Blogs from Groningen, Province of Groningen, Netherlands, Europe

OK, that title was horrible, but after some initial stress, I filled my bag (osprey 70) and I can stow all three backpacks I have in one big pack. That should give me some flexibility :) Today, I turned in my lease car (en of lease) applied for the alternative and hope to get some system going when I get back. Flight leaves at 21..and a bit and I'm meeting up with Simon and Mark at the airport. I'm late :x :p I mean: "the hour grows late, when at long last, Roel deems the hour is right to arrive.".. At 18:30 Gonna be fun :D... read more

Our next destination after leaving Delfzijl was Groningen. There is a province in the Netherlands called Groningen, but it is also the name of the largest city in the north of the Netherlands. As we travel through the canals we pass farm land complete with sheep, cattle and horses. There are many homes and farms with grass roofs and some are decorated with intricate wood cut outs of white swans. It is quite a change from the open ocean, but a very pleasant way to see a country – it reminds us of our early travels down the east coast of the US using the ICW (Inter-coastal Waterway). We had been given some tips from others we had met while on the Baltic Rally of places to see and Groningen was one of them. Our timing ... read more

It's always funny to notice the differences between Belgium and Holland (despite the fact we're neighbors). Especially when you're travelling with kids, these differences are quickly noticed by the little ones. It's very nice to see their amazement. For me it's one of the things for which we travel, namely discovering new things and cultures. One of the things that's quite typical for Holland and can't be found in Belgium (as far as i know), is the "Kroket uit de muur". In fact, these are vending machines where you can buy hot snacks like croquettes, burgers,... These are quite popular. Another difference is the huge amount of cyclists in city-centers. It's nice to see that in cities like Groningen, there is so much attention to environmentally conscious traffic. In Belgium you will find much more cars ... read more

Hi everybody Welcome to my travelblog for New Zealand. I was very pleased with my first blog on my trip to Southeast-Asia. My dear friends, family and acquaintances left very sweet messages and responses. Here's the link (in dutch) http://simoneleidelmeijer.waarbenjij.nu/ As you've noticed I've decided to blog in English. So all my friends will be able to understand (most of it). Definitely a challenge and I will most certaintly make plenty of grammar and spelling mistakes. So there's my excuse in advance ;) For the people that are not being able to understand it, please use an online translationsite like: http://www.bing.com/translator/ The only thing I ask from you, is to leave a message if you've read the blog, so I'll know who's out there with me. I... read more

Yes, I admit it that I am what you can consider as a downloader. Espacially things designed for a computer I download. It seems to me that it is just not needed to go to a shop, purchase a cd-rom with a file on it that you need to put onto you hard drive before you van install the whole thing, when you can just download the needed file in about half an hour. I like efficiency. Hence, I downloaded a whole bunch of e-books so I can take them with me to the other side of the planet. At the moment, I am reading the "A Song of Ice and Fire"-series (still at the first books, so I don't expect to be done by the time I leave next week). Next to that, I have ... read more