COLOURFULWORLD: HOLLAND

Showing posts with label HOLLAND. Show all posts

Wednesday, 25 April 2018

Meeting another blogger, Goodbye Amsterdam and Hello Lisbon - Day 4 and 5

On Easter Sunday after lunch with my daughter Karina and fiance Thomas we arranged to meet up for afternoon coffee with another blogger - Sandra from http://presepiocomvistaparaocanal.blogspot.com. (which means: Christmas nativity with view to the canal).
Sandra is Portuguese and has been living with her husband in Almere near Amsterdam for a few years, and I've been following her blog for a couple of years too.

We drove to Almere and parked in a parking lot next to a shopping in the city centre and the couple met us there shortly. We walked to a nearby coffee shop - Café op 2.
After coffee Sandra and J showed us around the town centre and then they invited us to their place to continue the conversation.
We had a lovely afternoon, our husband's had a lively conversation going, when we realized it was getting dark and it was time to go, but first we walked to the lake near their house for a photo.

Art around Almere

Almere streets and architecture

A lake in Almere near Sandra's house where we went to take a photo before leaving

After dinner we packed up our suitcase as we were leaving Amsterdam the following day in the late afternoon.

On Monday, 2nd of April we packed the boot of the small hire car with all our suitcases and drove to Den Haag to have lunch at the house of a South African couple who are friends of Karina and Thomas. We had already met them the last time we were in Amsterdam when they also lived there, but recently they bought a house in Den Haag about 60kms away.

On the way we saw some quirky life-sized white animals on top of a building just outside Amsterdam, lots of windmills and windfarms.

On the road - a modern bridge, animals on top of a building, windmills, my daughter's building model in the foyer of the building.

After a delicious lunch, M presented us with a beautiful chocolate Easter cake that looked exactly like one on the cover of a magazine she showed us. She loves baking and is always trying to perfect her craft.

The other guests at the lunch, a young Portuguese couple who work Karina,and who had just arrived from a holiday in New Zealand announced that they had gotten engaged while hiking in NZ and would be getting married soon. M volunteered to bake their wedding cake, and I'm sure they get a beautiful cake for their special day.

Amazing chocolate Easter cake, the little pug that M and S have that travels everywhere with them

Unfortunately by 3,30pm we had to leave and drive about 40km the airport as our flight departed at 5,50pm. Karina was also flying with us to Portugal, but Thomas stayed behind and would return home by train later in the day and would join us in Portugal on Friday evening.

After check-in, and because Karina is a frequent flyer due to her work trips I was able to join her for a quick snack in the frequent flyer lounge while my poor husband stayed outside, but only one guest allowed :)

We flew Transavia, a Dutch low cost airline, and even though the seats had been pre-booked they put the 3 of us in different rows, a bit strange... but I sat by the window just as I like, so all good.

At Schipol airport

Three hours later we arrived in Lisbon, at 8pm local time. While my daughter and I waited for our checked luggage my husband sorted out a rental car.

Arriving in Lisbon

When ready we bought a Vodafone Sim card for €15 that would give us free calls and internet usage during our stay. We then met up with my husband in the parking garage and drove the 30km to Cascais, where my family live and where we had rented an Airbnb apartment for the 4 of us, which by chance was just 500mt down the road from my sister.

On the way we called the family - both my Mom and my sister were waiting to feed us a late dinner, but we settled on going to my sister first as she had collected our apartment's keys earlier in the day. It was already close to 11pm when we popped into my parents place to give them a hug before going to our place to sleep. Late, but in Portugal most people go to bed quite late and I know my parents are night owls too...

Our beautiful Airbnb apartment in Cascais

Early the following morning my younger sister and nephew would be arriving from South Africa and the family would be almost complete to celebrate my niece's wedding later in the week.

Friday, 20 April 2018

Amsterdam - Keukenhof Gardens - Day 3

After a late breakfast on Saturday 31st March, our daughter and both of us drove to Lisse, about 45 min. away to go and see the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens.

This year the gardens opened on the 22nd March and will close on the 13th May.

On the drive my daughter commented that the fields on the way weren't covered in tulips like they usually were at this time of the year, but Spring had been a lot colder than usual.

This year's theme is "Romance in flowers", and in this 32 hectares of land 7 million bulbs of 800 varieties of tulips are planted, flower shows, inspirational gardens and unique art are on show. This year 100 pieces of sculpture by various artists were exhibited through the gardens.

Entrance fee for adults is €18.00 but €17.00 online, plus you avoid the queues. Parking which can also be bought online costs €6.00, and you need to present your ticket when exiting the huge parking area.

Keukenhof was designed in 1857 as an ornamental garden for the Keukenhof Castle, and since 1950 millions of tulips have flowered in that romantic garden.

The blooming season will conclude with Romance - a classical music festival amid the park's tulips.

If you don't have a car, you can still visit the gardens by taking Bus 397 (Connexxion) from Amsterdam city centre to Schiphol airport and then transfer to the Keukenhof express bus 858.

Romantic gardens - a bride and groom were taking photos (poor bride must have been freezing with her sleeveless dress), and 3 men riding by on antique wooden bikes were invited to the photo shoot.

My daughter and I, my husband and I, bride and groom on a photo shoot

The Romantic Garden area

Near the windmill there was an area where the old way of doing things was in exhibition - the metal worker with his old tools, ladies doing their washing by hand on wooden tubs, herring being dried, wooden bikes and a stand full of antique appliances.
The ladies drying the herring were also going around the area and letting people try herring - quite nice actually.

Showing the old professions

Some of the beautiful sculptures around the park were quite interesting, I saw some were for sale with a hefty price tag...

A few of the sculptures around the gardens

At the Beatrix Pavilion, the orchids were breathtaking, beautifully displayed too around red clad mannequins, or heart shaped displays. Some had colours and shapes I had never seen on an orchid...

Beautiful orchids

And more beautiful orchids

At the Queen Juliana Pavilion we can see how the tulips that originated from the mountains between China and Turkey are now cultivated in Holland since 1593 when a Sultan gave some tulips to a Dutch ambassador. These plants are used to snowy cold winters and dry hot summers.

Today 300,000 bulbs cost a whopping 67,000 euros or 90,000 US$ and 62% of bulbs are grown in Holland.

The last pavilion we visited was the Orange Nassau Pavilion, where the flowers and romance came together in amazing displays - be it at wedding table displays, a horse and carriage, around a quirky red caravan, etc, each more beautiful that the other!

Looking for love? - Say it with flowers

After over 4 hours of walking around Keukenhof we left the gardens and drove back home.
After a late lunch at home my husband and I decided to go for a little walk around the area to check out the two red bridges that we could see from my daughter's 18th floor apartment windows at the Eastern Docklands area.

The two bright red bridges completed in 2000 connect the Borneo and Sporenburg peninsulas. One is a low bridge ideal for handicapped people and the other is a 12 metre tall bridge that allows pleasure boats to cross under, but is climbed over via various levels of steps and has been nicknamed the python bridge. We thought the different levels should have a different colour stripe on the edge, because they were made with the same wood and not well distinguished while walking across.

View from my daughter's apt of the two red bridges that cross that link the canal over the Borneo and Sporenburg peninsulas.

Crossing the two bridges on foot

Across from the second bridge, the tall one, was a statue called "Fragment from a living room, reduced to 88%" by artist Mark Manders in 2001.
Consisting of 2 people standing on a table who appear identical, but have slight differences in posture and facial expression - I couldn't really detect differences though...

Statues on a table, the last red bridge in the distance and how people living in small units brighten the pavement with pot plants

Upon our return we joined our daughter and partner in a coffee shop just a few minutes away, across from the Lloyd Hotel, at Oostelijke Handelskade 34, Zeeburg in the Eastern Docklands.
The lovely Lloyd Hotel "art-deco" building completed in 1921 for Royal Holland Lloyd (KHL) cost eight times more than originally estimated, contributing to KHL going bankrupt in 1936, when the City of Amsterdam bought the building.
From 1921 to 1936 it housed travelling immigrants (mainly Eastern European Jews) as per the mural painted on the side.
From 1938 it was used as shelter for Jewish refugees from Germany and during World War II it was used as a detention centre, later functioning as an adult prison and from 1963 to 1989 it was a juvenile detention centre.
Because the building had fallen into decline, in 1996 a competition was held to decide what the building should be used for. Suzanne Oxennar, a curator and Otto Nan, an art historian, presented a design for a hotel and cultural embassy of culture in Amsterdam.
After an extensive restoration the building has served as an hotel since 2004 and has been considered a national monument since 2001. I wonder if I could have gone inside to check out the building?

The lovely Lloyd Hotel and Cultural Embassy

The canal behind my daughter's apartment building (bottom middle) and views to the city with former Shell building in the distance (middle left)

The area where my daughter lives - the two red bridges highlighted to the left, my daughter's apt on the corner by the big bridge from bottom island, on the other corner with a purple dot is the tram station, and across the rails with a blue cross is where I found the mural I'll be posting on Monday. Amsterdam central station on the right bottom corner.(from google maps)

And after coffee I went to photograph a mural that I had spotted from the apartment ... and none of the apartment residents had noticed it, lol. I had to hurry before it started to get dark. And you'll see that on Monday.

Have a lovely weekend, ours is going to be extra wet, apparently 1 month's worth of rain is due to fall in two days!!

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

Perth - Dubai - Amsterdam:- Day 1 and 2

On Thursday 29th March I caught the 6am flight to Dubai.
The early flight wasn't the best choice, but it was the only one that would enable me to meet up with my husband in Dubai (he was flying out from Sydney at 6m, or 3am Perth time) and then we would fly together to Amsterdam.

The taxi picked me up at 2,30am, was at the airport at 2,50am and by then I was already the 10th passenger in line at the Emirates counter that opened at 3am on the dot.
A few minutes later I was being attended, my bag dispatched, and then I took the escalators to the top floor to wait about 50 minutes until the Security/passport control opened at 4am!

Easter chicks at Perth airport

Early morning pictures - Perth, Fremantle harbour?, Rottnest island and a fluffy clourds

After an almost 11 hour flight I arrived in Dubai at 1pm local time (4h less than Perth) and walked to the departure gate for Amsterdam where I met up with my husband when he arrived from Sydney a short while later. Luckily we had only about 1,30h to wait to board the next flight.

After another almost 7 hours flight to Amsterdam, this time on the nicer and more comfortable A380, we arrived at 8pm local time (6h less than Perth) on the Thursday evening (a positive was we arrived the same day we departed), picked our luggage and went to the Avis counter to pick the rental car that our daughter had hired for us.

Our daughter had gone to South Africa for work and would only arrive the following day. Like the majority of Dutch people they don't own a car and we would need a car to take us to the tulip gardens on Saturday, etc.
When we arrived at the apartment building I rang the bell so our son in law could come down and open the gate to the garage to park the car. Then he helped with the luggage and gave us dinner before we went to sleep at about 10pm. For us it was already 7am and 4am of the next day respectively.

Early morning view from my daughter's 18th floor apartment next to the IJ river (bottom right)

On Easter Friday, 30th March, I had arranged to meet up with Dutch bloggers
Marianne and her husband Stef in front of Amsterdam Central Station at 10,30am.
It was a very cold morning (3C/37,4F!!) and I had to borrow my daughter's boots, beanie and winter coat as I hadn't wanted to carry all the heavy stuff, hoping the weather was better in Portugal and Hungary where we would go next.

Amsterdam Central Station

My husband and I caught the nr. 26 tram from Rietland Park station, a 7 min walk from the apartment, paid for a day ticket for both of us, but had to use a credit card as I didn't remember to look up what was the pin for our Qantas travel cash card, and the driver didn't accept money.

Just 3 stations later we arrived in front of Central Station and looked around the area for Marianne and Stef.

After our greetings we walked nearby to the former Stock exchange building at Beursplein 1, that now houses a beautifully decorated and quiet restaurant - Bistro Berlage.

We really enjoyed their company and hearing the stories Stef had to tell us about the city's architecture as he is a retired architect.

My husband Jose, Marianne, me and Stef

Bistro Berlage and the former Stock exchange building

The red brick building was designed for the Stock exchange by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage, was constructed between 1896 and 1903, and the Stock exchange operated there until 1998. Its huge main hall with an area around 1600m2 is now used as a venue for concerts, exhibitions and conferences. The present King Willem-Alexander had his civil marriage ceremony in the hall in 2002 when he married the now Queen Máxima.

After a second round of coffee for them, and hot chocolate for me and delicious Dutch pastries, we left the coffee shop and crossed the street so Marianne could show us the Beurspassage on Damrak avenue, an arched passageway whose ceiling, walls and floors have been turned into a stunning artwork by Arno and Iris and Hans van Bentem.

Through the mosaic adorned ceiling, the chandeliers, mirrored walls and granite floors we are told a story about Amsterdam and the canals and we get the impression we are walking through an underwater tunnel.

The beautiful passageway Beurspassage with Marianne in the left corner

Details of beautiful Beurspassage

The first tulips I saw around the area

Oude Kerk, leaning narrow buildings, bronze hand over breast, old green glass windows

Major Alida Bosshardt from the Salvation Army, who lived across the road, house from 1686, Boat coming through a narrow canal, a Portuguese restaurant

The tour around the area carried on with Marianne and Stef showing us through the Red light district - Amsterdam's oldest church - Oude Kerk, the quirky bronze statue "Hand over breast" on the pavement - one of a few anonymous statues around Amsterdam, who some people say were done by Queen Beatrix who is herself a sculptor, the narrow and leaning buildings, the original green glass windows of a building, the old gable stones that were used to represent names or professions of house owners when people couldn't read in the Middle Ages. All fascinating things!

House gables, corner statue and gable, street name in Chinese quarter, funny signs

Lunch time was upon us and Stef and Marianne took us to lunch at a restaurant near the Waterlooplein Market, a big outdoor flea market with over 300 stalls - the Eetcafe Blauwbrug at Waterlooplein 403.

Before they left to return to their home in Almere (about 46km away), they took us to the

City Hall building (City center Loket), situated next to the National Opera and across from the Amstel river, where we were shown "The Fiddler" another one of the bronze statues by an unknown sculptor. It's a beautiful statue don't you think?

And here we said our goodbyes to Marianne and Stef.

The market square and the Weigh house

My husband and I then went past the flea market again and bought 2 thick scarves before walking to Market Square (Nieuwmarkt), a centre for commerce since the 17th century. We bought some cheese at the daily market and took photos of the Weigh House (De Waag), a 15th century building, originally a city gate (St. Anthony's gate) and part of the old city walls of Amsterdam.

Nowadays the bottom floor hosts popular restaurants, while the upper floors are closed to the public. It's Amsterdam's oldest remaining non-religious building.

Interesting and colourful snippets of life in Amsterdam

City buildings, Rietland park tram station and sculpture at the station with 3 tables with bee boxes in the top tier.

By around 4pm we were tired, it was getting colder, so we walked to Central Station to catch the Nr. 26 tram back to Rietland Park station.
As we were arriving at the apartment building our daughter was just getting out of a taxi from the airport, so it was great timing.

Later that evening the four of us took the nr. 20 tram that stops in front of their building and went out to dinner at the Taj Indian restaurant at Marie Heinekenplein 1, in the bohemian suburb of De Pijp. Both the food and the service were good.

And so ended our second day in Amsterdam.
The following day we drove to the Keukenhof tulip gardens in Lisse, a 45 min drive away, but that will come in the next post.

Sorry for the pictures overload, but with 650 photos taken in 3 1/2 days there's lots to show!!

Here you can read more about the statues by the "unknown sculptor":
https://whatsupwithamsterdam.com/the-mystery-of-the-sculptures/#JTQ7j9rt0hg95XDH.99

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Amsterdam to Lisbon to Ponta Delgada

We left Amsterdam, on the 1st March, not without some drama, as our son-in-law had forgotten his French ID card, which is too big to be kept in his wallet. As we were checking-in when he realized that, and called my daughter who was on her way to hand in the hired car. She raced home to go and fetch it and still made it in time. Luckily we had gone to the airport 2 hours ahead!

I still managed to get the IAmsterdam photo I wanted, as there is another sign (apart from the one at the Rijksmuseum) outside the Arrivals hall at the airport and it was crowd free too.

Cheese shop at Amsterdam airport

Dutch Clogs at Amsterdam Airport

On arrival at Lisbon Airport we were greeted by my sister, and that evening we had a family dinner with my parents, niece, sister and brother in law and chatted well into the night.

From right to left - my sister, my daughter, son in law, Father, niece, Mother, me and brother in law (husband taking pic)

Early the next morning, on my birthday (March 2nd), we got on a plane again to Ponta Delgada in the Azores island of Sao Miguel.
Our group consisted of my sister and brother in law, our daughter and her partner and us.
We were picked up by my husband's brother J who lives there, and because of the large group a car had also been hired.

Because the hotel check-in was only after 2pm, we decided to do some sightseeing and only go to the hotel later in the day. Our first stop was at a local beach for a coffee and chat to catch up on family news with brother in law J.

Grey skies, volcanic dark sandy beach

Views of the city of Ponta Delgada

A short while later we were on our way to Caldeira Velha Park in Ribeira Grande, about 20km from Ponta Delgada.

I still remember when you could actually drive all the way to the hot pools, but now the park has been renovated, it looks amazing, has modern facilities like showers (albeit cold) and dressing cabins and is more environmental friendly too.

For an entry fee of 2Euro, you can swim in the bubbling hot thermal waters. At the top close to the mountain side is another pool with a waterfall, but the water is cooler.

Take an old bathing suit and towels as the iron content in the water will stain them.
There are walking trails through the lush forest, and there is an Interpretation Centre explaining the island's volcanic formation.

Entry to the Caldeira Velha

Hot bubbling waters coming from the mountain into the pool

Where the water falls the temperature measures 61C ! Hot, hot, hot!!

The pool at the top close to the mountain side is cooler and has a water fall

The pool at the bottom of the park is hotter and more popular with visitors

Everyone I encountered from various nationalities was amazed with the pool, the hot waters, the park itself. We gave Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake) a miss as it was foggy and we wouldn't be able to see the view.
Nearby the Geothermal plant produces 42% of the island's electricity.

It was time to go for lunch, and we drove another 20km, to the town of Furnas, to eat the typical Cozido (meat stew) cooked in the hot spring waters, which had been ordered from the restaurant at the Camping place.

At the end of this post you'll find a Youtube video about how the Cozido is made in the Furnas. This way of cooking in the hot geothermal waters makes the food taste quite different, so if you ever visit the Azores islands, don't miss this experience.

A big platter of Cozido (meat stew)

The town of Furnas nestled against the mountain

After lunch we drove to the town's hot springs and walked around the park, tasted the sulphurous waters (tastes like rotten eggs or iron). The area is beautiful, green and peaceful.

The small pools of bubbling waters are now enclosed due to the danger of people falling into them. This is where the Cozido is "cooked" during a few hours.

At the Furnas Park each car pays and entry fee to visit the park (sorry can't remember how much we paid). We then walked around the lake and the hot waters (this is the area where they have the holes where the pots with food are cooked in).

The big lake at the Furnas Park

Me sitting on a wooden elephant sculpture

The area had a few stray cats all huddled around the warm earth. I read somewhere that they get fed by the council.

Stray cats sleeping on the warm earth

Time to go to the hotel, check-in, have a shower and change so we can go out to dinner and celebrate my birthday.

My brother in law chose a restaurant in the city centre - A Tasca Tapas Bar and Restaurant - and ordered various Tapas. The food was delicious, service was great, atmosphere very good too. Booking is recommended.
At the end of the meal, my brother in law then surprised me with a birthday cake and I blew the candles and cut up the cake. There was still some left over and I took it to the hotel for the next day.

One of the Tapas board with cheeses and meats

Cutting up the surprise Birthday cake - it was delicious too

The family at the Tapas Bar

It was a day well spent, and we were exhausted by the end of the evening!
Time to rest to be fit for the next day.

Watch the youtube video about the Cozido, to see how it's made.

PS - I've noticed that all photos are dated 3rd March instead of 2nd, I had started using my husband's camera by this stage and must have programmed the wrong day.

Sunday 1 and Monday 2 March 2015