Netherlands Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

Every first saturday of the year in Amsterdam, my home city, a big procession of boats with Gay people (and sympathising 'straight' people) is navigating in the Amsterdam Canals. Maybe 100 boats with especially for this event designed themes on board (and behind that another 100 boats with sympathising and celebrating peopde). For centuries Amsterdam is internationally known for its tolerance (in relation with respect!). Jews, Muslim people, christians, buddhists, black&white p...

At last, the moment I’ve been waiting eight months for is there: I’m off to Australia for six weeks! Well, my parents and sisters are tagging along so I won’t be on my very own. After all, they want to see my brother too! We’ll sorta pick him up in Australia ending his travels through Australia New Zealand and South East Asia. It must be sad times for him…   But the best for me! Six weeks of Aussie-culture, Aussie-landscapes, Aussie-food and Aussie-life: Six weeks of Aussimen...

Weekend trips around Europe

Wednesday we were up early for a free full Dutch breakfast in the Jesus Lounge.  Seriously, best hostel breakfast I've ever seen.  Most of the time you get toast.  Cereal if you're lucky.  But these people offered us all sorts of breads, cheeses, assortment of non-breakfast-y meats, pancakes, etc.  It was nuts.  And as I learned, only all too typical for the Dutch.Wednesday was going to be a jam-packed day, so we set out early to see some more of Amsterdam before...

Today Donderdag Meppeldag was all about cacophony. In other words: noise. This meant there were a lot of percussion bands, but there was more than that. I went into town and the first band I saw was FunFare. Three guys dressed in funny clothes with fake moustaches, drums and a big horn. They were quite funny, walked the length of the main shopping street while playing, and making fun of poeple. There was a guy filming them and they just started walking circles around him while playing and the...

The other day I was browsing through Wesenmacke’s (Mackenzie's) photos, because she had just earned the Photographers award.   I saw a cute picture she had taken of a pair of pictures hanging on the wall at the Clara Maria, a nice place they stayed near Amsterdam. See her description and learn more, it sounds wonderful. The two pictures were cartoonish with a Momma bear and her cub and she was tucking the baby bear in for a nice nights sleep.  Cute pictures, but they were no...

Rob and I met up for breakfast and then checked out and stored our bags at the hotel.  We wanted to spend a bit more time in Amsterdam before heading back to Brussels. We walked over to the Waterlooplein and saw a 3D movie called 'The Holland Experience.'  It was informative, but a little corny.  Although I knew that much of the country was below sea level, I did not know that Schipol Airport was totally below sea level!  I also learned the the Netherlands is the 3rd larg...

Well......every monday after Easter lots of the people enjoy a day off from their work.......and what do they do on that day............I think 90% of them is visiting the Ikea. This year it was pretty cold and snow was expected but I decided to visit the " Beekse Bergen" anyway. In the morning the skies were blue, a little sunshine and yes.....it was cold. But a nice warm winterjacket will held us warm. The first thing you walk in to after arrival is the place where the monke...

Going out to Amsterdam with my dad

Yes! It's finally done! We've booked (and paid, but that's another matter...I'm now a poor man again) for our flights and we're now in the process of looking at hostels, hotels and other accommodations... The definite schedule has changed a bit from my last update, so here it is again. Hopefully we won't have to change anything anymore, I'm reaaaaalllyyy looking forward to this... :D 17 Oct. - departure 18 Oct. - arrival Sydney 18-30 Oct. - Australia (Sydney – Brisbane and in between) ...

Planning the BAT is not like planning a usual 3 or 4 weeks holiday. Normally we start comparing our wishes and agree on a certain country or mix of countries. After that we buy the tickets and that’s all. Some days in advance the backpack is packed and we fly to our chosen destination. So how did we plan and organized our coming trip? 9 things about our planning and organizing our trip:   Start: v     We started big and narrowed down. Which continents? All woul...

The problem with this kind of trip is that there isn't nearly enough time in any location to ever see all the things that are worth seeing, ditto for doing.  Of course, if it were, the trip'd be 10 months and probably just cover london and paris.  Anyway, once again Art fell by the wayside.  I figure I'll make up for this by spending an extra 15, heck, maybe 20 minutes in the louvre when I get back to Paris.  Met up with Tara and Adam, switched hostels, which took more eff...

Culture shock is not at all a myth. It's actually a very real and concrete concept, and even the most independent travelers like myself often encounter it. When I studied abroad in 2003, I experienced a severe case of culture shock on the first night of the couple-month-long backpacking excursion that preceded my semester stay in Scotland. I remember arriving in London at 8 a.m. after a long night of traveling alone and directionless, not knowing where my hostel was or what to do with myself....

I had to most fantastic opportunity to live in Utrecht for 4 weeks. I was there for the whole month of July, 2006. Utrecht is a midevil city centered in The Netherlands. Likely if you visit this town you will end up in the heart of the city, which is where the dom and the midevil part of the town is. It is amazing. I highly recommend climbing to the top of the dom! The views are fantastic and I hear that on a clear day you can actually see Amsterdam from the top! I was an Urban Studies studen...

I'm hereeeeeeeeeee...........I made it to Amsterdam after being on a bus for 17 hours from Bath where I recovered from being sick for 4-5 days, on the 17th I arrived at the bus station jumped on and off we went to Amsterdam, it's now the 18th and I just woke up from a much needed nap considering you don't really sleep on a bus. Unfortunately I so far can't get a wireless connectin at the hostel so I'm using the computer that they have for everyones use. The hostel is actually in Utrecht but i...