Blogs from Haarlem, North Holland, Netherlands, Europe - page 2

I met up with a TravBuddy friend in front of the Amadeus Hotel where I was staying. (Traveling in a foreign country it is very helpful to have a local guide to enrich the experience.) We walked the short distance across the Market Square to Sint Bavokerk for a tour of the cathedral with its long rich history. The very large gothic structure was impressive inside and outside, unlike anything I have seen before. This was a good experience for me wandering around in the very large open spaces with stained glass windows, smaller chapels, artifacts, exhibits, and a magnificient large pipe organ. According to Wikipedia There was a wooden church built on this site in the 1300s, that later burnt down..By 1479 a more substantial church was completed. In 1559 that church was consecrated as ... read more

After leaving the marina in Amsterdam the area is quite industrial and you travel the river mainly with large freighters and barges with an occasional pleasure boat. The 2ndbridge of the day opened at 10:30AM and we made it in plenty of time. Fortunately they have places to tie up as do most of the bridges which is very helpful. A lock was next which we entered into without a problem with 2 other boats. Fortunately people from another boat informed us that we had to walk over to the office to pay our 3.50 euro. Everyone was laid back so didn’t seem to mind waiting at all for me to walk across the bridge to pay. These same people gave us some information about the bridges ahead going through Haarlem. ... read more

It's hard to believe we have been in Holland for nearly 2 weeks - with nearly 2 more to go! I'm starting to think it's just not enough time! Onward, we go... Den Hague is home to Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and we must visit her. She lives in the Mauritshuis Museum which is named after a man who had entirely too much money and loved to flaunt his conspicuous consumption. Included in the collection are works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Steen, Holbein and other Dutch Masters. This time, we opt to leave the car at home - bad parking memories sparked a spike in the learning curve and we will take the 20 minute train instead. We are in the suburbs, after all. As we walked toward the Mauritshuis through the House of Parliament ... read more

2. THE FLIPPING OF THE STOMACH Oh my lord! – Those are the words that creep into my stream of thought every now and then, these days. Eleven nights are left for me to spend here, in the Netherlands – at home. After that, I’m not going to be home for 56 nights! Just thinking about this stresses me out. Mostly because of two things: I cannot have enough time to say goodbye to my sweet boyfriend who I’m not going to see for 3,5 months (stomach-flip!)… And secondly, I have to set up some sort of contract with my landlord and my friend who’s going to stay in my house for the 2 months I’m gone. That’s not such a big deal, but time is kind of running out – especially since the landlord is ... read more

After a nice long walk around the tiny shopping dist of Haarlem and a yummmy Biscotoni geleto...i hv settled down to start a travellog for the next 15 days of my life...Why a blog? There are several reasons ...for those of u who have endured the torture of reading my blogs might ask "OH LORD WHY??!!"... Reason -one and most important...for the benefit for family and frenz who might be on the edge either with concern or slow roasting in their own juices of jealousy or maybe both ;) Like every single thing in my life...my trip too kicked off ,with the much needed drama and panic..Here's a tip , next time i am traveling to somewhere get ur popcorn popping and ur drinks chilled ...sit back and watch my show...i can give Jason Bourne a ... read more