Tag: Holland

Confident Travelling: Delft

Delft Charm

It took about 10 seconds to fall in love with the city of Delft – the canals filled with ducks and coots, including a trail of chirping, chicks, cobblestones, flowers and a church that played Yellow Submarine on the bells.

Market Flowers in Delft

And the market! Thank you to Justin’s Aunt Ida who recommended we go on a Thursday to enjoy the market, particularly the flowers!

Delft Cheese

And great cheese. We all sampled the green one and knew we had to take some home. I still don’t know what it was other than smoky, filled with caraway and absolutely delicious! I think we had that cheese for breakfast and lunch most days after that.

Delft Centre

All of this was right in the city centre of Delft and the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) looked over by Hugo Grotius or Hugo de Groot who is known as the founder of international law and who wrote an influential work on the freedom of the seas.

JRS 6 Delft Market

We followed the market throughout the city. There was so much to look at and delight in!

Delft Market

I even found a silver ring that was incredibly similar to a thumb ring I lost years ago. The man who sold it to me said, “You have come a long way, but you have not come for nothing.”

Delft Market Tools

After taking a picture of these refurbished tools, we had a great conversation with the man who does the work. Most of these were originally abandoned and covered in rust but he brought them back to life so they are useful again.  Not to sound like a fuddy-duddy but it really does seem that things aren’t made like they used to be so this seems incredibly worthwhile!

Delft Market Puppy

The market is so big and full of riches it’s enough to tire a puppy out!

Delft History

After the market we strolled down the streets, taking in the architecture and the historic buildings. Whenever we saw a plaque, Justin’s dad would interpret for us.

Delft Charm

Everywhere we walked, Delft was full of charm.

Confident Travelling: Paleis Het Loo & Arnhem

Paleis Het Loo Holland

On our third day in Holland, we ventured out to Paleis Het Loo just outside of Apeldoorn. This former royal residence is over 3oo years old and is open to the public. Immediately I fell in love with the trees. It was easy to imagine wandering for hours in the woods beside the gardens (and yes, I’ve read a lot of fairy tales).

Het Loo Paleis

After exploring the stables and coach houses and admiring the peacocks, we strolled through the extensive formal gardens, complete with sculptures and fountains.

Cafe at Het Loo Paleis

We stopped for an elegant coffee and lunch at the palace cafe. I just love when every little detail is beautiful. It makes my heart sing.

Gardens at Het Loo

And this was truly my favourite part of the palace. Wait until you see what it was like inside.

Het Loo Garden Arch

Winding corridors and curving archways covered in green. You can only imagine how many secret kisses have been had in these walkways. I may have gotten one or two myself!

Het Loo Paleis

Then we ventured inside the palace walls to take in the opulence and historic beauty.

Het Loo Princess

It was very clear how many people felt very attached to the royals. The palace guides spoke with enthusiasm about the history of not only this place but the people who have called it home.

Confident Traveller Tip: Don’t be shy about asking questions when visiting these kinds of historical locations. Often the people that work there have a deep love of and commitment to the stories and significance of the place and are delighted to share. Some of the most fascinating things I’ve learned have actually been from overhearing guides chat with school groups, even if I could only pick up a word here or a phrase there.

Het Loo Doorway

One of the significant things that I learned on this trip was very personal in nature. I found as we explored Holland I was seeing the world with an additional lens, one that’s been developing more and more over the past little while. As I took photos, for instance, I was not only trying to capture the memory but I was also looking through that lens as a creative. I was gathering colours, shapes, images that fueled my creative fire and that I know will find expression in many aspects of my creative work.

Arnhem and A Bridge Too Far

After our palace adventures, we travelled to the city of Arnhem, which is known for being the site of a battle that many people know from the movie A Bridge Too Far. That bridge marks the spot.

Rose's at Arnhem

I’m happy to say that these days this location also known for a lovely little strip of restaurants along the Rhine River. We had a hard time choosing but settled on Rose’s Lounge, which was lovely.  This lawn chair patio is just perfect for drinks and a nibble, don’t you think?
Dinner in Arnhem

For us, a full dinner was in order and I thoroughly enjoyed my goat cheese and asparagus salad – yum! We had a wonderful time relaxing by the river, watching the sun go down and even some hot air balloons floating by. A perfect end to another wonderful day of travelling.

Confident Travelling: The Open Air Museum, The Batavia & Scheveningen

Outdoor Museum Holland

After spending the morning in Hoorn, we drove to our next adventure: The Open Air Museum or the Openluchtmuseum. We had no idea what to expect from the name of the museum and were delighted to spend a few hours discovering this celebration of the history of everyday life in the Netherlands.

Open Air Museum Holland

Taking the boat out to the museum, we travelled back in time, back to the early days of village life in Holland.

Open Air Museum Holland

The magic of the Open Air Museum is it allows you to wander into a recreated past. Whole historic buildings have been relocated here, allowing you to steop into the actual homes that villagers, fisherman and merchants lived in.

Open Air Museum Holland

To further the experience, you also encounter villagers going about their daily life activities, from laundry to gardening to smoking fish.

Open Air Museum

And, of course, the land tells the tale.  The word “idyllic” came to mind again and again as we experienced the natural beauty of Holland.

Open Air Museum

And the picture wouldn’t be complete without a windmill! Here my father-in-law Chris helps these youngsters spin a water device. After helping one young girl, the next wanted his help too!

Goat at the Open Air Museum

It’s become a bit of a joke that no matter where I travel in the world, I am drawn to the animals and birds. I’m going to take pictures of ducks just like the ones we have at home and I’m going to be delighted to have an opportunity to pet friendly farm animals, no matter where we are.

Taking Pics at the Open Air Museum

And no matter where we go, half the fun is going to be capturing the moment in pictures.

My Boots Open Air Museum

This was my first full day of wearing my new teal adventure boots and I have to say that they were just perfect, so comfortable I didn’t think about them at all, except to take a picture!

Open Air Museum, Holland

And that’s a very good thing because I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on one moment of beauty at the Open Air Museum in Holland. Plus, our adventure didn’t stop there!

JRS 15 Batavia

We also stopped by the reconstruction of the famous Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship, The Batavia. As we arrived, I couldn’t help but notice that amazing sculpture on the right.

Sculpture Holland

Wow! And the distractions continued because no matter how beautiful and historically significant the big Batavia was I couldn’t help but notice…

Batavia Bunnies

Bunnies! It turns out there was a whole warren in the shipyards. And it wouldn’t be the last time that we would stumble across rabbits on this trip! I have a feeling they had a message to deliver.

scheveningen

We finished off our day of adventure by travelling to the beautiful beach of Scheveningen. The breeze was strong, the air was fresh and the sunset was spectacular. We walked all the way out to the end of that pier and watched the sun dip into the sea.

Simonis Scheveningen

All that was left was to enjoy a generous and delicious fish dish and a beer at the popular Simonis by the beach. Closing the place was the perfect end to a great day of adventure in Holland.

Confident Travelling: Hoorn, Holland

Arriving in Hoorn, Holland

We started our first full day of Holland adventure by travelling north, the direction that Justin and Chris had done the least exploring in, and that led us to the beautiful city of Hoorn. It didn’t take long to fall in love with cobblestone roads and canals under the blue skies of September and the just turning leaves.

Blue Skies and Hoorn

As we walked towards the port, we passed a lovely house on the corner with big windows and an open door into what looked like a professional kitchen. My father-in-law, Chris, stopped to ask the people eating at a small table out front if it was a restaurant or their home. It was so a lovely we were ready to stop for a bite.  It turned out this was their family home so we continued on, after chatting about Canada and Holland and poor Justin getting razzed for not speaking Dutch. I think this is common for our generation of immigrants’ children. My mom also came to Canada from elsewhere and we didn’t learn a word of her mother tongue, Latvian. Her focus was on being at home in her adopted country.

Fishing and Hoorn

One thing Justin’s Dutch heritage has instilled in him is a deep love of the water. Hoorn was the perfect place to connect to the seafaring culture of the Netherlands. This city has a great history as a harbour and a fishing centre. Anyone with a love of boats will have a wonderful time taking in the views.

JRS 4 Hoorn

We were blessed with beautiful weather on our trip, as you can see by the calm waters and blue skies. Apparently September is a traditionally a good time to travel to Holland. We could have spent hours just staring out into the waters, drinking in the peace and beauty of this locale.

The Ships Boys of Bontekoe

I thought perhaps that was the inspiration for this sculpture but it turns out the The Ships Boys of Bontekoe or the Scheepsjongens of Bontekoe are actually three characters from a book. Rolf, Padde and Hajo make their first travel out into the world by sea here in Hoorn.

Hoorn Port

With this vista beckoning, who wouldn’t go?

Confident Travelling: Fear of Flying & A Safe Arrival

Arriving in Holland

On my journey to become a more confident traveller, the hardest part remains the flight, especially if it is over the ocean. Days before scheduled departure, I start to quake, anticipating the journey to come. Despite this fear, I am committed to making my travel dreams come true and have found two things that help: love and courage. (In fact, these are the secret ingredients to all my dream-come-true!)

Love. I am gentle with myself about being afraid. I’ve given up judging or trying to rationalize the fear away. I am afraid. That is the part of the travel environment just like rainy days, early departures and too-close seating. How can I lovingly support myself in going through the fear so that I can come out the other side to Paris or Amsterdam or Rome? Some things that work: knowing that people are sending loving thoughts for our flight, taking diligent care of all logistical details so they don’t add to the stress, visualizing myself and my travelling companion(s) at the destination and doodling on the flight.

Courage. To pass through fear to a goal or a dream takes courage. Period. I draw on my deep desire to experience this world, to live my life to the fullest while I am here. I draw on the bravery of Georgia O’Keefe, “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life – and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.”*

And so, this month I flew to Holland with my husband for a two-week vacation to visit family and explore a truly beautiful country. I’d love to share some of that journey with you. Along the way, I’ll continue to share any tips or strategies that have helped develop travel confidence.

Holland Sky

Travelling from Toronto to Europe usually involves an overnight flight. To ease the time transition, the airline often serves an evening meal, simulates nightfall by turning down the lights for several hours and then puts them on again before you arrive in what is the middle of the night where you left and the dawn of a new day where you arrive. We were blessed with a good flight, even arriving an hour early (!), but unfortunately, we didn’t sleep a wink.

Tired and relieved, we were welcomed to Holland by the loving arms of Justin’s dad, Christiaan. As he drove us from Schipol airport to his home near Den Haag, we were taken in by the freshness, the green, the big skies, the pastures, the air (oh, the air) of Holland.

Cyclamen in the Window

Chris made us feel right at home and I quickly discovered that flowers are a signature gift in Holland – and also that my much-loved cyclamens are known by the Dutch to be favoured by old ladies! (All I can say is that me and the old ladies, we know beauty when we see it!) We settled right in and took a nap so that we could make a good start to the day and to our visit.

Den Haag Centrum

Chris quickly got us oriented to public transit and with an OV Chip Card loaded with some euros, we could start our travel adventure.  We started gently with a  trip to Den Haag Centrum aka downtown.

Coffee in Den Haag

And what better way to start an adventure than with coffee? Especially since it is one of the first places that you can see both the similarities and differences between countries. In Toronto, people grab coffee to go and the size of that coffee can be enormous! We saw almost none of that in Holland. But we also enjoy coffee-shop time, where we sit and journal or read or work or chat with friends for hours. The latter is where our countries meet. All over Holland we had a wonderful time stopping on patios for koffie and watching the world go by. Here your coffee is always served in a modest cup and saucer with a lovely treat on the side and it is enjoyed leisurely – very civilized!

Former Blue Angel - Den Haag

A particular delight of this first patio coffee was that it was right by the little bar where Justin’s parents, Chris and Ann, first met. Then it was called The Blue Angel. Chris was home for the weekend from the military when he stopped in this bar and met Ann. He walked her home that night and then showed up on her doorstep again the next morning. It was only months later they were on a boat to Canada to begin their married life together.

Den Haag

Even on this first day, we were deep in that magical meeting place of family, place, history and experience. We were sharing memories while creating new ones. It was just the beginning of our great Holland adventure.