The one with the trainride

A little while ago I travelled from Leeuwarden to Utrecht by train with my friend R. It's about a two hour travel, and to pass time I snapped some shots. These are taken from inside the train with my mobile phone, so the quality is not all that. The landscape looks pretty awesome though, I sometimes forget that we live in a beautiful country! 

When trains ride according to their schedule, and it's not rush hour, travelling by train is one of my favourite means of transportation. Not having to watch the road, listening to some music, reading a book, and being able to do some people watching is one of the things I like most about it. Do you travel by train often? Or do you prefer to go places by car?

The one with bubbles and Monday Blog Tour

Last weekend I visited my friend R who lives in Leeuwarden, in the north of the Netherlands. Before dinner we took a walk around town, after a two and a half hour train ride it was nice to get a bit of exercise. I've taken lots and lots of photo's of this charming looking city, that might get a post of their own. At the start of our walk, we came across a man making bubbles. At first there weren't a lot of people, but after a while, more people gathered to enjoy these creations. Isn't it amazing how much joy a bunch of bubbles can bring?

 

 

Monday Blog Tour

Last week Duni invited me to participate in the Monday Blog Tour. She asked me to answer four questions. Thanks for the invitation Duni! Here are the questions and their answers:

What am I working on?

One of my new year's resolutions was posting more recipes and DIY's on this blog. So far, I haven't done those as much as I'd like to do! I did make some homemade cards recently that are almost ready to post here on the blog. Recipe wise, I have been experimenting lately with some summer salads, they need some adjusting (a little more of this, a little less of that), and after that I'm ready to do some rocking and rolling in the kitchen!

How does my work differ from others in it's genre?

No idea really! 

Why do I write what I do?

I started out blogging, not knowing it would be this much fun! I'm fairly new at blogging, and there still are lots to learn and things to discover. The main reason for starting this adventure, was to practice my English and writing skills. I love how it gives a chance to connect with people. Reading other people's blog gives me a chance to learn new things, they inspire, and show me lots of places in the world I might never see in real life.

How does my writing process work?

I start out with taking lots of photo's, trying not to throw them ALL at you. Sometimes it's really hard to make a selection. From there I start writing, editing, reading, re-writing, getting a night of sleep and re-reading the day after. I mostly find lots of silly mistakes then, I correct those and then the post's ready to go online!

I would like to continue this tour by tagging my 'real life' friend and blog buddy Mandy, from All Lovely Things, to answer the four questions by next monday, 23th. Check out Duni's post over here.

The one with a sunday in Zwolle

Last sunday we (mum + me) visited the city of Zwolle. I love these day long trips! They feel like mini holidays, and I am always surprised with how much beauty the Netherlands has to offer. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say 'no' to a holiday abroad. Still lots of cities and countries on my list. A list that seems the get longer weekly, I see the most beautiful places through other people's blogs!

Our first stop of the day was Museum de Fundatie. For both of us it was our first visit. Built between 1838 and 1841, it first served as the Palace of Justice and later it accomodated the National Department for Town and Country Planning. After that, in 2005, it was converted into a museum. It was renovated in 2012 and the elliptically shaped structure was placed on the roof. The Museum named it 'the eye' or the 'cloud', but I prefer it's nickname, which is 'the egg'. It gives a great view over the old city. My fear of height almost kept me from taking some shots. I'm not a big fan of taking photo's of art in museum, but I really needed to take one of a painting by Dutch painter Carel Willink that shares a name with my mom: Wilma. 

After the museum, we wandered the small streets of Zwolle and ooh-ed and aah-ed over all the pretty houses. I was happy as a bird with a French fry, some of the houses were all pink and pretty! I have enough shots of doors to make a whole new post about them, but I think the amount of doors in this blog might be getting too much. Anyway, I did squeeze in some into this post...

We had mozzarella sandwiches for lunch, warmed up with a cup of tea, and started walking again. We found a lovely store that imports fine food products from European company's that are at least 100 years old. You can find French macarons, Russian tea and Italian cookies. Most of them packaged in beautifully designed tins, cans and paper boxes. We couldn't leave without taking some candy and tea. 

Hope your weekend was as good (maybe a bit warmer though) as mine was. Do you play tourist in your own country? Any museum visits worth mentioning? How about more doors? Yay or nay?

The one with King's Day

Last friday I wrote a bit about King's Day, that was celebrated last saturday. I skipped the flea market this year and I didn't feel like going to any of the party's. Together with my mom, I did a bit of shopping, we walked around town, had breakfast, and did some people watching from my balcony (enjoying a tompouce). It's tradition to wear orange, but because I don't have anything orange in my wardrobe, I decided to rock some orange nails for the occassion. We also watched some of the festivities on the television. I think the queen looked gorgeous. How was your weekend?

The one with more doors (2)

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about doors. I was more than happy to have found out that I am not the only one who is fascinated with doors and the sense of mystery that comes along with them. Some of these might not be the prettiest doors, but something about them caught my eye. Like a rusty fence, a lace curtain or the pretty cherubs living above it. My favourite is the last one: tall, darkish and handsome! Which one is yours?