Once again it is time from our faithful correspondent, Artie Aardvark, to give his account about an astronomical adventure! This time it’s the 2012 NAC, or Dutch astronomers conference.
Hello everyone, and welcome to Ameland! It’s an island in the North Sea close to Germany so very, very far away from Amsterdam by Dutch standards. It was a very pretty place, but most importantly I was excited to come and learn about Dutch astronomy while here! Continue reading
Posted in Artie Aardvark's Adventures, tourism
The Dutch are not, as a rule, a particularly patriotic people- no one bothers to fly a flag unless it’s one of a handful of days even on official government buildings, and in fact it turns out when I wanted to buy a Dutch flag it took me several stores to fulfill this quest and even then I only found one in a tourist shop. The exception to all of this though is every year on April 30, when the country catches oranjegekoorts, orange fever, and goes crazy in a giant street party to celebrate the Queen’s birthday in an event known as Queen’s Day (Koninginnedag- rolls right off the tongue doesn’t it?). Continue reading
Posted in 0. The Netherlands, Amsterdam, Dutch traditions
My brother was visiting me for a few days just recently, which of course meant we did all the touristy things one never does when you actually live somewhere. And one of those very touristy things is a visit to the Keukenhof, the largest gardens in the world and most Dutch people themselves have never visited despite it being less than an hour from Amsterdam.
It’s their loss honestly, as it turns out the Keukenhof is ridiculously, gorgeously lovely and pretty in a way that makes you take a million photographs but it doesn’t really capture the beauty of it. Sure there are a bunch of other tourists around, many posing for truly awkward pictures, and no Dutch child voluntarily dances around a maypole on a Sunday afternoon in traditional costume that I know of (though my brother and I watched in solidarity, having done many similar performances in our lives), but this is really one of those special places. We’re spent hours wandering around admiring everything, and if you don’t believe me, well I guess the photographs capture a bit of the magic-
Posted in 0. The Netherlands, Dutch traditions, tourism
There are a few places in the world where the fabric of history stretches very thin, and it seems like you can peer through it and connect with the people from Eras Long Ago. It doesn’t happen very often because most of the time the ruins and relics seem too much from another era- I really enjoyed the Roman Forum, for example, but the fact that Caesar walked there seems more an intellectual exercise than reality- but every once in awhile you come across something that reminds you that history is filled with people just like you instead of just a story or abstraction.
To cut to the chase, the Hagia Sophia is one of these places. It was the reason I wanted to get to Istanbul, a task it lived up to as I got tears in my eyes at some points taking all of it in-
Posted in Turkey
Istanbul is beguiling. I spent several days here over the long Easter break (on the grounds that I knew nothing would be shut here unlike the rest of Europe) and while one often comes up with several words to describe a city for Istanbul I always kept coming back to this one. After all what else do you use for a city that straddles two continents, who was the capital of two major world empires, where all the cultures of the worlds mix together?
I’d have a drink at sunset on the rooftop terrace bar of the guesthouse I was at (Bahaus Guesthouse, seriously recommended), gazing at Asia across the Bosporus ahead with the spires of the Blue Mosque behind, listening to the haunting calls of the muezzins to prayer from all around the city. There was no other word for it except for beguiling, except perhaps “enchanting” or “all around awesome, thanks for asking.” Continue reading
Posted in Turkey
I know, I know, this isn’t very original material, but we spotted an awesome (double) rainbow by the ocean in Ireland! No pot of gold or leprechaun though… Continue reading
About a year ago, my brother Patrick and I entered a pact that if we were both in Europe this year we were going to Dublin for it to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. This year finds me in Amsterdam and Patrick studying in Budapest so the long weekend with the Irish seemed inevitable, and we’re both very happy we did!
Man, it’s like we’re twins or something… Continue reading
Posted in Ireland
