Zuid Haarlem

... br>overseas probably 10 times in that time period. Solo travel is nice,
but it is also nice to share the travel experience with someone and
believe it or not we got along well for 15 days with no major spats!!

Traveling by car was also a major
change for me in my travels to Europe. After more than 60 trips to
the continent, this was the first time I had rented a car for a
length of time and I was apprehensive as to how it would turn ...

... out of asphalt. The Frans Hals Museum was an excellent experience. I got there at the opening and looped through it in about an hour or a little more. I like boutique museums much more than the bland white-walled galleries and this one didn't disappoint. It's period rooms and impressive collection make it a must-see.

... the finals of all the different age groups. After watching some we had dinner and then we got to go around and talk to different people until we had to go. After we left we went back to the hotel and went to bed since the next day we had to wake up early to catch our flights.

The Final Countdown After ten months of preparations, I am now counting the final hours in The Netherlands. Travelling with United and landing at Dulles International will signal the end of a lengthy procedure. Travelling to the USA on a student visa and studying at Georgetown requires patience. More importantly it requires three letters of recommendation, a transcript of records, a number of student ...

... good idea to chat them up. They can be extremely helpful. This one came in particularly handy because without his help we never would have found our apartment on our own. A very narrow path between two buildings led to two doors, ours was the one on the right. As a result we were nestled in a quiet space enabling us to catch up on some much needed sleep. When you read about holidays in Holland you will always ...

... another one of etchings (including some Rembrandts), and an excellent collection of coins, including a gold aureus with a portrait of Nero (circa 65-66 C.E.). My favourites are uneven squares of tin and lead and silver "coins", minted in various Dutch cities during the Eighty Years War as emergency measures. Back to Audubon But the birds.... The details and the colours are stunning. There are 435 illustrations in The Birds of America. They were first engraved on ...

... the building, in different styles from classical to Gothic to Baroque. As far as the eye can see the gable tops stand above Amsterdam as a reminder of the opulence and wealth in previous centuries. Soon the canal led us to open sea, or at least it looked like it. The sky had turned a silver tangerine and far away, the domes and steeples of Amsterdam's ...

... is OK, but doesn't have all the little side streets. It appears I need to walk some distance but I'm not sure. At this point I have to keep going, I've nowhere else to go. Long story short, I walked, lugging (now I know where the word luggage came from|) those bags for about 2 miles. I was on the verge of tears after coming to a highway which I apparently needed to cross to get to the houseboat. Mind you, I ...

... story, Black Pete is depicted as male or female, of normal stature or as a black dwarf. Zwarte Piet always wear colourful and jovial costumes. They are adorned with gold earrings and hats with feathers and are generally considered simple and full of beans characters. Their role is to assist Sinter Claas by performing various holiday tasks, like delivering presents down chimneys and recording names of naughty and nice children ...

... t know that a bagel filled with baked goat's cheese, thyme, walnut and honey is the most amazing combination you could ever try. Well, if you did know, we certainly did not. I think we will both be serving the dish (in various forms) to plenty of our guests from now on. So get ready! Public transport is something we have not really took part in throughout our stay in the city. We took the tram to and from the airport but apart from ...