Sinterklaas 2012
We celebrated Sinterklaas on Sunday December 2nd and not on the official 'eve' (Dec. 5th) so the whole family could get together \o/


Cycled to my mom's around 13.00 (1 p.m.) and had to stop to take a picture of the beautiful sky and bridge that connects my neighbourhood to hers (only accessible to busses and bicycles:)


After everyone Sinterklaas hid all the presents under the covers on the dinnertable, we were ready to party...


OOOoooh, big pile of presents! On the left my two brothers, in the middle my mom and nephew Ruben, to the right my SILs:)


Mom's surprise package was an evil wallet with maxed out creditcard, luckily it came with a present.


Hans surprise package was a set of tigerparts; Sint challenged him to wear the ears, bowtie and tail to earn the real gift he asked for (Tigerfeet. Seriously. That was the only thing on his wishlist. My brother, ladies and gentlemen)


Ruben is waiting with anticipation:)


Jaap checking out his cool shirt ("Lekker Ding" = Sweet thing / Hot stuff;)

Benthe reading a poem (We got so many awesome poems this year, praise to all!)


Surprise package for Gayleen was a suspicious jar of facial cream (face paint!). Underneath the fake gifts she found the good stuff:)


I got a special guy holding a present. (His face was a wicked dishwashing brush-skull, his outfit was a new bathmat, in his hands he was holding a set of cupcake molds, yes skulls again, Sint knows me so well:)


Hans and Gayleen get a set of his and her keychains, aaaahw.


Ruben eating the letter I baked for him (because he's not old enough yet to get the traditional chocolate letter). Look at that face!


Jaap reading a poem, Hans still wearing the tigerears \o/


Possibly the best present of the day: Ruben's letter train...


...it spells his name!


Finally Hans got his real present; underneath the tigermasktrophy and the bloody remains of the hunt he discovered his pair of tigerfeet. (Also: tattoosleeves:)


Dork.

My loot! Thank you, Sinterklaas!


I love all my presents, but this may be my favorite: the Dierelirium book. (Animalario Universal) - it's so cool, I can create thousands (!) of animals.

*Happy sighs*

(Photos of the making of the tigerfeet surprise package and the baking of Ruben's letter in my journal!)

Intocht van Sinterklaas
Arrival of Sinterklaas
Saturday, November 17, The Hague (harbour Scheveningen)
Traveled by tram towards the harbour with brother Jaap, sister in law Gayleen and nephew Ruben; after we changed trams half way we discovered my other brother Hans in the same carriage! Together we walked the final bit to the already very crowded harbour of Scheveningen. What I love about Sinterklaas is that everybody has the same sweet anticipation; young and old, we're all there to enjoy the party, it's such a wonderful atmosphere.


Before the steamboat arrived, Ruben already had his first encounter with a couple of Zwarte Pieten (black Petes) - initially he wasn't too sure about these painted and colourfully dressed creatures, but when they handed him some candy, he warmed up to them *grins*. He clearly loved the pepernoten (candysized ginger cookies).


There's the boat! Can you see Sinterklaas?


(As close as I could get with my camera;)


<+:-)>


Pepernoot, mmmm


"It's really good, you want a bite?"


While we were sitting down for some hot chocolate, across the street a Zwarte Pieten orchestra started playing!


Of course we went over there to join the party:)


They played very cool renditions of traditional and new Sinterklaas songs


Ruben enjoyed the music a lot:)


A final alp of the whole gang before we went home. (made by Hans with his long arm, thank you!)

For those of you who are interested: more on the history of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Pieten [Wikipedia]

I heard it was rare;)

Traveled to The Hague today to celebrate my other brother's birthday. We went on a picnic with the whole family:)


Come on, everybody, let's go!


Ruben on his bike with uncle Hans and dad Jaap.


On the slide with mom Gayleen!


Round and round and round...


I'll race you home!


Mmmm, kroepoek.


Mmmm, chinese!


I can eat with a spoon \o/

It was a great day:)

Finally dyed my Panic! At The Disco shirt, (iirc I bought it at the concert in Amsterdam in 2011). It doesn't fit, so I can't wear it anyway, but I want to let my mom turn it into a pillow:) The original is white, I used olive green paint powder.





I also put the skull scarf S. gave me in the dye, but that doesn't seem to take. Maybe after the required 45 minutes of soaking?


*waits*


Nope. It didn't work for the scarf, even though the fabric was on the approved list on the dye. Weird. (But it's still cool as it is;) The shirt turned out fabulous, better than I could have imagined. That colour will fit perfectly in my interior:)

Nephew Ruben dancing to this video of Nijntje (aka Miffy) at Mom's Bday party:)

Taken Wednesday, June 12

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:-p


I guess they missed all the vandalized bikes next to mine when they put on this saddle-cover... It reads: "Is your bike safely parked here, or could we do better? Tell us at cyclingtothebusstop.nl".

I was wondering why my sock was wet...

Sunday, April 8
With bonus sightseeing from the bus
After traveling from Amsterdam on Friday and exploring London on Saturday, we're going back home today!


We got up around 6.30 and handed in our keycard at the desk before getting our complimentary English Breakfast in the hotel's restaurant, that opened at 7.00 a.m.


At 7.30 we walked to the tube and traveled underground to Victoria Station.


From there it's a 15 minute walk to the Coach Station for our bus to Amsterdam.


We checked in around 8.15 and the passengers were divided over two busses; one would go to Brussels/Amsterdam, the other to Rotterdam/The Hague.

On our way out of London, the bus passed all the sights, so I couldn't resist making touristy pictures. Get ready, set.... go! (I hope I got all the names right;)


Westminster Abbey (Western facade)


Westminster Abbey (the Old Palace)


Westminster Central Hall (Church)


The Clock Tower (with Big Ben) and Houses of Parliament (the New Palace)


Close up of the Clock Tower. (Big Ben is the name of the largest bell;)


The River Thames and a bit of the Londen Eye.


Bye, Houses of Parliament!


Aaaaaaaaaand a bit more of the London Eye:)


Just because I liked the look of it: The Mad Hatter Hotel.


The Tower of London and Towerbridge


Towerbridge


Bye, Tower of London!

After about two hours(?) we arrive at the Channel Tunnel.


Heehee: France, straight ahead!
While we were waiting for our timeslot on the train, our busdriver tried to repair his broken windshield wiper, but failed. So we were transfered onto the other bus which meant we wouldn't make a shortcut, but had to travel through Rotterdam and The Hague before Amsterdam. We didn't mind, because we were very glad we didn't have to wait for another bus. Both drivers were so very courteous and made sure all the passengers and their luggage were transfered without any problems.

After everything was settled, it was time to board and the bus drove right up on the platform...


This train only has compartments for cars, trucks and busses. Passengers don't have to leave their own vehicle. So cool.


No need for windows when going through the tunnel, but there was a tiny window right below me, so I could see the tracks when we started to move.
Hans did get out the bus for a bit to take pictures. The doors in between compartments are pressurized, but you can go through them if you want to go to the on board toilet. The busdriver took a little break and stretched out on two passenger seats:)


After half an hour we arrived in France; the compartment opens up and the bus can drive right out onto the road! Did I already mention how cool this was?


We're in France! With a long drive ahead of us...


This is Brussels! Driving up Treurenberg hill.


The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral
(Kathedraal van Sint-Michiel en Sint-Goedele)


Look: behind the trees in the distance you can see The Atomium!


Around six p.m. we had a break just before the border at roadside stop Hazeldonk. There are several restaurants there, we had dinner at the McDonalds;)


Back on the bus for the last part of our trip.


We arrived in Amsterdam around 9 p.m., 45 minutes earlier than scheduled. Hans accompanied me on the metro from Amsterdam Amstel to Duivendrecht...


... where I took the train back to Zwolle:) (I finished rereading part four in the Nightrunner series, yay!)


Home sweet home. All the goodies I collected \o/

The end.

It was a great trip. I don't recommend the nightbus if you need sleep to function, but it worked quite well for us:)