionalised when he was only in his thirties. There are only some pictures left, but no recordings. While Buddy Bolden bit his time in a psychiatric clinic other jazzmusicians took over. One of them was a poor boy, who worked on a wagon which transported ... read more
Jazz in New York March 27 -30/2012
Published: April 6th 2012North America » United States » New York » New York
April 3rd 2012
After a little break we continue our trip like we planned. Via Reikjavik we fly with Icelandair to JFK airport in New York. Our hotel (Chelsea International Hostel) sits in 20th street in the middle of Chelsea. It is a nice area strategically located in between the icons of New York. It is beautiful weather and we take the opportunity to do what everyone is doing.That means visit Liberty Island with the Liberty statue, Ellis Island where immigrants were checked before they could enter the country, enjoying the architecture of the massive buildings, Wallstreet, the Stock exchange, Brooklyn bridge, the incredible Flatiron building, Paramount building, Chrysler building, Grand Central Terminal. And at night Empire State Building and Time Square. We get pain in our feet of all that walking. But we enjoy it here. People are ... read more
October 4th 2011
Beste familie, kennissen, oud-collega´s en vrienden Deze blog is alleen voor jullie bestemd. Op het ogenblik zijn we nog in Kosice in Slowakije. We hebben hier twee maanden op het huis van Vlado, Linda´s vader, gepast. Vlado was intussen in Alaska. Afgelopen week hebben we hem opgehaald in Boedapest. We hebben onze tijd hier goed besteed. Linda heeft een cursus gedaan, zodat ze overal in Europa als ziekenverzorgster kan werken. Deze Vrijdag doet ze examen. Ik heb aan ons boek gewerkt. Elke dag heb ik zitten schrijven van 9 uur ´s ochtends tot 5 uur ´s middags. Ik had het al klaar willen hebben, maar het gaat toch nog wel een maandje duren. In de weekenden hebben we gewandeld in de prachtige natuur rond Kosice. Vanaf dat we hier waren is het mooi weer geweest en ... read more
Back in Rotterdam august 6 and 7 2011
Published: August 14th 2011Europe » Netherlands » South Holland » Rotterdam
August 14th 2011
It must have been a terrible summer in the Netherlands thus far. Everyone is so white. We are sitting in the train from Nijmegen to Rotterdam. It is a beautiful new train. Even wifi is aboard. Unfortunely graphitimakers have found their way here already. I am afraid the Dutch have the worst graphitimakers in the world. Nowhere in the world you see such a lack of phantasy. It is cold and it is raining. When we arrive at the Central Station we see Robin, my son. The last time we saw eachother was in Chili a half year ago. And then we see next to him also Majorie, my daughter. We thought her to be in Dubai. The last time we saw eachother was in Syria, about 11 months ago. It is a big surprise to ... read more
Sainte Maxime July 25 - August 6 2011
Published: August 9th 2011Europe » France » Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur » Sainte-Maxime
August 9th 2011
At the Airport of Nice we meet Bruno, my brother and Lien, my sister in law. We just came from Madrid with aircompany Iberia. We did not see eachother since more than a year. Together we drive along the Mediterranean coast in one hour to their villa in Sainte Maxime. The low round schistic mountains are covered with cork oaks, pines with parasollike canopees, bougainvillea´s and oleanders. In between you see rich villa´s. Some are from famous people. At the other side of the bay lives Ms B. Bardot and at this side Mr. J. Depp. Also some criminals have or had their properties here -see the Endstra tapes-. But most houses belong to normal people. Like my brother. When we arrive almost all family of my brother is there: Jos, Marieke, Chris, Jolien, Jaap and ... read more
August 4th 2011
Back in Europe After 9 hours flying with Iberia our plane lands at 9 in the morning at the airport of Madrid. We could not sleep last night. The time difference is 7 hours. Our next flight to Nice will leave late in the afternoon. So we have some time to visit Madrid. The airport is ultramodern and though we have to change two times the metro brings us in half an hour to the centre. We walk to the Prado where the Museo del Prado is. We would love to visit it to see the famous collection of Spanish painters like El Greco, Goya, Velasquez, but we are too tired. Instead we walk a bit over the Prado, eat some tapa's and then back to the Plaza Mayor. We love the old buildings. Madrid is ... read more
Crossing Colombia from North to South June 15 -July 24 2011
Published: July 27th 2011South America » Colombia » Medellin » Guatape
July 27th 2011
It easy to get a bad name, but it is not so easy to get rid of it. Colombia has a bad name in the world, but it is absolutely fine. We travelled here more than a month and everywhere we meet friendly people. What a difference with Venezuela, where we came from. They should have a bad name. Santa Marta Santa Marta is a nice city to take a rest. And we need that. We made a loop from Colombia, via Venezuela to Trinidad, from there to Suriname and French Guyana and via Brazil and Venezuela back to Colombia. It made us a bit tired. Here in Santa Marta we can stroll a little along the Caribbean Sea, cook for ourselves in Hotel Familiar, go to the barber next door, drink a beer at one ... read more
June 21st 2011
The first time we were in Venezuela we were not so enthusiastic. But it does not mean that Venezuela has not beautiful nature. Now we are in Santa Elena de Uairén. It is situated in between beautiful savannahs and also the people are nice. The savannah´s started allready in Brazil. Suddenly we are out of the jungle. Santa Elena de Uairén The Gran Savanah around Santa Elena Uairén is worldfamous. Here you can see the amazing Tepuis, tablemountains protruding out of a flat landscape. They are made up of sedimental sandstonelayers of the precambrium. It means that these mountains belong to the oldest mountains in the world. They are about 3 billion years old and were already formed when South-America, Africa and Australia were united in supercontinent Gondwana. They remind us of the mountains we have ... read more
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