Holland goes Orange for Queen's Day

Today is Queen’s Day in the Netherlands, the day the Dutch celebrate the birthday of the Queen. The current Queen’s birthday is actually in January but she chose to keep Queen’s Day as her Mother’s birthday since most of the festivities happen outdoors and the Spring weather is generally more conducive. The hallmarks of Queen’s Day are people dress up in orange, the colour of the Royal house and also the Dutch national colour, and cities turn into massive flea markets with people selling second hand goods on all the streets.

Either the Dutch have the luck of the Irish or the Queen is very well connected as the last three weeks have been nothing but cloud, wind and rain with more forecast for the rest of the week but today dawned clear and bright and remained so the rest of the day with temperatures above 20ºC. Justin spent Queen’s Day in Amsterdam last year while Bron was in London so this year we thought we would see what happens in Delft on Queen’s Day. Given the rare beautiful sunny day, we decided to cycle the 15km to Delft, and skip the craziness of the trains.

We arrived just before mid-day expecting the city to be busy already however it was still fairly quiet. There was a stage set up in the Market square and orange balloons, bunting and streamers set up everywhere, and DJs with their own sound system set up randomly along the streets. The city filled up after lunch or so making it much more vibey.

We had a pleasant day strolling around in our orange t-shirts, soaking up the sun and atmosphere. We met up with one of Justin’s work colleagues who lives in Delft and had a drink or two on the ‘terrasje’ or terrace on the old Beestmarkt. To end the day, Justin made an awesome dinner which we washed down with a yummy glass of red wine! After the 30kkm cycle and good meal, there will be no problems falling asleep tonight!

This coming weekend we have our good Chilean friends Joan and Mayira coming to stay with us and then we join them in London the following weekend. Enjoy the Italian sun and gelato and travel safe! Looking forward to seeing you guys soon!!

Hope you had a good long weekend remembering Freedom Day on Friday and with Worker’s Day tomorrow. Bron proudly wore her Green and Gold SA Rugby jersey to work on Friday thinking of everyone at home.

Till next time, have a good week!

x

Boibs in Orange for Queen's Day!

The stage in front of the City Hall in the Market Square in Delft

Crowds browsing the market in the streets

Even the buildings get dressed up in Orange!

Enjoying the Dutch countryside! 

We really enjoy the fact that although we live in a busy city, there is still a lot of open farmland all around us which we enjoy cycling around in the better weather.

Baby lambs! 

We passed a few fields of sheep with their lambs between Delft and Rotterdam. In the morning these three were lying in a row in the sun panting but didn't want to move! Was too cute.

Another friendly resident on the way.

Look Mom, no hands! 

A canal view between Rotterdam and Delft

Hotstuff Comeback

This past weekend we went to Brussels for a night out dancing! One of Justin’s work colleagues invited us to her Dad’s varsity DJ reunion at a club on the varsity campus.

We arrived in Brussels early Saturday afternoon and spent the on/off rainy afternoon exploring the town. Having seen the main sights in Brussels before, it was nice to have a more relaxed afternoon of wandering around. Then it was time to get ready & head out! We had a great time jamming to some old tunes. The three friends who were the DJs had so much fun, they looked like little kids again.

We discovered there was a Stanley Kubrick photo expo on at one of the museums and went to check it out on Sunday morning. I didn’t know he was first a photographer before going into the film industry. I don’t really know that much about him or his movies, but it was really interesting seeing a collection of his photo’s; he was a really good photographer! I also appreciated his work more when I thought that back then they only had very old school camera’s, none of the fancy modern digital cameras, so you really had to know what you were doing to get good pics. It was well worth the effort of finding the museum.

Then it was time to pick up our bags and head back to Rotterdam. It was a really nice short weekend trip away and helped to re-charge our batteries even though there was a very late night involved!

Hope you had a good weekend too! Have a great week ahead!

x

Weekend Highlights:

- Finding the Tintin shop! Not sure how we missed it last time… but we found it this time! And adopted a cuddly Snowy too =)

- Finding Manneken Pis dressed up in a municipal worker outfit complete with broom

- Soaking up the old town atmosphere in the Grote Markt

- Discovering there is a Starbucks at central station =)

- A very yummy dinner on Saturday night!

- A great night out jamming it up on the dance floor to good 60s, 80s & some newer tunes.

- Stanley Kubrick photography expo at the Royal Museum for Fine Arts

- No trip to Belgium is complete without sampling some of the good beer and chocolates on offer, of course. 

Starbucks coffee and muffin time! =) 

Grote Markt shining in the sun in between rain showers

We found the Tintin shop!

Manneken Pis in his municipal worker outfit

Spring blossoms!

We found these two in Brussels, quite far away from their home in Spain! Wonder if they got lost? 

We love Don Quixote and Sancho Panza!

Yummy dinner! and raspberry beer =)

The three DJs having a blast

EU flags at the EU commission building near our hotel

Rotterdam - Utrecht - Dusseldorf - Venlo - Rotterdam

As mentioned previously, Justin and I are going to London to visit Michelle and Graham when our Chilean friends Joan and Mayira will also be visiting them there. And we get to see Shell and Graham's new place too! But first I need to apply for a UK visa... again.

However, there is no UK visa office in the Netherlands; the closest one is in Dusseldorf, Germany. So after doing the online application and getting all the documents together, I made the long journey to Dusseldorf and back today.

First stop was Utrecht Central station from whence I caught the international high speed ICE train to Dusseldorf. Wow, what a fancy train! A comfy seat with a soft head rest, so much leg room and space in the train in general. The experience was only marred by a very insistent and forward lady carrying on about her reserved seats, a bit ridiculous and unnecessary but anyway.

I imagined getting quite lost in Dusseldorf but the visa office was close to the station and very easy to find; even I could find it in a few minutes without my gps, aka Justin! In my experience, the Visa process is generally an unpleasant process including heaps of paper work and usually unfriendly, unhelpful visa staff. Imagine my surprise when everyone from the doorman and security lady to the form collector person, the cashier and biometric collection people were extremely friendly and knew how to smile! This was the most surprising and pleasant visa I have ever applied for!! (apart from the cost, getting all the papers together and spending the whole day traveling on the train...) Visa offices in SA can really take note of how it is done in other places, it really doesn't have to be the unpleasant process they often make it. I really hope the US visa I have to apply for later this ear is as easy and pleasant! Now hopefully the UK visa is approved and arrives along with my passport and other documents with the courier service in time for our trip!

I made a booking for 1pm in case there were train delays but I arrived with plenty of time and was able to apply much earlier than my allotted time. With a hot pretzel in one hand and a Starbucks hot chocolate in the other, I jumped on a train heading back after arriving only an hour and a bit before,  much sooner than expected =) No fancy ICE train this time, just a normal intercity train via Venlo. All in all, about 6 hours travel time, but arriving home with enough time to squeeze in an afternoon nap =)

Due to not doing anything exciting in Dusseldorf, here are only a few random photos, lol.

The fancy high speed ICE train

Street sign in Dusseldorf. I like the way they have the numbers on the sign.

The train from Dusseldorf to Venlo

For a border station, Venlo is very small and random!

In other news, this weekend there was a smidgen of sunshine which we used for a return trip to Utrecht. We visited last Summer but it was a cold rainy day. At least this time it was mostly sunny if breezy and cool. Bron was looking for a new second hand bicycle for leaving at Delft station to get to the University and back. Having had no luck finding a good reasonable second hand bike in Rotterdam, we decided to try a shop in Utrecht recommended by a friend and we were successful! I will miss my little purple bike but it is going to a good new owner and my 'new' one is much more comfortable. We had a nice day walking around the canals and old city centre in Utrecht.

A Utrecht canal looking very Springy =)

Wandering boibs taking a break on a bench

Daffodils!

The new bike that will live at Delft station. It is very comfy!

The annual Rotterdam Marathon was run through the city on Sunday. We watched most of the race on TV and then headed out into the city after the leaders had come in to enjoy the atmosphere in the city. Wow, the top group was so strong and super fast! A route that normally takes us 30 min to cycle one way, they ran both ways in 20 minutes! It was really Amazing to watch. The winning time was 2:04:48. 

This coming weekend we are staying over in Brussels on Saturday night. One of Justin's work colleagues has invited us to her Dad's varsity DJ reunion party. Looking forward to finding the Tin-Tin shop this time and jamming to old school tunes!

Hope you had a good weekend and have a good week ahead!

x

A Birthday Weekend =)

Wow, it has been three weeks since we last posted a blog. Apologies! Life has suddenly been a bit hectic lately. Hope you enjoy this catch-up post on the last few weeks =)

Three weeks ago today we went to see Bryan Adams live at a venue called The Ahoy Rotterdam. Wow! What an fantastic concert! He may be 52 but he still knows how to rock it. He played mostly older hits, we were surprised at how many we knew all the lyrics to!, and also some newer songs. We were also surprised at the average age of concert goers. You know you are getting old when an artist whose music you grew up with is 52 and the crowd is mostly in 40+. The Ahoy is quite a nice venue and easy for us to get to. It looks like they always have a good line-up of concerts, especially in the Spring and Summer.  Other concerts lined up for the year are Snow Patrol, Paul McCartney, Il Divo, Michael Buble, Cesar Millan (the dog whisperer), Disney on Ice and the Spanish Riding School. It is so convenient having such a venue close by.

Surprise! Was how my birth-weekend started. Michelle and Graham had arranged a surprise visit over from London with Justin so that we could spend our birthday together. They arrived early on Saturday morning and we headed to our local park for a picnic. We were blessed with about 10 beautiful days over the time of the Londoners visit; clear sunny days with little wind and temperatures reaching up to 18˚C. The Saturday of our picnic was the best weather of the weekend. It was so nice to sit in t-shirts soaking up the sun watching the ducks swim in the ponds and the flowers open. What a great start to the weekend.

In the evening Justin and I went to see the Cirque du Soleil show Corteo live in Amsterdam. Unfortunately we were unable to get extra tickets for Graham and Michelle but they were happy to veg on the couch after a super early start and long day in the sun. Wow, what an amazing show!! Seeing a Cirque du Soleil show live is so much better than watching it on TV. The acrobatics are incredible, these people have no fear! All the music is played live and there is a lot of interaction with the crowd. But they also think out of the box with the acrobatic acts, it is not just gymnastics. They are really creative and daring, it is amazing to watch. This is so much more than a standard circus. If you ever have the opportunity to see a live Cirque du Soleil show, don’t hesitate, just go and enjoy!

Sunday was another bright and clear day, a bit breezy but still pleasant. We decided to spend the day gazing at Spring flowers =) We took a train to Leiden and then a bus to Keukenhof where we hired bicycles and went cycling through the flower fields. It was still early in the season so there were no tulips flowering in the fields yet but the daffodils and hyacinths were flowering giving fields and fields of yellow, purple, pink and white. We cycled around the fields also along some dunes near Noordwijk beach where we also had lunch. After cycling around for about 4 hours we handed the bicycles back in and then went into Keukenhof where we did see open tulips =) The gardens were really nice and quiet with few tourists, it will be much busier soon. After wandering around the gardens for a while we headed back to Leiden station for a rare Starbucks coffee treat! Sunday evening was spent chillaxing on the couch at home =)

Graham and Shell on the tram to the Rotterdam park

Playing bat n ball and frisbee in the park..... (Wow, he is wearing shorts!) 

......and picnicking in the park

Our hired orange bicycles

Twins cycling through the flower fields

Fields of colour! Purple, white and pink hyacinths. 

Gerbera's at Keukenhof

The Keukenhof windmill

Fresh hot stroopwafels!

It wouldn't be Holland without them

Hot house display area in Keukenhof

Stepping stones on the lake

Swan gazing

On Monday we decided to make a day trip a bit further out and went to Antwerp for the day. The day was spent enjoying the sights of the old town, the shopping streets of the new town, soaking up the sun, having a traditional Belgian lunch (beef and beer stew and chicken pie type dishes) and tracking down the best chocolates and beer in the town! All the museums are closed on a Monday but next time I would really like to visit Rubenshuis where Pieter Paul Rubens lived and worked from for the last 29 years of his life. Next time… 

Tuesday arrived clear but breezy and along with it our 30s =) The last few days had been quite busy so there was a slow start with tea in bed and then skype chats with some family and then we headed into the city to find real Dutch pancakes for lunch. There was a visit to the market, a bit of shopping followed by drinks on the water near the Erasmus Bridge before heading home and making it back to the train station for Michelle and Graham to make it to the airport in time.

Thanks for coming to visit us!! Was really nice to have you guys to stay. Our spare room is empty again =( Come back! And then the nice weather was over too =(

Statue of Pieter Paul Rubens in the Groenplaats in Antwerp

Shell and Bron in the Grote Markt square in Antwerp

Statue of an ogre outside the Maritime museum in Antwerp

Storage sheds at the Port

The Brabo Fountain in the Grote Markt

No jackets today! Spring has arrived!

A Belgian specialty being washed down with a Belgian beer

The Birthday Girls and their birthday hats

Pancakes for a birthday lunch

A few drinks alongside the Maas river and the Erasmus bridge at the end of a busy weekend

This weekend was Easter. Good Friday is not a public holiday here, some companies have the day off and others don’t. So Justin had to work but I had the day off. Friday was the best weather of the weekend and then it was back to cloud, wind and rain. The last few weeks have been pretty busy so we mostly took it easy this weekend. We were invited to one of Justin’s work colleagues for Sunday lunch. They were the first people we were friendly with when we arrived here last year. They have had twins in the meantime but we still hang out. We had a lovely afternoon with them having lunch, going for a walk and playing board games. Not much happened the rest of the weekend apart from pancakes for lunch on Saturday =)

Inbetween the Londoners visit and Easter weekend I have been applying for a British Visa, again. Oh yay, my favourite! It is a bit of an exercise which involves a day trip to Dusseldorf as there is no UK visa office in the Netherlands, how ridiculous. But hopefully they will approve my two year family visa and then it will be worth it. Sometimes I feel these things are just a money making racket but anyway.

We have our Chilean friends Joan and Mayira coming to stay the first weekend of May and we have booked flights to join them in London the weekend after when they are staying with Graham and Michelle. It will be nice for the 6 of us to be together and also to see Michelle and Graham’s new place =) And then it is off to Venice for a long weekend =) Looking forward to seeing everyone and a week’s break!

Over our birthday weekend it was also our one year anniversary of moving to the Netherlands after our big European trip. A blog on life in the Netherlands is surely to follow, one day… soon… I hope!

Hope you had a good Easter and ate lots of good SA treats like hot cross buns and marshmallow eggs! Have a good week!

x