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  • Ben Smeele
  • Ben Smeele

Belgium and Netherlands

Going to a work conference in Antwerp then a week in the Netherlands. En savoir plus
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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    1111111

    Kralingse Bos

    14 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    From dad's house I jumped on a bike and rode to the closest attraction they talked about which was a lake area so I stopped and had some lunch with a ginger beer (with heaps of fresh ginger in it). Interestingly they don't sell alcoholic ginger beer anywhere I have seen this far, nor in Antwerp.
    It was nice relaxing by the lake for a while and watching people sail their boats.
    I saw my first person rollerskating around the lake, I had been thinking that most areas had pretty poor concrete or cobblestones which would be a nightmare for skating.
    I continued to wander through a forest walk area and came out by some caged deer. It was nice to see them but Japan was much better for this as they roamed free.
    While walking further I came across some horse tracks I guess for people who ride through here. Around most of the lake was a bike, then horse, then footpath tracks.
    I was worried yesterday as I had seen some horses in kinderdijk and wondered if they only breed them for food but it was nice to see they have an area in the city to enjoy.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    1
    111Quite surprised there was no railing here. Probably a 2 story drop at least.

    Afternoon wander

    14 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    I had spent a few hours relaxing today though upon reflection somehow still did 17k steps.
    I walked down the other direction to where I had been initially dropped off.
    Note I took another photo of "Santa" and he is wearing a hat already so his "Christmas tree" is different.
    It was starting to rain a little but I was unphased by it and enjoyed looking at the tram lines, lakes and building designs. They seemed to have a number of cantilevered buildings or rooftops.
    I researched what I should go look at in Rotterdam and most articles said the places I had already been near my hotel. They talked about Rotterdam being mostly newer buildings as a lot of it had been destroyed in the war. This made sense why there were so many new buildings and designs.
    I walked along the harbour and found the country flags, it took quite a while through more heavy set rain to find the New Zealand flag.
    By the time I had walked back to the market hall Foodcourt they had closed so I had to find something else for dinner.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    2

    Dirty five guys

    14 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Most places had closed at this point so I thought I would try the American fast food joint 5 guys.
    I'll be honest it wasn't great. The peanuts for offer and the drink refills were nice but they charged an arm and a leg for it. Mine came to $40 for a fast food burger. Likely to never go back but had to give it a go.
    Really surprised you could get bacon added to your milk shake but that gives you an idea of the place.
    I went to a late night dairy and got a fanta drink later on. One thing I found interesting in both here and Antwerp was the caps on all drinks are permanently attached and won't come off. I believe it was a rubbish issue    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur

    Off to Den Haag

    15 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    I got up and had another hotel continental breakfast which wasn't great but I had figured out how to make the most of it. I also got them to make a coffee for me (tired to make one myself but stopped again) he made the milk scream and honestly the machine did better.
    I trained up to Den Haag which only took 30 mins or so, dumped my bag at the hotel and started wandering around.
    It was still raining a little bit I just hid behind trees on the heavier part and kept walking. I found lots of interesting buildings along the way but was feeling a little listless or aimless to my wander today.
    At one point I saw a chair similar to the type Peter would make and went inside a salvos type store to eye up the furniture and look for boardgames.
    I wasn't able to find the boardgames I was looking for but was quite surprised about the price of furniture, often seeing some lovely wardrobes for €20 which would easily be worth 10 times that. The reason I was explained later was that if it didn't fit in your house it was considered worthless. Along with having to get them in and out of houses, people just marked them down.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    You can barely see but my reflection in the glass shows the angle I was standing at.

    A windy day at the beach

    15 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    I was sitting around for a minute after my mid day wander but didn't know what to do in The Hague.
    I was originally going to try go to the beach tomorrow and the wind was very strong and rainy but I figured I had limited time and that spurred me on to just do what I could.
    The tram ride was only an hour with walking so it was pretty easy to get there.
    I immediately walked out to the end of the pier to embrace the wind and feel a little foolishness. It felt pretty silly but cool to be out there.
    I then walked back down along the beach and got sandblasted in the wind.
    I got a picture of one of the gulls as they were quite large.
    I then proceeded to head back and snapped a photo of one of the households around here. They all looked similar to this and were quite large in stature. I think this was a byproduct of the golden age for Netherlands where people had quite large households.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    milk options at the supermarketSebastian's apartmentSebastian apartment. Huge doorThis is how most people move furniture into house due to how the stairwells are.

    Den Haag wandering

    15 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    I came back from the beach and crashed in the hotel for a little while. It was a really nice room with a loft king size bed.
    I then messaged Sebastian and arranged to meet up with him after his dance class so I went out and got a kebab that was 45cms long. I could only eat half of the Groot size.
    I then popped into the supermarket to get something for tomorrow's breakfast. It was interesting to look around, I couldn't find any cereal, the bread selection was massive and the dairy felt smaller. They also sold alcohol in the supermarkets here.
    After dropping the shopping back home, Sebastian bikes to meet up with me and walk to his apartment. We caught up for a beer and cheese at his place which was nice to see him and how he was finding the Dutch lifestyle. He had adopted windsurfing and otherwise talked about he was dating again due to the girl he moved over for breaking up with him.
    The house itself had huge doors and windows but was broken up into 5/6 2 bedroom apartments which he paid roughly $900 a week for.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur

    Off to Haarlem

    16 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    I slept in a little as it had been a late night and considered going to the Esher museum as most places had been closed on Monday but today was prince's day. There was a week long celebration for the royal family and today was the last day for it and I could see most of the roads and areas had been fenced off to allow for the parade and speeches. Everywhere I could see people heading towards the area where it was held and that's where the Esher museum was so I decided to give it a miss.
    I arrived at Haarlem which again was only about an hour from Den Haag and the rain had eased a little.
    I found some stumble stones as I was walking to the hotel. These were placed where Jewish people used to live during the war as a way of remembering them.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    I believe the people are still burried or their ashes are here in the churchThis was what they thought a Pelican looked like back in the day.The choir benches all had their own seats and faces or emblems calved into them.Frans haus was a famous Dutch artist which the town took pride in. He was buried here.I think this said Mozart and Handal played on this organ but I couldn't quite be sure.The organ was very impressive in this church

    St Bavo Church in Haarlem

    16 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    As it was starting to seem with each place. There was always a big church in the middle of the city.
    This one was only €4 so I had a quick look around.
    I really enjoyed that when I first walked in all the seats looked like the kind Peter made so I sat in one for a while and just took in the surroundings.
    While reading through I found the church played roles as well like ringing of the little bells at 9:20-30 to say the town gates were closing soon and you best come inside.
    There was a mural at the back which talked about the times of famine where cats and dogs where listed as wild meat.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur

    Pannenkoeken paradijs

    16 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    I wanted to go somewhere to get a Dutch pancake so I started on a journey. There were a few places in the city centre but upon going to them they just offered breakfast pancakes at breakfast time.
    I found a place called pancake paradise which was out of town but I figured I would give it a go.
    It was quite dreary so I caught a bus part of the way, my card was being declined on the bus for some reason but luckily I had another ING card I could use.
    I wanted to try a little bit of everything but I think that was mostly because my breakfast had been small. I asked what was the most traditional and he got me bacon and cheese pannenkoeken.
    While waiting for it to come out I was doing the nod off falling asleep.
    I got some truffle crochets and a chocolate milk.
    The pancake was quite tasty and I overheard another table say lekker(tasty) which reminded me to say that when they collected my plate.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    I did t realise at the time but this was a red light house next to the church

    Haarlem gates and wander

    16 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    After having some pancakes I headed north for what I thought was a castle but upon arriving found it to be quite small and was in fact the city gates.
    I was quite tired but I continued to wander roughly back to the hotel and past a walking tour group who showed me an entrance to an inner courtyard. I then continued onto the church to find out I had gone to the wrong one as there are two large towers in this town.
    I headed back the right direct past another church and red light house which I hadn't realised at the time.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    Mc Donald's blending in

    Hotel and night

    16 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    I checked into my hotel which was simple, not the cleanest but glad the window faced the church.
    I crashed for a few hours on the bed and then got up to find a dinner. After wandering for a quite a while I didn't particularly and anything as I felt a little sick so I went back to the super market and got a noodle cup, some speculaa cookies and wandered around the supermarket.
    The selection of bitterballen was quite impressive and the eggs I took a photo of looked quite cheap.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    Pretty sad burger and lunchThere were some strange clear berries next to the blueberries.Cheese shop that wrapped around the corner, all windows showing cheese.One of copious "head shops" where they sold mushrooms and seeds to grow at home.The central train station

    Breakfast and off to Amsterdam

    17 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    I slept in again but got up before checkout, cleared the room and left my luggage downstairs for a breakfast wander. As it was still raining I didn't want to go too far and headed off to the cafe I looked at yesterday and got my first normalish breakfast in a while.
    I then gathered up my gear, meandered to the train and headed for Amsterdam.
    It didn't take long and arrived there around midday so found my hotel, dumped my luggage and looked for some things to do.
    I had an initial wander and inquired about attractions to be advised most popular ones had been already booked out so I grabbed some lunch while I considered my next move.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    1This talked about how they would have alcohol hanging here and sent to the basement to be refilled1

    Muiderslot Castle

    17 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    One of the local tourism signs talked about a castle so I looked up how to get there and it would be a 17min walk, train, bus then, 30 minute walk and that's one way.
    I figured it was an interesting thing to see and with the annoyance of getting there and the weather it's likely not to be too busy.
    It was a nice suburban town once I had walked along a blank roadside and through a park reserve forest area. I did find a lot of these areas during my trip had been left to destitute by the local councils.
    Walking through the small town of Muiderslot, I had to wait for the bridge to swap as a boat came through.
    I proceeded on towards the castle and stomached the €16 entrance fee.
    I decided to walk through the gardens first which were nice but a bit unkempd.
    Walking through the castle itself I found interesting as it was a proper middle ages castle which had knights for defence and talked about how they lived and the history of the castle since then.
    I always feel a what if in these places and trying to envision how I would have survived in those times.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur

    Sad hotel in Amsterdam

    17 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    I checked into my hotel which I didn't have high hopes for but still paid $450 for 2 nights so thought it would be ok.
    The initial stair climb with luggage felt a lot but I wanted a more traditional feeling place so embraced that.
    They asked for a cash deposit for the key and tv remote along with some weird rules about a piece of paper being your key so each time you left and came back you would hand your physical key in and trade it for the piece of paper.
    I then got to the room which was as small as it could be with quite a smell but I figured it was just a place to sleep.
    My initial nap after the castle I got cold as the blanket inner had separated to the sides leaving just a sheet for coverage. The bed and pillows were also old and lumpy, I hoped I didn't come home with bed bugs.
    The breakfast was quite sad with no protein options and was mostly just some bread butter and spreads.
    I considered initially moving instantly then considered again after staying a night but figured I could last a night here, I just felt sad about how much it had cost.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    Saw a few of these rubber duck stores while in Amsterdam. Seems the new craze.
    The original palace in rain.Old church in the red light district

    First night in Amsterdam

    17 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    I came back after the castle, checked into my hotel and crashed for a few hours then needed to go out explore and find dinner.
    As it was quite late most of the places other than your standard fast foods were closed.
    It also was raining a fair bit and wished I had borrowed an umbrella but just brave faced it with my puffer jacket.
    I wandered for a while talking to mum and dad and headed over to the red light district to see what it was like.
    They had lots of signs about no drinking or urination or photos in the red light district which most tourists disobeyed.
    I found the scene to be quite interesting as there were two main groups. The couples who had their partners holding hands for reassurance while quickly walking through and glancing, and the boisterous guy groups who would walk up to the windows and talk to them and objectify the woman to show off to their mates.
    The woman were all dressed in black or white lingerie or bikinis, I took a few photos of the area but didn't want to capture or take any photos of the actual women.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    XXX is the symbol of Amsterdam.The famous secret attic church. Hidden away while public worship wasn't allowed.Apparently a great bar for beer and locals. Need to check out later.One of the few remaining wooden buildingsPart or the original wallsRembrandt painted himself in the night watch hidden in the back.Smallest house in Amsterdam. 2.02 meters wide and 5 meters deepHome of the Dutch East india trading company and first LLC and traded on the public stock exchange.Combined theatre, opera and city hall. Voted one of the ugliest building or opera houses in the worlHouses on a leanNod at Banksy art at the Amsterdam uni.Actually was pretty nice. I downed the whole thing.

    Amsterdam walking tour

    18 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    I decided to join a "free" walking tour around the city to help get direction on what to do. It cost €6 to book and then I tipped €20 at the end as the guide had been quite good.
    It was a drizly day but not too heavy to put a damper on the walk, just made you damp.

    One interesting fact was about the old church being in the red light district. It was mostly sailors who would live a dangerous life and come back and want to sleep around hence the prostituting but they were also religious and didn't want to go back to see without absolving their sins so they would visit the church. They even optimised it to the point you could pre absolve your sins for the next two days so you could go to the church during the day, have your fun then head out to sea in the morning.

    Everything is made out of bricks as there was only river clay to use. There are a few wooden building left, we stopped past one built in 1580.

    The attic church held 150 people and was illegal but tolerated. Napoleon was catholic and then allowed it. People would complain about the singing on Sunday but the police said they didn't work Sundays and go on Monday and it was fine.

    St Nicolas was the patron saint of children, sailors, prostitutes and brewers which was quite fitting for Amsterdam and all going on.

    Only since 2000 they legalised prostitution because before this it would happen but they were under age and worked up to 14 hour shifts.
    There was too many people in the area more recently so they banned tour groups, stopped drinking and smoking in the area. They used to have a guys section as well but there wasn't the business for it.

    The old city gates had been turned into a guild house from the markets. There was a blacksmith and others but at the top was the surgeon guild who got their body's from the market square hangings and executions. This is where Rembrandt did one of this first famous paintings of the anatomy lesson.

    The dark history of Dutch people ratting out Jews because they would then get a house and there was much famine and cold. They chopped every tree in the city and burnt all wood they could find in the second world war. This destroyed alot of the city that it looked like it had been bombed.

    It is expected that your bike will be stolen. To live here you need to know a junky that you can then buy another bike from.

    The open curtain living comes from a history of being prodastant and showing you are living well. And just inherited from there.

    They were taxed by the width of the house, hence them being so thin. The smallest one was 2.02 meters wide.

    They have some stumble stones but only one company makes them so they are on backorder and not found as often here in Amsterdam.

    I then asked Jonny as the tour wrapped up where to go next, to get a herring and a good place for dinner. He directed me on for all.

    The herring was actually quite pleasant and I would have gone back for more given the time.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur
    Up to 7 people in here with the open toilet collected a few times each week.
    The double door phone booth as people often yelledSymbolism was important as some couldn't read.Eavesdropping call redirection booth.Nicknamed the shipThis was considered a middle finger to the neighbourhoodProtestant with the red lined windows.

    Museum Het Schip

    18 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    I spoke to my walking guide and he suggested I go to this museum and figured I would give it a go.

    It was a tour of the Amsterdam school movement in a socialist building design and the walk through of how people in 1890 were living in slums of up to 7 people in a small container size building. This happened as the population massively grew as people came to Amsterdam for factory work.

    The designer was Michel de Klerk and he included a school, post office and living areas into this building.

    Rules were put in place that there had to be 30sqm per family and parents must have a seperate bedroom. There must be windows and water and sewerage.

    There was strict rules for being allowed to live here. They had to identify as socialist, not drink alcohol and bathe often. Not allowed to hang washing outside, carpet banging on certain days and the heart of the home being the dinning room was tidy. This was checked each week. They would get stamps to prove they had baithed.

    This wasn't what I was expecting to see when he said it was regarding architecture but it was something different and interesting.    En savoir plus

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  • Ben SmeeleBelgium and NetherlandsVoyageur

    Moeders for dinner

    18 septembre, Pays-Bas ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    I asked the tour guide where a good place for a stamppot would be and he instantly said I had to go to Moeders (mother's in Dutch) as they have the best traditional Dutch food and where the locals take each other out to.

    The place was packed so I had to go wait for an hour outside with a drink. I got a Jopen as it was close to Joep and is a harleem made beer. It was drinkable which says a lot for my level of beer tolerance.

    The walls are covered with pictures of peoples mother's that they have brought in since 1990 when it opened. There wasn't a blank space to be seen.

    I got in and ordered a Stamppot with sauerkraut for dinner. The translation of this dish is hotchpotch where things were just thrown together.

    It was a simple meal but felt good and homely to be eating.

    Originally I sat down next to two guys who were from NZ one of them living in Antwerp.
    Once they left another couple arrived from Melbourne so I talked to them for a bit and interestingly the guys brother had recently joined SES in runaway bay.
    It's crazy how small a world sometimes.    En savoir plus

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    Fin du voyage
    20 septembre 2025