DUTCH ROYAL FOR A DAY

On my first weekend in Holland, my host family took me to one of the most luxurious castles the country has to offer. Its not everyday you get to visit a real life castle, but had no expectations regardless. The grounds are littered with flowers and large oak trees that were specially brought in for the Duchess's husband.

 

The castle is just as breath-taking as the gardens, if not more so! The magnitude of its size is quite something to take in, moat included!

 

The interior architecture of the castle, as excessive as it is really is quite beautiful! Ornate decorative motifs fill every inch of the walls and ceiling and the main entrance hall boasts an open space leading up till the 6th floor.

 

There is definitely no sense of claustrophobia in this p(a)lace that's for sure

 

 

 

 

EXPLORING UTRECHT

Yesterday I set out to explore Utrecht on my own. It was initially a bit daunting at having to buy a ticket and travelling on the train alone, due to fear of getting lost or taking the wrong train. On the 2 occasions I have been in Utrecht by train, I managed to observe and pay close attention to which platform I needed to be on , where to buy tickets and what time the latest train leaves at night. For that I am grateful.

I was meeting a friend at 6 so had the afternoon to explore. I must admit that I got slightly lost if one can call it that. After biking for 2 hours, my caffeine craving got the better of me. I stopped at some café 'the Coffee Company' and ordered a small black coffee robbing me of 3 Euros. I paid with a 10 Euro note and on receiving my change, the barista had only given me 3 back. Now everyone who knows me will know my math is not what it should be but this was not right. Turns out she conveniently forgot to give me  5 Euro note back.

I sat outside and watched all the bikers pass me by whilst sipping on my horribly brewed coffee. The paper cup was leaking drops of coffee just about everywhere when Ewout, the young man sitting to the left of me asked if I wanted to use his napkin. We started talking and I went on rambling about how terrible my coffee was and the barista's sucky cashier skills. On his departure from the café we exchanged names (not numbers) and vowed to add one another on Facebook.

Laurence, the  man sitting to the right of me was just as cool. We had a fat conversation about travel and music. He told me all about a music festival in Siget, Hungary, Tivoli de helling, and his change in careers from marketing to setting out on his dream to become a musician. I gave him my card (how professional of me) and we bid our goodbyes. It was one of the coolest conversations I had in a while and it was great to meet some of the locals.

Travelling solo is the new black...

MEET CHARLIE

This is Charlie. I take her pretty much everywhere I go. She is super light and rides like a breeze. I kind of like the fact that she doesn't have all the other accessories and 'things' on her like a lot of peoples bicycles. I have a feeling the two of us are going to get along very well.

BIKING ON MY BIRTHDAY

 Today is my birthday and where better to spend it in Holland of all places? I walked into the house only to find my host mom had decorated the place with buntings. I was then congratulated with a 'Gefecilteerd' and 3 kisses on the cheek. That's the Dutch way of doing things around here.

 

It really just feels like another day in Holland, but this morning Leah and I biked through the forests of Driebergen to the lake. It was probably the greatest start to a birthday I have ever had, and the best part is that it's not even half way to being done, tonight we are going out to Utrecht. Hello night life!

DUTCH CABBAGE

This is a Dutch cabbage. I don't have much to say about it except that it looks nothing like a regular cabbage but more so resembles a unicorn horn.

HEART MELT

I have only been in The Netherlands for a week, yet the youngest of the boys has already stolen my heart . To try and get the boys to speak English back to me, I tell them that I'm just really dumb and I cant understand them when they speak Dutch. On saying this, Mees, who is 4,  responds in the sweetest little voice "Jy ben niet dom" which means you're not dumb. I was honoured that he had my back and he keeps 'reminding' me that I'm not dumb. Sometimes I think I learn more from them than them from me.

I AM BUT A MERE SPONGE

Today I ventured out into Utrecht. The initial plan was to cycle there and completely wander off adventurously. Obviously the weather didn't play along with that idea and about 5 minutes into biking, we decided it was way to cold and ended up taking a train instead.

 

The train ride from Driebergen-Rijsenburg to Utrecht is a mere 7 minute train ride and only 3 Euros for a return ticket. Most of the girls have OV-chipkaarts which entitles you to a 40% discount on 'off peak' travel. This is a good investment if you plan on staying in The Netherlands for a long period of time and want to travel extensively.

 

I had been telling one of the girls that I feel like a sponge of information, even just walking down the road, I gawk at my surroundings like a child seeing everything for the first time. Its truly a magical feeling and I'm going to embrace it because It probably wont last long after being here for a year. I mentioned to them that I'm just a 'sponge on a bike' ,we thought it was quite funny and had a good chuckle.

This was my first time seeing the city side of Holland so most of the day was spent walking around gawking at everything. We were lucky in that it was September the first and there was the 'Uitfeest' taking place as well as 'Culturele Zondagen' and 'Vrede van Utrecht'. The city streets of Utrecht had such a great vibe and we stumbled upon musicians playing on the side streets on 3 occasions.

These guys had a really eccentric sound to them and gathered quite the crowd too. I got quite entranced by the music and would have stayed all night if I hadn't been for the girls shaking me awake.

There is an abundance of quaint design shops all over the city streets. Naturally I was drooling over their shop fronts. Cafes galore let me tell you, I did not see one unattractive badly dressed person. Everyone has this quirky, practical, colourful style that I am just fascinated by. Those who wear spectacles, have the most beautiful frames and yes, almost everybody was on a bike.