Conservatorium Hotel, Amsterdam

Sometimes a night away  in your hometown can really feel like a weekend break in some other cool city. Last month we stayed in one of the newest, coolest and most beautiful hotels of Amsterdam: The Conservatorium Hotel. I remember I used to walk through these corridors...

Treasure Hunting at Logement Swaenenvecht

We’ve been to the Himalayas, the National Parks in America, small islands in the middle of the ocean and…this amazingly cute, beautiful hotel only 30 minutes from our house: Logement Swaenenvecht. The “Logement”, as we call small hotels in Dutch, is...

Vlieland by Bike

Wind, fresh air and beautiful scenery: that’s what you get when you cycle around Vlieland. Don’t be fooled by its size – Vlieland only has 25 km of cycling routes – but the wind and grassy dunes will turn any short trip into a heavy workout. Pick...

Bridal Bliss in Badhotel Bruin

We told you before, The Netherlands is just as pretty as India, America, Ireland and Iceland. Different of course, but just as beautiful. Especially the Wadden Islands, a favorite area of ours. This time we visited Vlieland, where we stayed in the award winning Badhotel...

Hoge Veluwe # 2 / Dutch Africa

If I hadn’t told you about De Hoge Veluwe yesterday I bet you would have thought these images were taken in Africa. But no, it’s The Netherlands again. Only 2 kilometers from the place that we showed you yesterday it is a totally different scene. Sand, dunes...

Hoge Veluwe National Park

I always feel empty when the summer holidays are over. you’re back at home, behind your computer, doing laundry and other boring every-day-life stuff. This weekend I suddenly had an idea. Why not take a daycation in our own country? So we headed towards a precious...

The Beautiful South

Every spring we try to go to Limburg, the south of the Netherlands, for at least one weekend to enjoy the blooming blossoms, new born lambs and local wine*. It doesn’t really matter where you go, as long as you stay deep down in the south. In the Geuldal (the valley...

Ice Skating In Haarlem

When it starts freezing in Holland  it seems the whole country goes back a couple of hundred years. The world actuallly looks like the old paintings of winter scenes by the Dutch Masters. It seems the last days of winter are upon us, so we decided to get on the ice as...

The frozen city

I’ve been living in Amsterdam for almost 15 years now and for the first time we could ice skate on the canals! It’s as if everybody leaves the streets and chooses the canals as their favorite route; to walk on in warm winter boots, to cycle on the ice (crazy),...

Autumn leaves

I know New England is famous for its colorful foliage, but we have some great sights as well. Every year in November we return to Elswout, the forest close to Haarlem. The orange and yellow that cover every branch, the water and the paths is simply...

Cinema Paradiso

Three things that make Cinema Paradiso one of my favorite restaurants in Amsterdam: 1. They make the best Melanzane in town. 2. You can finish every dinner with a home made Sgroppino. 3.  I love the booths on the left where you can enjoy dinner with 6 of your...

Close to home

You don’t need to go far to see beautiful things. I totally agree. And that’s why we try and visit some amazing spots close to home every now and then. One is definitely the dune area that surrounds Duin en Kruidberg, a country estate turned into hotel surrounded by...