Blogs from Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands, Europe - page 7

So one night in Frankfurt with a bit of brief shopping and an early night for an early rise to head to amsterdam. Got to amsterdam and said bye to Leeza who was going to head to Scotland to spend new year with some friends she had made at Camp America. Traveled down to Leiden hired a van and eventually found our hotel in Sassenheim. A quick Nana nap and a bit to eat and we are off driving to find Zoeterwoulde. My directions got us there fairly quickly and finding Hermiens and Wim and Reits houses wasnt too hard once in Zouterwoulde. Neither were home but we went for a ticky tour to check out the farm where Dads Dad was born and grew up. Was interesting and the boys got a kick out of ... read more

What a mixed day! It is still a heatwave here in Holland - one of the flattest countries in the world, yet we went snow skiing today. We started the day with a trip to the pancake house, which serves up some delicious pancakes with all kinds of ingredients imaginable. I had a bacon and apple pancake, others had italian pizza pancakes, banana and apple, cheese and mushroom, and all sorts of other niceties. It is a rare treat, but when you are in the flattest country in the world, and it is 32 degrees, the last thing you would expect your host to suggest is to go snow skiing. However, there is an indoor snow park near where we are staying. My uncle has been there for staff development days, and my auntie had lessons ... read more

Arrived in Amsterdam on Saturday and made our way from schipold airport to a really nice hotel. Leaving England was not as quick as we wanted. We made our way from London to Heathrow airport via the tube and bus and boarded our plane at 4 p.m. However, there was some sort of problem and we sat in the plane for an hour before we got to the runway. As the plane started down the runway it pulled off on a taxi way and we were informed that we had burned up so much fuel waiting that we had to refuel. Two hours later we finally took off. Holland is truly beautiful and we are enjoying the old buildings and history. We checked in on the barge, the Anna Marie Agnes, on Saturday and then went ... read more

I write here two lines about the day of my PhD defense. A big thank to all the people who came to my party and that contributed to make this day very special, to my paraninfs (Elena & Simona), to all the friends that I met in Holland and also to all the ones who came from Italy. And for the people who didn't come... well, maybe I will forgive you :) You can see here some photos of the defense, dinner and party. ... read more

after a much shorter flight than we were used to we managed to touch down at amsterdam in the netherlands. as we walked through customs we were welcomed with the usual welcome by our fellow dutchie rellies. in total we new about four of the fifteen or so standing there so it was introductions after introductions followed by the typical three kisses on the cheeks. we split up into different vehicles and all clambered out a good half hour later at tante Hermiens home in Zoutewoude. Zoutewoude is a small town right next to Leiden which is half an hour from the airport. after a few rounds of drinks the now known rellies slowly dispersed untill there was only us and tante Hermien. we split from the lounge and headed into a deep sleep after an ... read more