Dutch for Beginners: It's A Jungle Out There

Wednesday, 19 August 2015

It's A Jungle Out There

This is mostly a pictorial post to showcase some images from two recent trips to the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden and De Hortus in Amsterdam.

We visited the gardens in Leiden a few weeks ago, and called in at the one in Amsterdam this weekend. The primary purpose of the visit to Amsterdam was to stock up on some supplies in Marks & Spencer. However it would seem sacrilegious to visit one of the cultural capitals of Europe with the sole purpose of buying cheddar cheese and English sausages, every trip has to be combined with at least one sight-seeing activity. The weather was decidedly dodgy but we decided it wasn’t quite wet enough to justify a museum (you can get cultured out in Amsterdam) so instead we headed for the botanical gardens.

Amsterdam was teeming with tourists, but De Hortus was a little oasis – a hidden gem amongst the hustle and bustle of the city. After all the excesses of the Haarlem Culinaire weekend, it was the perfect place to recover.

And some pictures from Leiden

And Miffy - a Dutch legend!

Oh and after last week's triumphant second place in the quiz - this week bottom of the league!

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What's It All About?

Re-location, re-location, re-location. My husband's in the oil business, and once, long ago in a previous life, I was a secretary. Three years on assignment the US put paid to any hope of resurrecting my career and the sabbatical became premature retirement. I decided to write a book about the joys of being an ex-pat wife in California, but as the Americans like the say, I'm still working on it. Instead I became more creative and decided to write a novel, which of course, I'm still working on too. So perhaps a break, by a canal, in the picturesque Dutch town of Haarlem on another international assignment is just what I need. The children have flown the nest to the far corners of the world, the house will be quiet, there will be no distractions.....