Tagged with ‘Netherlands’

Cousins Ina and Andries live near Groningen in the very top of Holland. We live close to Amsterdam. When we go camping, we often meet in the middle.

Okay, not so much in the middle. We choose a quiet little spot in Vierhuizen. Less crowded than other campings nearby …

The proximity to Lauwersmeer National Park (Lauwer lake) makes it fabulous for cycling. Another drawcard to the area is the ferry to Schiermonnikoog. Read the rest »

Waiting to be released from an Amsterdam traffic light, the corner of my eye forced my head leftwards to the side of the road. There they were … two magic little words I never thought I’d see … Bolshoi Ballet.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I strained to read the poster. Carre Theatre. Swan Lake. Showing Soon. My heart leaped into the air as triumphantly as the man in red tights. Read the rest »

We all need to eat, have shelter, wear clothing (there are some who would argue this) and travel around. To do this, we buy clothes, houses, furniture, gas, water, vehicles, and the list goes on and on. However in undeveloped countries, this list is much shorter. “They’ve got warmth and sunshine” I’ve heard in rebuff as to why they “don’t have the same needs”. But this is changing big time now that India and China are becoming super-consumers. Read the rest »

The winters in The Netherlands are becoming milder and milder. Much to the dismay of the Dutch, for whom ice skating on natural ice is highly sought after. Thanks to the myriad of canals and rivers, skaters can enjoy courses of up to 200km.

The outdoors, ice skating in nature, wafting along reed beds, freedom. That’s the intention behind the multi-functional outdoor recreation centre that opened in December 2007, called “FlevOnice” or “Ice World”. We visited the course on a very busy Boxing Day (2007). Read the rest »

The Netherlands experienced another record warm year in 2007. But in the week before Christmas, the temperatures plummeted. On the 21st of December, it even dropped to minus 8 deg Celcius. Brrr. Winter water sport enthusiasts were enthralled.

We hope you enjoy this brief glimpse into “hard water sailing” and read more about it further down the page. Read the rest »

The most beautiful spring gardens in the world are open for a few months each year. In 2007, when we filmed this video, they were open from 23/03/07 until 20/05/2007.

It was our second visit to Keukenhof and we spent 5,5 hours in this 32-hectare eden. Not surprising, you need the time to fully enjoy the flowers, smells, sights and sounds. Further details about Keukenhof appear below the video. Read the rest »

We live next to a Dutch wetlands nature reserve, called the Oostvaardersplassen (lakes of the East-farers, roughly translated). It’s totally peaceful and home to a multitude of bird species and wild animals like beavers, roe deer, red deer, heck cows and wild horses.

This video is our first foray into making films. Hee hee. It’s great fun looking back at our first attempt. Hope you enjoy it too, and the beautiful marshlands. Read the rest »

Marcel was born in Holland and grew up in South Africa as his folks emigrated in 1971. Fortunately over the years, Marcel learned how to speak Dutch from his parents.

Another real blessing for us, he lived in Holland for five years (from 1990) and then returned to South Africa, where we met and got married. At the end of 2001, we moved to The Netherlands. Read the rest »

“No matter where you come from, as long as you’re a black man, you’re an African. No mind your nationality, you have got the identity of an African“. ~ Peter Tosh

Albeit in reverse, Peter Tosh sings about the way I felt a lot of the time while growing up in South Africa with my pale skin - I felt out of place in my country of birth. The old apartheid “European Only” signs indicated that a white skin meant that we were European, but we felt African. So, who and what are we? Are we South Africans? Are we English? Are we Dutch? None of the above? Read the rest »