The annual Gay Pride festival was on again this weekend. There were parties and concerts and, in keeping with the Olympic fervour, sports played in high heels.
But the highlight as ever was the Canal Boat Parade. Continue reading
But the highlight as ever was the Canal Boat Parade. Continue reading
Filed under Holland
A Dutch herring stall. Not the one in this story. Not the people in this story. Nor the same dog. This one isn’t even in Amsterdam.
So little social dramas play out, one of which I was privileged to catch. Continue reading
Filed under Holland
The Prinsengracht is high on everybody’s list of most beautiful Amsterdam streets, and with good reason. But I was looking for lesser-known alternatives.
After a frantic few months, we now have five weeks ‘at home’ in Amsterdam, with no travel plans.
It’s a good excuse for me to spend a day in the bike saddle, my camera slung over my shoulder, getting reacquainted with my favourite spots around this beautiful town.
Two years ago I blogged about the ten streets voted Amsterdam’s most beautiful by readers of the Parool newspaper. That’s proved to be a massively popular post (thanks very much, all you people who click on it a few times every day).
So this time I’ve picked ten other places I like to take visitors to show them Amsterdam’s variety as well as its charm.
Continue reading
‘When are you going to spend some time in Amsterdam?’ Dutch friends and neighbours are asking. ‘Aren’t we interesting enough for you?’
Filed under Holland
A friend who learned her cycling in China came to visit us in Amsterdam. Naturally we took her for a bike ride, lending her our guest Gazelle with ‘sit-up-and-beg’ handlebars. She liked it.
Back in Sydney she went straight down to Paul van Bellen’s Gazelle bike store in Matraville and bought herself one.
There’s a burgeoning market for sturdy city bikes in Australia, and the Dutch can fairly claim to make the best ones going. Continue reading
Filed under Cycling, Holland, Travel-Australia
There was nothing those Dutch kings liked better than getting up in the morning and trimming a hedge.
The Dutch may be on average the tallest people on the planet, but most other things in the Netherlands are built in miniature.
Palace the Loo doesn’t have the same acreage as Versailles, where the Sun King had more room to spread himself, but it’s rather grand in its modest way. Continue reading