We had some snow in Amsterdam recently...not as much as is hitting VA now, but we can be happy for the little we received, since it doesn't come very often.
Here's the Christmas card I created for this year. Eco-friendly! :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
So, the Riga trip this weekend fell through because apparently the reservation was never confirmed. However, we re-booked and got even cheaper flights in December...60 euros per person to be exact - gotta love those bargains! Instead, this weekend, I am visiting the same friend I will be traveling with, in Brussels, which should also be nice, of course. Brussels is a beautiful city and I love the mix of 'Dutchness' and 'Frenchness' you find there.
Anyhow, the point of this post is to actually show you a bit of our neighborhood, the 'Indische Buurt', in Amsterdam. We live nearby a large, beautiful park, called Flevopark, which is where most of the photos are taken. We often go for walks or runs here. Considering I always post photos of other places, I thought I'd show you a bit of our immediate surroundings - including some typical Dutch sights, such as random abstract art, a large canal still used for shipping freight, a standard bike path, road signs, and bicycle madness. Enjoy!
Our building (we are just left of the tree) and bike parking madness on our street
...why do some of my friends come to Europe, sometimes for the first time, then not tell me until it's too late?? Really, what's the deal? Hmmm...I feel like I am missing something....it's a tad annoying and disappointing, to say the least...
Well, in the last month of free time, before I start a new job on November 16th, I decided it would be prudent to take a small European trip. Since Arno can't go with me, it had to be somewhere that he wouldn't be envious of ;) Actually, a few days prior to me booking a trip to Riga with my friend, Arno and I had made a loose list of priority countries we want to visit in the coming years. The Baltic States weren't one of the priorities. Luckily, there are very affordable flights with RyanAir from Brussels (where my friend lives) to numerous locations, so alas, I settled on Riga! I don't know really what to expect, except that it's still apparently very 'Russian-esque' from so many years spent under rule of (among others) the former Soviet Union. The two largest ethnicities are indeed Latvian, followed very closely by Russian.
Check back in sometime after 1 November for some photos!
To spice up my fading blog, I thought I'd add a widget...what better than something from National Geographic?! Every week, you can read up on and travel in spirit to some foreign place - maybe somewhere you've been...or maybe not. I am pretty certain that every locale featured will be somewhere I'd like to travel, so I will definitely start checking my own blog each week now....lol.
...I don't know why this question came to mind and it's not directly related to travel, but... When is an acquaintance no longer an acquaintance, but a friend?
I feel whatever criteria I subconsciously used before to make such distinctions have only become blurred as I've grown older, or maybe it's a part of living the expat lifestyle where everything is transient....?
Would be interested to hear people's thoughts on this....
Sailing. It's simply awesome. There's nothing more peaceful than being on the water, the rumbling motor off, with a good wind and full sails, just gliding along with no set agenda. This is the second time we've had the fortunate and unique opportunity to sail with my good friend, Jaap. Because he is a certified sailor, or captain, he's able to charter sailboats himself; meaning we don't have to hire a crew to sail us around, which also means very low costs for what is usually an expensive activity, and complete freedom on the boat. In Europe, there are several companies which rent out sailboats from various ports and this year's trip started in the port of Follonica, Italy. Destination: the island of Elba. For you history buffs, you will know it as the island to which Napolean was exiled for a couple of years. En route to Elba, we also passed by the island of Monte Cristo. (Note: the boat pictured above is the boat we sailed on; Aulona, was her name. Sleeps 8 people.)
The added special bonus of sailing is that you can reach uninhabited islands and secluded, less populated locations that you often cannot reach without a boat. We often anchored offshore and swam to the beach (sometimes to find that wearing bathing suits was not the norm)! What a nice workout! I am so thankful to have had this opportunity again and am thinking of taking formal classes to learn how to sail myself. Thanks, Jaap!
Elba. It's a gorgeous, rugged island with the most friendly locals that I've encountered anywhere. At bars and restaurants, the locals spoiled us with freebies. Now, in many places around Europe and elsewhere, staff will offer you a digestif or something supposedly on the house, but it then shows up on the bill. Not here. The bar and restaurant staff/owners at 4 different places showered us with melon wrapped in prosciutto, battered shrimp, meat platters, fruit bowls, a bottle of muscat, and more! Unbelievable. Typically, in such smaller, traditional towns, the villagers are a little "anti-outsider", but we didn't get this feeling whatsoever. It was fab. These handouts may also be, in part, due to the abundance of these yummy foods on the island, but perhaps also due to the fact that there seem to be few tourists in Elba.
The island is full of rustic, delapidated buildings that I just LOVE, as you will notice from my numerous photos of the subjects. There is something about the old, colorful doors, red-tiled houses, steps, and bougainvillea-adorned buildings and fences, that I am intrinsically drawn to. There is a sweet charm to these scenes. This island is not special in that, given that these characteristics describe many old villages and cities throughout southern Europe. In truth, many of these rustic buildings are actually falling apart due to lacking funds and priority to maintain them. You will rarely come across such delapidated places in northern Europe (also due to a difference in architecture and climate). Regardless, these old, lovely places make for great photos :) I can honestly say that, if I ever live in a climate which supports bougainvillea, they will also adorn my home :) I simply love them and think they are one of the things in the world, which epitomizes simple 'beauty'.
So, here are the rest of my photos from the week-long trip. We didn't get as much sailing time in as on our Spanish sailing tour in 2007, primarily due to uncooperative weather/winds, but the trip was great nevertheless. Also, FYI, there are a few photos in the beginning from Pisa and a few in the end from Florence. I was in Florence in 2002, so I hardly took any this time.
See also the short video below for a bit of the smoother sailing! Arno was steering the boat in this video.
For anyone visiting Italy, I highly recommend Elba and, in particular, Portoferraio (also where Napolean's domicile is). You can take a ferry to Elba from the port of Piombino, just south of Pisa (there are regular trains from Pisa to Piombino).
Sailing. It's simply awesome. There's nothing more peaceful than being on the water, the rumbling motor off, with a good wind and full sails, just gliding along with no set agenda. This is the second time we've had the fortunate and unique opportunity to sail with my good friend, Jaap. Because he is a certified sailor, or captain, he's able to charter sailboats himself; meaning we don't have to hire a crew to sail us around, which also means very low costs for what is usually an expensive activity, and complete freedom on the boat. In Europe, there are several companies which rent out sailboats from various ports and this year's trip started in the port of Follonica, Italy. Destination: the island of Elba. For you history buffs, you will know it as the island to which Napolean was exiled for a couple of years. En route to Elba, we also passed by the island of Monte Cristo. (Note: the boat pictured above is the boat we sailed on; Aulona, was her name. Sleeps 8 people.)
Elba. It's a gorgeous, rugged island with the most friendly locals that I've encountered anywhere. At bars and restaurants, the locals spoiled us with freebies. Now, in many places around Europe and elsewhere, staff will offer you a digestif or something supposedly on the house, but it then shows up on the bill. Not here. The bar and restaurant staff/owners at 4 different places showered us with melon wrapped in prosciutto, battered shrimp, meat platters, fruit bowls, a bottle of muscat, and more! Unbelievable. Typically, in such smaller, traditional towns, the villagers are a little "anti-outsider", but we didn't get this feeling whatsoever. It was fab. These handouts may also be, in part, due to the abundance of these yummy foods on the island, but perhaps also due to the fact that there seem to be few tourists in Elba.
In truth, many of these rustic buildings are actually falling apart due to lacking funds and priority to maintain them. You will rarely come across such delapidated places in northern Europe (also due to a difference in architecture and climate). Regardless, these old, lovely places make for great photos :) I can honestly say that, if I ever live in a climate which supports bougainvillea, they will also adorn my home :) I simply love them and think they are one of the things in the world, which epitomizes simple 'beauty'. 
