http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Netherlands , North Holland en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:29:16 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:29:16 +0000 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 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 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 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 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 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 I am absolute crap at taking videos so you can imagine my surprise at capturing this scene of the ConcertGebouw at night. We were on our way home looking for a tram when we stumbled upon it. I hope it works on your computer since it's worth viewing it really is.An hour before sitting at dinner Ron and I were discussing what we felt were the bests of our month in Holland. For me it was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-449901.html Learning to ride with a loaded bike can be humbling. The first time you set out on a tour it is hard to fathom what the bike will feel like under the load of all your gear. The unsteadiness you feel that first time mixed with the thought of the task at hand makes the whole undertaking seem for a moment unimaginable and you are given the opportunity to either quit go insane or focus on what you http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-449671.html Well we arrived at 8 in the morning and it was straight onto a train to try and find out hostel The Flying Pig Down town.... Sounds easy enough but we somehow managed to get lost in little cobbled alleyways.... We finally found our way and after checking in and getting our gear sorted out we headed down to the barhellip.The first thing we noticed was this awfully sweet aroma that seemed to be http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-446714.html I finally made it to Kenya Wow it has been a long weekend of traveling...and it's not over yet.Yesterday Sidney another student teacher from IU and I had a 10 hour layover in Amsterdam I was so excited about all the things we got to seedo. We got off at central station which is right by the red light district. We walked around quite a bit and found a nice restaurant with outdoor seating http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-446333.html Almost one month in Amsterdam feels like three months. The days go by so quickly here yet I learn so much and see so many things every day that 15 hours of being awake feels like an entire week. Have I said that before Im sure I have and the beginning of every entry into this little box will become something everyone can just skip over Oh there Leah goes about time again... Traveling doe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-445528.html On Tuesday night Gran and Gramps arrived in AmsterdamDad Harry Sam and I left early to meet them at their hotel. There we surprised them and gave them directions to get to our place for dinner. It was really cool because when we rode home we were going about the same speed as the tram so we could wave to them.Once we got back we had a dinner that we bought from the market and we showed them aro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-444439.html Amsterdam the penultimate stop on our trip and the one certain people were most looking forward to. We arrived at about 4 and had time for a quick change of clothes before hitting the town. Went and had dinner at a Dutch Restaurant was meant to be local cuisine and the sausage soup was good but could have left the rest. Did a bit of sightseeing after dinner whilst the rest of the group went http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-443753.html Some couples have a favourite song but we have a favourite joke and it goes like this A man visited a farmer and noticed a large and handsome pig hopping about on three legs. I see you have an unusual pig said the visitor but I can't help wondering what happened to his other leg. To this the farmer replied This is indeed a wonderful pig. When a fire broke out in the barn he came to my http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-442418.html We start our journey together at the hotel flipper a very small little place with a front desk clerk that could not be more bothered to do his job letting out a big sigh every time he is asked for anything. Our room for the next two days was nice and small measuring about 8'x10' and filled with two beds a dresser and a sink. Needless to say we didn't spend too much time in our confined qua http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-442371.html On Sunday we hired a car to go to Texel. Texel is the largest island in the north of the Netherlands and everyone at mums work said we had to go thereWe drove to a place called Den Hellder and from there caught a ferry to Texel. It took about one and a half hours in all and the ferry only took about 15mins so it was quite a small trip.Once on the island we decided to go to the beach. Though the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Texel/blog-442363.html