Isn't Heikki cute!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Heikki
Its been really hot recently, so he has been leaning against the porcelain to keep cool...
Isn't Heikki cute!
Isn't Heikki cute!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Amsterdam Zoo
We decided to visit Artis Zoo, the zoo here in Amsterdam. Artis Zoo is the oldest zoo in The Netherlands. It was founded in 1838. It is a really beautiful place with lots of majestic old buildings and over 700 species of animal living there!
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so we decided to ride our bikes there. From our house it was about a 15 minute ride.
We relaxed with our pal, Buddha.
As usual, we saw the big kitties. Who wants Go Cat?
Some odd squirrel kinda thing. Probably neurotic.
This is a pretty bird. Striking eye color, huh?
And this guy is also beautiful. He looks like Hedwig from the Harry Potter books!
We saw little monkeys...
and big ones too.
Not sure what he is(Maybe a lima?), but he's cute.
This is his cousin...
suntanning. Very funny.
We were also able to visit the planetarium which is on site at the zoo. It was a really interesting experience, despite all the commentary being in Dutch!
After a good few hours exploring the sights at the zoo we hopped on our bikes and cycled home.
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so we decided to ride our bikes there. From our house it was about a 15 minute ride.
We relaxed with our pal, Buddha.
As usual, we saw the big kitties. Who wants Go Cat?
Some odd squirrel kinda thing. Probably neurotic.
This is a pretty bird. Striking eye color, huh?
And this guy is also beautiful. He looks like Hedwig from the Harry Potter books!
We saw little monkeys...
and big ones too.
Not sure what he is(Maybe a lima?), but he's cute.
This is his cousin...
suntanning. Very funny.
We were also able to visit the planetarium which is on site at the zoo. It was a really interesting experience, despite all the commentary being in Dutch!
After a good few hours exploring the sights at the zoo we hopped on our bikes and cycled home.
Luxembourg
A while ago we were go given a 10-trip train pass with the last trip unused (Thanks S and G !), and so we decided to visit Luxembourg for a weekend. We got on the train at Amsterdam Centraal Station and traveled the first leg of the trip to Brussels.
We didn't have much time to look around Brussels, just enough to grab a quick meal and then continue on. We arrived in Luxembourg after midnight and slowly navigated our way to the hotel, which ended up not being very far away if you walk the right way. On our hotel hunt we met some Canadian lads on holiday from their training course based in Amsterdam.
After finding our hotel, so we settled into our room and crashed. The next morning we out into the ventured over the amazing bridges that span the valley; a valley that divides the city in 2 in an amazing snaking shape.
From the valley floor, you can see spires poking out from the foliage.
The walls are formidable obstacles for invaders and eager rock climbers.
From the top you have a beautiful vista.
Below is a close up of the stairs which take you to the top of the valley. Walking up them certainly gets the blood pumping!
The scenery in Luxembourg is truly stunning. The valley is beautiful, and the city is filled with lots of lovely old buildings.
we did an (uneventful) bus tour around the city, then checked out some caves:
They were built into the side of the valley walls, and had numerous uses over the years. After this we decided to call it quits for the day. Luxembourg is a tiny place and we wanted to save some sites to for the following day!
We settled on the only sensible plan: buy a2.5 liter cocktail and a Mexican meal :) .
Cheers!
After we finished, we wandered down the beautiful old streets to the valley...
and we went for a wander through the park.
Toolman tried to climb the valley walls. As you can see you can't climb them very easily! Toolman know knows why the Germans didn't get this city.
The next day we went for a train ride...
We quickly realised that all languages worked except English. This didn't affect the group of German tourist we were riding with, but it did put a damper on our tour. Toolman tried 6 different headphone panels, and all languages worked except the one dead track - English :| We tried complaining at the end, but they simply brushed us off - crappy!
The train took us down through the valley floor again.
We also toured the neighbourhood located on the valley floor.
The countryside around Luxembourg city is also meant to be really beautiful, but as this was just a weekend trip we didn't have time to visit anything outside the city. Before we knew it it was Sunday afternoon and time to catch our train back to Amsterdam.
We didn't have much time to look around Brussels, just enough to grab a quick meal and then continue on. We arrived in Luxembourg after midnight and slowly navigated our way to the hotel, which ended up not being very far away if you walk the right way. On our hotel hunt we met some Canadian lads on holiday from their training course based in Amsterdam.
After finding our hotel, so we settled into our room and crashed. The next morning we out into the ventured over the amazing bridges that span the valley; a valley that divides the city in 2 in an amazing snaking shape.
From the valley floor, you can see spires poking out from the foliage.
The walls are formidable obstacles for invaders and eager rock climbers.
From the top you have a beautiful vista.
Below is a close up of the stairs which take you to the top of the valley. Walking up them certainly gets the blood pumping!
The scenery in Luxembourg is truly stunning. The valley is beautiful, and the city is filled with lots of lovely old buildings.
we did an (uneventful) bus tour around the city, then checked out some caves:
They were built into the side of the valley walls, and had numerous uses over the years. After this we decided to call it quits for the day. Luxembourg is a tiny place and we wanted to save some sites to for the following day!
We settled on the only sensible plan: buy a2.5 liter cocktail and a Mexican meal :) .
Cheers!
After we finished, we wandered down the beautiful old streets to the valley...
and we went for a wander through the park.
Toolman tried to climb the valley walls. As you can see you can't climb them very easily! Toolman know knows why the Germans didn't get this city.
The next day we went for a train ride...
We quickly realised that all languages worked except English. This didn't affect the group of German tourist we were riding with, but it did put a damper on our tour. Toolman tried 6 different headphone panels, and all languages worked except the one dead track - English :| We tried complaining at the end, but they simply brushed us off - crappy!
The train took us down through the valley floor again.
We also toured the neighbourhood located on the valley floor.
The countryside around Luxembourg city is also meant to be really beautiful, but as this was just a weekend trip we didn't have time to visit anything outside the city. Before we knew it it was Sunday afternoon and time to catch our train back to Amsterdam.
Mandles
Princess' good friend, Mandles, came and visited us a couple of months ago. She has recently moved over to the UK from NZ, so it's nice and easy for her to come over to Amsterdam for a visit.
She was awesome enough to bring us snacks from Sanza. Pineapple Lumps! Burger Rings! Mmmm... It was fantastic! These are some of the things we miss the most about NZ (other than family and friends of course).
We went for a bike ride all around Amsterdam which was fun. There are lots of places around which rent out bikes to tourists, so it was easy to find one for Mandles. We took a cruise around Vondel Park, and also headed into Amsterdam Centraal.
Mandles and Princess went to Amsterdam Dungeons to get a dose of spooky. It was actually really scary! The actors all play their spooky parts really well, and look very convincing with their makeup and costumes.
At the end of the tour around the Dungeon there is a roller coaster ride. Guess who the scared one is?
They also visited the Wax Museum and Anne Frank's house. Anne's house was especially interesting, especially seeing as they had both read her diary at school many moons ago.
It was a great weekend, and we hope to catch up with Mandles again soon! :)
She was awesome enough to bring us snacks from Sanza. Pineapple Lumps! Burger Rings! Mmmm... It was fantastic! These are some of the things we miss the most about NZ (other than family and friends of course).
We went for a bike ride all around Amsterdam which was fun. There are lots of places around which rent out bikes to tourists, so it was easy to find one for Mandles. We took a cruise around Vondel Park, and also headed into Amsterdam Centraal.
Mandles and Princess went to Amsterdam Dungeons to get a dose of spooky. It was actually really scary! The actors all play their spooky parts really well, and look very convincing with their makeup and costumes.
At the end of the tour around the Dungeon there is a roller coaster ride. Guess who the scared one is?
They also visited the Wax Museum and Anne Frank's house. Anne's house was especially interesting, especially seeing as they had both read her diary at school many moons ago.
It was a great weekend, and we hope to catch up with Mandles again soon! :)
Larena and Tommy
Several months ago we were lucky enough to have Tommy and Larena come and stay with us. They had been living in the UK, so Amsterdam was just a hop, skip and a jump away.
It was great to be able to show them the sights which Amsterdam has to offer. Of course this includes the famous red-light district.
Say hi! Toolman took this pretty photo pointing along a canal.
No close ups of the windows sorry, this is a family blog. While wandering around, we saw a prostitute open her door and go completely nuts at a random lady tourist who took a photo - apparently that is not OK.
Smile everyone!
That weekend we also were invited to a Kiwi party. It was hosted by a Kiwi we met living over here.
The sign on the front door was great, and the party was too.
This party had the kiwi touch all over!
Someone made an excellent Tiki cake (pie?)
In the middle is our host, Rosita. We had a good feed and socialised with peepole whu undastund kuiwii. There were at least 20 Kiwis there and it was great to be able to speak in carefree, slurred, colloquial English and still be understood.
When the party finished up we headed to Vondelpark to finish the last of our drinks - another great night. Tommy may have been a little worse for wear though..... :)
Next afternoon Tommy and Toolman devised a plan: let the girls go shopping while the lads went and bought an RC helicopter. Tommy has one, and Toolman had always wanted one.
There it is up close, not easy to fly, but Toolman is getting better. Thankfully you can buy spare parts for them...
We had a really nice time with Larena and Tommy. Thanks for visiting guys!
It was great to be able to show them the sights which Amsterdam has to offer. Of course this includes the famous red-light district.
Say hi! Toolman took this pretty photo pointing along a canal.
No close ups of the windows sorry, this is a family blog. While wandering around, we saw a prostitute open her door and go completely nuts at a random lady tourist who took a photo - apparently that is not OK.
Smile everyone!
That weekend we also were invited to a Kiwi party. It was hosted by a Kiwi we met living over here.
The sign on the front door was great, and the party was too.
This party had the kiwi touch all over!
Someone made an excellent Tiki cake (pie?)
In the middle is our host, Rosita. We had a good feed and socialised with peepole whu undastund kuiwii. There were at least 20 Kiwis there and it was great to be able to speak in carefree, slurred, colloquial English and still be understood.
When the party finished up we headed to Vondelpark to finish the last of our drinks - another great night. Tommy may have been a little worse for wear though..... :)
Next afternoon Tommy and Toolman devised a plan: let the girls go shopping while the lads went and bought an RC helicopter. Tommy has one, and Toolman had always wanted one.
There it is up close, not easy to fly, but Toolman is getting better. Thankfully you can buy spare parts for them...
We had a really nice time with Larena and Tommy. Thanks for visiting guys!
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