http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Netherlands en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:31:54 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:31:54 +0000 Happy New Year guysI had an insane New Year's Eve here at Mirjam's. I was not prepared for it nor could I have been.The reasons for why it was so awesome are as follows.1. Every kind of firework known to mankind is available to the public 100 legal.2. Every kind of firework known to mankind is cheaply available to the public 100 legal.3. Everyone in Holland and I literally mean everyone and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/Gelderland/Arnhem/blog-464518.html Queridos amigos que puedo decirles acerca de este viaje es muy agotador tener que tomas dos aviones y volar por 15 horas por otra parte la molestia de estar dando explicaciones a los oficiales de migracion y mas cuando eres latino ellos piensan que por ser latino no puedes tomarte unas vacaciones en otro pais y vas a quedarte ahi para siempre y no regresaras a tu pais de origen aunque puedo ent http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-464152.html Happy New YearJust an interim 'postcard' entry to wish you all the best for the new year. I saw out 2009 at a free outdoor concert at the Museumplein in Amsterdam from which I considered going home early because it was so cold it started snowing lightly a few minutes before midnight but which I'm really glad I stayed for. Not to mention the gluhwein olibollen and waffles...... The fir http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-464051.html Sorry folks I know Im a bit late with the next travel blog installment but batching it has sidetracked me... but anyway with the spacecadets safely given to the Vkids hostie I begin my solo traveller tales.... stayed another day in London and took in all the War Museums what else is there to do when yoursquore stuck in the middle of a snow downpour... I must admit very coolMuseums were fantas http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/blog-463945.html OKI am still home but tomorrow I will be travelling to Argentina. I have just made a travel blog so I am writing this post to try it out. So.... first I am going to add a photo. Hmmm that was not so difficult Lets see what this looks like..... trying out all the headers hereOk I just found out I should definitely save my text before uploading photos Well it looks like all the photos will en http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/blog-462893.html I was up early on Wednesday to pack and make sure I was ready to leave. Dad and Wanda dropped me off at the Dordrecht train station. After spending every day for two weeks with them I felt very sad to say goodbye. The next day they were flying to Poland to spend 5 weeks there visiting Luiza and Bartek and doing some travelling around the country. I am very thankful to my Dad for taking me a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/Dordrecht/blog-460230.html Fi here. Gabe has given up. Yes that's right. He's taken his soccer ball and he's gone home. No more writing from him. So it is up to me his longsuffering wife to take up the mantle of the blog wowing you with our wondrous journey and adventures. I apologise for the serious delay in updating the blog. We were busy.Hamburg. Full of graffiti and Germans. Pretty cool frankly. It was the first pla http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-460195.html It was time to leave London and begin the real testing part of our journey Couldn't bucking felieve it We were kind of sad to go and excited to be on the next part of our trip already and possibly the biggest part so far. The campervan that we received for our AU43003 month hire was a Toyota LiteAce ldquoNoahrdquo. Obviously this is a Japanese import as it has Japanese writing all over it http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-459752.html Day 7Donghellip.DonghelliphellipDing ..DonghelliphellipDong hellipDinghellip.Ding fuckinrsquo Dong fuckinrsquo dinghellip.donghellipdonghellip.ohhhh stop ithellip.dinghellip..please please hellip..dinghellipdong hellip..AHHHHHHHHHH Literally five feet from the window that I was sleeping was a god damn church. It just wasnrsquot the fact that I lsquosl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-459426.html Day 6 I woke early from my boozeenhanced slumber and made my way to the train station to board the first available train to Amsterdam. A mixture of anticipation and uncertainty cluttered my mind as I awaited my steel chariot. What would Amsterdam be like Will it be everything I dreamed of Is anything there illegal How is a Canadian who grew up in a relatively conservative and prudent http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-459424.html Arriving on a very efficient train from Berlin which I thought was heading to South Amsterdam station the lovely train conductor told me I could hop across a platform at one of the stations and arrive at Amsterdam Centraal which was where I wanted to be so already I was a fan of Holland...Now I was going solo with Ben having gone to Hamburg to see family friends I took myself out for dinner an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-459271.html The title quote is from The Dutch I Presume a great book about Holland and the quirky things Dutch people do. A gift from Judith thanks so muchWell Irsquom down to my last week here in Holland. The trip went by so quickly On Thursday we took the day off from shopping and exploration to relax and play some cards. It rained most of the day so good timing. In the afternoon we went to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/Rotterdam/blog-459151.html Summer coming to an end in Amsterdam in 2009 was probably signified by one of my last balcony breakfasts. During this time I had two couch surfing virgins meaning it was their first couch surf come stay with me.Nastia from Berlin originally from Siberia and Damian from Toulouse France came.We hit up the historical museum along with Shetal in Amsterdamrsquos city centre were I got to pla http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-458915.html Phew Wow therersquos so much to catch up on. Letrsquos see if I can remember everything thatrsquos happened in the past 2 weeks.On Monday Dad Wanda and I took the train to Leeuwarden a city in the northern part of The Netherlands. Dad had gotten us cheap allday tickets from Tante Rite and this was a great way to see more of the country. Irsquod never been up north before. It was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/Dordrecht/blog-458247.html AmsterdamAmsterdam was a super quick trip. We were going to book an extra night when we arrived but were glad we decided not to after seeing our room. This was probably my least favorite hostel because it was incredibly cramped and dirty. As an added bonus there were two girls in our room who were very inconsiderate considering they were sharing a tiny room with 6 other people.Anne Frank HouseTh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-457745.html Fact All Hollanders are from the Netherlands but not all people in the Netherlands are from Holland. Holland is just 2 provinces of the Netherlands. It might be a little confusing since many people refer to the Netherlands as Holland.I've been in the Netherlands since last Wednesday. It's now Sunday afternoon and I'm at my Tante Rite's house taking advantage of her internet since we don't hav http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/Dordrecht/blog-455074.html Our time in Amsterdam.... is a blurr.... but so much fun...... get on itwake up...eat...space cake...laugh ALOT...sleep....... repeat x 5 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-453898.html Haha we love amsterdam Maggie is ggetting married to Walco from holland dunno what he says but hes a cutie. We're gonna cagtch up with californian mike he is nice hot hot hottie http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-453178.html Ivan my little brother turned 22 on the 6 July. That Saturday the 11 of July me and Shetal decided to go on an awesome bike ride to Amsterdam Noord. I had found a nice ride that eventually made it to Purmerend and we decided to give it a go.Shetal hired an awesome bike called Daisy and we headed to Centraal station to catch the ferry over.On our ride out we saw the coolest little space shit contr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Purmerend/blog-451172.html So apparently I believe it is a European thing people put butter on sandwichesregardless of what is on it. Sure I've heard of a grilled cheesenot even grilled or toasted but just cheese and butter that makes sense. NO not here no matter what is on the sandwich there is always a base layer of butter. Not that any of you are interested but today I had a sandwich with you guessed it butter http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/blog-451023.html