Holland: One Day @ Amsterdam #2

With my parents over during the Easter break, we decided to go back to Amsterdam. The last time I visited the city was more than a year ago, and I had totally forgotten how chaotic it is with all the tourists it receives everyday. And if tourists didn’t provoke enough chaos already, because they are completely unaware of the bike paths, some companies have decided to implement bike tours around the town. It would be fine if people were actually used to ride a bike in busy towns, but that’s not usually the case. Needless to say, chaos is even bigger now.

This time we didn’t visit museums or anything like that. We mostly decided to just wander around the city, getting to know a little bit about it. We ended up by spending the whole morning in one of the main commercial streets and we found a couple of very interesting shops. I wish we could have some of them back home. And we had the best brunch/lunch ever: a delicious and gorgeous apple pie with cream (you can see a picture of it here).

We decided to visit one of the Protestant churches that there is in Amsterdam. I can’t remember the exact name of the church, but is the one located close to the House of Anne Frank (you can see photos of the church below). I must say it was quite disappointing, if we compare it to Catholic churches. I had never been inside a Protestant church so I didn’t know how much they differed. They are architecturally speaking interesting but they really don’t have the same appeal that Catholic churches have.

And lastly, we wandered around Amsterdam’s chinatown. I was going to say it is small but since I’m never been to any other chinatown, I can’t really say that. All the photos that I present here were edited with the programme “pixelmator”.

Holland: One Day @ Delft

In one of the days that my parents came to visited me in the Netherlands we decided to spend one day in Delft. This is a city and a municipality in the region of South Holland. It is located close to Rotterdam and The Hague. Delft is known for its historic town centre with canals, Delft Blue pottery (Delftware), the Delft University of Technology, painter Johannes Vermeer and scientist Antony van Leeuwenhoek, and its association with the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau.

Once again, it was not the best of days because it was still cloudy and rainy. As you can guess this is not exactly the exception, but considering that we’re in Spring already, it feels a bit annoying that the weather hasn’t really improved yet. All these photos were edited using pixelmator.

One of the things that I liked most about this city is that it reminds me a lot of Brugge (in Belgium). I am saying this not only in regard to the buildings themselves (as you can see in these photos), but also in regard to the general layout of the city. However, there is only one Brugge (in my opinion). The architecture of this city is without a doubt its highlight. I must say that this city is even more pretty that Leiden itself, which is already a really pretty city. It felt like Delft had more historical buildings, so to speak. I just felt is was more beautiful.

The only thing disappointing about this city is its churches. Well, this something quite disappoint throughout the whole country actually. Because they are a country of protestants, their churches are not exactly the same as those in Catholic countries; and it’s not like they had a Gothic or a Baroque period. I feel like that their churches are not really worth the visit, unless they are free of charge.

Holland: One Day @ Rotterdam #2

With my parents here for their Easter holiday, it was time to take a break from my thesis and do some traveling. In the next few weeks I will then be posting a couple of posts about the cities I visited (some new around here, others not so much) and with photos that I took too. I will start with Rotterdam, a city that I had previously visited in February (you can see the post I made about it here), and that I decided to show to my parents. It wasn’t the best day in terms of weather. It was cloudy and rainy sometimes, so the photos aren’t at their best level. They were consequently edited with pixelmator.

We started by visiting the new Market Hall (or “Markthal” in Dutch), which is a residential and office building with a market hall underneath – hence its designation. This market hall was opened on the 1st of October by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. This building comprises 288 apartments, a 4600 m2 market space, a 1600 m2 horeca (this is an abbreviation that means hotel/restaurant/café) and 4-storey parking garage. As you can see from the photos of the market (the first ones), the highlight goes to its ceiling which is absolutely beautiful and amazing. It was painted by Arno Coenen. This is a market worth visiting; that’s for sure. It has fruit/vegetables stands, flower stands, cookies/chocolate stands and several restaurants or smaller stands selling food. Everything looks amazing and I am sure they taste even better.

Next to the market we have the famous Rotterdam cube houses (or “Kubuswoningen” in Dutch). They are apparently famous but we just happened to see them because we decided to walk around the market. These houses were created by Piet Blom who decided to tilted the cube of a conventional house 45 degrees, and rested it upon a hexagon-shaped pylon. These houses are located on Overblaak Street, right above the Blaak Subway Station.

Holland: One Day @ Amsterdam #1

I have just realised that since I came to the Netherlands, for my Masters, that I haven’t shown you guys any photos from Amsterdam. These photos are however a bit old. They were taken exactly one year ago when I came here for my university’s open day. I did not stay in Amsterdam but I did visit the city in one of the days I spent in the Netherlands. It was not enough, obviously, but one day is better than anything, right?

The city is the same as any other Dutch city, with the exception of being the capital city, which means that it gets tons and tons of tourists daily. What, by the way, is the worse thing that can happen to anyone cycling in the city – honestly, it is the worse city in the Netherlands to cycle, because the tourists (knowingly or not) walk always on the bikes paths. It just makes cycling a lot more tricky than it normally is.

This city is absolutely beautiful; I just wish I had had more time to explore it on that day. Taking one of the canal-trips is absolutely worth it, especially if it’s a sunny day. It’s a perfectly good way to see some of the city’s attractions, and it’s also a really good way of seeing a good bunch of the city, without taking too long to do it.

The only attraction, if we can call it, I saw was the Anne Frank Museum. It occupied our entire morning and lunch period because the queue to enter the museum was huge when we got there (and it wasn’t that late in the morning). So, as a piece of advice, do try to get there as soon as possible, just to avoid being in a queue for a couple of hours. However, any wait is totally worth it. And obviously, we leave the museum with our hearts shattered into million tiny pieces. All the photos below were altered using the program “pixelmator”.

Holland: One Day @ Rotterdam #1

I didn’t have much time to wander around the city, but from what I could see, it seems to be very pretty. The buildings and streets are just like any other Dutch city. I don’t think we will find much differences between Dutch cities, to be honest. Probably the part that I enjoyed more about the city was its underground, but maybe just because I haven’t been in one since the beginning of the year. To be honest, from some stations to others, it actually seemed to go a lot faster than the ones I’ve been in other countries. But I’m pretty sure it’s roughly the same speed everywhere. As I had previously mentioned at the end of last year/beginning of this one, I bought myself a ticked for one of the semi-finals of the ABN-AMRO World Tennis Tournament, which is held everywhere at Rotterdam. This semi-final was played between Gilles Simon and Tomas Berdych. This match was won by the last player, with the following result: 6-2 6-1

As for the tennis match, which was what took me to Rotterdam in the first place, it was bloody amazing. The Ahoy area is pretty fancy, to be honest, which makes me question, how much more fancy are the grand slams then? In respect to the match itself, I now do understand people who actually love those really long matches. This was awfully too quick. It didn’t even lasted for one hour. However, if it was either Rafael Nadal or Maria Sharapova playing, I’d prefer instead a quick match. I was expecting so much more from Gilles Simon considering the fact that he defeated Andy Murray in the previous round. Either way, Tomas Berdych played an amazing match from the very first minute, and he was definitely the best in the court during the whole match.

Watching tennis matches live actually makes you notice an awful lot of details. First, it seems that they have no time at all to rest between points – it seems to be a lot more on TV. Second, I never noticed that the ball kids and the line judges are substituted during the match itself. Third, even if he players scream or shout something, it’s actually not that loud as it seems on TV.

Regarding this specific match, I have one last comment to make. THAT WAS THE WORST UMPIRE I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE! Honestly, it got to a point, very early in the match, when I just wanted to shout – “Sir, you suck!“. First, poor Gilles. His last name is Simon not Simone. Second, don’t shush people; that seems rude. Just say as everyone else does: “silence please“. Third, it’s THIR-TY and FOR-TY, not THIR-TEEN and FOUR-TEEN. Honestly, he did a really made job. And plus, we could hear some of his reactions to the match. Like, man that’s not your job. I’m not saying that he had to have a perfect British accent, but people should be sure that the umpires can actually pronounce the words correctly.

Lastly, about the photographs themselves. I’m sorry that they aren’t of great quality. It was a really crappy day to take photographs, and plus, I still have to learn how to take better photos indoors. I have published a few other photos on the blog’s instagram account (you can check it here). And all these photos were altered using the programme pixelmator.

The view that I had from my seat.

Happy New Year

And we are in the last day of 2014. I feel like, for the first time in such a long time, I don’t have any kind of resolutions for the new year, besides wanting to finish my Masters with the best grade possible. Contrary to what happened in the last few years, I honestly don’t have any major plans for 2015. I don’t know what happened this time but I really don’t feel the need of it. Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, though. I think I’ll just wait and see how this year goes, and make any plans when they’re necessary. I know that I will have to figure out what to do with my life after I finish my Masters, but I really don’t wanna think about it right now. Hopefully, I’ll come up with some kind of plan when it gets the time for it. I think I’ve been adopting a way of life where I tackle one problem at a time. It’s harder than it sounds, actually. So, no major plans for 2015 right now. But there are still some sort of planed things that I’m looking forward to.

For the first time, I’m super excited for Valentine’s Day but not for the reasons you’d think – I don’t have any romantic plans whatsoever. But I’ll have the next best thing… Well, at least for me. I’ll be attending the Rotterdam tennis tournament’s semi-finals. I have no idea who may be able to reach it, but I’m hoping that Stanislas Wawrinka, Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov and Tomas Berdych will qualify for it, because that would mean that I could watch either one of them play live. That would be amazing!

I’m hoping that 2015 will be the year when I’ll finally see “Walk the Moon” live again, and “Imagine Dragons” live for the first time. “Walk the Moon” have just released their 2nd album this month and they’re going to start their new tour in January. Until now they only have dates for the USA and Canada. In the meantime, I’m hoping that they’ll add more dates but this time in Europe. And there’s no way a band can miss Amsterdam – so I’m really praying that they’ll perform there in time for me to see them. As for “Imagine Dragons”, they are going to release their 2nd album in February and we already know that a new tour is coming too. Also, they’ve promised to big news for the fans. I’m not sure where they’ll start but I’m assuming it will be the USA. Hopefully, they’ll go to Amsterdam too before I leave the Netherlands. I would have put “Bastille” in this list too but Dan Smith just crashed my dreams when, in an interview in Austria, he said: “this is like our last European show of the year, and probably for quite a long time”. They’ve also confirmed that they’ll be spending quite a long time working on their 2nd album (which is amazing news, though). So no new tour for the next few months, probably nothing for the first half of the year. So no chance I’ll be able to see them in the Netherlands. I know there’s concerts in Portugal too, but bad experiences in the past with fans make me seriously question if I ever want to go to a concert here. For now, I’d prefer something in a foreign country. Anyway, I won’t rest until I get the chance to see them live (I wasted my first chance; no way in hell I’m gonna waste a second one).

Also, living (even if only temporarily) in the Netherlands has a huge advantage in terms of trips. It is situated basically in the centre of Europe, so there’s plenty of interesting countries to visit, including itself. I’m not sure who much time I’ll have to travel but I want to do some trips, even if only really small ones. Apart from the tennis tournament, for which I already bought my tickets, these aren’t exactly planed things, but simply ideas that I would like to fulfil.

I just want to finish this post by wishing you all a great, awesome and amazing 2015. I honestly hope that all your dreams and wishes come true. And never forget that every year has its bad and good moments, so don’t be discouraged if your life isn’t going 100% to what was planed. There’s plenty of different paths to reach our goals. It doesn’t matter if it will take little or too long to get there, what matters is that you will get there. In the end, bad moments or situations can be used as valuable lessons to make us better people, especially for our own sake. So most importantly, never give up and be happy. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas in Germany: Köln

I have already shown you guys some photos from my short trip to Cologne (Köln), but now that we’re super close to Christmas, I will show you the rest of my photos. Our group basically went to Cologne for their Christmas markets, as I’ve said in the other post (that you can read here).

So, every year, the city of Cologne organises several Christmas markets that normally last for about an entire month. In total, I believe that the city has around 9 different markets. The most famous is the one located next to the Cathedral – this was the first that we went to. We also went to the old market Christmas and to the Christmas market in the Stadtgarten. Finally, we went to gay and lesbian Christmas market. Curious thing that the guy at the hostel told us – apparently, Cologne is the gay city of Germany. As you can see, there’s a Christmas market for every taste.

In these markets, apart from he selling of different types of crafts, people also have the chance to try some typical German dishes (mainly involving sausages) and some mulled wine (beverage usually made with red wine along with various mulling spices and raisins; it is served hot or warm and may be alcoholic or non-alcoholic) – or Glühwein, in German.

As I’ve said on the other post about Cologne, I completely forgot my camera at home, so I couldn’t take pictures with my own camera, obviously. But since one of the girls lent me one of her cameras – one of those tiny ones – I managed to take some photos. The quality of them is not the same as those from previous posts, but at least it gives you an idea of how was my weekend. This is going to be another super short post because I didn’t take many photos at the markets.

Germany: One Weekend in Köln

A few weekends ago, me and four friends, we went to Germany for a weekend. As you can see from the post’s title, we went to Cologne (or Köln, in German). We went there mostly because of the Christmas markets that the city organises every year. And I must say that I was super excited to go to Germany because it is something that I’ve been wanting to do for years and years. And I finally did it – it’s a shame that it was just for about 24h.

It took us a while to figure out that we were already in Germany because inside a train, there’s no way of knowing if you’ve crossed the border or not. We only came to that conclusion after seeing a couple of German flags and car plates. Even though we travelled in an international train, I’m pretty sure that it was a German train or something. We travelled in 2nd class but damn that was very fancy for 2nd class carriages. I wonder how the 1st ones were.

To save as much money as possible, we stayed in the a youth hostel (kinda like what we call “pousadas da juventude” in Portugal). I’m not sure if it was just that one, or if they’re all like that in Germany, but damn, that look way much nicer than I ever expected. I must say that both the WC and the bathroom were much better than the one that I have in the student residence where I’m living (in the Netherlands).

Twenty-four hours isn’t much to get to know a city or to see much of it, but it’s always better than nothing, I guess. The city’s architecture is just beyond amazing, especially its cathedral – it’s so majestic and imposing. Either way, I left Germany with a god first impression of it. I really have to go back their – both the city (there’s plenty more to see) and the country.

And there’s a small (and stupid) story behind these photos. I was so worried that we could lose the bus to the train station, that I left my flat kinda in a rush, so what happened? I forgot my camera at home. I felt really stupid during the whole weekend because normally that’s the first that I take when I’m leaving home for a trip. But it all worked out. One of the girls lent me one of her cameras – one of those tiny ones – and that’s how I’m able to publish some photos about my weekend in Germany. The quality of the photos is not as good as that of my previous posts, but at least it gives you an idea of how my weekend was.

Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom)

Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom)

Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom)

Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom)

Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom)

Cologne Opera (Oper der Stadt Köln) – view from one of the Cathedral’s towers

View of the city from one of the Cathedral’s towers

View of the city from one of the Cathedral’s towers

View of the city from one of the Cathedral’s towers

View of the city from one of the Cathedral’s towers

View of the city from one of the Cathedral’s towers

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

@ Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)

Holland: Life in Leiden #1

E só agora é que reparei que ainda não mostrei fotografias, nem falei muito sobre a cidade onde estou a viver, desde o início do mês passado (Setembro). Já estou aqui há pouco mais de dois meses, por isso acho que é tempo de falar um pouco mais da minha experiência em como é viver nos Países Baixos. Leiden é uma cidade e um município da província da Holanda do Sul (pois, o nome do país não é Holanda, de todo). Embora seja uma cidade pequena, Leiden é uma importante cidade universitária, visto que nela se situa a universidade mais antiga dos Países Baixos, fundada em 1575 – universidade esta na qual eu estou agora a estudar. Pela cidade passa o “velho Reno” (“Oude Rijn”), para além dos vários canais. Aliás, esta é uma das mais famosas características das regiões flamengas (Países Baixos e parte flamenga da Bélgica). O facto da cidade ser pequena torna muito fácil qualquer deslocação dentro dela, se bem que basicamente toda a gente utiliza uma bicicleta como meio de transporte – aliás, depois de nos habituarmos à bicicleta, já não queremos outra coisa. A cidade é bastante calma, especialmente nas zonas residenciais, o que eu acho que é fantástico e adoro. No entanto, com os estudantes universitários, a cidade é bastante movimentada no centro, onde estão os principais bares/pubs da cidade. E o que não falta nesta cidade são parques. Honestamente, ao fim destes dois meses, Leiden já se tornou na minha segunda casa. As fotografias que vos apresento foram alteradas com o programa “pixelmator”.

And I’ve just noticed now that I haven’t showed you guys photos, nor talked much about the city where I’m living now, since the beginning of last month (September). I’ve been here for a bit more than two months, so I think it’s time to talk a bit more about my experience in how it is to live in the Netherlands. Leiden it’s a city and a municipality of the province of South Holland (yeah right, the name of the country it’s not Holland, not at all). Even though it is a small city, Leiden it’s a very important university city, since the oldest Dutch university, funded in 1575, is situated here – university in which I’m studying now. The “old Rhine” (“Oude Rijn”) passes through this city, apart from several canals. This is by far one of the most famous characteristics from the flemish regions (the Netherlands and the flemish part of Belgium). That fact that the city it’s actually small makes it a lot easier to walk within it, even though everyone uses a bike as a means of transportation – actually, after you get used to using your bike, you won’t want anything else. The city is quite quiet, especially in the residential areas, which is something fantastic and that I love. However, with its university students, it gets quite busy in the city centre, where the main bars/pubs are located. And what it’s not missing in this city is green parks. Honestly, after these two months, Leiden has already become my second home. The photos that I’m presenting you guys were altered using the programme “pixelmator”.

Leiden Centraal Station

one of the many bike parks that the city has

one of the windmills that the city has

overview of the city (1)

overview of the city (2)

Haarlemmerstraat – the main “commercial” street

Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum (the university hospital – which is absolutely colossal)

Universiteitsbibliotheek (the university library)

Hortus Botanicus Leiden (which is also part of the university)

Gemeente Leiden (the town hall)

Holland: one afternoon @ Katwijk aan Zee

Há cerca de duas semanas (mais coisa menos coisa), eu e mais o meu grupo da semana de orientação (e mais umas quantas pessoas) passamos uma tarde na praia. Foi uma tarde muito bem passada, não só pela companhia e pelo sítio em que estávamos, mas porque também deu para relaxar e para nos afastarmos de toda a trabalheira que têm sido estas últimas semanas. A praia a que fomos fica em Katwijk aan Zee (estância balnear localizada no Mar do Norte), que fica a cerca de 10km de onde estamos a viver. Decidimos, à boa moda holandesa, irmos para lá de bicicleta. Muito as minhas pernas se queixaram ao final do dia (o que não admira; não estou habituada a fazer muito exercício físico, e numa só tarde fiz 20km numa bicicleta), mas o passeio foi excelente, especialmente pela paisagem. As imagens que vos mostro abaixo foram tiradas na praia. Elas foram alteradas usando o programa “pixelmator“.

About two weeks ago (leave it or take it), me and my group from the orientation week (along with some other people), we spent an afternoon at the beach. It was a well spent afternoon, not only because of the company and the landscape, but also because we managed to relax and to get away from all the hard work that has been the last few weeks. The beach that we went to is in Katwijk aan Zee (seaside resort located on the North Sea), and it is 10km away from where we are living. We decided, in a true Dutch fashion, to cycle there. My legs really complained at the end of the day (what doesn’t surprise me; I’m not use to do much physical exercise, and I did cycled 20km in one afternoon), but it was well worth because the cycling was great, thanks to the landscape. The photos that I show you above were taken at the beach. They were all altered using the program “pixelmator“.