Bastion Groningen

No photo's this time guys!
I just wanted to share the fantastic news with you all that I am officially a Dutch resident.
The lawyer called us with the news on Monday morning.
We are ecstatic. This means I can reapply for a five year residency in July next year.
It also means I can now search for work.
I will keep you all informed of how that search goes and of my ongoing travels.

Wish me luck!

Shannon.

... the battlements which we went straight to and watched until it finished.
Bourtange is surrounded by a series of hexagonal moats and large man made hills which have cannons at every point of entry.
We watched live sword fighting, celtic music, celtic dancing, archery and an array of other medievil treats which were all top quality and fantastic!
Most people there were dressed in period costumes and at the end of the day, all of the market stall holders ...

... which I imagine would make for a rather uncomfortable ride!

After Appingedam, we went to a restaurent called "Robin Hoods" which is fitted out to look like a tavern from the times of Robin Hood. You can throw your peanut shells on the floor and the staff are all dressed in period costumes. It was a fantastic meal to end a fantastic day.

Well I'm on my way at last: how strange after such a build up.....

Been resting, sleeping and chilling out with friends in Groningen after a mad dash onto the Dutch flyer overnight ferry and then connecting trains to Groningen. My friend Helen ...

The trip was for Alice to help Pieti buy a new washing machine so we took the opportunity to have a look around

 A trip of about 15km from Lekkum took us to Dokkum which is a dutch fortified town in the municipality of Dongeradeel in the province of Friesland. Not very big about 15,000 people.

This town (city) is also one of the eleven cities that form the 200km skating race which can only happen if all the course is frozen over. Averages about once every ...

... me an invite to join a Dutch language and history course which will be fantastic to finally begin. I will have to reapply next year for residency but this time it will only cost 200 euro as opposed to the 830 euro I had to pay this time and the next application will be for 5 years. No photos this time guys but I just wanted to let you all know the good news. As a wise man once told me, "It was meant to be-ness". Shan.

... beautiful Dutch woman smiled through her window. I thought "Maybe it's a good thing I didn't go direct to Amsterdam, after all ..." The main streets of Groningen would probably be quite busy and entertaining on any other day, but Sundays are always boring. I skipped out on the Groningen museum, which potentially could have been quite interesting. It's supposed to have a futuristic vibe, and the guidebook described its art as being as risky ...

... not all the time though) which creates the behaviour of ignoring others in the street etc. We woke early and took a bus back to the central station, then a short walk to the road leading to the motorway. We then spent most of the day waiting at a cross roads for lifts...even meeting a fellow hitchhiker (the first one on our journey so far!) It was cold, wet and a little windy. We spent ...

... a place to eat and pass some time. The doors opened at 22:00 or so and the show began at 22:30. It was amazing. Anyway, it was over at around 00:30 and the first train was leaving at around 5:30 am so I had 5 hours or so to kill. Walked around a bit, finished the book I had with me, ate, listened to a lot of music and interacted with some of the weird characters that were walking the streets of the city deep in ...

... in the country and I had a hatchet I wanted to bury before I left. As kids, both my sisters and I had gone to schools originally founded by Dutch immigrants to Tasmania after the Second World War, and two generations later the cultural ties within the schools were still strong. I remember as an eleven year old at the school fair tasting Olliebollen, a kind of fried doughnut without a hole, but was so overwhelmed by the ...