Borneo-Sporenburg

Now that my 'stint' in Holland is very close to its due date, there was still one last thing in Amsterdam I had my heart on seeing. Before I had left South Africa, I was reading 'False Flat: Why Dutch Design is so Good’. A good chunk of one of the books chapter was dedicated to Borneo-Sporenburg, a new take on traditional Dutch canal housing designed by West8 Architects. I had set aside some time in my day to see it, and actually had some trouble locating the dock itself. Turns out, I was pretty much in front of it, I just had to lower my expectations in reality from the perfectly cropped images I had seen in the design books and blogs.

‘Two peninsulas in the eastern part of the Amsterdam docks, were to be exploited for water-related activities, as well as2500 low-rise dwelling units, with a density of 100 units per hectare. For anew interpretation of the traditional Dutch canal house, West 8 suggested new types of three-storey, ground-accessed houses deviating from the usual terraced house in being strongly oriented to the private realm by incorporating patio sand roof gardens. By repeating this type in a great variety of dwelling modes and with maximum architectural variation, an animated street elevation emerges with a focus on the individual. At a larger scale, a delicately balanced relationship exists between the repetition of the individual dwellings, the roof scape and the great scale of the docks. Three immense sculptural blocks take their place as landmarks in the vast expanse of houses.’-West8 Architects

 

START SPREADING THE NEWS

So with all the drama and hype everyone usually places on getting around New York City, I managed to easily navigate my way from Newark airport, to the front door of my sister’s apartment in Lower Manhattan.  Having taken numerous means of transport in Paris, Barcelona, Holland, and Belgium over the past 7 months, New York was but a mere piece of cake.

After a long sleepless flight and a 4 hour Opera show at the MET the previous night, my day only began by 11 (as all my days seem to go whilst travelling it seems). I casually took the respective metro lines (have I mentioned how much I love the Metro?) to where I had to be and admired the greatness that the Metropolitan Art Museum and The Guggenheim had to offer. I braved the ridiculous minus degree weather (and my equally ridiculous down feather coat) to stroll through Central Park and purchase a famous New York City hotdog to somewhat warm myself up.

My Friday morning got off to a better early morning start and a full day ahead, although in all honesty, much of the day's itinerary had only been thought out that morning. I reminisced at the 9/11 memorial, gawked at the Statue of Liberty, and suited up in Wall Street (whilst getting lost somewhere in between). For the most part, I really wasn’t that hungry or even peckish, but I simply couldn’t resist trying all the American candy I had heard and seen so much of. Twizzlers were by far the most disgusting, with a taste and texture similar to that of soap and Tootsie roll visually resembling something along the likes of..er poop. Hershey's Candy Bars and Reese’s peanut cups were by far the tastiest of the lot.

After much debate about where we would be spending our Friday evening, we opted for the cosy bar around the corner from the apartment. The whole thing felt very New York as we had to wait outside on the sidewalk for a table whilst passer-by's complained. Like something out of Sex and the City!

The Saturday morning miraculously presented us the warmest weather since I had arrived,  and we made full advantage of it by using our Citi-Bike passes to head to Brooklyn Bridge. It really is like something out the movies, all the people jogging, walking, biking and pushing strollers. Everything except seeing two lovers meeting halfway across the bridge. Our mornings adventure was followed by watching a real Knicks basketball game at Madison Square Gardens. We munched on popcorn and kept our eyes peeled for any celebrities seated in the front row.

PRAGUE CITY GUIDE- PART 1

One of the most romantic and picturesque cities I have visited thus far, and a major bonus that I got to explore the city with someone I had become particularly close to. I've never written a city guide to the places I've been to before,  so I suppose now is as good a time as any.

The easiest way to get from the airport to the centre of Prague is by cab. The AAA taxis wont rip you off and only charged us about 500 Czech Koruna's. There are plenty of buses and trams leading into the city centre, but after a long flight and the days events, its nice to spoil yourself with a relaxing chauffeured ride home. We stayed in the Belvedere suite of Residence Thunovska, a family owned building with really affordable rooms and views overlooking the red bricked roofs that Prague is so well renowned for. The apartments are located in the Mala Strana area which is out of the hustle and bustle of the touristic city centre, but less than 5 minutes walk to some of the main attractions. The area has a great old world charm to it and we found ourselves taking evening strolls across Charles bridge and the steps leading up to Prague castle on more than one occasion.

We lazily woke up on our first morning in Prague, greeted by the blinding sunshine beaming through the bedroom windows (a nice change from all the grey skies and rain in Holland). On each of the mornings of our stay in Prague we only really managed to get our day started by 10:30 and found ourselves with more than enough time to explore, so don't wear yourselves out getting up early. We walked though the streets of the old town, passing countless souvenir and marionette stores, and gradually making our way to the old town square. The ever popular Prague Astronomical Clock is amongst one of the old buildings surrounding the square, as are the hundreds of tourists and commercial restaurants.  Absinthe is also a huge attraction in Prague and  the traditional Czech way of preparing and serving the drink is by burning a sugar cube into the liquid, diluted with water and served hot with a pitcher of water on the side. Al says it tastes like shampoo, I cant help but to agree...

 

Because of the 70 % alcohol of the absinthe we had stupidly tasted before lunch, we quickly found retreat at Jo's Bar  for their speciality Czech dish of goulash in bread to sober us up. A tasty dish that somewhat resembles a stew, eaten from the inside out. We managed to sneak in a late afternoon nap from all the days walking followed by a light dinner at Luca Lu, an ever so colourful and eclectic café without the swarm of tourists...



IT'S A CONCRETE JUNGLE OUT THERE



Because Rotterdam was completely wiped out during the war, it's anything but your traditional Dutch looking city. Skyscrapers tower over the canals and uber modern architecture adorns every building. The Erasmus Bridge is an iconic piece of architecture that is located about 5 minutes from the Rotterdam Centraal station by Metro. Oh and did I mention the city has it's own metro, I fucking love the metro. Its just so European.

I had been told many stories of Rotterdam, some good, some bad and some neutral. I thought to myself that there is no possible way somebody couldn't love a city as modern and up to date as this one. But I kind of get it now. There is not a single trace of the traditional Dutch architecture that you see in the rest of the Netherlands, which makes the city that much more colder (besides the weather of course). Regardless, I still stood in awe of the buildings and felt quite insignificant next to them...

PARIS: DAY 1

Having been my first official day in Paris, one would have thought I'd have jumped out of bed by the crack of dawn ready with my city map, camera and a plan of action. Needless to say I didn't. I indulged in the fact that I could sleep in, somehow knowing the city would wait for me. After much deliberation with myself, I eventually ventured off on my solo adventure to the Champs-Élysées . I must admit, I don't think I looked much like a tourist. I didn't have one of those tacky rain coats and wasn't running around like a headless chicken taking photos of absolutely everything that stood or moved. I liked it.

Because my plan of action involved er..no solid  plan whatsoever, I was quite taken aback when I happened to stumble upon the Arc de Triomph in all it's glorious beauty amongst thousands of tourists, swerving cars and scooters. I stood, I stared, I snapped away and then proceeded to move along. After some serious detouring to get to the Eiffel tower I fell upon my first up close and personal view of this monumental structure. It all felt quite surreal, and it still does. It's definitely not a feeling you can describe until you've experienced it. None the less, I took a couple of hundred (thousand) photos and snacked on a Nutella filled crepe to ease the hunger pains. As I started to head towards the Louvre, a sudden downpour of rain left me stranded on the side walk, giving me a good excuse to enter the nearest cosy café for a meal entailing anything other than a crepe. I slurped down my French onion soup and struck up a conversation with Daniel, the gentleman sitting next time me who happened to have just returned from a three week vacation to South Africa. We were quite gobsmacked at the coincidence of it all and sat for several hours conversing about travel, relationships, love, Germany, and South Africa. To our delight, the rain had stopped, giving us the opportunity to finally get a glimpse of the Lourve. Seeing it at night is quite spectacular and not nearly as littered with tourists.  Daniel and I strategized where we would take a photo of us together, with just the right amount of light and perfect positioning. We hugged each other goodbye on the metro and bid our farewells as we got off at our respective stops.

For a day was went completely unplanned, it couldn't have turned out any better...

 



DUTCH STUFF 1.0...

Just something I put together on my last day of work. Not much work got done today as I couldn't stop daydreaming about going to The Netherlands. much of the day was spent thinking about Vondelpark, cheese, riding bicycles, the canals. If I don't physically slap myself I just go on and on, so best some slappage be taken out on me. 

On a last note, go Dutch or go home friends...