Foodie tour of the Netherlands...

I am convinced that food is the greatest pleasure of my life. I go to places and all I want to do is eat. Its bad and good at the same time. In Holland, I doubt I even ate anything really Dutch, it was good food nonetheless. I kept telling myself "Its ok I'm on a holiday" but I continued eating when I came back home anyway. 

I was told this is Goat's foot

Yes, I took a picture of my hot chocolate. It was good hot chocolate. And it was a really cool cafe.

Just for good measure, look what I found in Holland! Ahmahgadd, someone buy me the owl AND sheep teapot please please please!

I need the tile one the right.

Netherlands, Deflt...

While in Netherlands, we stayed in Deflt and went to Amsterdam by coach on the first two days we were there. I was there on tour with the orchestra and it was in Deflt that we had our concert. So Sunday morning right outside our hostel was the market. We stayed at a youth hostel called Jorplace. I'm not sure of the technicalities of the place such as the prices because we had a tour manager to handle that. It is quite a nice hostel, my first time in a hostel so my opinion will not be very well informed. It was comfortable and clean which is the most important thing. However, there were no lockers or any of the sort to store valuable items. Since the dorm I was put in was filled with other orchestra members, that was not a problem for us. What was a problem was the fact that there were 20 people in one dorm and only one bathroom. We manage to work it out quite well but two would have been so much preferred. 

While we were there, the hostel bar was under renovation and that was quite a shame as it looked quite cool. We were also provided with free breakfast so that was good. But the best part was definitely the fact that the hostel was right in the city centre. Therefore you could and would walk to anywhere of any interest.

Back to the market. I woke up a little late and my friends had already left in search for yummy chocolate croissants. I considered staying in the hostel to read my book (I was at a very interesting place in The Book Thief) but decided against it because, I mean, I was in Netherlands guys. So I went out and explored alone. As always, markets have interesting things and so many times I wanted to get something but the lack of money, plus the fact that I would have to carry it all the way back (first to England and then to my actual home) worked as the perfect mechanism to stop be from buying unnecessary but lovely trinkets.

I'm pretty sure this is one of the views from right outside our hostel. I love how you could literally open the door and step out into the water. How cool is that? No one did, unfortunately. I would have loved to see that.

Coming out into the streets where the markets ended, I stumbled into this lovely looking old building. To be fair, all the buildings looked lovely.

Sure enough, it was not just any ordinary building. It was in fact an orphanage. I'm not sure if they still use it as an orphanage. It was close. I would have loved to go in. I'm not sure why but I was and still am fascinated by the orphanage. Maybe its because of stories like Matilda, Madeleine and of course Annie. 

This is the New Church (or the less old church) where we had our concert. It was really enjoyable having our concert there as people who intended to just visit the church stumbled upon our free concert and voluntary sat and listen. And applauded when we finished. 

In between our final rehearsal and concert, we had some time to explore. So we went up the tower. The bells of the churches in the Netherlands don't just ring, they sing. Pleasant tunes as well.

The view from the top of the tower.

We visited the Old Church and I was quite confused to see terracotta sculptures there. I think some sort of chinese art exhibition was going on. I was too lazy and tired to find out.

Our last stop was the Hague. We didn't spend much time there, it was only a stopover from Deflt back to Amsterdam to catch the ferry back to Newcastle. 

We went to the markets and had lunch in random places, stopped by the supermarket to stock up on all things Dutch before heading back to the coach and ending our journey.

I wasn't sure what the tour would play out like before going on it. It turned out to be more of a holiday then an orchestra thing, and honestly, no one is complaining. It was a really pleasant trip spent with good people in one of the loveliest places in the world (warning, I'm not that well traveled so I have no where else to compare it to). I left Netherlands with a sense of longing to be a part of their culture and maybe one day I will or maybe I will not. Amsterdam is a lively city with so much to offer and I would love to find myself there again sometime in the future. But for now, I can tick off Netherlands from my travel list and look forward to other ventures in the future. :)

Thanks for reading. Hope you have a wonderful day.

ps I've just booked my flight tickets to Barcelona in the summer! Unless I make a spontaneous decision to go elsewhere in between now and Barcelona, that would then be my next holiday. Excited!

Netherlands, Amsterdam...

Over the last five days, I went on tour with my orchestra to Netherlands. We traveled by coach from Newcastle to Amsterdam via ferry. The ferry turned out to be a great ride, they had loads of activities on board to help pass the time and because I was with loads of friends (essentially), there was never a dull moment on board. 

We listened to a whale talk and went out on the observation deck to watch for whales. The lady told us that just two nights before it was a feeding frenzy out there and she saw whales, and dolphins and birds feeding all at once. We were so incredibly hopeful, but freezing down to our bones. So after a few hours, we decided to head back in to regain some warmth before resuming the watch. Typically, the whales decided to make an appearance while we were inside and refused to come out when we went out again. But at least the skies were beautiful coloured with different shades of pastels that I have never noticed in skies before.

The ferry we took was DFDS Seaways and it was surprisingly comfortable. I had a wonderful sleep and the swaying of the ferry from side to side possibly made me feel like a baby being rocked into slumber. It was good.

We arrived in Amsterdam at 9.30am and explored the city. I was not sure what I was expecting but I was surprised with what I saw. Amsterdam is such a lovely trendy city I felt like I stepped into hipsterville. The cafes and salons were all designed down to the T, even the bookshops were stylish. There were graffiti on walls but they added personality instead of causing vandalism. I loved it. 

Even the supermarket is hip

We had a picnic at Vondelpark with food from the Albert Heijn Supermarket where my friends insisted that I tried Stroopwaffles. I was not disappointed, at all. It was a lovely day to just sit and observe and soak in the sun. Between food, we also visited the Anne Frank House which was enlightening and emotional at the same time. I bought myself a postcard with a picture of Otto Frank on it looking morosely at the emptiness of the house years after he returns. I don't know why but I just needed it (perhaps I shall scan it on sometime later). The last picture is an Argentinian eatery where my friends and I ended our Amsterdam journey desperate for food and warmth. There, I accidentally ate two portions of ribs and only paid for one. Its technical, but I swear I did not mean it. They had such cool decorations such as different currency stuck onto their walls. I really wanted to put mine on but all I had were Euro notes and I am sure that Euros are not exotic in the Netherlands. So I just looked and admire instead.

Of course as part of the trip, the Red Light District had to turn up. However, whether you believe it or not, we sort of wandered into the area without knowing we did. Next thing we knew, there were women standing behind glass doors looking out to potential customers. I'm not sure what to think about it, I was raised in a very conservative environment and to see these practices so out in the open stirred unfamiliarity within me. I just didn't and still don't know what to think about it.

I love Amsterdam. Many times I wished I knew how to speak Dutch so I could live there for some time in the future. It is such a lovely city, the type that you could walk around alone and get lost in its beauty and soak in its personality. I don't think its possible to get bored in such a city. I feel like in a way Amsterdam has been overshadowed by weed and Red Light District. I mean it in a way that Amsterdam has so much more to offer that what its most famous for. It has food, culture, art, and the sun. Yes, the sun. Although it may have been good fortune that the time we had there coincided with perfect weather. 

I definitely hope Amsterdam and I will cross paths again in the future. I certainly would love to have a more in depth exploration of it and perhaps even watch something in their famous concert hall. I may even try something more courageous (you know what I mean), but I know I will only dare to do so with my close friends. But then again, who's to know what happens? Life is temperamental and takes its own twists and turns as it likes. So we shall see, maybe I will never again set foot in Amsterdam. But I certainly hope that will not be the case.