I had a vision for my time at the Regina Coeli Language Institute (a.k.a Dutch Princess School), and that vision involved biking to and from school, in order to give myself a physical break after a long, mentally challenging day. I admit that almost an Eat Pray Love-style cliche, but I don’t care. I’ll own that’s it’s something almost exactly like this European fantasy.
I searched the Google maps nearby towns looking for a B&B, and mapped out my route using Google street view. It looked like the total commute time by bike would be 30 minutes, 45 tops. After my freakout about how it would work and my test drive in Delft, I found out that the Netherlands really makes biking easy, no matter where you are.
Video of my daily ride after the jump.
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Tags:bicycles·Netherlands·Regina Coeli Language Institute
Just for fun, we made a destinations list, where you can browse entries based on all 61 of our favorite places to date. Do you recognize them all?
It’s sometimes funny to realize that in just six months, we’ve run the gamut from Eva Peron to Eva Gabor.
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OK, so the headline is a little bit of a tease. We’re not actually an app, really. But considering how much we use and love our iPhones–and how we’ve already talked about how crucial they are for international travel–it seemed like a bit of an upgrade was in order.
If you’d like to add us to your iPhone, just open newelty.com in Safari or another browser. It will automatically redirect to the mobile version of our site. Add the home page to your home screen, and voila! An icon will be added.
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Tags:iPhones
If you read my previous post (How Zen Is Citizen M?), you probably want to know the answer to the following question:
OK, how was it staying in a hotel room with a toilet in the middle of the room?
But hold on a second–there’s more to the story of the Citizen M.
When I checked in to the Amsterdam branch of the hotel, it wasn’t a good first start. I had made a reservation for the previous week, but had to cancel it. Unfortunately, they canceled BOTH reservations, and had no record of me in their system when I showed up for second reservation. Things were shaping up to be a fail.
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Tags:Amsterdam·Holland·hotels·Netherlands
As already mentioned in a previous quick post, being in one of the two countries that made it to the World Cup final as the last few games were in progress was–well–really really fun. And, as someone who loves novelty, perfect timing.
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Tags:Holland·Orange·World Cup
Before we went to Orcas Island a few weeks ago, a friend of mine said that when we were there we had to check out this artist. I was intrigued by her enthusiasm, but it’s always one of those things that seems more interesting to the person who is recommending the experience.
I filed it away to the back of my mind, but then when we were there, another set of friends suggested his work to us, so we had to check it out.
Anthony Howe is a sculptor whose work seems to be influenced dramatically by nature and engineering.
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Tags:art·great design
The World Cup this year did me a great favor: People stopped asking about my trip to Scandinavia, to visit Denmark. Because the Netherlands made it to the World Cup finals, more people–friends, co-workers, family–stopped confusing the Dutch with other people. They had at least a little bit of new knowledge about the Dutch: They’re good at soccer, and they love to wear orange.
What is the deal with all the orange, anyway? Their flag is red, white, and blue. So how does that explain their love of orange, as in this apartment complex, festooned with the colors of a traffic cone?
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Tags:beauty products·Dutch·Orange·World Cup
I’ve already posted about how much I love the Dutch relationship to bicycling. I love Copenhagen Cycle Chic, and am trying to help bring Seattle Cycle Chic into being. But Dutch biking is simply beautiful.
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Tags:bicycles·Delft·Dutch·Holland
I won’t lie. Deciding not to get on a plane during my job transition was hard for me. With Lia in Amsterdam and other friends jaunting off to the South of France for a month, it’s hard not to feel a tad jealous.
But I was trying to be prudent and wanted to take advantage of the Pacific Northwest’s gorgeous [...]
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Tags:camping·dreamscapes·Orcas Island·San Juan Islands
I can be somewhat nostalgic at times, particularly when I think about summer vacations. I loved the final weeks of school, when glorious and infinite summer days, and unbridled adventure stretched in front of me.
I’m experiencing a grown-up version of that now, as this Friday will be my final day at my job. After that, [...]
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Tags:airlines·bicycles·road trips
