the last 2 days in Holland

These are last few days left in Holland and I am a bit sad.

Well describing the feeling is hard ,Wijbren's parents are really nice and we are both having great time here,but always whenver you are happy you have to leave soon.This is life ,can't stop the good or bad time.

Me and Wijb both had great summer we had so much tension before what to do ,what is the best ,getting visa for Europe ,thinking about Marriage,other things for future..

we passed from Xian and visiting some nice places around Xian and then Beijing 2 times and especially for Wijbren was great to be in Beijing before leaving China and seeing bBeijing after Olympic 2009 ,and all changes was a great choice and then Mongolia as Wijbren never been to Tibet and was not so suitbale because of tension go there and I spent 1 month there .

so we were happy but the time pass all good memories stay in mind which is the good part of travelling and being in Holland and Germany and changes in matter of atmosphere,people,food was a great all together.

But now we need to focus on our unfinshed plans and back to our city in China and possibly back to Beijing to sort out and finish hopefully our business with embassies.\

I can't say after5 years I miss China or I feel home but anyhow everyplace has its good and bad things.

I hope we can manage to come back and one day live in Europe which in so many ways have less tension and streesand it is good for my future art and our both jobs.

Anyhow we planed the last day of week go to Giethorn which is located in the

borader of Friseland and other Dutch provinces in Holland.

This city calls "venice of the North" and all is because of having so many canals and houses built on the water.

But you could see bangalows or 2 floors houses not more and with small yard full of flowers and nice decorations,which were really eye-catching.

something which is obvious in Holland is bicycle. Many of 15 million Dutch own a bicycle.In small,flat country without any far distances,the bicycle is the ideal form of transport.

Windmills:

Since the 13th century windmills were used in the Netherlands,around the 17th century there were more than 10,000 windmills.

in any towns and small or big cities you still can find some wooden nice windmills,but mostly these types are left behind and new wind power energy they used is with modern wind mills which are like skyckrapers.

Anyhow that small town had its own special beuty with canals and woden boats all over,full of tourists hanging around the cafes' and we were walking all around the town and got a tour boat for almost an hour passing though the canals ,and reached to a handmade lake which was just 80 centimeters deep and safe enough for everybody to swim there.

In fact we saw so many kid's and couples playing in the water ,sun bathing,boating,fishing, and even one floating restaurant which was a brainy idea to sell some drink and ice creams in the middle of lake.

It was a great experience to be there and sit on the boat floting in the water....

Trip to Amsterdam,

Yesterday the whole family decided to have a day trip to Amsterdam.
When we arrived there was almost 12.30 p.m and after having a drink in a cafe ,me and Wijbren and parents got seperated .

We walked about an hour around the center of city and found a tourist information and got our day boat ticket around the Amsterdam.





As Amsterdam is so famous for its canals,it was a great idea in fact.Amsterdam is the capital of the city and its a meeting point of cultures.

Legends say Amsterdam was founded by two fisherman after they landedon the banks of the Amstel river.

Towards the end of 16th century merchants from Antwerp moved to Amsterdam and its became ofr a short period the biggest and one of the richest town.

Noth sea canal was dug in 1876 and connects the port of Amsterdam with North sea.this canal gave the dutch economy a big boost.


in the center of city we saw the Dam which is really the heart of the city.is the place where celebration,festivals and mourns happend.and there you can find national monument which was erected in 1956 to commemorate the people who died in World War 2.

there is another place you pass by boat tour which is central station was designed in 1889 by architect Cuypers,the same person who designed the Rijksmuseum.Both building are significant resemblance.


the city is famous for its canalsand it calls as Venice of the north because of 90 cannals and more than 1000 bridges.
Visitors can see so many magnificents houses built by the side of canals,which the their prices are enormousely high.

There are couple of nice Musums to see ,as State museum ,Van Gogh museum,Maritime Museum and Historical museum.

The state museum which we went in yesterday was 4 floors and full of master piees from Van Gogh,Rambrandt,Johannes Vermeer,Jan steen.
The Rijksmuseum(national) is one of the reasons that I visit Amsterdam frequently. Currently the gallery is undergoing restoration so only a small taster of the collection is on display.
They were renovating the mseum,and we had to stand on a long line ,but the entrace ticket and all standing worth it!.


You could see the master piece from the most famous Dutch artists.There is a art with Dollhouses which was amazing how to make and creat the whole Doll houses with all equipments.



City of flowers, is anoher name ofr Amsterdam.There is a seasonal festival from April till May ,a place close by Amsterdam which calls Aalsmeer,where youc an see different flowers flourishing.


At the beginning of singel you encounter the catboat.there are 80 cats living on this boat,which is amazing.
The Stopera is abuilding you will find on Waterloo Square.It houses both the town hall and the music theatre,and was built in 1986.

Opposite of central station,on the conrner of Geldersekade and prins hendrikkade stands the old Schreierstroen. The tower dates back to the Middle ages.The tower is known for the tower of tears. as this was the place where old days the wives and sweethearts of the sailors used to wave goodbye to thier loved ones.

The light district is a well known area for tourists which shows prostitutes are waiting behind the red light for the clients. it is an international area in this city.

There are Spies which we can see the houses have mirrors which stand on the outsides of house.A person who sits in the living room can see who rings the bell.

Well after visiting all this and city hall we dropped somehwere to have some food and all the way back home with parents.It was such a good atmosphere and feeling to be one day in the capital anyhow.

Trip to Holland ,Forth part

Trip to Holland….

Today Sunday, we decided to be active again and Wijb's Dad come up with nice idea that we can see flower festival.
In fact I had an idea that Holland should have a Flower festival someday as this country produce flower and export. Anyhow we couldn’t find the flower festival but we went by car to couple of towns and cities.

The first stop was Hoorn which is located in North of Holland in fact Hallum the place that we are located is in Friesland which has totally different language with Dutch and these people are the race of Frisians who came long time ago from Finland and Sweden to the North East part of Holland.

The Netherland has 12 provinces and leeuwarden is the capital of Friesland.

The Hoorn is in another side of lake and the country bridge connect the North east ( Friesland) to the North part of Holland and other part of the country.

We had a nice sight seeing there and then we moved toward Volendam city ,that is another costal city near the lake and sea. As you could see so many tourist hanging around souvenir shops there ,but we could find a nice fish snack shop and got to row fish sandwich one salmon and another eel- fish which were totally mouth- watering.
After staying there for a short time and sitting in a nice café’ watching tourists and taking some photos from the ships we moved to another city Marken.

Finally we end up to our village and back home. I think I have seen most towns and cities in Friseland and North part of Holland and now my adventures goes toward the capital and center of the country. I can say as we passed by train from Holland to the South East to Germany ,the whole country is full of fields and small villages and towns and in South and center turn to bigger cities.

Trip to Holland third part

Trip to Holland third part:
Monday was a quite nice day Wijbren needed to sort out some documents ,so we decided to go to Groningen which was around one and half hour far from Hallum and we got to Leeuwarden and from there got the train to Groningen.

We passed couple of times from Leeuwarden these days as it is a transferring city and basically is a big town with enough facilities. The city was so much for Wijb as he spent almost 9 years of study there. He showed me his university and we hang around the city for a while.


As usual I took some photos from boats which I love their style and harbor. we went to municipal office and I faced with a long queue as We face in Asia, but luckily very organized.

We were looking for a hair dresser that,I wanted to high -light my air but finally dyed it with anther type of brown color and quite nice amount of Euro.

These days in Europe I try not to think and convert currency ,just in case of not making my life miserable. Wijb found his old comic book hop and gave me the whole story of old times and it was such a freaky place to work in.

Well no misunderstanding it was quite big and full of books ,but like a haunted house and in some part was dark enough to crawl and find your way out of books, so many books, comics features and different crap around .

We got some small shopping and tried to find reasonable sale shops .It took another 2 hours to get train back and then bus to the countryside. Wijb wanted to call his Dad to come and pick up us on the train station but I told him is not necessary and but good enough.

Calling from public phones are pretty hard as coins sometimes don’t work and most people use mobile and our mobile doesn’t work in Europe and no credit card.
I was trying to use the toilet on train station and toilet just use the mobile to call and pay the amount of money was so weird that one.
Anyhow last night we were so tired and had to pack and get ready for Tuesday to get the train and go to Berlin.

Now I am sitting on the third train and see the sightseeing and hopefully be back home soon.

Our trip to Germany Third part

Trip to Berlin Third part:

On Thursday me and Wijbren decided to go to my embassy and ask some questions ,just to be sure about our documents. It was a kind of trip in fact .Taking the train to the Alexander and then long trip around one hour to the embassy, but beside the embassy was a big park, or I call it like forest park and we spent couple of minutes walking around ,in out skirt of city center.

the way back we stumble by the snack shop and got some stuff and observing other tourist which is sometimes quite fun though .

The rest of afternoon we decided as we were close to the Berlin Zoo ,go and see Zoo. It was really amazing Zoo. To be honest I had not seen such a big ,clean, green zoo before. The tour guide told us t s one of the best in the world and I must confess it took 4 hours walking and such a great relaxing place though. Beside the zoo was a huge park and a river pass by which tourists boats were hanging there.

Berlin’s Siegessäule - Victory Column - is another of Berlin’s monuments that has reinvented itself through the ages - from symbol of Prussian military victory in the 19th century to that of Berlin’s thriving gay community and favourite tourist spot today

There were so many specious from different part of globe ,the number of birds were so amazing ,majority from Africa and Australia, lamas and camels were part of other interesting animals to see.

It was around 4 in the afternoon we gave up and got out to eat something and back t our neighborhood. Friday quite slow as we were so tired and rest and got sandwiches to get ready for our journey the way back to Holland.

Our trip to Germany

Trip to Berlin second part:

Berlin has quite few places to see ,but in my view one day tour is enough .Some people got 2 days tour and some got Boat trip tour, but in fact I preferred scenic spot in the city in fact.
That is pity nothing that much left from Berlin wall ,just around 2,3 Meters and on the street you can see the sign of the wall everywhere in fact which kind of make this city different with the other cities.



Meanwhile we were on tour we passed by couple of Famous embassies as USA embassy and government building .In fact the classical style of embassies and parliament center was quite eye-catching.




There is a T.V tower near the Alexander square which has a rotating fantastic restaurant on the top. That tower remind me Tehran(Iran) and T.V tower there basically was a copy of this one The guide mentioned that the lift on the tower is the fastest lift in the world.

Another place we passed by was Potsdam which is listed as the world heritage site by UN and it is no small wonder. Include statue and palace and water fountains



the city which was a bit intersting the gate calls” Brandenburger Tor” which symbolized the reunification of East and West Berlin after the fall of the wall.

There is another place which calls “Check point Charlie” where the Stasi and CIA SPIED ON EACHOTHERT AND HEROIC AND TRAGIC ESCAE ATTEMEPTS WERE MADE FROM..
Which is stand for American and Russian tank in 1961.

Meanwhile we were sitting on the bus we passed by a gate inside




Anyhow the are so many places to sit down and have a cup of tea or coffee and some ice- cream and chill out and we were looking for a ice ,reasonable restaurant and finally we got ne and some handy, souvenir shops and I got some post cards and so far changed my money and they back walking stopped on Alexander square and sat beside the fountain and enjoyed the sun shine.
As in Europe people love sitting under sun shine cause they don’t have that many sunny days, opposite of Asia ,as we get distance from sun.

In the evening we decided to drop off the one of local bar and get some German beer .
Around our neighborhood are plenty of bars with cozy, tranquil atmosphere for tired tourists to hang out and discover the local culture as well.

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Our trip to Germany, August 2009

Trip to Berlin first part
On Tuesday me and Wijb decided to get the train and

hop on it and go to Berlin.
Life can be so easy and simple if you live in Europe and now I know it and it is so tangible for me. I can acknowledge why Wijbren is so impatient to move to Europe and leave Asia

Anyhow ,our trip started from Hallum the village he lives and we got a lift from his brother and he took us to Leeuwarden and then we got the train to another city on the the brother of the Northern province in Holland and switched it to another train which took us to the brother directly and the third train pass border to Germany.

Well from the time that Europe has European union system everything is so simple, The currency is the same and the same value .For instance if you want to buy something almost in West Europe cost the same.

In fact the salary and wages almost the same ,at least so people in West and center of Europe have no problem with exchanging money or spending for their holidays.

Moreover there is no need to have passport as they have just one ID card TO USE EVERYWHERE AND BANK SYSTEM ACCEPT DEBIT CARD PRETTY MUCH EASY IN ALL EU COUNTIRES.

Back to our trip when we arrived here, thanks to Wijb German knowledge we found our way not to hard to get into apartment.
We arrived to train station and it was 4 already and contact the owner of apartment which we rented for couple of days and in less than 2 hours we stumble there.
It is pretty nice apartment as I can say.

some of the spots which absorbs most visitors is:

The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), completed in 1905, is Berlin’s largest and most important Protestant church as well as the sepulchre of the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty.

The Brandenburg Gate is one of Berlin’s most important monuments – a landmark and symbol all in one with over two hundred years of history. A former symbol of the divided city, it drew visitors who used to climb an observation platform in order to get a glimpse of the world behind the Iron Curtain, on the other side of the barren “death-strip” which separated east from west Berlin, geographically and politically.

Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, located in Mitte on a stretch of the former “death strip”, where the Wall once stood near the Brandenburg Gate, is Berlin’s stunning monument to the Holocaust, dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide of World War II.



Berlin’s Siegessäule - Victory Column - is another of Berlin’s monuments that has reinvented itself through the ages - from symbol of Prussian military victory in the 19th century to that of Berlin’s thriving gay community and favourite tourist spot today.

Not that much view ,beside other ugly east German roofs ,you can see blue sky, but t is 100 meter far from underground and as soon as you get the underground in less than 3 station you reach to Alexander square which is ne of the biggest East Berlin square and around that square ,you can visit one of the oldest cathedral from 17 century ,Berlin Dom and old church on the other site and Berlin river which takes a lot of tourists boats and ferries every day along the river.



Thursday we were wondering around the square to find our way to reach to National Museum, old art Museum and I wanted to see 2 art museum old and Modern Art.
I know Wibren doest give a shit to the Art ,but I have studied art and I love it and now I am in Berlin, maybe not ne of the best cities for art compare to Italy( Roma) or London .

When we were discussing what to do, suddenly one of the local tour guide showed up and gave us the daily Berlin Tour which was so helpful and then we decide to pay 15 Euro and get the whole day city tour which was great and passed by every single of city and they described everywhere .

We dropped close to the Museums and spent couple of hours up and down in 3 floors and I could see Wijb dumb and emotionless face and tried to end up our visit as soon as possible.