Holiday Sightseeings

Going through my blog, I thought it might not be too late to share photos taken during our trip to The Netherlands last December 2007. Since we were not able to go back home to Pinas, Zach and I decided to reward ourselves for our hard work for 2007 with this trip and to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.

We braved the busy pre-Christmas days and flew to Brussels last 22^nd December. We took a side trip and spent the night in the Belgian capital where we met up with college friends, couple Rey and Elanie.

Grand Place, Brussels

light and sound display show where they illuminated the Town Hall with hundreds of colourful lights which changes along with the classical music.

Brussels Christmas Market: Elanie and I trying out the must-try German mulled wine Glühwein

and Belgian waffle

parade of restaurants near Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert.

The following day, we took a 2-hour train ride and got off at Rotterdam Central in Holland where my Auntie Darling and her Dutch husband Uncle Dirk picked us up and drove us around the modern city for sightseeing.

Rotterdam is a city with modern architecture (as compared to Amsterdam) since it was greatly damaged by World War II bombings. Rotterdam port is the biggest in Europe and one of the world’s busiest.

Rotterdam's cube houses

My uncle brought us to see this weird structure in Rotterdam -

A building literally on top of another one.

Erasmusbrug ("Erasmus Bridge") across Nieuwe Mass River linking the

southern and northern part of the city

a quick shot in front of Auntie Darling and Uncle Dirk's house

Amsterdam welcomed us the following day. We drove to the country capital early in the morning and took a side trip to the city center before going to my Auntie Nenet’s place where we will be spending Christmas Eve.

Royal Palace, Amsterdam

The canals and bicycles of Amsterdam

Amsterdam at night

Taken while on a canal boat tour - typical boat houses along the canal and

Dutch structures at the bank of the canal.

Just after Christmas, the days were spent resting at home, visiting friends, partying with Filipino organizations, sightseeing and shopping. As for me and Zach, we did not let our holidays pass without visiting Elanie and Rey's town down South of Holland - s'Hertogenbosch or Den Bosch. As we did not have enough time to chat-to-the-max while in Brussels, we stayed for a night at their place and chat and drink the night away.

Photo-op immediately after stepping out of Den Bosch train station. hehe!

College buddies Elanie and I - reunited after 7 years

Zach, I and St. John's Basilica in s'Hertogenbosch

Little Women ( as in small gid ya...) conquered Europe. hehe!

The next day, Rey and Elanie brought us to Madurodam in The Hague. It is a miniature city showcasing a model of Dutch typical structures and landmarks.

Head office of Nationale-Nederlanden in miniature

Amsterdam Royal Palace

Zach enjoyed watching the mini cars driving along the mini street.

ECE5A in Madurodam - Rey, Elanie and me.

And since we are in The Hague, we dropped by the Peace Palace before calling it a day.

The Peace Palace is home to a number of international judicial institutions, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the renowned Peace Palace Library, as well as the Hague Academy of International Law, which attracts law students from all over the world every summer.

The Peace Palace - a quick shot just before it got dark