Rotterdam

We have already visited so many places around Amsterdam by bike. Now, it was about time to think bigger. We have made only one day trips (there and back) so far, but last weekend we went to Rotterdam on Saturday, and came back on Sunday.

On Saturday we made a quick stop at Gouda. There was a festival in the town. We tasted some cheeses in a souvernier shop, also a 6-year-old one, juts for curiousity. 

Rotterdam is a much more modern city than Amsterdam. I would say, it is raither a tipical west-european kinda city.

My favourite was the Erasmusbrug, with a modern building in the background, called De Rotterdam. High-class flats, hotels, shops, restaurants, offices... these are all can be found within this triplet towers.

The Willemsbrug is another must-see thing in Rotterdam. Because of its colour, it looks like Golden Gate Bridge of San Fransisco for me. With the setting sun, it provided a wonderful view.

When getting hungry, I recommend everyone the Markthal. Beside admiring its unique ceiling, you can eat fresh seafood, purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, or some sweets, nuts, or chocolates.

Kijk-kubus is another iconic sight of the city. This cubehouses are actually used for living. One of them can be visited too. It might be crazy to live in one of those.

On Sunday, we visited the  Euromast. Elevators bring tourist up to 100 m, and then a spinning (360 degree) panorama elevator fly people up to the 186 m height. Brave ones can also abseil from the tower, but I guess, I would never have the courage to do that. Also, if you have € 385 for a night, you can rent one of the rooms in Euromast for a special night. It might be magical, to have that view, when waking up, but night lights also can make your evening really romantic.

And finally, there was the Sint-Laurenskerk, which is one of the few things, left from the medieval area of the city, after Rotterdam was seriously damaged by the bomb attack of the Germans. This church also needed to be renovate.

All I can say, I loved this city very much, and can't wait to see other significant cities of the country, like Haag or Eindhoven. First (70 km) could be easily achieved by bike, but the second  (130 km) would definitely call for train tickets. :)

E session

Our big day is getting closer and closer. I am counting the days... :)  We have already arranged some details of our wedding, but also there are a lot more to do. But, we have already bought the rings. In Hungary, couples start to wear them some month before the wedding, but on their left hands.  From the wedding day, couples wear it on their right hands. Here are some photos about our engagement "party". 

Nowadays, making e-session photos is also getting more and more common. We are lucky to have a really talented and experienced photographer: Attila Janics. (www.janicsattila.hu) He told us, e-session is actually a practice for the big day.  For me, it was the first time, standing in front of a professional, but the photos turned out kinda nice. :) But I guess, the wedding photos will be much more wonderful. :)

SAIL Amsterdam 2015

From 19th to 23th of August "SAIL Amsterdam" took place in the Netherlands. We are lucky, because this event is organized only in every 5th year. Uncountable numbers of ships has navigated from the North Sea Canal to the Ij harbour. People, who were curious about this fascinating sight, could see many-many kinds of ships from different countries.

My personal favourite was GLORIA, the one from Colombia. It was a highlight of the event to watch sailors standing up there, while the ship was passing through. I would never have enough courage to do that. Okay.. maybe at the lowest level. 

My fiance was more interested in ZEELAND, the offshore partol vessel. This thing was so enormous. Its weight is 3750 t. I have never seen something like that before. It had a helicopter landing place, and some kind of cannon too. It is operated by the Royal Netherlands Navy to discover pirates and smugglers on the water and can be used for military services too. How interesting. :)

Sweden has also represented itself with a ship, the GÖTHEBORG. It was so gorgeous. It reminded me  of Pirates of the Caribbean's Black Pearl, but in a colourful version. As I did some research, this is a replica of  a ship, owned by the East India Company. The original one was sailing the ocean around the 18th century. Now it is the world's largest wooden sailing ship.

The Russian ship, the SEDOV was also magnificant. As I know, it is the biggest traditional sailing vessel in the world. Originally, it was a german cargo ship, and the Soviet Union got it as a was reparation in 1945.  Its length is 117,5 m. Unbelieveble, right??

Beside these, other coutries, like England, Norway, Spain, Germany, France, Poland, Ecuador, Australia, Belgium... have also joined with their beautiful ships. 

This event shows, how great traditions sailing has in this country. For me, coming from a completely different  culture,  (Hungary is said to be a horse riding nation) it was an unforgettable experience. We probably will not be here at 2020, but I can recommend everyone to visit Amstedam around August. Ahoy! :)

Marken

Last saturday, we have visited the gorgeous city of Marken. It was actually an island, but now it is connected with the country by a causeway. On the causeway there is a bike route too. It was wonderful to ride with water on both sides.

Marken can be reached also on water. For those, who does not have an own sailing boat: Volendam Express cruise boats start every 45 mins to and from Volendam. Bikes can also be transported for additional fees. (http://www.markenexpress.nl/home) 

Marken is also famous for its clog (wooden shoe) factory. It is a great place to buy something really dutch as a souvenir to your friends and family.

If you get hungry, you should also get ready for hungry sparrows joining you for lunch. They were flying from table to table. It was cute how they hunted for falling pieces.

If you look for the most suitable word for Marken, it might be CHARMING. It must be nice to live in such a nice and peaceful place.

And I guess it was the first time, I saw waterlilies, that are not white. :)

Utrecht

On 11th  of July, the weather was extremely hot here. It reached 28 degrees. We went to Utrecht for some sightseeing.

Our way lead us along a river. It was pretty busy, we saw many huge cargo ship and also smaller hobby ships passing by. On the deck people were drinking beers, sunbathing, reading a book. It must be great to be a ship-owner...

So, river and ships on one side, and green areas with grazing cows, horses and sheeps and family farms on the other. If we looked ahead, a green alley of trees showed us the way, and at the same time provided us some shadow from the sun.

On 4th of July, exactly one week before our trip, Tour de France started from Utrecht. Shops were still full of TdF t-shirts and other souvenirs.

The most significant sight of the city is  the Dom Tower. It is so huge, it was hard to take a photo of it. It is said to be the highest church tower in the country.

The Dom garden was gorgeous. The open corridors and windows around the garden look a bit like in Hogwarts, arent' they? 

As I have mentioned, it was 28 degrees. After arriving home, we realised, we got tanned. Maybe it would have been a better idea to go to the beach. So, I hope it was not the last hot day of this summer.

Amersfoort

2 weeks ago we visited the beautiful city of Amersfoort.  Actually, we just wanted to go cycling somewhere, I ran my eyes over  Google maps, and chose this city. Amersfoort is 40 kms away from us. Lately, I worry less about distances, I feel more fit and trained after the trips, we had already achieved.

I  love travelling from town to town, enjoying the fresh air, cycling along green areas. It is so peaceful.

The medieval city centre was wonderful. I love the old buildings with calm canals running next to them. Where you see canals, boat cruise companies also appear.  I guess, they are the most significant suppliers of the Dutch tourism. It is a nice way to discover a city from the water, and this country has all the potential for it.

Back to Amersfoort... The city has a nice zoo, which is open every single day of a year. We decided to skip it, and chose to just roaming in the old streets.

The most popular sight of Amersfoort is the Koppelpoort medieval gate. It was so lovely. It brought us back to the middle ages. 

As the time flies, we gain more and more wonderful memories to remain us from the years we have spent in the Netherlands. We are truly blessed. :)

York

A couple of weeks ago we travelled to England for a quick family visit. We flow to Liverpool and then spent a day in the gorgeous city of York. The middle of the city is surrounded by a stone wall. We got an incredible view, while walking on it.

The National Railway Museum can be visited without adminission fee!!! Beside old trains and locomotives, you can see the saloons of the royal family members (Queen Elizabeth, King Edward...) The museum also has a replica of George Stephenson's Rocket.

You can find many other items from the old times' railway stations, such as scales, ticket machines, and signs.

Kids will also enjoy this place, since a little playstation has been set up for them, They can build their own little train, and I guess they will be fascinated by the model railroad.

The chocolate museum, named York's Chocolate Story is perfect for chocolate-lovers. like me :)

During the journey among some chocolates, you can taste the bitter water, which is cocoa bean with hot water. It tasted like coffee and people drank it for the same purpose.
Moreover, there was a fun machine, which demonstrated how cocoa beans are turned into chocolate.

We got a chance to make your own chocolate pop. While waiting for it, to become solid in the fridge, visitors can learn about how pralines are made, and then can taste them too. Yummy! :D 

We went to Jorvik, the Viking Museum. Jorvik is the Viking name of York. At the first part we had to sit into a vechicle, which drove us through a big room. It was dark inside. Moving, and talking wax figures told us the story of the vikings. We got to know a lot about their everyday life. To make this experience more real, there were also smells with the scenes. For example at the blacksmith's or at the butcher's house. Funny thing was a man on the lavatory. We got that one with the smell too...

At the other part  of the museum, many artifacts were on display, like weapons, jewelleries, tools.

2 full viking skeleton and other skeleton parts. Reading about how to find out genders, ages, causes of death etc. was really interesting.

We were full of new experiences and informations, but also got hungry.You just can't go home from England without trying the classy fish & chips. I love it!!!

So that is all about our little British runaway. Most of the tourists go to London, but believe me, York is also worth a visit! :)