Blogs from North Brabant, Netherlands, Europe - page 15

Last Year I travelled by train from Faro in Portugal to Singapore This year it will be quite a different trip, more seeing of Europe and ending in Damascus the capital of Syria. On my way I ll visit also Aleppo one of the oldest cities in the world. If there is time enough I ll continue after Syria to Jordan for Amman and Petra. The route will be roughly, one way, 10.000 km mainly by train but there will be also some parts by coach and vessel.... read more

After what has surely been one of the coldest, certainly snowiest, winters in recent memory here in the Netherlands, we finally got a touch of blue skies this week. Two weeks ago, the snow subsided and made way for some truly welcomed rain, which brought with it the warmer temperatures from the south and west. However, nothing gold, or in this case, grey can stay, and blue skies have arrived joined with freezing cold weather. This odd combination reminds me of Colorado, and makes us all wonder whether or not spring is around the corner. The last year has been a hard-working time of learning, dedication, training, and music making in order to reach our dreams here. I suppose it's a testament to our single-minded focus that it's been so long since I've last posted. To ... read more

Hands up who loves February? It's a strange old month, February. Shorter than the rest, with a leap year further confusing friends and relatives of anyone unfortunate (or fortunate) enough to be born on the 29th of the 2nd. Christians will recognise February as the period of Lent, the period of the liturgical year lasting 40 days before Palm Sunday. Other people know it as party time. Carnaval, Rio De Janeiro, February 13th-16th. Steamy city streets pulsating to the sounds of samba and rhythm-heavy drums. Barely dressed Latinos & Latinas gyrating seductively atop psychedelic floats to the cheers of thousands of onlookers. Mardi Gras, Sydney, February 19th-March 7th. City streets filled to capacity with performers and cheering onlookers. Sexually ambiguous and proud, Sydney celebrates one of the world's best known Gay Pride events. Mardi Gras, New ... read more

After sleeping in until 11:00am, Sarah and I finally wrested outselves out of bed and started our day. It was snowy outside, and cold, cold cold! She introduced me to some of her friends here, and then we ate a simple brunch in the kitchen. Then we got into our carnival costumes!!! Sarah was a mermaid wearing blue and green and I was a butterfly with a mask I'd bought in Amsterdam. HEr friend Bali was a zebra! fun! Around 2pm, we headed downtown on the bus to see the Carnival parade! Downtown, despite the cold, there were quite a bit of people out dressed in ridiculous brightly colored costumes watching the parade floats go by. Load polka and techno music could be heard, and the floats had signs in Dutch and often, large paper mache ... read more

Saturday 18 April, 2009 I take dad and Liz to ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The main attraction here, as I’m told by Miep - is the Binnendieze boat touring - which is the only place in the Netherlands which you can do boat touring under canals. That’s right people we went under the city, sailing over age old waterway, cruising past old buildings with their remarkable “twin gables”. The area of ‘s-Hertongenbosch is about 1 and a half hours south by train from Amsterdam. The area was populated around 1150. A fortification was built around the wall in 1185 to protect the city from enemy attacks. In the 14th century the second city wall was built and meant that the river branches were now in closed in the city centre. The little waterways were called the Binnendieze. Me and ... read more