At the airport, sitting at Gate D82 (miles from anywhere) waiting for my plane to Athens.
Its been a great holiday. A nice balance between doing nothing and doing something.
The last couple of days were spent catching up with family, visiting a wellness centre* and going out for dinner or lunch. There was meant to be a visit to a museum in Den Haag, but of course its Monday and none of us remembered that museums are closed on Monday.
Ok, so this one isn’t totally closed, it opens at 1pm today but I had to be at the airport at 1.30pm. Hmph.
Next time. Gotta leave things to do on another visit. Which will be in springtime so I can see the tulips. And do more stuff outdoors.
This trip was full of rain, clouds (ironically the sunlight is so bright here right now in the gate lounge that I can barely see my computer screen…) and miserable weather in general. It wasn’t too cold however… until we came to Den Haag where it seems its cold, colder and coldest. Its already in the minus most nights but during the week they are expecting double digit minuses… This morning, when we went on our aborted trip to the museum, its was -1 degrees C and there was snow on the wind.
I’m going back to Athens just in time for a cold change and snow on the mountains. Nice. All this time its been warm on Paros and brave souls have been swimming. I mean 19 and 20 degrees… sheesh. I’d be tempted to swim too!!!
*So about the wellness centre… we went there to have a sauna and we had a ton to choose from. In fact, we tried every type of sauna known to man. Turns out the best ones are the common ones – the dry heat and the steam. But there was a lovely heated outdoor pools we had a pleasant swim in, and an icy cold indoor plunge pool we also tried. It was great! I can’t bring myself to turn a hot shower to cold but I can dip in a freezing pool. Go figure.
If only I didn’t have to think about carrying things back to Greece… I wish I had a workshop… I wish I lived in the Netherlands where I could go thrift shopping to my heart’s content.
Who knows. Maybe when I have a workshop of my own on Paros I’ll find a ton of thrift shops in Athens and I can go fill boxes of stuff for upcycle projects, buy tons of old furniture begging to be remade, and have it all shipped to Paros.
I am holding onto that dream.
Till then, I visit second hand shops and mostly drool at the possibilities…
I didn’t even look at the records. I’m a vinyl collector. I have a very small collection, and a record player which will record to the computer, but its not somehting I use often. Or at all, really. Still, I had to take a pic of this. Seemed appropriate somehow.
The photo doesn’t do this painting justice. It was gorgeous. They colours vibrant yet soft, the brushwork beautiful. I’d have bought it if I lived here.
A stack of old wooden ice skates. These would make amazing decor in the right place.
Oh come on!!! What a great item to display in a grooming shop window! I absolutely love the 50s package artwork.
Multitudes of board games. In dutch obviously, but what a selection!
And here is my tiny haul. I always buy knobs and handles when I find them.
Last time I was at this shop I bought 4 small porcelain knobs with a blue delft pattern. Two of them are the decorative ends of my curtain rod on Paros, and I gave 2 to a close friend for a cupboard he made from old doors.
This time round I found 3 matching knobs which look interesting, Two crystal knobs, a brass knob, a faux bronze handle and a chandelier crystal. And some hooks, I always love old hooks or things that can be made into hooks. Like the window thingy – I am already seeing that hanging in my studio with my work aprons hanging off it.
There was an old doll stand, always handy for my makeover dolls. And some little galvanized metal tags I just loved. I’ll use them for something.
I really miss my workshop in Tasmania where I had drawers and boxes for all kinds of things I’d collect anywhere I went. If I needed a hinge there was a box of them, some new, most old. If I needed a knob or handle, there were boxes of them too. Decorative bits, yep. Had them too. I had a selection of old wire items, a collection of old taps, old tins… All the basics like screws and nails of all sizes, hand tools, power tools, clamps, bits of timber, old drawers, baskets, old light fittings… basically, you mention it, I probably had it.
If I was making something or re-making something or if I wanted to make something new, all I had to do was go through my stashes and find the bits I needed to create it.
Collections of ‘stuff’ have to begin somewhere… and I’m starting mine all over again.
It sure was a different New Years Eve for me. Inge and I were invited to spend a couple of days on a friend’s boat, which is currently docked in Terschelling, one of Holland’s northern islands.
I’m not usually a big NYE celebrator, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit somewhere new and do something different.
We were on the Flora, which has 16 cabins and usually does bike and sailing tours on the canals in the Netherlands. We joined a group of longtime friends who have been meeting and sailing together for the last 40 years, give or take.
This was our cute, cozy cabin with its own tiny but comfortable bathroom.
Here are some randon shots cause I just like to do that.
One of the guests had the cutest little dog with him. Would you believe she is 11 yrs old? She has the face of a puppy.
Speaking of dogs (you may not have been, but I am always speaking of dogs), there were so many dogs in town… and in pubs and restaurants. My kinda place. I loved it!!
A little past the port is a little museum of sorts. They had a small display where they fired off one of canons yesterday. They also blasted the fog horn a couple of times, making me jump out of my skin.
If you’ve never been close to a fog horn before, trust me… it rattled all the bones in my body.
The island of Terschelling is 3 times the size of Paros and has 1/3 of the population. We only visited the port town, of course. Walking distance. It was too cold and windy to venture too far.
Today we visited the beach (from afar), got blown to pieces, and retreated into the pub/restaurant to warm up. Like most islands, the winds are ferocious.
We had to visit The Whale, apparently a world famous pub. Or so im told.
To be revived with a french coffee. I’m a convert. No more Irish coffee for me, baby. Grand Marnier all the way!
Tomorrow, we head back to Zutphen, the comfort of home and my laptop. Blogging on a mobile is a pain.
But only for a few mintues. Long enough for me to have to move the laptop over a little on the desk so I could see it better!
However, it wasn’t raining, so it was a good day to go for a long walk, discover some new areas and take some photos to share.
Like this cute gate…
And this gorgeous little path.
And some pretty moss growing on an old tree.
I followed my GPS back to Inge’s house and took some little detours along the way. I had gloves. I was ok.
And just when I was getting a little hungry, I ran into this tent selling olieballen in one of the cute neighbourhoods.
Warm and sweet. Just what I needed… Well, a coffee would have been good, but that had to wait till I got home.
In case you’re wondering, olieballen are kind of like donuts and here is a recipe.
Here is another interesting tree trunk… I can imagine seeing this as a kid, when I was sure fairies lived in trees. I’d be watching this little ‘door’ very carefully!
Of course, no post on Holland can be complete without a windmill, so here is one I discovered on my walk.
Providing this video works, here it is turning and squeaking.
Also, its nice to know you don’t have to live in a mansion (or even have gates) to have lions out the front…
Last night I ordered some Cowboy Magic – turns out it may have been invented by someone in the USA, but they make it in the Netherlands! Talk about immediate delivery. I got it this afternoon!
Beware dogs of Paros, I have a detanger and I’m not afraid to use it!!!
Tomorrow we head out to the very north of the Netherlands to spend New Year’s Eve on a friend’s boat. That should be very interesting. And pretty cold I’m willing to bet. But it should be great fun and unlike any other NYE so far in my life.
Its already been a week and yet it seems like no time has passed. We’ve had some visits with family (Inge’s family), a big Boxing Day dinner, a couple of dinners out, the Christmas Markets in Cologne, and some local shopping.
Town center in a small village called Vorden.
You know how much I love old buildings, the crumblier the better.
Today we visited Vorden cause there’s a cute little shop there we like to visit now and then. On the way I spotted a 2nd hand shop housed in what looked to be an old church.
No need to remind anyone how much I love 2nd hand stuff!
There was some great stuff in there Including some gorgeous antique chairs and beautifully worn old table, but of course its impossible to carry big things to Greece on the plane, and shipping costs would break me. So, I picked up a couple of very small things I can fit in my suitcase.
Inge asked why I would want a book of dutch poems. I said I’m buying it for the illustrations, cause they’re cute, and I will upcycle the pages. Plus, I don’t actually like poetry, so not being able to read the poems might be a bonus!
And this little thing. I got it mainly cause its a recycled tea sack from India, but also cause I just loved the colour.
Yes, tea stain is a colour! (to me anyway).
However, it actually has a use:
So what if I didn’t upcycle this myself? It’s still recycled waste and quite cute too!
There aren’t that many 2nd hand shops in this area and the only other one is closed till after New Year’s… There was a huge one I visited on a previous trip, but it has unfortunately closed since then.
Well… I’ll have other chances, but to be honest, I plan to avoid the op shops in Amsterdam cause I know I’ll want to take another container with me to Greece…
Its been many years since I was at a German Christmas Market! I think the last time was sometime in the late 1990s when I visited Berlin and Lubeck. I’d never been to a Christmas Market anywhere till then, and the huge one in the center of Berlin blew me away.
So, after a few years of planning another visit to Germany at Christmas, I finally made it. This time it was a quick drive from Zutphen in the Netherlands to Cologne in Germany, and the famous Christmas Markets there.
We booked a hotel in the inner city of Cologne and walked to three separate markets for the fun of it. Each market was a little different and all markets are a lot the same. And all are full of colour and excitement and Christmas spirit.
One market had a band and we happened to be there when they played some rock’n’roll Christmas songs.
One market had a merry go round for kids.
One had an ice skating rink. I’d love to have ice skated, but with the crowds drinking above and cheering the skaters (and fallers), I didn’t think it was a good idea. Plus, since it had been drizzling all night, the ice was very wet. No thanks.
All had tons of Christmas lights, decorations, and atmosphere. And lots of people.
There were so many pretty, colourful items for sale in the many booths.
There was tons of food on sale! And people everywhere were enjoying the drinks and food on offer.
A rain-drenched display of chocolate coated apples and other chocolate treats.Roasted chestnuts, of course.Fresh nougat sold by the slice or chunk.Forget Green Eggs and Ham… how about green cheese?Reibekuchen - fried potato and onion… sort of like hash browns, I guess.This was something I’d never seen before – fish being cooked by open flame.
Nuts galore… all sugared. Yum.No German Christmas would be complete without bratwurst.And gingerbread!Decadent hot chocolate to warm you up.I chose to warm up with Gluhwein.Inside one of the drinking tents.Not drunk. Just having fun!
All in all, a lovely evening. Topped off with a visit to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.
I did take some videos but for some reason they don’t want to work properly, so the photos will have to do.
When in the Netherlands my food/breakfast of choice is cheese on sliced bread. I could live on it. It was the first dutch word I learned: kaas = cheese. In fact, soon as Inge knows I’m visiting she goes out and buys cheese – usually jong belengen (a young/mild gouda). I sometimes eat it plain on bread and other times with honey. If you haven’t tried that, do. Its a yummy combination.
A cheese shop in Zutphen. Look at the cheeses in the window upstairs!
While visiting the Netherlands this time I wanted to re-visit the comfort food I’ve tasted over the years. Nostalgia is something that comes with age…
I wanted some dutch fast food – like french fries called ‘patat’ or ‘frites’ met mayonaise – served in a paper cone or plastic tray, with a small fork and sauce of your choice – most commonly mayonaise!
No trip to the Netherlands would be complete with kroketten or bitterballen. They are virtually the same thing in a different shape. These crunchy delights are usually meat, cheese, and gravy that are refrigerated, rolled into logs, breaded and deep-fried until they develop a golden-brown color. You can now buy oven fried varieties for home which is great. I like mine on their own but the dutch usually eat them squased between slices of bread or in a bread roll.
KrokettenBitterballen
These and other fast food can be purchased quickly and easily in automats… An automat is a fast food restaurant where food and drinks are served via vending machines. Amsterdam is now considered to be the automat capital of the world so they’re worth visiting at least once.
They don’t tend to have automats in smaller cities. In those you have to actually go to a fast food shop and order properly.
Fast food delivery by bike.
Other classic dutch comfort food includes stamppot or hutspot. Both are traditional dutch dishes made from a combination of potatoes mashed with one or several vegetables, usually carrots, onions, endive or kale. Its usually served with rookwurst – a smoked sausage, or a piece of braised beef. I’ve also had it with bacon bits, sauerkraut and pineapple. Its the ultimate winter food.
Let’s talk sweets… cause as you know, I have a sweet tooth… There’s the dutch pancake, pannenkoek, a big thin pancake (more like a crepe than an american pancake) that can be served sweet or savory. I love them with apple… must try it at home.
Then there are oliebollen – dutch doughnuts with sultanas, currants or raisins in them and are dusted with powdered sugar. Traditionally a New Year’s Eve treat, but at the Salamanca market in Tasmania a stall sells them pretty much all year round.
But we can’t forget the tiny dutch pancakes called poffertjes. These small, fluffy pancakes are usually served with a dab of butter and icing sugar and sold at festivals and street stalls.
I have a few favourite dutch biscuits… first are koggetjes, lovely thin crispy butterscotch cookies. Absolutely addictive and very sweet. I could only buy these in dutch specialty stores in Australia at a dutch bakery in Tasmania.
Another super crispy thin cookie is the kletskoppen – with peanuts. Only found in Holland it seems as I haven’t seen them elsewhere.
The most ‘dutchest’ of sweets is the stroopwafel. Two thin waffles stuck together with a layer of sweet caramel syrup. You can buy these all over the world now but are best fresh, hot and gooey from a street market or bakery.
And last but not least, speculaas – spiced cookies you can get everywhere and go so well with your coffee.
I really had to come back home in order to stop eating all this stuff!! Not to mention the licorice.
I’m back on Paros and I haven’t yet caught up on blog posts from my trip. So in order to catch you up and move on, I figured I’d start with my last day which was a visit to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
I’ve always had a kind of hit and miss relationship with the work of ol’ Vincent, but there was plenty to see and it was actually quite interesting to see painting he did in his explorations of styles and colour.
There were a lot of self portraits…I was particularly taken with this painting of red cabbages… perhaps due to my recent experience dyeing fabric with it… Nah. I think I just liked it.One of my favourite paintings. It was funny to read about how obsessed Vincent was with perspective and how he used a perspective frame when painting. All I could think of was “where was the persepctive frame when he painted his bedroom”. I especially loved this portrait of a boy…… and this portrait of a man. Brilliant.Of course, I loved seeing his tools as well.
I have no idea why this trip was the first time I notice/saw/learned about the Stolpersteine –
“Scattered throughout Europe, planted in the streets and sidewalks of cities whose past is not forgotten, commemorative brass plaques eternalize the lives that were lost in the great tragedy of the 20th century. Called the Stolpersteine (in English: “stumbling stones”), the shiny bronze plaques commemorate the victims of the Nazi regime in more than 1,100 locations in 17 European countries.
More than 45,000 of these stones are solidly rooted across cities in Europe, including 916 places in Germany alone, where large strides have been taken to memorialize Jewish life, history and culture. Each Stolperstein commemorates a victim of the Holocaust at that person’s last known address. The plaque includes the victim’s name, date of birth, deportation date and death date, if known. In Berlin, more than 5,000 Stolpersteine have been carefully implanted in the city’s sidewalks and streets, serving as a constant reminder of the many valuable lives lost tragically during the Holocaust.”
Walking in the streets of the Netherlands, one often comes across a friend in a window…
Or some very strange friends in other windows…
Its always pretty on the narrow streets of old towns with their cobblestone roads. I’ve always loved them.
I saw quite a few buildings with text on their walls. Usually quotes from famous authors like the one below. (Don’t ask me to translate!)
As I’ve said before, the dutch are really good at combining the old with the new – below is the Zutphen town hall where they incorporated the original building into a modern structure with a glass ceiling, creating an interior courtyard with a lobby and reception for the new building.
The first time I ever saw large communal tables in a cafe was in the Netherlands – and I confess I love them. I love sitting at a large table in a cafe anyway, its way more homey than sitting at a tiny table for two. But I also quite like sharing a big table with strangers. I’m odd that way. This cafe in Zutphen didn’t have a huge communal table, but the the idea is still there. Sit and meet new people. Yay. (We didn’t. Inge had reserved a table for three of us.)
I don’t remember the name and don’t have any photos of it, but there was a lovely cafe in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam which had the best, huge, rustic table to share. I spent a lovely day rollerblading in the park with a friend and having a coffee to warm up afterwards at a communal table very much like the one below.
There were also countless hours spent sitting at communal tables in many cafes in Melbourne having coffee or brunch over the years… with rollerblades on and without. ah, those were the days!
Now, just for fun, here are photos of textures… I’m obsessed with textures… I have a huge collection of photos of walls, roads, timber, bark, etc… So, here are some dutch textures.
A cafe wall.The gate to an old building.The external wall of a new house with some discolouration to make it interesting.The external wall of an old house.The bricks of the Zutphen wall.A street.Another street.Another street.A fancier street.
I think that wraps up my Netherlands trip.
From now on its back to boring ol’ me and my life and creations on Paros.
No visit anywhere would be complete (for me) without at least one visit to a second hand shop of any sort. Junky, antique, I’m there.
This second hand shop was in a town close to Inge’s place and since we were driving past… Well… we had to stop. Just like we had to stop at every single dog we met on a walk. For me, greeting dogs is part of the pleasure of being on a walk!
Anyway, this time I visited a fantastic second hand shop and made a wonderful new friend: a chi x papillon named Irco. Such a gorgeous boy! And small enough I could have fit him in my pocket…
But I didn’t. I looked around the shop, lost Inge a couple of times, and admired how organised the place was. It was huge but so well divided into sections you could find what you were after easily.
Keeping like things together, not only makes sense, but in the way of collections: a lot of any one thing can look amazing. Like the clocks and lamps. or this chest of marbles.
Or bikes for that matter!
And coloured glass.
Even pots and other kitchenware looks good ‘en masse’.
I saw tons of things I would could have bought if I lived there. Some I’d have taken to Greece too, but of course I can’t do that. Most trips these days are done with a single carry on bag of up to 8 kilos…. doesn’t allow for much shopping! Probably for the best…
Inge on the other hand, could buy anything she wanted and she found a lovely old mirror for her hallway. Just the sort of thing I’d have bought. I approved.
Being a Monday not many shops were opened so we weren’t able to visit a couple of others I spotted (I can spot a junk shop from miles away at high speed). Oh well. I’ll just have to come back!
I really would make a strange travel blogger wouldn’t I? More interesed in dogs and thrift stores than the things most people would photograph and share online… Hm… Guess its a good thing I’m not a travel blogger!
Zutphen is one of the oldest settlements in the Netherlands, and part of the old wall protecting the city still stands. I’m no historian so you can read about it here if you want to know more, but I just loved the old structure.
Its interesting how the end of the wall has been ‘finished’ with modern metal end, adding an element of the new to the old. I love the way the dutch seem to do that so well.
How lovely are the apartments that look over the canal. A lady sat reading a book in the sun on one of the balconies. A beautiful, restful spot…I do wonder how they keep these old buildings (or even new ones!) from crumbling from the constant moisture.
What is even more amazing (to me) is that parts of the wall are actually inhabited! Can you imagine living in something so old? I come from Australia where everything is relatively new so it amazes me that not only are there such old buildings in Europe, but that most of them are still lived in!
This balcony has a coat or armour for protection.
Plans change from day to day – we were meant to spend some time in The Hague yesterday but Inge’s daughter tested positive so that was off the table. Instead we babysat her grandaughter in Leiden for a few hours instead. Well, she babysat her grandaughter while I spent quality time with Pim, their cat.
Basically a quiet day with a couple of walks, no visit to the museaum we’d planned. Oh well. Next time. I know I’ll be back!
junk4joy 