Category: The Netherlands

A daytrip to the Keukenhof

There are those trips that you want to do at least once in your life, no matter how much of a cliché they are. Well for me that was visiting the Keukenhof. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Netherlands, and I had never been there. not even as a child. So this year I put it on my bucket list for 2018.

And I didn’t go once, I actually got to go twice in a week’s time.


The Keukenhof is known for it’s Tulip fields. Obviously you don’t need to visit the Keukenhof to see the Tulip fields, but there is so much more then just the Tulip fields at the Keukenhof.

In the Keukenhof you will find multiple greenhouse which store an amazing variety of flowers. I have never seen so many sorts of tulips together in my entire life. Besides Tulips, you will find a green house that only holds orchids, in every color imaginable.

Besides the greenhouse you will find flower beds throughout the entire parc. They even planted flower beds to form a Tulip from flowers.

The first day I went to the Keukenhof with a group of fellow photographers. When your main goal is to photograph you can easily spend the entire day there. If you only go to wander through the gardens you can probably get through the entire park in about half a day.

Ourverending Wanderlust Keukenhof-9960

Have you ever visited the Keukenhof?

 

 

 

 

 

The month of March

I can’t believe it is already the last weekend of March. It has been a crazy month, that is for sure. We still had snow in March! Which is just crazy. March was colder this year then January. Hopefully April will bring us warmer temperatures and spring will really start this month. I am so over winter at the moment and just in desperate need of some spring weather.

So what did we do in March?

The Beach
This month I spend a lot of time on the beach, as in pretty much every spare minute I had. You might ask yourself why?

Well I have been taking photography classes for the past 1,5 years and in February we got a new assignment. And this time my assignment took me to the beach.

When it comes to my photography I am kind of a perfectionist and I just want to get the perfect shot. So I always try to go out as much as possible to improve my skills.

I am happy my assignment took me to the beach, because I really love to go to the beach during this time of the year. Fortunately Zeeland, The Netherlands, holds some of the most beautiful beaches. Which are deserted during this time of the year.

Don’t expect a turquoise sea though, you might come back disappointed.

 


Snow
We also got some more snow in March, which I still can’t believe we did.
We didn’t have just one weekend of snow, no we had two snow covered weekends this month! Ofcourse I couldn’t just stay inside with all this snow.  So I grabbed my camera and headed out those two weekends.

 

Hiking
Whenever the weather allowed it we would be out and about hiking this month. Yes, I know you can also go hiking in the pouring rain. I just prefer to go hiking when it isn’t.

This month I also started to try and gain some muscle for our upcoming trips this year,  because it is obviously not a good idea to hike mountains with zero muscles.

 


First roadtrip
We were also supposed to go on our first roadtrip of the year, but unfortanetly Andy got sick and we had to postpone. I did head out to the Hallerbos, Belgium, with a friend though instead. More on the Hallerbos in another blog.

Gear
This month we also went shopping for some much needed new gear. We both got a new outdoor jacket and a fleece jacket, which I can’t wait to wear on our new adventures this year!

So what did you do this month?

The month of February

I can’t believe it is already March! Time has flown by in February. Since my review of January was a success, I decided to keep going with my monthly reviews.

So what did we do in February?

The first weekend of February we stayed home and recharged the battery, because we we were in need of a lazy weekend after January. But after the first weekend we went out again and took some fun trips.

Staatsbosbeheer Instameet

I went to the Staatsbosbeheer Instameet at the Grevelingen in The Netherlands. It is the only place in the Netherlands where you will find flamingos in the wild. The flamingos stay in The Netherlands during the winter, because it is a salt water lake and it won’t freeze over during the winter. The Grevelingen is actually the biggest salt water lake in Europe. So on an early February morning I drove out there to watch the  flamingos and the sunrise. It was cold, but defenitly worth it!


Forest trips

Ofcourse we also went to the forest. Belgium is home to one of my favorite forests, so we took some early morning trips there to shoot and hike. We were lucky and we got to witness some incredible sunrays again. February had some perfect conditions for sunrays.

Puppy shoot

Besides traveling I absolutely love photography and I am always trying to improve my skills. So when I had the chance to photograph this cute little german shepherd pup I just couldn’t say no.  I just love to shoot potraits and animals next to my forest landscapes.

The beach

During the winter months I love to go to the beach, because there will be days when you have the beach all to yourself. So when we finally had a sunny day in February we decided to go to the beach for a walk. Ofcourse I couldn’t leave my camera at home and I am glad I didn’t, because just look at this. Isn’t this perfect?

Our never ending wanderlust Zeeland-6973
Hike
Ofcourse we also went hiking during February. We bought a map of the area we live in, because it is so easy to keep hiking the same routes. We decided to step out of our comfort zone and find some new ones close to home. We are planning on doing more of these hikes in the next couple of months.

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We don’t have anything special planned yet for March, so we will see what this month will bring!

 

 

The month of January

The other day I came up with this idea to do a review of the month, so you can have a little sneak peek in our live while we are not out travelling. We both have a day job, so we try to get out during the weekend as much as possible. This month has been full with all sort of activities. Let me tell you all about them.

Vakantiebeurs Utrecht

Every year we go to the ‘Vakantiebeurs’ in Utrecht, which is the biggest travel fair in The Netherlands. So of course this January we went there again and came home with lots of inspiration. If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen some of my pictures of the fair in my instastories.

We looked into trips to Japan and some destinations closer to home, like the North Coast of Spain and the Dolomites in Italy. Either one will probably be our destination for our spring roadtrip.

There is also a hall with lots of camping gear and this year there was a stand with rooftop tents, which we added to our list of gear we would love to purchase in the future.

Hiking

Ofcourse we also went hiking, this time we ventured to the Kloosterbos in Belgium, where we did just a small hike in the late afternoon and we were so lucky to come across 4 deer on our hike! I can barely believe it myself, since I had never seen a deer in this area before.

We also stayed close to home for our walks with Milow where we ventured into the forest as much as possible.

Photography

Ofcourse I can’t go an entire month without going out just to photograph, so I went into town to do some night time photography.

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Bruges
The last weekend of January Andy and I headed out to Bruges with one of my friends. We visited the brewery the Halve Maan. I had never visited the brewery before, but ofcourse I did have some Brugse Zot before, which is one of the house brands of the brewery. Did you know that they transport the beer underneath the streets of Bruges? I will tell you all about Bruges in another blog.

Our neverending Wanderlust Buges-6574

Our neverending Wanderlust Buges-6644

Our neverending Wanderlust Buges-6714

As you can tell we had a busy, but fun month of January. Along with a lot of trips and fun activities we also had a lot of appointments for our new home, which they hopefully start building in June. Keeping our fingers crossed for that.

So what did you do this month? And would you like me to continue posting a review of our month?

2017 a review

Since 2017 has almost come to an end, I decided it was time to look back on our year. It has been a crazy year, that is for sure, but an amazing one.

2017 was the year that we sold our house and bought a piece of land to build our own home.

It has also been the year were we had to cut back on travel due to work, but even though we had to cut back on travel we did get out and travel as much as we possibly could. Even if that meant staying closer to home.

It was also the year that I decided to become a tourist in my own country, The Netherlands, because there are so many places that I had never been and still haven´t  been.

It was the year we fell in love with the Basque coast and in particular with the beautiful city of Zumaia.

So let me tell you about our top 5 moments of 2017.

1. Selling our house
We listed our house for sale in 2016 and we finally sold it at the beginning of 2017. For us it was a huge step, because it was our first home as a couple. We decided to take a leap and buy a piece of land, so we could realise our dream of building our own home.

2. A two week roadtrip to the Basque coast
This year we went on a two week camping trip to the Basque coast. We were planning on moving around, but we fell in love with the area near Ixtaspe so much that we decided to stay there for our entire vacation. It was a choice I haven’t regretted. We enjoyed all the delicious food, went on some of the most incredible hikes, and we just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful views.

3. A weekend get away to the Speulderbos

The last weekend of September we took a much needed trip to the beautiful Speulderbos in The Netherlands. Where I participated in a photography workshop about forest photography. The first day we were there we did a hike in the Speulderbos and the second day I had my photography workshop. We got so lucky this weekend, because the weather was so incredibly beautiful for the time of the year. We had sunshine, fog and no rain at all.

4. A day trip to Cap Blanc Nez and Cap Gris Nez in France
In November I went on a day trip to the Cap in France to photograph. The weather was incredible and the views and the food were amazing. I had never been here, even though it is only a two hour drive from where I live. Hence the fact I need to travel more in my own back yard.

 

5. All the trips to the forest
In 2016 I started with photography classes. I have loved to photograph ever since I was a child, but due to study and work I never had the time to take photography classes. After I had finished college in 2015 I decided in 2016 to finally take those photography classes I had always wanted to take.

Since I love to be outdoors and I love to go to the forest, I found my love for forest photography in 2017.  Which leaded to a lot of day trips to the forest in 2017 and even a photography workshop. Pretty much all my spare mornings were spend in the forest and I loved every minute of it. Most of the time I will head out by myself, because I am seriously no fun to go with when I photograph, but I love to be out there by myself, just taking in all the beautiful things the world has to offer.

I hope 2018 will be an equally amazing year as 2017. It will also be a crazy year, since we will start building our home. I hope we get to travel as much as possible, but we already have a three week roadtrip planned. So I can´t wait for all the beautiful things 2018 will bring us.

I hope your year has been as amazing as ours and I wish you a happy new year!

The Speulderbos

Like I told you a while ago we spend the last weekend of september on the Veluwe. I had signed up for a photography workshop that Sunday and since it started at 7 in the morning we decided to make it a weekend getaway.

Ourneverendingwanderlust Speulderbos-1935

We drove up to Garderen on Friday night after work. We stayed at the Bilderberg hotel Speulderbos, where we enjoyed the comforts of a hotel with the forest starting right at the front door.

We were extremely lucky with the weather that weekend, because we had fog in the morning, both on Saturday and Sunday, and a beautiful sunny afternoon. As a photographer I prefer to have some fog when I shoot in the forest.

The first day we didn’t get up super early, but we started the day a bit more relaxed with a breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast we drove up to Drie where we parked the car and hiked a 10km route through the Speulderbos.

We hiked through old forests and through fields of heather and we were lucky to run into the sepherd and his herd. We watched the sheep graze for a while.

Ourneverendingwanderlust Speulderbos-2003

The Speulderbos truly is a magical forest, I had never seen anything like it in The Netherlands.

Because we went in September it was also a great time to go and look for fungi, which is what we did during our hike. There are a lot of different varieties to be found in the Speulderbos and we were lucky to spot quite a few.

After our hike we returned to the parking lot at Boshuis Drie. We wanted to grab some lunch here, but unfortunately there was no free table left. If you want to have lunch here after your hike, make sure to make some reservations beforehand.

We drove back to the hotel to have a small lunch and just relax at the front lawn in the sun before we had dinner.

Have you ever visited the magical Speulderbos?

 

 

 

20 years UNESCO world heritage: Kinderdijk, the Netherlands

This year I decided to become a tourist in my own country, so on december 6th I visited Kinderdijk for the first time. On that day it was also the 20th anniversary of Kinderdijk. They have been an unesco world heritage site since 1997.

Kinderdijk is known for the 19 windmills. You can visit two of the mills, which both house a museum.

At the visitor centre you can also watch a movie about the history of Kinderdijk, there is a guided tour and you can see the windmills from the water.

Because it was the 20th Unesco anniversary of Kinderdijk all the museums were free, otherwise you will pay 8,50 euro for a ticket for both museums for an adult. I highly recommend visiting the mills, because it gives you an insight in how the mills work and what life was like in the mills.

We arrived early in the morning before sunrise, unfortunately it was overcast that day, so no beautiful sunrise pictures.


We did visit both museums though and watched the movie at the visitor centre and we hiked around all the windmills. It truly was a beautiful sight all those windmills lined up allong the water’s edge.

If you are ever closeby I would highly recommend to check out this unesco heritage site in the Netherlands.

Ourneverendingwanderlust Kinderdijk-5179

 

The Veluwe

I can’t believe October has come to an end already and I haven’t posted all month. So it is time to catch up. The last weekend of september we spend the weekend at the Veluwe, a national park in the Netherlands. And to be a bit more specific in the beautiful area of the Speulderbos. Sorry for all the Dutch names of the places, but there is never a good way to translate.

We stayed in a hotel for the weekend, just something different for a change. And I took a photography workshop there, which I will tell you more about in my next blog.

We have been to the Veluwe last year for the first time. Last year we stayed in the beautiful village Otterlo, which is situated right next to one of the entrances of the National Park. So we could just walk to the Park from our hotel.

The Veluwe is the biggest National Park based in the Netherlands, and it has a big variety of landscapes. It is also one of the places you will find deer among other animals.

Angelique van Waarde-0791

One thing the national park is famous for is the white bikes, which you will find at all three entrances and scattered throughout the park. You can just pick one up and use it all day, or just to get you from one pick up point to the next and continue by foot.

Last year we did a tour of the park by bike, because we were only there for a day. We wanted to see as much of the Veluwe as possible, so we rode the bikes. Lucky for us we had the place practicly to ourselves since we were there on a monday and summer break was already over.

Angelique van Waarde-0829

We rode past areas of sand, forests, heather. Around every corner the landscape was even more beautiful then the one before. The Veluwe truly amased me with all its differsity.

On the Veluwe you will also find the Kroller-Muller musuem, when we were there it was closed so we didn’t go in, but we did admire the sculptures outside.

We did however visit the Museonder, which is situated in the central area of the parc where you will also find a place to eat. The Museonder will tell you about how the Veluwe came to be and will tell you more about the nature and wildlife you can find in the park. It is a free interactive museum and a great place to take your kids.

You can easily spend an entire day here or even multiple days if you want to hike in the Park. There is something from everyone, art, museum, bike paths, hiking routes, and ofcourse some amazing nature.

If you visit the Netherlands you can’t skip this place. In my next blog I will tell you more about our adventures in the Speulderbos!

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