Thoughts about Holland vol.4.
Hola amigos!!
This time I am writing in English so that all of you could read. I know that Hungarian does not belong to the most frequently spoken languages, so here I am adapting to the needs of the readers :) I'll try to be as enchanting and funny as I am if I write in Hungarian! Haha
Wow this weekend was fairly busy. Kriszti was over in Holland for a week, visiting Coen, a friend of hers who was on exchange last year in Budapest. We have been talking about it earlier on that we should meet up while she is here, so it was no surprise, still a nice program. Was so nice to meet Kriszti, we had big chats, all including guys of course and we were laughing a lot!
On Saturday the guys, Coen and his friend Edwin have taken us to Texel island, which is fairly north, an hour by car from Amsterdam. We took a ferry to bring us to the island. Wow that ferry was enormous!! Ok, I have seen quite a few ferries in my life, but this was huuuge! Moreover, if we compare it to its traffic it may seem ridiculous. It was not even 20% filled with cars on a sunny saturday in the middle of the summer!! Imagine how many people use it during the winter...
Anyhow we arrived at Texel, which is part of the Frisian Islands that is considered to have a rich fauna of several unique bird species. Well, the only birds we saw were a great number of seagulls (zeemeeuw). Ok, have to admit that we didn't go for a bird watch :) but to the beach... Getting to the beach we were crossing the village named De Cocksdorp. (village of the... well in dutch cock does not mean the bird, only has the other, more colloqial meaning of you know what...) Oh those of you who read for the first time, what I mark with orange is either something important, or some words in dutch 'cause I am trying to catch up as much as possible.
So cocksville is pretty much like Siófok. One difference: a lot cleaner! ok two: you either see pensioners or teenagers going for vacation wiithout their parents for the first time. So not really our age.
Still, the beach (zeestrand) is very picturesque, a long sandy beach with high grass along the road, and with small dressing cabins. Fairly strong wind so you don't feel the strength of the sun.
Kriszti and I had real intentions to go into the sea, but after having felt on our ankles that is is FREEZING COLD we had to give up with the idea. Anyhow we had a nice walk along the beach while the guys were enjoying the sun. Alright you have to know something about dutch people's sunbathing habits. They always get red! Not only because their skin is white, but they never use suntan oil, and they are incapable of measuring when they should stop. So, the result is red skin, and probably a fairly high risk of skin cancer when they grow older. I wonder what the percentages are.....
Coen had some really important party to attend so he practically left for the evening and what is more, he took Edwin as well. No comment.. BUT we got his apartment, so it was two of us girls in Amersfoort, which is really close to Utrecht, about half an hour east from Amsterdam. Nice city! Completely different from Delft though. Or at least I think so. Maybe I became such a localpatriot that I find Delft the most special place to live? Could be... Anyhow we were walking in the evening in Amersfoort, and enjoying the streets and nice squares with attracting atmosphere. We even got to discover that in Amersfoort female is the strong gender. Why? Easy. On the pedestrian traffic lights (semafoor) the figures are GIRLS!! With a skirt, high heels, and pony tail. Yepp yepp:) OR could be a guy in female clothes....we saw example for that in Amsterdam..
On Sunday we decided to go for a trip ourselves and discover the famous museums of Amsterdam. Since it could rain any moment we thought this is the wisest thing to do, also considering that the guys (Edwin I don't know but Coen for sure) probably wouldn't have enjoyed as much as we did.
First impressions of Amsterdam? Hmm. It's nice, really nice, but I don't think I would want to live there. For me Hague is the winner. Everything is so colorful, which sometimes just ruins the historic city picture completely and makes you feel like in some chaotic world and not in the neat country of the dutch. Anyhow, it surely has quite a few nice places! The Dam square with the new church and the royal palace ( Nieuwe Kerk & Koninlijk Paleis) to mention a few.
We were crossing all the nice canals to finally reach the Rijksmuseum, which is the most renowned museum of Amsterdam, or as they abbreviate: A'dam. We had to stand the line to get in, but it went pretty fast, still a nice girl came to distribute small chocolates as compensation for the inconvenience. Incredible, isn't it? We were amazed. And then we finally got to the cashier desk, we were pretty annoyed that they don't have any student reductions. Not even for native people!!! So having payed the 10 bucks (Fred I learned this from u, that I use bucks for euros...) for entrance we went through all the impressing rooms, and saw some of Jan Vermeer van Delft's, Frans Hals's and of course Rembrant van Rijn's pictures. It is this place where u can see Rembrant's most famous painting, the Nightwatch (De Nachtwacht). It is placed in a small cinema hall and only limited number of visitors go in at once, and watch an audiovisual show, where they project all kinds of light effects on the painting and add sounds as well, thus telling the story of the picture's theme. WOW that was sooo cool! We were really impressed!
One does not have to walk too much from the Rijksmuseum to get to the other big hit, the Van Gogh Museum! Again no student reduction.. As a big van of Vincent I was really looking forward to this collection, and I may say that I was really pleased with it! You can see his paintings in chronological order, and nearly all of the paintings has a small comment (in English as well), so you can follow how his life turned. He always drew sketches in his letters to his brother, and he always promised him he would start to sell the pics soon. Poor guy he never sold a single pic!! He was practically dependant on his bro, and when he told Vincent he has to tighten the belt a bit 'cause Theo wanted to start up a new business, Vincent shot himself because he already felt so instable both mentally and physically. Hmm interesting. Oh if you might think that he cut off kis full ear, I have to disappoint you, 'cause it was only a small part of his earlobe. Still, kinda freaky, isn't it? Good old Vincent I really like your pics!! This museum even evoked my memories of Arles, although that was a long time ago....maybe I was 11 or so..
The food is not very appealing I have to say. All restaurants are a bit, hmm how shall I put it..in Hungarian it's LEPUKKANT. Ok let's say not neat and clean. I really miss the good old Hungarian cafeterias! For two reasons: 1. they have ambience, 2. they sell Italian coffee, which is absolutely unbeatable.
What else? Oh yes, the many times mentioned coffee shops. I really don't have a clue what is so special in them. They look awful! Imagine a really ugly KOCSMA in some small village Hungary, with all green stuff and smoke with smiling but moveless people. You know even if I had the intention to smoke pot I would never put my feet into those places! I don't mind people doing it, just leave me out. But it's funny that all of them say they are the best in town... :)
Well that is what I saw so far from A'dam but I am surely coming again, still lot to visit!! By the way, it is for sure a shopping haven!! There are so many nice things for fair price. I just don't get it how the dutch girls can dress up so horribly sometimes, even if they have really cool stuff to choose from.
OK enough for now, seeya later!
Püssz :)
Hola amigos!!
This time I am writing in English so that all of you could read. I know that Hungarian does not belong to the most frequently spoken languages, so here I am adapting to the needs of the readers :) I'll try to be as enchanting and funny as I am if I write in Hungarian! Haha
Wow this weekend was fairly busy. Kriszti was over in Holland for a week, visiting Coen, a friend of hers who was on exchange last year in Budapest. We have been talking about it earlier on that we should meet up while she is here, so it was no surprise, still a nice program. Was so nice to meet Kriszti, we had big chats, all including guys of course and we were laughing a lot!
On Saturday the guys, Coen and his friend Edwin have taken us to Texel island, which is fairly north, an hour by car from Amsterdam. We took a ferry to bring us to the island. Wow that ferry was enormous!! Ok, I have seen quite a few ferries in my life, but this was huuuge! Moreover, if we compare it to its traffic it may seem ridiculous. It was not even 20% filled with cars on a sunny saturday in the middle of the summer!! Imagine how many people use it during the winter...
Anyhow we arrived at Texel, which is part of the Frisian Islands that is considered to have a rich fauna of several unique bird species. Well, the only birds we saw were a great number of seagulls (zeemeeuw). Ok, have to admit that we didn't go for a bird watch :) but to the beach... Getting to the beach we were crossing the village named De Cocksdorp. (village of the... well in dutch cock does not mean the bird, only has the other, more colloqial meaning of you know what...) Oh those of you who read for the first time, what I mark with orange is either something important, or some words in dutch 'cause I am trying to catch up as much as possible.
So cocksville is pretty much like Siófok. One difference: a lot cleaner! ok two: you either see pensioners or teenagers going for vacation wiithout their parents for the first time. So not really our age.
Still, the beach (zeestrand) is very picturesque, a long sandy beach with high grass along the road, and with small dressing cabins. Fairly strong wind so you don't feel the strength of the sun.
Kriszti and I had real intentions to go into the sea, but after having felt on our ankles that is is FREEZING COLD we had to give up with the idea. Anyhow we had a nice walk along the beach while the guys were enjoying the sun. Alright you have to know something about dutch people's sunbathing habits. They always get red! Not only because their skin is white, but they never use suntan oil, and they are incapable of measuring when they should stop. So, the result is red skin, and probably a fairly high risk of skin cancer when they grow older. I wonder what the percentages are.....
Coen had some really important party to attend so he practically left for the evening and what is more, he took Edwin as well. No comment.. BUT we got his apartment, so it was two of us girls in Amersfoort, which is really close to Utrecht, about half an hour east from Amsterdam. Nice city! Completely different from Delft though. Or at least I think so. Maybe I became such a localpatriot that I find Delft the most special place to live? Could be... Anyhow we were walking in the evening in Amersfoort, and enjoying the streets and nice squares with attracting atmosphere. We even got to discover that in Amersfoort female is the strong gender. Why? Easy. On the pedestrian traffic lights (semafoor) the figures are GIRLS!! With a skirt, high heels, and pony tail. Yepp yepp:) OR could be a guy in female clothes....we saw example for that in Amsterdam..
On Sunday we decided to go for a trip ourselves and discover the famous museums of Amsterdam. Since it could rain any moment we thought this is the wisest thing to do, also considering that the guys (Edwin I don't know but Coen for sure) probably wouldn't have enjoyed as much as we did.
First impressions of Amsterdam? Hmm. It's nice, really nice, but I don't think I would want to live there. For me Hague is the winner. Everything is so colorful, which sometimes just ruins the historic city picture completely and makes you feel like in some chaotic world and not in the neat country of the dutch. Anyhow, it surely has quite a few nice places! The Dam square with the new church and the royal palace ( Nieuwe Kerk & Koninlijk Paleis) to mention a few.
We were crossing all the nice canals to finally reach the Rijksmuseum, which is the most renowned museum of Amsterdam, or as they abbreviate: A'dam. We had to stand the line to get in, but it went pretty fast, still a nice girl came to distribute small chocolates as compensation for the inconvenience. Incredible, isn't it? We were amazed. And then we finally got to the cashier desk, we were pretty annoyed that they don't have any student reductions. Not even for native people!!! So having payed the 10 bucks (Fred I learned this from u, that I use bucks for euros...) for entrance we went through all the impressing rooms, and saw some of Jan Vermeer van Delft's, Frans Hals's and of course Rembrant van Rijn's pictures. It is this place where u can see Rembrant's most famous painting, the Nightwatch (De Nachtwacht). It is placed in a small cinema hall and only limited number of visitors go in at once, and watch an audiovisual show, where they project all kinds of light effects on the painting and add sounds as well, thus telling the story of the picture's theme. WOW that was sooo cool! We were really impressed!
One does not have to walk too much from the Rijksmuseum to get to the other big hit, the Van Gogh Museum! Again no student reduction.. As a big van of Vincent I was really looking forward to this collection, and I may say that I was really pleased with it! You can see his paintings in chronological order, and nearly all of the paintings has a small comment (in English as well), so you can follow how his life turned. He always drew sketches in his letters to his brother, and he always promised him he would start to sell the pics soon. Poor guy he never sold a single pic!! He was practically dependant on his bro, and when he told Vincent he has to tighten the belt a bit 'cause Theo wanted to start up a new business, Vincent shot himself because he already felt so instable both mentally and physically. Hmm interesting. Oh if you might think that he cut off kis full ear, I have to disappoint you, 'cause it was only a small part of his earlobe. Still, kinda freaky, isn't it? Good old Vincent I really like your pics!! This museum even evoked my memories of Arles, although that was a long time ago....maybe I was 11 or so..
The food is not very appealing I have to say. All restaurants are a bit, hmm how shall I put it..in Hungarian it's LEPUKKANT. Ok let's say not neat and clean. I really miss the good old Hungarian cafeterias! For two reasons: 1. they have ambience, 2. they sell Italian coffee, which is absolutely unbeatable.
What else? Oh yes, the many times mentioned coffee shops. I really don't have a clue what is so special in them. They look awful! Imagine a really ugly KOCSMA in some small village Hungary, with all green stuff and smoke with smiling but moveless people. You know even if I had the intention to smoke pot I would never put my feet into those places! I don't mind people doing it, just leave me out. But it's funny that all of them say they are the best in town... :)
Well that is what I saw so far from A'dam but I am surely coming again, still lot to visit!! By the way, it is for sure a shopping haven!! There are so many nice things for fair price. I just don't get it how the dutch girls can dress up so horribly sometimes, even if they have really cool stuff to choose from.
OK enough for now, seeya later!
Püssz :)
posted by Juli at 7:32 PM
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