Blogs from Netherlands, Europe - page 384

Images taken from around the city. (It's really interesting to look at these.. and then compare to the other blog I posted of the Graffiti found not so far away in Berlin.)... read more

I was born in Amsterdam so it's always nice to go back there. My mother is Dutch and I have been told that my first words were in Dutch, before I was whisked away to New Zealand and then Australia. I am a proud Aussie but sometimes wonder what my life would be like if I had remained in the Netherlands. Spooky... This was my first time back since February 1986. I had attended school in Amsterdam for 6 months in 1980 and it was one of the happiest periods of my life. I went back after high school to catch up with old friends but life had moved on and I hardly saw anyone. It was very cold and dark and I was glad to return to Darwin. This trip was only 3 days but ... read more

So I did a big circle around Holland visiting relatives (some of whom I met for the first time) and saw a lot of cool stuff. With apologies to those of you not related to me, I have a lot of pictures of family that might not be so interesting. But in response to some of the feedback I've received, I'll try to include more action shots and fewer buildings and other inanimate objects. So the major stops that I made on the tour de Holland were Hoogeveen, Putten, Amersfoort, Gouda, The Hague, Heemskerk, Rotterdam, and Delft. Enjoy the pictures. * * * I've added a couple more photos , including a couple that Marja sent me. I also wanted to thank everyone who let me stay at their homes, namely the Kiers family, Stina Splinter, ... read more

...and I'm spent. It's been a long day. I have no idea why I'm working on this blog instead of passing out in a bathtub full of cool water. Today, Ton (the same Dutch colleague who toured a bunch of us around Rotterdam) took Dale and me up north near Amsterdam to the cities of Weesp and Muiden for a 10-mile hike across the countryside. Along the way: a fort city and a medieval castle...."ooooooh", "ahhhhhhhh." The weather was awesome...right in the 70s and tons of sun, which seemed like a good thing at the time. My wicked farmer's tan and sunburned face are not feeling particularly awesome at the moment, though. There was some great scenery along the way...old towns, forts, cannons, sprawling farmlands, and paths cut through shoulder-height fields; so all in alll, a ... read more

Victory! Another crushing blow of defeat was dealt out to fellow Cloister patrons last night as the mental giants of team ESSP scored bewildering 57 points, easily crushing the nearest team by a margin of 17 and the weakest team by a margin of 25. Ok ok, enough for the headline news style of blogging..even I'm annoyed. So yup, another great quiz night. Do you know what day the US Declaration of Independence was signed? Nope..not the 4th of July. Apparently it's the 2nd of August. See, I'm learning. This one was particularly nice since yesterday was a crazy hot day by Netherlands standards, so we did the quiz outdoors on the sidewalk, which was interesting since cars would come whizzing past within feet of us. It also made for an interesting music round because ... read more