Blogs from Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands, Europe

We boarded the tiny tram again and set off along the tracks which followed the woods. In the distance we could see a windmill or a bakehouse and yet another farmhouse . Sometimes people got off the tram and wandered around before catching the next one . At other times they sat there going round and round . On our way round we were busy reading the literature which told us we were passing the Tower Mill saved from demolition in Delft . We alighted at Lint- Tuinen as did a number of other families . There was in this part of the park quite a number of different dwellings. A tin chapel rescued from Heerenhoek, a prefabricated bungalow donated by Norway . Inside of the prefab along with other houses felt like a trip to ... read more

Wonderful time visiting friends Leo and Ellen in the Netherlands. Spent some time at their home, as well as a day in Amsterdam. Took a canal tour and had typical Dutch food at The Pantry restaurant in Amsterdam -- very delicious! We stayed overnight at The College Hotel, run by students in the hotel business, which was very nice.... read more

Imagine the scene – a beautiful morning, sun shining, little wind, birds singing and a delightful little enclosed harbour in a Hanseatic fortified town called Woudrichem (not that it matters where it was), we set sail for our first full day of travelling and round the corner and there is a bride and groom and photographers and all – how pretty – and then round the next bend another bride and groom. What a start to the morning. But I get ahead of myself – we travel back to Drimmelen on Wednesday, through the Shuttle and then around Antwerp – not as easy as it sounds because there seem to be road works on all sides. But with the help of the GPS and the old fashioned paper map and courage to go across country the ... read more

Have you ever had a day where you just need supervision? I feel as though my whole day can be described in two words, "oops!" and "lost!" I somehow managed to get lost looking for the train station in Nijmegen (according to the map, it's only 3 turns from Sarah's apartment!), but stumbled across it on accident. From there, the day continued going downhill. My new word in Dutch today is "Zuid" which means "south." I accidentally got off the train at the wrong Arnhem stop - I got off at Arnhem Zuid, rather than Arnhem Centraal. Ultimately, after consulting a map and realizing it was a 5 kilometer walk, I decided to wait for the next train to travel the one stop over. From there, the central train station in Arnhem has 2 exits...of course ... read more

After 2 very busy months it is time for a new blog entry. But...... First of al I wish you all the best for 2012!!!!! The past 2 months I've been busy with the last preparations for my trip. Had to get a visa, some vaccines and finish up my regular schoolwork. But I can finally say that I'm ready to go. I somehow managed to get all my stuff in one suitcase. Besides all the necessary preparations I took the time to search the internet for some recreational time-passing. This resulted in me buying season tickets for the Hawks (Just to make the Dutch basketball fellows jealous, January 14th Minnesota is visiting Atlanta!!!!!). I also started planning a by then well-deserved holiday in May. But more information about that later. My new year’s resolution is ... read more