Blogs from Province of Utrecht, Netherlands, Europe - page 5

there is lots more to discover...... read more

Today we boarded our British Airways flight in Toronto to start our latest adventure! Our plane left about an hour late because it was snowing quite hard in Toronto, and the plane needed to be de-iced. We were worried that we would miss our connection in London, but luckily, we made up most of the time in the air. Unluckily, once we arrived in London, the plane had to circle the airport a few times waiting for a chance to land... so we did miss our connection. They booked us on the next flight though, so we were only an hour late getting into Amsterdam. And, British Airways gave us £20 to spend at Starbucks, for our inconvenience, so we loaded up before we got on our next flight. Sander and Annelie met us in the ... read more

I appreciate that not everyone has the chance to dig up their family tree roots, meet distant relatives and re-live childhood memories, so I was very blessed to have the opportunity to do so. Both of my grandparents (from my mum and dads side) were born and grew up in the Netherlands. They immigrated to Australia in the mid 1950’s leaving behind family, friends and jobs to discover a new life in the land down under. Along came my parents and you know what comes next.. me! A Dutch dish here and there, the oddly spoken word, calling my grandparents Opa and Oma and how could I forget dressing up as a little Dutch girl when I was 7 for International Day at school, has been the extent of my Dutch heritage in Australia. I had ... read more

Zo, de tassen zijn gepakt, handbagage goed onder het gewicht hoewel, de koffer van Alexander weegt 6 kilo, de tas van Wendy 4... de grote koffer weegt 14 kilo, voor 2 personen, geweldig! (er kan in Japan gewassen worden) De kado's zijn ingepakt, ben ondertussen ernstig nieuwsgierig geworden, hopelijk kunnen we wat slapen in het vliegtuig. Anders is daar het onboard entertainment system met veel films en series (Black Swan, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1, Hereafter, The King's Speech en Tangled is een kleine selectie.) We komen woensdag middag aan, als het goed is hebben we dan een voorsprong van +7 uur. in Nederland zal het woensdag ochtend zijn, geen idee. Groetjes, Co... read more

Wednesday 9 March to Friday 11 March 2011 John started work in earnest on Wednesday, with a meeting in Brussels which went well. Ali recuperated from the hectic schedule by staying in the big round bed all day - reading and eating John's share of the Pim's biscuits! Once John finished work, we spent the evening wandering around Brussels a bit more, including the flash Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (in the Wallonian) or Koninklijke Sint-Hubertusgalerijen (to give it the Flemish name). It gets really confusing sometimes when there are two names for everything! We finished the day with dinner at La Fin de Siècle - a very cool cafe style restaurant that is obviously popular with locals and visitors (thanks again Lonely Planet). Off early next morning by train to Utrecht (in the Netherlands) via Rotterdam. We ... read more