Blogs from South Holland, Netherlands, Europe - page 17

Some might say I made a bad call when I accepted the job offer in Rotterdam last year. I had a very stable, enjoyable job at a large international company in London, one of the greatest cities in the world. I had friends and family, amazing colleagues, played sport, went out often, and lived in my own flat. In mid-2012 I resigned, and in September I made the move to Rotterdam, a port city in the Netherlands, to work for a local utility company. I couldn't speak the language making it difficult to integrate into the culture and make friends. I missed my colleagues, family and friends from the UK and NZ. The weather was even worse than in the UK (hard to believe but I swear it is true). My car was broken into. My ... read more

Keukenhof literally means kitchen courtyard. Actually it is an annual garden show located at Lisse, The Netherlands. It begins sometime in March and ends on the third week of May. Here is a short video which I filmed last April 7, 2012, showing tulip gardens. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBDOznbEbTk For more videos: type in youtube milnovsag keukenhof. There are 4 short videos to view. Tip: buy a combi ticket for € 21,--. It means you have a return ticket and entrance ticket. You can buy on-line paying with a credit card or buy from a tourist office. Public transportation is most accessible in going to Keukenhof. From Schiphol airport If you are a tourist waiting for your flight in the evening at Schiphol airport then it might interest you to know that there is a bus going straight to ... read more

I'm sure it goes without saying... but I love the Dutch!! The city is a lot different than what I've seen in Spain and France. More mellow and modern but still full of life. The people here are very friendly and offer good directions to confused travelers. There are so many bridges and canals here, it can be difficult to navigate. So far I've tried a white beer called Witte which is delicious and a croquette sandwhich. The sandwhich comes on a bun and the croquette it battered and deep fried with gravy like insides. Day 2 in the Netherlands we traveled to Keukenhof Gardens for their tulip festiva. Their grounds include hectares of land with millions of flowers. The flowers smelled unbelievable and were so pretty. They had a classic windmill which Teresa and I ... read more

Heimwee? Ja. Nee. Misschien. Een beetje. Ja dáááág. Ik heb geen idee of ik heimwee heb of niet. Ik denk veel aan thuis, maar of ik het nou mis… niet echt. Daar is het hier te druk, gezellig en interessant voor. Je blijft het allemaal toch nog wel vergelijken met Nederland, Delft en Zoetermeer. Ik zou graag weer eens een normale maaltijd eten, een potje hockeyen of gezellig met vrienden ouderwets de stad in duiken. Maar daar is na juni nog genoeg tijd voor, tot die tijd ga ik hier lekker uit m’n dak! Natuurlijk mis ik jou (wie je ook bent die dit leest), maar ik denk dat ik het nog wel twee maanden volhou. In ieder geval een dikke kus!... read more

After a few intense days in the Netherlands, we thought we would take it fairly easy for the last few days of our visit. So, on January 2, we paid a visit to den Haag (The Hague) and we thoroughly toured through Utrecht the next day. Getting around in the Netherlands is easy. From Utrecht, we hopped on a train, and about 40 minutes later we found ourselves in den Haag. The Hague is home to the Netherlands Parliament (but is not the capital), and is famous for being home to the International Criminal Court. We however, stumbled across the International Court of Justice, and were confused as to whether that was the same as the International Criminal Court... turns out, it isn't. So, we still haven't been to the International Criminal Court (guess we will ... read more