Went to visit brotherdearest in Amsterdam on Friday, October 2, 2015. We walked from his house to the city centre and all around. Here are some photos:)


Raadhuisstraat 15: Kantoor van de Vereeniging voor den Koffiehandel (Office of the Society for Coffeetrade - 1890)



Detail, Office of the Society for Coffeetrade


Detail, Office of the Society for Coffeetrade


Building on the corner of Raadhuisstraat and Singel


Another detail on that building on the corner of Raadhuisstraat and Singel


Yet another face on a building (Singel?) - I love these a lot, okay.


Red Velvet Cake and Hot Chocolate with marshmellows at De Drie Graefjes (behind the Nieuwe Kerk)


Gevelsteen Kasteel Int Huis te Bentem - Bethaniënstraat (taken from Kloveniersburgwal)


Awesome building on Kloveniersburgwal


I don't know the names of all the tiny streets we walked through, so couldn't tell you the exact location of this manhole cover, but it's near Universitybuilding Oudemanhuispoort (Old man's home gate:)


We took a tram to Weteringscircuit; this statue of a lion rising from the waves and the wooden bench with shields of cities in the province of Zeeland are in memory of the North Sea flood of1953


A quick shot from the tram to catch the guy on the bicycle with the huge balloons :-)


Westerkerk


Building in Raadhuisstraat


Side of Magna Plaza Building (corner Raadhuisstraat and Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal)


Pasta dinner from Julia's at the station

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Had free traintravel because of bookweek, so on Sunday March 15, I went to The Hague for a visit with my family. Brother J. joined us for lunch, after that sister-in-law G and nephew R took me to the Museon to see the Dinosaur exhibit. We ended the day at the boulevard (Kijkduin). Here are some photos:


"He's behind you!"


All the dinosaurs on display moved ominously...


This one tried in vain to catch a fish!


We also sat down to colour a flying dinosaur:)


The oviraptor is protecting her drugs, oh pardon, her eggs.


Funky top of the busstop. (The stork is The Hagues' symbol)



Chilly winds near the beach:)

I also shot a video of a T-rex...!

Last week I had a really colourful sunset when I got off the bus; a couple of days later I had a great view of the city at nighttime. I took some photos...


No zoom, such marvelous orange and blue in the sky, and can you spot the star?


Zooming in on the Peperbus clock tower, I also kind of love the traffic lights;)


Still not the maximum close up, but the best image I could get without going 'digital' with the zoom.


This is the top of the bicycle bridge to my mom's by night. So cool.


View from that bridge; the Peperbus clock tower from the other side of town!

Three weeks ago I reported about the arrival of Sinterklaas and shared photos of the parade. This Saturday (December 6) we celebrated his nameday with the family. Lots of candy, lots of presents, accompanied by poems. Some of the gifts from Sinterklaas were hidden in special surprise packages*, as is the tradition:) We had loads of fun, here are some pictures:)


Ruben and his grandma wait in anticipation after the reveal of the pile of presents, while Gayleen is fixing food.


Benthe listening to Jaap reading a poem, while others are a little distracted;)


Gayleen is reading a poem; judging by the laughter it's a bit of a naughty one:-D


Legs for grandma Ina because she had vein stripping surgery....


In the poem Sint says he wants to see her own cutting skills, since she put cuttingboards on her wishlist;)


Lots of jokes were made when she put the legs over her knees; what kind of doctor did she see? *gigglesnort*


In the end she managed to find the clue hidden in the legs, telling her to look for another present inside the operatingtable; a calender from Oxfam.


A surprise package and poem for me!


An old fashioned phone, I guess because I still don't have a cellphone;) Poem mentioned fanfiction and spending a lot of time on the computer. Present was a white mouse to go with my Macbook White \o/


Sint made a tropical Island for Jaap, because of the family-trip to Bali; in the palmtree he found earplugs to use on the plane (although other suggestions were made;)


Grandma reading a poem for Ruben, who's making faces at his dad because of the funny text (a childfriendly naughty word was used, indicating the headphones inside)


The Chinese surprise package for Hans refers to the long trip he made with Benthe.


Disappointed response from Ruben when he's told the book inside does not have pictures "Dat is niet voor mij!" - "That's not for me!", but it actually is; take a look at this video on how his mom and dad will have to read it to him :-D


Fortunately he got another present he could play with right away. We went for a walk in the woods to test his new car. Fun!

After dinner and more hanging out together, we said our goodbyes. It was a great day:)

Last but not least, have a look at my loot:
From left to right: chocolate letter J, a card-holder on a chain, the white mouse, a bookmark sheep, marsipan candy figures, Tony's Chocolonely caramel/seasalt, a skull with loose teeth, a telephone "earphone" so I can use my still not existing cellphone like a regular homephone, a thriller (chosen for the skull cover;), skull door knobs (did you discover the theme yet?) and a CD from Lily Allen: Sheezus. \o/ Thank you, Sinterklaas!

* Want to know how the legs and some other surprises were made? There's a post about that in my LiveJournal! (It also includes a closer look at the marsipan candy:)

On Saturday November 15 Sinterklaas arrived in the Netherlands. We went to welcome him in Scheveningen harbour and then watched the parade in The Hague. Here are some photos!


The first boat filled with presents and Pieten... no Sinterklaas yet


The Pieten threw lots of pepernoten and marshmallows! Ruben even caught some in his hoodie!


There it is: the big boat with Sinterklaas, can you see him?


Look at all these faces filled with anticipation *grins*


Yay! Hello, Sinterklaas! *waves*


So. many. people.


Final view of Sinterklaas before he got off the boat and on his horse for the parade. We take a break from standing in the rain and take the tram into town for a quick lunch before we catch up with Sint again. (The parade takes four hours (4!!!) to travel through all the neighbourhoods)


The stork is the symbol of The Hague:)


From the citycenter we took a bus to get back on track and find the best spots for the parade. Came across this gorgeous fountain.


And when we walked around we saw this DivaPiet; she sang opera songs!


Found a good place to wait; just when this car announced the parade would start in five minutes...


Such an amazing parade with bands playing, Pieten on bikes and donkeys and... look!


A big old firetruck!


Wahey, so cool!


Of course we were all really waiting for Sinterklaas...


There he is!


Oooh, it is a little intimidating;)


*waves*


Bye, Sinterklaas!


As a special finale there was a very loud train, or as Ruben called it a "treinauto!" - a trainCAR! Lots of steam and a very loud horn.
The end.

One more photo though. Because at the end of the day, brother Jaap accompanied brother Hans and me to the tram and we made an alp that I'd like to share:


Me and my "little" brothers:)

J.