Blogs from Netherlands, Europe

Advertisement

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam February 22nd 2024

KLM Limes and lemons -Piprey Feb 2024 Amsterdam is a liberal capital of goods and crooks. I had the experience of being robbed in the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam and so decided to stick to flights. My journey started at 4am from Swindon to London Heathrow in National Express. Then a free train from Terminal 2/3 Central Bus station to Terminal 4. Well, both the Mumbai and London airports are full of opportunities for long morning/evening walks and for the enthusiasts, afternoon walks too with heavy luggage so that one can indulge in sweets and not feel regret thanks to vastly spread-out airports! At security, I was removing both my laptops from my bag to put them on the tray for scanning. Before I knew, the tray was gone. I looked up and down. The ... read more
View of canal and traffic from office
Herengracht canal at night
Canal and bare trees in Amsterdam

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam January 1st 2024

Made only in exceptional years, vintage Champagne is a rarity, and rosé versions are even scarcer. Produced exclusively with grapes from Grand Cru sites, this ballet slipper–colored sparkler is composed of 70 percent Pinot Noir and 30 percent Chardonnay. The yield was very small but exceptional, a result attributable to not only the harvest but also the more than 12 years the Champagne spent aging in chalk cellars dating to Gallo-Roman times before being exposed to light. This elegant cuvée—just 450 bottles of which were reserved for the U.S.—exhibits persistent effervescence with a frothy mousse cap. It has great mouthfeel and is incredibly lively on the tongue with flavors of red cherry, pink grapefruit, tangerine peel, and dried sage. Vintage Champagne only gets better with age, and this will mature beautifully for another 15 years. $400 ... read more
Sea Bar specialties
van Gogh Museum

Europe » Netherlands October 16th 2023

Maandag 16 oktober Om 8.00u laden we de auto in en vertrekken we richting Drenthe. Het is maandagochtend, maar vooralsnog is er gelukkig geen file te bekennen! We zien zowaar de zon opkomen, maar intussen valt er toch geregeld een klein buitje regen. En zo blijft het op de hele route, bewolkt, soms wat regen en af en toe een glimpje zon. Het blijft de hele weg goed doorrijden en omdat we rekenden op wat file, zijn we al mooi vroeg in Drenthe, genoeg tijd om even een stukje door een bos te rijden. Om ongeveer 11.00u komen we bij Marja B. in Westdorp aan, om de sleutel te halen. We krijgen een bakkie koffie en al snel arriveert Marjan, nummer 3 van ons reisgezelschap. Na wat kletsen gaan we richting Camping de Tien Heugten, ... read more
Paddenstoelen wandeling Ellertshaar
Paddenstoelen wandeling Ellertshaar
Paddenstoelen wandeling Ellertshaar

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland October 10th 2023

Had a great sleep and breakfast and off on our Canal cruise around Amsterdam Old Town a great way to get around the city … quirky houseboats parked up and people living aboard as in England… back at lunchtime and enjoyed more amazing food …. We pulled out of Amsterdam as we were having lunch and headed up the Rhine … lots of barges and boats to and fro as this form of transport and cargo still seems very popular… had a snooze after lunch and back up to the lounge bar for some music and couple of Prosecco’s and Pina Colada. A talk from the cruise director and toast to the capitan and cruise and down for dinner … finished at 9 and crashed …. Sleeping on the move with faint drone of the engines ... read more
IMG_4090.
IMG_4081.
IMG_4078.

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam October 9th 2023

Big sleep in and leisurely breakfast …showered and packed up check out over here is noon ….Down to Port side midday and onto scenic boat started with a glass of bubbly (drinks always put in front of you and all inclusive … had to pace myself) and amazing food!!!…. At 2.30 they took us through to our room and we settled in nice to unpack for a couple of weeks!!!…back up to the lounge at 5 pm for more bubbly and the capitains welcome and general tour information followed by dinner at 7pm amazing food !!!… ... read more
IMG_3997.
IMG_4047.
IMG_3990.

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam October 8th 2023

Early start again, breakfast and off to the pick up point for the Tour. Hopped on the double decker bus and out to Zaanse Schans …. A quick tour of the windmills used for all types of work …. Sawing wood, Grinding wheat, pumping water, making paint etc ….. carried on across flat land as far as the eye can see below sea level and at Marken saw a Clogg making demonstration. Made the short walk to the ferry and a ride across the biggest man made lake in Europe to Volendam, we watched a cheese making demonstration and sampled lots, had some time here and our sandwiches made at breakfast, returned to Amsterdam by 2 pm …across to the hotel and a quiet afternoon, headed out about 5 pm and had dinner KFC and a ... read more
IMG_3789.
IMG_3801.
IMG_3802.

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam October 7th 2023

Had a sleep in and leisurely breakfast and went for a walk Harbourside of the hotel down by central station to see where the river boats doc saw plenty of Viking and Avalon boats. We got a pretty good idea and we booked in with tickets and tours for tomorrow Zaans Schans Marken and Volendam tour. Back to the hotel around lunchtime had a hot drink and some snacks and a rest for a few hours ….I caught up on the blog and a few bits and pieces headed out around about 4 pm and slowly wandered into town had an early dinner at 5:30 of Maccas and along to the cheese shop bought a fair amount of cheese and continued to wander ……hundreds and hundreds of people arrrrgh and as it got darker noisier !!!!! ... read more
IMG_3687.
IMG_3691.
IMG_3698.

Europe » Netherlands October 6th 2023

Up early again in keeping with our new routine and down for breakfast….at 9 am with bags we got out to the Taxi which delivered us to St Pancras station a huge train station in Kings Cross London ….checked in and went through security as it is an international journey…waited for an hour then up onto the platforms found our train and carriage and boarded ….nice seats and soon we were off, very smooth quiet but travelled at up to 300 km an hour was an amazing experience …have now pretty much travelled on any sort of transport on this trip buses planes boats cars etc went through the Eurotunnel / Chunnel after about 40 minutes took 20 odd minutes to get through the Chunnel and first stop was Lille in France. Onto Brussels in Belgium ... read more
IMG_3583
IMG_3584
IMG_3586.

Europe » Netherlands » South Holland » Rockanje September 14th 2023

Donderdag 14 september 2023 Het begin van een weekend met allerlei leuke activiteiten! Rond 18.00u vertrekken we richting Ahoy, Rotterdam. We hebben maanden geleden al tickets geboekt voor Cirque du Soleil met de voorstelling OVO. OVO is het Portugese woord voor ei. De voorstelling gaat over insecten en bij binnenkomst in Ahoy bij onze plaatsen horen we al volop insecten geluiden om ons heen. Het verhaal gaat over een insect die met een groot ei aankomt, verliefd wordt op een lieveheersbeestje. Alles uitgebeeld door allerlei insecten (mensen in insectenpakken) en al deze insecten beelden het verhaal uit met acrobatiek, clowns, trapezewerkers, diabolo-optreden, slangenmens enz. Alles in flinke vaart en veelal ogen tekort, omdat er op allerlei plekken iets gebeurt. Uiteindelijk wordt de show afgesloten met een ongelooflijke act met trampoline, een klimmuur met de ... read more
OVO
Spektakel
Spektakel

Europe » Netherlands » Gelderland » Gaanderen September 11th 2023

Another long interval has passed since my last blog. Some of you might have thought I had stopped blogging, or, god forbid, stopped travelling. Neither is the case. It's more that I have yet to return to my old travel schedule. The pre-Covid one. I was travelling more then. It's taking some time to get back to that. But I haven't been idle. Since Saudi Arabia there was a Christmas and New Year spent with Jenni in Hagen, several visits from one of my best friends who lives in Australia, quite a few stints in the clinic, celebrating the unofficial Dutch national day, King's Day, in Utrecht with Jenni (her first), followed by one of the most Dutch of Dutch clichés, cycling through the blooming tulip fields of the Noordoostpolder, once the bottom of an inland ... read more
Gaanderen
Gaanderen
Hohen Limburg




Tot: 0.2s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 14; qc: 68; dbt: 0.0467s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb