Reminiscence, cycles, white wonderland, medieval towns and cosmopolitanism
I thought I would reach Paris, and I would feel like I had returned home after 4.5 years. It didn’t feel like home. But, after 4 weeks traveling to 5 different countries in Europe, it is still the city I hold closest to me. As I walked through the different streets that I reminisced so many times in my head in the past few years, as I indulged in crêpes, fondues, wine, cheese, hot chocolate in brasseries, bars, restaurants and street stands, I felt a grateful kind of love towards it. Very very thankful that I lived there. I can’t get enough of the French and their “je m’en foutisme" attitude. I love them.
Holland was defined by cycles - especially Amsterdam. As I was told, you don’t need to watch out for cars and vehicles, nor for pedestrians, but you do need to watch out for the cycles. They swish past you. That’s true.
It was a bit unfortunate that I explored The Hague on a Monday when all museums are closed except one. I did enjoy walking around the canals in Delft and to see Amsterdam from a Dutch's perspective, I went on a three hour yellow cycle tour of the city. It was a bit challenging, especially with the back pedal break which I am not used to, but absolutely worth it - going through narrow streets, over bridges on the canals and getting a bit of history of this historical city was really nice. I also got to see the Madurodam in The Hague, which has the whole of Holland in miniature and the Anne Frank museum which was very impressive!
Onward from Holland, I flew to Switzerland where I was welcomed by snow. The white wonderland left me spellbound. I had never before in my life seen so much snow. Everything was white. All the fields, hills and mountains were covered with snow. My jaw literally dropped. One of the highlights of this trip was going on a one day hike to a castle where we walked for hours with no one on sight in the snow and where we had a picnic on the edge of the castle overlooking mountains, forests and the river covered in white. Of course, Switzerland could not have been complete without raclette, a lot of chocolate, their different way of drinking hot chocolate, a bit of dancing and a lot of balloons (go figure…)!
A mini reunion of sorts in Paris with some key people missing… but it was nice to reminiscence, laugh and drink tea… Have we changed since 4.5 years ago? Yes, some of us are married. But, we still drink tea, sit at cafés for hours smiling, looking at people or playing scrabble, still manage to find ourselves in weird parties uninvited, and they still discuss art while I look on blankly and blink my eyes in my perpetual ignorant style. And then, there was the best swing concert I’ve ever been too. I’ve even got the CD autographed to remind me that I was actually there.
The Eurostar goes under the tunnel and you come out in England.
Paris to London in less than 3 hours. Unbelievable.
The wind chill factor in London before catching the bus to Edinburgh made my limbs quiver and my body freeze. I quickly took refuge in a warm coffee shop awaiting my bus.
In Edinburgh, you come out of the bus station, walk towards Princes Street, and you are welcomed by a site of Medieval Buildings as though placed one on top of the others in layers facing you with, on the right, its castle on top of a hill – it felt like I was transported to another age. Truly one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to. Their whisky tastes awful, I have no idea why they are renowned for it, the infamous Scottish weather, it seems, is one of the best topics of its people, but otherwise, it is a stunning country. I had one of my best city walks of this trip through the dean village; the Pentlands cut my breath in more ways than one, and a bus trip to the highlands gave me a glimpse of its truly magnificent nature. Indoor climbing reminded me in what horrible shape I was, although looking at people climb is like watching art in motion. And I saw a really really good movie after a long time, recommended to everyone – $9.99 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790799/).
Advice: if you ever find yourself in Edinburgh, go to Falko… yum yum for their bread! (http://falko.co.uk/)
I had one thing in my mind. I have sustained Holland, Switzerland and Scotland, I would be able to sustain the cold of London… in vain. Thankfully, on my second day there, the sun decided to shine, and it would be so, until I left for India. At one point, it was snowing and the sun was shining too - another first for me, I had never seen this combination!
London is all about its people. First, it's very different from the other cities I had been to, and you can feel that there are about 10 million people living in this city. Then, while you walk, you hear about 10 different languages in 10 minutes. In the tube, I could just people watch for hours. Out of the three days in London, I spent the best part of two days at the National Gallery and the British Museum. But I would witness the most wonderful visual treat at the Royal Albert Hall where I was lucky enough to see "Le Cirque du Soleil" – it was mind-blowingly beautiful. I was left speechless. The story of the cirque was about Varekai, a magical forest (http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/varekai/show/about.aspx). The music, the acrobats and their movements, their weightlessness, their costumes, the setup, the hall, the moment, everything was in harmony. Yes, I teared up.
On my way to the airport, the sunset was beautiful.
Visiting friends…
I never thought that I’d ever be so lucky to visit so many places, and be welcomed, in each of these places, by friends and their homes. Visiting them, it was like I was watching a movie about their lives, but instead of actors I don’t know, these are the lives of people I care about, people I love, people I admire and respect, people I’ve met in other circumstances than the lives they are actually leading now. And it was so good to see a glimpse of that, and for a few days to be a part of their lives, like I was in their movie. Sipping on tea, cooking together, playing video games, walking, talking, dancing, hiking, playing with balloons, arguing, laughing, and just being together… THIS, was the best part of the last four weeks. At the risk of sounding corny (like I've not been corny enough in this entire post!), Viktor, Jennifer, Sneha, Priya, Eline, Dylan, Dominik, Eva, Liliane, Gaya, Asia and Tiago… Thank you.
Links to pics
Holland was defined by cycles - especially Amsterdam. As I was told, you don’t need to watch out for cars and vehicles, nor for pedestrians, but you do need to watch out for the cycles. They swish past you. That’s true.
It was a bit unfortunate that I explored The Hague on a Monday when all museums are closed except one. I did enjoy walking around the canals in Delft and to see Amsterdam from a Dutch's perspective, I went on a three hour yellow cycle tour of the city. It was a bit challenging, especially with the back pedal break which I am not used to, but absolutely worth it - going through narrow streets, over bridges on the canals and getting a bit of history of this historical city was really nice. I also got to see the Madurodam in The Hague, which has the whole of Holland in miniature and the Anne Frank museum which was very impressive!
Onward from Holland, I flew to Switzerland where I was welcomed by snow. The white wonderland left me spellbound. I had never before in my life seen so much snow. Everything was white. All the fields, hills and mountains were covered with snow. My jaw literally dropped. One of the highlights of this trip was going on a one day hike to a castle where we walked for hours with no one on sight in the snow and where we had a picnic on the edge of the castle overlooking mountains, forests and the river covered in white. Of course, Switzerland could not have been complete without raclette, a lot of chocolate, their different way of drinking hot chocolate, a bit of dancing and a lot of balloons (go figure…)!
A mini reunion of sorts in Paris with some key people missing… but it was nice to reminiscence, laugh and drink tea… Have we changed since 4.5 years ago? Yes, some of us are married. But, we still drink tea, sit at cafés for hours smiling, looking at people or playing scrabble, still manage to find ourselves in weird parties uninvited, and they still discuss art while I look on blankly and blink my eyes in my perpetual ignorant style. And then, there was the best swing concert I’ve ever been too. I’ve even got the CD autographed to remind me that I was actually there.
The Eurostar goes under the tunnel and you come out in England.
Paris to London in less than 3 hours. Unbelievable.
The wind chill factor in London before catching the bus to Edinburgh made my limbs quiver and my body freeze. I quickly took refuge in a warm coffee shop awaiting my bus.
In Edinburgh, you come out of the bus station, walk towards Princes Street, and you are welcomed by a site of Medieval Buildings as though placed one on top of the others in layers facing you with, on the right, its castle on top of a hill – it felt like I was transported to another age. Truly one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to. Their whisky tastes awful, I have no idea why they are renowned for it, the infamous Scottish weather, it seems, is one of the best topics of its people, but otherwise, it is a stunning country. I had one of my best city walks of this trip through the dean village; the Pentlands cut my breath in more ways than one, and a bus trip to the highlands gave me a glimpse of its truly magnificent nature. Indoor climbing reminded me in what horrible shape I was, although looking at people climb is like watching art in motion. And I saw a really really good movie after a long time, recommended to everyone – $9.99 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790799/).
Advice: if you ever find yourself in Edinburgh, go to Falko… yum yum for their bread! (http://falko.co.uk/)
I had one thing in my mind. I have sustained Holland, Switzerland and Scotland, I would be able to sustain the cold of London… in vain. Thankfully, on my second day there, the sun decided to shine, and it would be so, until I left for India. At one point, it was snowing and the sun was shining too - another first for me, I had never seen this combination!
London is all about its people. First, it's very different from the other cities I had been to, and you can feel that there are about 10 million people living in this city. Then, while you walk, you hear about 10 different languages in 10 minutes. In the tube, I could just people watch for hours. Out of the three days in London, I spent the best part of two days at the National Gallery and the British Museum. But I would witness the most wonderful visual treat at the Royal Albert Hall where I was lucky enough to see "Le Cirque du Soleil" – it was mind-blowingly beautiful. I was left speechless. The story of the cirque was about Varekai, a magical forest (http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/varekai/show/about.aspx). The music, the acrobats and their movements, their weightlessness, their costumes, the setup, the hall, the moment, everything was in harmony. Yes, I teared up.
On my way to the airport, the sunset was beautiful.
Visiting friends…
I never thought that I’d ever be so lucky to visit so many places, and be welcomed, in each of these places, by friends and their homes. Visiting them, it was like I was watching a movie about their lives, but instead of actors I don’t know, these are the lives of people I care about, people I love, people I admire and respect, people I’ve met in other circumstances than the lives they are actually leading now. And it was so good to see a glimpse of that, and for a few days to be a part of their lives, like I was in their movie. Sipping on tea, cooking together, playing video games, walking, talking, dancing, hiking, playing with balloons, arguing, laughing, and just being together… THIS, was the best part of the last four weeks. At the risk of sounding corny (like I've not been corny enough in this entire post!), Viktor, Jennifer, Sneha, Priya, Eline, Dylan, Dominik, Eva, Liliane, Gaya, Asia and Tiago… Thank you.
Links to pics
posted by manu at 7:33 PM
4 Comments:
It took a while but they posted your famous bike pic!! I can't copy it from the internet, unfortunately, but you can look at it with this link...How funny is that pic???
http://www.yellowbike.nl/fotopagina
Too bad they don't have a picture from...Mike de Boer!
X
i wanted to put that pic of the trees in the snow as profile pic, but we could not see the trees so the whole pic just appeared all white :P
i love, love, love that pic!
hi manu! as alwaysi love reading your blog. i must say that it kills me that you have never seen so much snow (or snow and sun)! these things that i have grown up with as a canadian must have been so strange for you! perhaps next time we are at kili kids we should bring the kids pictures from our homes... oooOOOooo how great would that be!? xoxo
eline: the cycle photo is funny!! it's a shame i can't save it and post it!!
chand: even if you squint your eyes?
yona: that's an awesome idea!!! :)
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