Sevilla - Day 1: an appartment in Santa Cruz

Jardines de Murillo; the statue of Christobal Colon

Friday, 5 December 

This year my Bday trip was to Seville and not on my actual Bday but from 5 till 11 December. We visited Seville before, however, always for only a few days and now we had many days to explore, enjoy the sunshine and relax.

Here's the first photo I made while on our way from the airport to our apartment, resting in the parc Jardines de Murillo at the foot of the statue of Colon. 

Lovely sunshine and clear sky, phew what a difference with the Dutch weather. Super to be back in Seville.

our spacious appartment no 4 at Calle Mariscal 4, barrio Santa Cruz, which is the former Jewish Quarter of Seville.

our first wine outside in the sunshine, and 

photos of the area near our appartment

Restaurant La Sal, around the corner from our appartment. This place became our fav restaurant; specialized in tuna fish and having great wines. 

An evening stroll through Seville: visiting the Plaza Virgen de Los Reyes with the Giralda and the Cathedral, located just around the corner of our appartment. We definitely are living in the centre.

Bar El Mariscal, which happened to be situated right opposite our appartment. We arrived there after our evening stroll around 23 hrs when people just started to come in. 

Live music and elderly people from the neighbourhood dancing the Sevillana. Wow flamenco music/dances and great atmosphere. This is Seville!

more photos of Bar El Mariscal.

to be continued 

Weekendje Friesland: Leeuwarden, Sneek & Franeker

Leeuwarden

Zaterdag, 18 oktober 2014:

Nooit geweten dat Friesland zo leuk is. We hebben genoten dit weekend. Eerst naar Leeuwarden en daar rondgewandeld en geshopt. Een leuke design winkel gevonden genaamd Eric Steenbergen, waar ik mijn slag heb geslagen: gave armband (eigenlijk 197 losse armbanden zie foto in deze blogpost), 3-D geprinte oorbellen en lots of hebbedingen voor in en om het huis. 

Door naar Sneek, waar we logeerden bij Stadslogement By Peek; een uitstekende plek midden in de stad. De eigenaren van By Peek hebben ook het grand cafe/restaurant 'De Verandering'. Super aardige en behulpzame eigenaresse, die de volgende ochtend ons ontbijt kwam bezorgen (verse jus en dito eitjes die we zelf hebben gebakken in ons keukentje). s' Avonds erg lekker gegeten bij Italiaans restaurant Mezzaluna. 

Stadhuis Leeuwarden

 armband '197' van Eric Steenbergen & Sneek

ons super appartement in Sneek: Stadslogement By Peek 

de Sneekerpoort by night

 Zondag, 19 oktober 2014

Na het ontbijt rondgewandeld door Sneek op zondagochtend (heel rustig). Nog een foto van de Sneekerpoort voordat het ging regenen en snel in de auto richting Franeker.

Sneek

nog meer Sneek 

Het Eise Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker 

Nooit geweten dat Franeker de tweede universiteit van Nederland had (na Leiden in 1585 gesticht). Reden de universiteit zorgde voor protestante predikanten waar toen grote behoefte aan was. De theologische faculteit bleef lang de belangrijkste, toch had de universiteit ook faculteiten medicijnen, letteren en rechten. Enkele beroemde studenten waren Rene Descartes en Pieter Stuyvesant. 

Maar wij gingen voor het Eise Eisinga Planetarium; het oudste nog werkende planetarium ter wereld. Impressive! Zeker een bezoek waard.

Vervolgens door Franeker gewandeld en het Martena museum bezocht, waar vooral de oude zeer nauwkeurige plattegronden indruk op ons maakten.

Na een late lunch/early dinner weer naar huis. Friesland boppe

dikke kus

Carina

Museum Martena in Franeker

 oude plattegronden van Friesland in het Martena museum 

tijdelijke tentoonstelling van Irene Veltman in Martena museum

Late lunch/early dinner in Franeker in grand cafe. 

Dresden: P's Bday trip - September 2014

Dresden: view from our appartment (Aparthotel An der Frauenkirche)

Celebrating P.'s Bday in Dresden. A lovely city, nicely restored after the war. The only negative thing was the weather coz during the days we spent there it didn't really stop raining. 

Dresden is a very German town and in some places there's still an atmosphere of the former communist East Germany. I sensed this especially in the Albertinum, the brand new museum of modern art, where it was forbidden to make pictures, but even worse were the employees who were rude and acting like gestapo, very annoying.

In general, however, people were very kind and helpful. 

celebrating our trip at Schiphol Airport ^-^

our appartment & view from our living room on the church 

(die Frauenkirche) and Neumarkt

am Neumarkt  

visiting the art museum in Die Zwinger, a palace of the former Dresden court.

Fuerstenzug: painted on the wall of the former palace a parade of the kings of the Wettin dynasty.

performing artist and his dog..., who both managed to stand still for hours 

die Ampelfrau

great Thai food

We visited the ballet performance 'Bella Figura' in the Semperoper, we loved it. Great atmosphere, very stylish. Soo different than in Holland; far more posh and grandeur. Sipping champagne under chandeliers. Super.

Every German town has a Biergarten .....

however, we prefer champagne with oysters ^-^

the bridge over the river Elbe

at the cafe in front of our appartment, overlooking the Neumarkt square

a visit to Yenidze a former tabaco factory

P's Bday dinner in a posh restaurant

Pure C - 15 yrs, Bergen op Zoom & Brugge

We were married for 15 years on the 30th of August and celebrated in style in restaurant Pure C at Cadzand.

Friday, 29 August 2014:
Looong weekend to the far south of  Zeeuws Vlaanderen to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

Our first stop was Bergen op Zoom; we visited the 'Gevangenispoort'. Our guide was super enthousiastic and gave us lots of interesting info about the town, the 'Geuzen' and the place itself. He even showed us the cellar.

Afterwards we stumbled in the Markiezenhof over an exhibition of empty Marlboro packages and spoke to the artist. Interesting and FUN.

Gevangenispoort in Bergen op Zoom

Artist Loek Schönbeck wanted to stir emotions with his exhibition in the Koetshuis of the Markiezenhof in Bergen op Zoom. Schönbeck shows a large number of empty Marlboro-packages he found in the streets. 

(the factory of Marlboro is situated in Bergen op Zoom)

Walk along the beach at Cadzand

Cadzand Strandhotel, drinks in the bar

Saturday, 30 August 2014

Coz Cadzand is so close to Brugge (when you stumble 3 x you are in Belgium) we decided to visit this historic city. We enjoyed muchly

  

  

Yeah, at 20.00 hrs our DINNER at Pure C. started: gorgeous, impressive, an 'experience' not just a dinner! See photos :-)

Champagne and Amuse to start and celebrate

Now who wouldn't like these 'oysters'? 

look at the menu on top of this blog post and see if you can detect what is what 

Sunday 31 August 2014

Cadzand

the harbour of Goes, which we visited on our way home

It was a lovely weekend!
dikke kus
Carina