I am home with lots of memories and photos of my quick trip to The Netherlands. It was awesome! I felt totally relaxed and comfortable there, and always felt like I could find my way around when I was on my own.
I went to visit my friend Bonnie who lives near Haarlem, which is in a nice central location, not far from Amsterdam and Utrecht.
She’s originally from Texas so it was neat having another American who was interested in doing things in a different way.
Of course I was also fascinated with people biking and the incredible infrastructure that is built to support the use of bicycles.
Almost everyone, it seems, has a bicycle.
I saw so many types of bicycles, including some very interesting ones for delivering mail and food, and ones to hold small children. I saw lots of parents and grandparents riding around with more than one child. They were all cycling experts!
You definitely need to look at the ground to see which path goes where. Luckily things were often color coded, which makes a lot of sense. Cyclists always have the right of way!
I found myself looking at the ground quite often. There was just so much to see! Look at this stonework. So many different types in such a small area.
This crossing in Haarlem is cool!
The flowers were beautiful and very affordable. There were many small shops that had amazing flower arrangements, like these ones of hydrangeas and roses. What gorgeous colors.
I didn’t realize that so many people speak English in The Netherlands. Most shop assistants could speak a little English if I had a question or two. I didn’t have any problems, though once I ordered a slice of pizza at a little shop, and the teenager who helped me got a little flustered with having to speak English. He was resourceful, though. He quickly pulled out his mobile phone and used Google Translate to clarify my order specifics.
Some collaging, too!
One of the best things about my trip was getting to meet up with a bunch of wonderful people from the Collective. We met at a lovely house, hosted by my friend Petra.
There were around 10 of us gathered at a large table, where we talked and laughed, and shared our projects and papers. These are some of Petra’s work. Amazing!
After lunch we pulled out our latest projects and got busy, creating and learning from each other.
It was such a great atmosphere and even though most of us had only met, we were quite comfortable with each other, it seemed to me.
More various photos
I stayed in Velserbroek, not far from Haarlem. Everything is very green. Not surprising with the amount of rain that they get. It was raining almost the entire time I was there–and I loved it! What a change from dry California.
City center in Haarlem. There were so many cool shops to stop in and have a look. I bought a lot of loose tea from a shop called The Art of Tea. It’s so nice to have tea in the morning at home and be reminded of where I was.
If I could have fit a post box like this into my suitcase, I seriously would have considered it. What a beauty! (Petra, this one is your neighbor’s!)
One of my collages.
Me, in Haarlem.
❤️💜💙
How (and where) to practice collage art
Hi, Margarete, I am glad you loved staying in my home-country. Surprising that you had a lot of rain. This was a very dry and warm year. The rivers had too low water for the ships and there was a shortage of water for the crops also.
Hugs, Jolanda
Yes, it was definitely wet when I was there in mid-September. Everything was very green.
Dear Margarete, I saw you were in Amsterdam and Utrecht. Did you visit Alkmaar with the cheese market too? Maybee Cheese market season had been already over. Hope you enjoyed our country and come back soon. Love from Alkmaar
No, I missed the cheese market, Alice. Darn!! I’ve got it on my list for my next visit. I love cheese 😉
Dear Margarete, it is nice to see and your enthousiasm about my country! I lived abroad in Germany for 13 years with satisfaction, but I love being back. The people are very open to all kinds of influences and forgiving flaws easily. This gives a very relaxed atmosphere. Also the infrastructure is great because we are such a small country.
I am glad you liked it so much!
I kept hearing people talk about that it is such a small country. It sure felt big! I saw so much pasture and animals grazing. Everything felt balanced 💙
I loved seeing the photos of your trip.
Thanks, Elaine. 💜 It’s a repeatable trip. 😉 I can’t wait to go again!
Thanks for sharing this. It brought many happy memories of my visits to a lovely place.
You’re welcome! I hope to go again someday 😉
Great photos Margarete. You look very happy and relaxed. It was so interesting to see so many bicycles in use. I would love to see more acceptance of bicycles use here in Australia. The car is king here and cyclists need to be very alert if on the road.!!
It was so neat to see everything in action. What a cool place!
Hello Margarete,
This must be my most inspiring and the happiest of mornings in a long time!
I am an art journal-newbie and tried a tiny bit of collaging.
So I thought: lets see what is there on YouTube. And there I found you! With your calm advise and beautiful collages.
And on top of it: you visited my homecountry!
I am glad to hear you liked it here.
To make the circle complete: my closest friend lives in California! She moved there ages ago and I have visited her a couple of times (Sac. area).
Thank you in advance for your inspiration.
My goodness! I’m so glad you’ve made your way over to collage! I hope you will find all kinds of collage projects to inspire you 🙂. The Netherlands was wonderful! I hope to go again the the future. ❤️