Time out!

Gday mates!

Solly, I need to inspect deese bottels so I'm having a Time Out,  be back ASAP ! I hope, giggle giggle...
Cheers........sssss

C'mon Aussie C'mon

HELP, where are my Aussie Fans??

You know, I can see in the statistics in which countries my weblog has been red, the Netherlands is at the moment the Champion (no not with Soccer) and of course that's not strange because we are here now but the statistics shows that last blog I only had three fans from Australia looking at it and one of them must have been Ian as he helped me finding a good English word for the "Trekpaarden" which according to Ian is; "Draught Horses".

I've got family and facebook friends in Australia so just three readers is not enough. Hey Australia, because I'm not writing about Australia now doesn't mean the blog is not interesting anymore as there are more nice countries to show and learn from and one of them is The Netherlands!! (also called; Holland)

The beautiful ancient cities with old buildings show the rich and very old history of Holland and so, to get back my Aussie readers I now show you some pictures of Haarlem which is the Capital City of the province North Holland;

May be this gives you more an idea about The Netherlands, we are in Vorden which is between Arnhem and the German Border.

OK lets go to Haarlem;

Picture this; the oldest mentioning of Haarlem dates from the 10th century, can you imagine!!

Here you can see left of the Dolphins (which are drawn on a boat were people live on) that round building; The Prison, named; "De Koepel".... 

Beer brewing was a very important industry in Haarlem. Until the 16th century the water for the beer was taken from the canals in the city. These were, through the Spaarne and the IJ, connected to seawater. However, the water in the canals was getting more and more polluted, and no longer suitable for brewing beer.

Windmill "De Adriaan"

Beautiful alleys....

Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)....

De Grote St. Bavokerk (The large St. Bavochurch)

on the bottom of the Church are little shops situated...

The City Hall on the Grote Markt. It was built in the 14th century replacing the Count's castle, after it partially burnt down. The remainders were given to the city.

Just some beautiful facades.... 

If you want to know everything of Haarlem;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haarlem

I can tell you, every foreigner knows and goes to Amsterdam when they come to Holland, Haarlem is certainly worth a visit too!

Next to come;

Den Haag (also called 's Gravenhage, The Hague in English) Capital City of Zuid Holland but also the city where the Government is settled and the "office" of our King.

See you then, also the Aussies!!

Cheers!

Just beautiful

G'day Mates,

This is a very short blog. I need more time for a longer one and as I said before, I haven't got much time so please just enjoy looking at these beautiful creatures;

Movie time;

Just look at their feet, its amazing.....

I tried to find the proper translation for their name which is "Trekpaarden" in Dutch but I think there isn't one... 

In the old days they used to be working animals, in some countries they still are...

Movie time, this is one big muscle, just BEAUTIFUL!!

Watch my Zorro...

You know what happened to the Dutch soccer team? Unfortunately they didn't make it to the Final but still, the whole country is very proud because they beaten Brazil and became 3rd!!

We don't need these anymore;

See you later!

Cheers!

Good old England

G'day Mates!!

England is a country where time has stood still and as I told you some time ago we have been on a mini-cruise to Newcastle. Newcastle is nearly at the border with Scotland. We have done that already a few times in the past and we liked it very much so it brought back memories. Now you will see some pictures of ancient England.

I love being on a boat, Fred doesn't but because its only two nights, he can handle it.

We packed some things in 2 little suitcases, in one was more booze then cloths haha, and we drove off in my sisters little car to IJmuiden were the Ferry is.

look at how big this Ferry is......

Its amazing how many cars, trucks, motorbikes and cars with caravans do fit in.... 

Its Movie time;

The weather wasn't too good when we drove to the ferry, we had some rain and it was overcast, but suddenly the sun came through the clouds and we had a marvelous time on the upper deck...

"Our" little car stays behind at the parking place....

if you look good, you can see a huge field with windmills in the sea.....

The way to our room.....

Our "room with a view".....

Our dinner, which was also in that suit case.....

We could have booked a meal on the boat but that is very expensive, we did book a dinner for the way back but for both ways it would have been too costly.

of course we had some wine with us......

After dinner we had some entertainment and a few drinks....

 and about these drinks, especially the Guinness, I have something interesting;

As you can see here the Guinness can is higher than the Foster's but the content is the same.... 

Here you can read why, well sorry, the Dutch, French and Italian people can, most probably the English explanation is on the other side haha!!

Anyhow, besides the lovely liquid there is also a "widget" (little ball) in it and that gives the same effect as how you get it in a pub..... 

Here you can see it;  Movie time!

Arriving in Newcastle

Here they shoot a rope to the shore....

Movie time;

Transfer from the port to Newcastle was included and perfectly arranged....

As you can see, its raining again! I wonder if the sun does sometimes shine in England...

an old station......

some typical English buildings.....

A very nice and old market.....

rain, old buildings, rain pfff....

A singer in an Arcade;

On the way back again......

Movie time;

remains of an old castle.....

On the way back there was the same band who were very good and because it was much more crowded, it was really enjoyable.

After a few drinks we snuggled into our warm beds in our little cabin, snoring the ocean away back to the Netherlands.

Hey guys, WE'RE STILL IN IT,  YEEEEHHHH!! We have to play tonight against Costa Rica, please cross your fingers for us!!

Cheers!