Summer storms

Hello there,

The last 2 weeks I have been lucky. Though tough times too around mid July I was lucky and got to spend it with my lovely bf and his family in Rijssen. One easily gets distracted when things are going on in the background, but this lovely place always has such a lovely effect on me that it should come on prescription.

Rijssen is a small town/city in the east of the Netherlands in the Dutch province of Overijssel.  The people there are very polite (at least the ones I met!) and warm. Though people might first identify this town as conservative in both religion and ways of life this is not why I love it. When you arrive your lungs get surprised by the mere freshness of breath you can draw there. The green fields burn on the cornea when weather is nice. The scent of grass after rain has passed and the sun is drying it again. The Charolais grassing on pastures and strolling towards you as you stroll along the fence. The smell of lazy horses and all the dogs in the windows makes me feel home. Even better are the hugs that await me as I arrive :) So far I have only met kind people there and it is a wonderful place to find some inner peace when needed. Some parts remind me of a place I used to live long long ago. It does not feel like it was me anymore, but the back of my mind knows it happened.

I used to know very few people from the East of the Netherlands and now I know what I have been missing for all these years. Friendly, laid back, hard-working people with a heart for family.

This week and weekend that just passed was also filled with events. Monday we celebrated the birthday of a lovely lady in Amsterdam south. Also met some people I did not know before. It was pretty great, though getting tipsy on a Monday was certainly not planned on my behalf hhehehe but survived the Tuesday when another day at the office awaited me. Thursday I met with an old friend that I know from my first year in the Netherlands. He lives in Canada now with a sweet wife. We went to Haarlem center, but I was too tired to drink any alcohol and  work was crazy busy the other week. So we stuck to coffee etc.

Then Friday was spent in Alsmeer on a team outing. We were so lucky with the weather and we could enjoy numerous glasses of wine whilst on the boat as well as tasty food! It was a good day and nice to see my colleagues smiling from ear to ear and relaxing. After a crazy busy week I think it was just what we needed.

Then Saturday I met with another old friend from a previous job. Little did we know it would be the most heavy storm in july since 1901! For once I did not listen to the radio nor read the weather forecast and missed the warnings that said DO NOT GO OUT UNLESS COMPLETELY necessary! Yvette and I got soaked and lets not forget  I bought an umbrella for 12 euro and it broke within minutes of purchase! Though being absolutely drenched it was great fun hanging (or should I say flying?) out again. It was an adventures with all the trees falling over but we survived!! Later that day Erik also popped by after hours of being stuck in different stations with train issues due to the storm. I made some soup (yes I attempted to cook!) since it seemed appropriate considering the weather was so bad.

Sunday Erik and I met with Jessie and Paul. 2 lovely people I also happen to know via work relations from the past.We went to ¨deJoopenkerk" and later ¨ThrillGrill¨ and both were lovely. deJoopenkerk was busy as always in Haarlem and ThrillGrill was not too quiet either. I had a tasty veggie Thriller and shared fries with th others (like a lady should heheh). DeJoopenkerk is brewery that used to be a church but got converted to something more useful later on. Haarlem has a lot of nice places to eat and drink! Next time I think we ought to try the Indian Palace. A friend of mine recommended it and I dare say he has good taste. Anyway, this has been a week of meeting friends before I go to Norway Friday. Erik and I are both prepping for take-off.

I will try to make as many pictures as possible but I am not the best at doing that so hopefully I will not forget.

For now I will just let my mind and body immerse in good moments as I get a feeling I will need that to hold onto the coming months.

Until after my holiday peeps!

x Viking

Heat waves and summer memories

Hi there,

It has been a little while since my last blog-post. I have been lacking inspiration despite the heat and nice things around me I just couldn't get myself to write. Something has been lurking in the back of my mind since a few days ago. I feel too far away from my brother and sister and lovely aunt. To be abroad has so many nice sides to it but when someone gets married, gets a baby or dies it is horrible not to be able to just take off and hug them. I feel powerless and try to not let it get to me, because in the end of the day I am not a victim I choose to live abroad. As is normal though I wish I could be there with them right now.

The last few days although emotional and slightly confusing has been nice as well. Luckily I have a very nice flatmate who is easy to talk to and a boyfriend that is there for me as well. Although that does not take away the feeling of being powerless it does distract the mind which is a blessing at times. On Monday I went to Den Haag to pick up my new and even more ugly passport! The heat wave had already hit the Netherlands and the tram from the station to the embassy was boiling hot. Having had bad weather for sometime I was soaking up the sun like a lizard basking away in all the vitamin D I could take inn. 

         On the road again...

In the train I could enjoy the AirCo a bit and watch the landscape from the train rushing past me like time so often do. The great news was, the good weather stayed most of the week, and at work we even got Italian ice-cream! Then Thursday I got the bad news which shocked and stirred something uneasy deep down. The heat felt constricting all of the sudden and time stood still. I told myself it was the cycle of life happening but I would soon learn it might be less natural than I would have hoped for....

Friday my flatmate and I decided to bike away our sorrows. Off we went to Bloomendaal which is a village next to Haarlem not to far from the beach or as my sweet roommate says "the Bitch". We found a nice terrace and a glass of dry white wine and watched the sun diving down behind the ocean as it has done millions of years over and over again. We listened to the live music, a woman was playing her vocal cords along with the piano and out came the most beautiful soul and funk. It was perfect and just the kind of distraction I needed. Girls' evening on the beach. 

Bloomendaal!

Yesterday I met with Erik to go to a birthday party. French food and wine and sweet people. It was very nice and we biked through Leiden to get there. Before that though we strolled through the city and had some frappuccinoes  at #Starbucks. Later we decided to make home made cocktails which was lovely! There is nothing like fruit mixed with juice, rum and ice cubes in summer or an ice cold drink while you stroll through the cloud of heat and take in the summer.

 Today we went to a place in Leiden called de Vlietlanden. A lot of green and several lakes and life just thrives here. Birds love it, kids love it and lets not forget the bikers. And as a real "Dutch-like" woman I hopped on the bike as well. If you ever go to the Netherlands FIETS means bike and you will need to use it! When we arrived at the lake both of us did not hesitate to get into the water. Which was good too because about 30min later the wind picked up and thunder clouds were coming our way. You see after a heat-wave over here it builds up to thunderstorms. After basking ourselves dry in the sun and having the wind stroking our backs we jumped back on the bikes again and headed home. Just in time as well because as we walked into the living-room the first droplets of rain hit the windows! So what else left to do then to make a home made soya frappuchino?! 

de Vlietlanden

     Vegan Frappuchino :)

Leiden in the storm

  Leiden before the storm

See, so I can not complain. I had a good week despite everything and we did some serious biking during that time hehe! I am actually considering getting myself a racing bike at some point because it seems like fun to go for a holiday by bike at some point and it keeps me fit.

x Viking