I get the feeling we are in for a rather long and dreary winter in the Netherlands this year, which is a bit sad after the dreary summer we had.

On the upside, it’s less than two weeks until I get to start decorating for Christmas, and you KNOW how much I love Christmas!!!

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Turns out, it REALLY was that foggy outside.  I grabbed my point and shoot and quickly snapped some photos from our front balcony.  It’s a bit wonky but you can get the idea.  There is some serious fog going on here in Rotterdam this morning.  I’m sure it will probably burn off a little later when the sun is out, or maybe not… doesn’t really matter, it feels like a cozy and quiet day here in Casa Soldaat.

Hope you all have a great Sunday!

P.S. Click HERE to view the photo a bit larger.

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You know that old saying… red sky at morning, sailor take warning.  Well, I wouldn’t want to be out on the sea today!  What a beautiful sunrise we had here in Rotterdam!   I just love being up early enough to see the sunrise.  I’m trying to soak in as many sunny days as possible before winter really hits here, because the word on the street is that we’re in for a long, hard winter.

So not looking forward to that.

In the meantime I’m going to make the absolute best of days like this!

I really like this photo, it’s two photos I stitched together quickly in photoshop.  I’m now wishing I had taken three so I could really go for the full panorama effect.  I’ll know better next time!

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Texel is one of the islands in the far north of the country.  All of which I hope to visit at some point, so this made a good start!  The trip was really well organized by one of our club members, so we all met at the ferry in Den Helder (bottom left of the photo) and got the ferry to Texel, where a half open bus was waiting for us to show us around the island.

It was a very windy day, and we had some rain, but we didn’t let that stop us!  Some of us were even stubborn enough to spend the entire day in the open part of the bus.

These girls from the club came well prepared with scarves and rain jackets!  Unlike me, who showed up with a summer jacket and a hoodie, neither of which had a hood that would stay up!

I know, I look incredibly stylish, don’t I?  This was just after I’d climbed to the top of a lighthouse (that I will show later) and it was windier than hell up there.  Thankfully I brought lots of stuff to keep my hair out of my face, not that the wind really allowed it to stay under control at all!

Who cares! I climbed a lighthouse and didn’t die!

First we visited the small village of Den Hoorn where we had about an hour to walk around.  It rained most of the time so the photos were a bit limited.

I really wish I could have gone into that house to see the artwork inside.  I really wondered how they were able to leave all those paintings out in the elements without them getting faded or damaged…

After Den Hoorn we boarded the bus again and headed over to De Slufter, which is a national park and nature reserve.

There was a guided tour, but people were also free to roam and take photos themselves, so I chose the latter.  I was glad in the end as when it started raining really badly I legged it for the bus, and those who did the tour were out in it for a lot longer!

After sitting in the bus warming up, the crowd came back and we shuffled back to our spot in the back open area.  It was getting a little cold at this point because we were all pretty wet, so we were happy to hear that it was time to head to the beach for lunch!  I jokingly said to the friends I was sitting with that the minute we are actually indoors the sun would come out… and I was right!

Even though the sun was out it was still really windy, but the wind surfers and kite surfers were in heaven!  We didn’t stay long at that beach as we still had other places to visit, but I did manage to snap this photo of one happy and tired kite surfer on his way out of the water.

Next we headed to the big beach with the lighthouse, which was my favorite part of the entire day!  What a lovely spot that was!

That’s the lighthouse I climbed!  Yeah, I know it looks small, but it’s not!

See, it’s huge!! Big and tall… and tall, and high!

Believe me now?  I climbed it…

Ok I have a confession, it was kind of easy.  It wasn’t just one long flight of stairs but a few smaller ones with rooms you could stop in in between.  Each of those windows was a level where you could stop and catch your breath, which worked great for me.

It was really worth the climb though, what a view!

From up here you all look like tiny little aaaants!! (Name that movie!)

All I could think of was how much I’d love to pitch a tent in that grass and live there all summer.  Then I was told that you aren’t allowed to swim there because of the currents, and I was over it.

After climbing down the lighthouse we all hung out on the beach for a bit, I spent some of my time taking photos of my friends, who welcomed a beautiful baby boy into their lives just a few weeks later!

From the beach we went to a little fishing harbour where I tried my first taste of Kibbeling, which is basically just fried fish. It was yummy!  I didn’t take too many photos there as I was a little tired, but this one guy did catch my eye!

Oh what a life! Stretched out on the deck of his ship having a nap, completely oblivious to all the tourists standing around taking his photo.  I can think of worse ways to spend the afternoon!

So that’s it… that was my first trip to Texel, and what a fun day.  Even though the weather was crappy at times, the company was great and it felt good to be out in the fresh air seeing somewhere I haven’t been before.

If you ever get the chance to visit Texel, go for it! It’s not a very big island and you can cover a lot of ground in a day!  I hear there’s really great camping there too!

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That didn’t stop us though, and thankfully we were both bundled up enough to stay warm.

I was messing around trying to take my photo in the window and he hopped in the car. So it turned into an odd but cool photo of us both.  I like it.

I took a lot of photos in the park as well…

It was cold and misty there too and the boardwalk was even still covered in frost.

I had to give props to the people who were out there jogging in that cold.  That’s some serious dedication right there.

We learned the hard way that while there were some nice views to be had in the shaded areas, it was bitterly cold there, so we decided to stick to the paths that were getting the sunshine, it was much more pleasant!

I didn’t realize until I got home but I have a photo of this same scene that I took almost a year ago.  It was March 24th, 2010 and look at how much greener and clearer it was.  I remember that day, it was warm and I was out biking in just a t-shirt and a light jacket.  I hope it’s that warm again at that time this year!

There were a lot of birds.  Even a dead one by a garbage can, which was gross and I did take photos, but I won’t post them here.

I love this photo, it almost looks like I’m really in the middle of the forest.

This is my Project 365 photo for the day.  I’ve sat on this bench having a snack in the summer while out on one of my bike rides.  It was a bit too chilly to stop and relax there today.

It really is so nice walking around there.  It amazes me how you can be right in the middle of the city but feel so far away.  I find it so peaceful, especially if you go nice and early and during the off season.

Check it out!  Sneeuwklokjes!!  When I saw those I didn’t care that I snapped the photo a little too quickly because my hands were freezing, or that the only feeling I had in my nose was that it was running… I saw flowers blooming and I saw sun.

This is a good thing!  A very, very good thing.

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What a great decision that turned out to be!

How beautiful is this area?  I was so happy standing up on that hill looking down over the gorge.  It took my breath away.  What a drastic contrast to the flat Dutch landscape I’ve gotten so used to.

We spent two nights in the area, the first night we arrived after the drive from my in laws and spent what was left of the afternoon swimming and relaxing around the pool.  We went out for dinner and then got an early night so we’d be fresh for the morning when we planned to explore the area.

Well, that was the plan anyway…  I ended up awake all night with the most terrible stomach pains.  It was the second night of sleep I lost to that during our holiday, the first the night before our trip to Mare Nostrum.  I thought it was acid reflux due to my love of the French chorizo, but it turned out that it was my poor gallbladder begging for mercy.

Nothing was stopping me from exploring that day though.  Even though I was dead tired and it was approximately a thousand degrees in the shade, we got up early, had a nice breakfast at the hotel and set out.

No really, I wasn’t kidding.  I checked and it was a thousand degrees…   My poor, poor, pale and bald husband couldn’t stand being out of the car for more than five minutes at a time because the sun was so hot beating down on him.  Even after I tied a t-shirt around his head…

With the air conditioning on full blast the car was still warm, that is how hot it was.

I saw a lot of this.

Xander making mad tracks back to our air conditioned car, looking back and wondering when the hell I am going to stop taking photos.  I couldn’t blame him, just after taking this photo I realized that the soles of my sandals had started melting and the little rocks on the pavement were getting stuck in the melty shoe goo.

I wish that was an exaggeration, I had to throw them away when I got home!

Can’t complain, I only paid 10 euro for them and they had a good run.  Not an actual run, have you met me?  They lasted a while, I mean.

The area was full of tourists, which we did know about going in.  We were warned by the in-laws that this was an extremely popular tourist destination.  So we spent a fair amount of time in the car waiting for traffic to move.  We didn’t mind though as there was always scenery to look at or people to watch.  Plus, it was cooler in there.

You know what was funny though?  This:

Almost every car we saw was from the Netherlands!  The place was crawling with them!

When we were checking in to the first hotel we stayed at the girl at the desk was commenting on how many Dutch people there always are in the area.  She was telling us that there was even a giant camping / water park in the area that specifically caters to the Dutch, with groceries brought in from Albert Heijn, if you can imagine!  I so wish I’d gotten the name of the place so I could link to it.

I got the distinct feeling that she (and a lot of others in the area) don’t like the Dutch and are pretty sick of having them flooding the place every summer.  The funniest bit was when she complained that the Dutch always bring their lunches rather than eating at restaurants, and how it’s not good for their economy.  That made me laugh, because I just knew she was speaking the truth.  The Dutch just love their packed lunches!

It was worth adding to the Dutch vacationers flood, because it was truly beautiful there.

My favorite part of the area was Pont d’Arc, which is also the most famous spot for visitors.  We had to park pretty far down the mountain in order to get out and walk up to the viewing area to take photos.  It was totally worth the sweat and melted sandals because… LOOK!

Beautiful… just BEAUTIFUL!  Nature at it’s best.

As I stood up on the hill taking photos I really envied all those people out floating in the water.  Before we got up there we saw a lot of people lugging chairs and umbrellas while making the trek down to the beach.  I didn’t envy those people.  Not one little bit.

On the way back to the car I noticed this clearing in the trees where we could see people lazing on the rocks and using them as a platform to jump from.  The looked so cool and refreshed.  I bet their shoes weren’t melting!

No matter where you stop along the gorge you are guaranteed to see kayakers everywhere.  It’s the most popular sport there and I can see why.  Just imagine the view you get from the water, it must be spectacular!

Not to mention all the areas you get to stop at where the rest weren’t able to get access to.  The shores were full of beaches and the kayakers had the benefit of being able to avoid the popular ones that could be reached by the roads, and stop along the way in less populated areas.

One day when I am finished with Project Fatass and feeling more fit, I am definitely returning to this area and giving the kayaking a go!  I’ll start saving for my waterproof camera now.

By the end of the day we were both pretty exhausted.  We’d driven a lot, walked a lot, sweated a lot and had a really wonderful day.

I think our best decision was taking our cooler along and bringing a packed lunch (I know, we totally fit the stereotype!), because when we looked at the few restaurants along the way we groaned at how busy they were.  Plus, we were able to just park in a nice spot with a nice view and eat our lunch, which suited us just fine.

We headed back to our hotel around dinner time and spent what was left of the daylight once again swimming and lounging by the pool.  We did a small bit of exploring in a nearby village that evening, had some dinner and once again turned in early to prepare for the long drive home.  I managed to sleep that night, like the dead.

I love the south of France so much.  There is so much to see and do!  I’m pretty sure you could spend a lifetime of summer holidays there and still hardly cover it all!

We are returning again this summer for two weeks.  Just writing this post has made me so excited.  I can’t wait to see our family down there, spend time with them and do some more exploring.  I’m not sure where we will visit this time but I’m sure wherever we go, it won’t be disappointing.

My in-laws that we’ll be staying with live in Languedoc-Roussillon, so if anyone has any tips on nice places to see within that area or somewhere that can be reached within a few hours… I’m ALL EARS!  Or… eyes.  You know what I mean, just tell me please!

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He was so right!

I don’t think there is any way for me to describe how much of a difference some sunshine makes in my life!

This morning Xander and I went for a nice long walk with the dogs, for a little photosynthesis, as he called it.  He knows how drastically my mood changes when I get out in the sunlight, so I was glad when he asked if I wanted to go out for a walk.  He grabbed the dogs, I grabbed my camera and off we went.

The sun was shining bright and the longer I was out there the better I felt.  Unlike yesterday, which was dark and dreary and did nothing at all to lift my mood.  In fact, I’m pretty sure it made it even worse.

I love walking with Xander and the dogs.  We talk and spend time together which we often sort of forget to do when we are home and both doing our own thing.

Seeing little shots of green in amongst the bare branches, and stems of the Narcissen starting to pop up in the grass gives me hope.  The kind of hope that only people in the Netherlands and other such winter-dreary countries would understand…

SPRING IS COMING!!

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I could live without the rainy, dreary winter weather here in the Netherlands.

Sammi and Ronnie from Jersey Shore. I will admit to watching it when I’ve run out of other shows, and I cannot stand these two.  I don’t know how the rest haven’t drowned them in the hot tub yet.

My period. Seriously, I’ve had almost 300 of them already, enough is enough.

Justin Bieber.  I’m SO over this kid, even if he IS Canadian.

People who are passive aggressive, give thinly veiled insults on Facebook but face to face act so sweet that sugar wouldn’t melt in their mouth… and are stupid enough to think I can’t see through it.  Yes I know this is somewhat passive aggressive too, I’m just trying to speak their language!

Screw you, I’m not looking for photos of those.  The sooner people stop showing them, the better.

This bad boy.  If you don’t know what it is already, you don’t want to… and I’m not going to tell you.

Housework, I could definitely live without housework.  In fact, I hate it so much I’d almost even consider polygamy, just so I can be first wife and make second wife do all the housework.

This ignorant douchebag.

There are so many things that irritate me about this show, even more than I listed on that post way back when. Even Sue Sylvester wasn’t able to save it for me.

The Kardashians.  Where the hell did they come from and why should I give a shit about them?  Go away and stop taking up space where I want to read about REAL celebrities, thx.

Pickles.  Not a fan.

Cold sores. Haven’t had one in ages (knock wood) but I know when I do ever get one again, it will be at the worst time possible. Zovirax is my friend.

Unexpectedly scary videos.  I could definitely live without those.  You know the ones.  Someone sends you a link telling you to read along with something or to watch something closely and then WHAMMO!!!!! something scary and screeching pops onto the screen suddenly, scaring the shit out of you.  I enjoy scary movies and thrillers, when I KNOW they are scary.  When people trick me into being startled is when they take their lives in their hands.  Assholes.

Oh man this list could go on for days, so I’m going to stop here.  Let’s just say, there are a lot of people and things I’d gladly wipe from the universe if given the choice!

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Tonight my husband and I had a meatball themed night.  We didn’t even really plan it that way, but I’m taking advantage of the coincidence so I can blog about it.  It started off with our dinner plans, Xander was cooking Knorr Chinese Beef Shanghai, which I never remember so I just call it Nutty Balls.  It’s meatballs in a somewhat nutty flavoured sauce with a bit of tauge served with chinese mie noodles.  Yummeh!

I had been talking to some friends over the weekend who said they had recently seen the movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and that they really liked it.  We were discussing animated films and how much we love that they aren’t just for kids anymore.   I’ve noticed that the Dutch version (Het Regent Gehaktballen) is in theaters here already and, although there are signs for the English version, it doesn’t seem to be coming.  It’s a shame because it would have been cute to be able to see it in 3D.  I’d probably understand the Dutch version but I think there is always something lost in translation and what I might find funny in English I may not really get in Dutch.

Since there appeared to be no chance of seeing it in the original format in the theater, I decided to download it so we could watch it while having dinner.  That’s when it hit me that we were having a meatball themed evening!  Meatballs for dinner and a meatballs movie, sweet!

My husband did a great job on the food and we settled in to watch the movie.  We both really liked it a lot and thought it was quite funny.  It was silly, but just silly enough without making it too dumb to watch.  I also loved hearing familiar voices like my lover Bruce Campbell as well as Andy Samberg and Mr. T.  I never would have guessed that Neil Patrick Harris did the voice for Steve the monkey either!

I don’t think you have to see this movie in 3D to enjoy it and if you go in without huge expectations then I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.   Not that you shouldn’t expected it to be good though, because it is…

After watching the movie my husband retired to his man cave (he calls it a Lego Room, but really… it’s a man cave) and I heard him yell out “I think there’s a chance of meatballs!!’.  I wasn’t sure what he was on about until I looked out our living room window.  Yikes!

I ran and  quickly grabbed my point and shoot.  I know how quickly weather can happen and stop happening here so I didn’t want to miss it.  It literally just stopped being sunny and started being all doom and gloom.  Shame we already ate because if it WAS going to rain meatballs, I was far too full to enjoy it.

I then ran to the dining room window to see what was happening back there…

Yep, not a lot better from that direction.  I got excited thinking that perhaps we were going to get a nice big storm.  Some winds, rain, hail, thunder, lightning… you know, stormy stuff.

No such luck.  The clouds were a trick, before I knew it the sky was turning light-ish grey again and there was no excitement at all.  No meatballs to be seen, nor thunder and lightning.  Bummer.

Oh well.  We’d already had enough meatballs anyway.

Now I am off because I’ve got diem to carpe!

You’d totally get that if you saw the movie, by the way.

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This afternoon I was sitting in my living room watching TV and thinking about how crappy the weather was outside when I happened to look out our front window .  That was when I noticed this rainbow.  I tend to leave half of the curtains closed because we live across from a tall building full of seniors who are very very nosy.

When I pulled back the curtain to look at the rainbow I saw that it stretched across the sky behind the seniors complex, it was so beautiful!

I ran to my camera bag and got my camera out as quickly as possible.  This wouldn’t be the first time a rainbow has quickly disappeared before I was able to capture it.  I got lucky though and it hung around long enough for me to figure out where to stand to get as much of it as possible from our flat.  I had to stand in our bedroom and take the photo out the balcony door.

This is the first time I’ve ever managed to take a proper photo of a rainbow.  Shame the seniors complex was in the way but at least they have matching rainbow colored balconies!

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