More from the 'Leids Ontzet'

3rd of October is 'Hutspot' time! A real Dutch experience in Leiden

Tasting a real Dutch dish

Video in 'driver' perspective of the bumper car in Leiden



No Limit

Harm's birthday party!

Leids Ontzet

Today is the famous festival 'Leids Ontzet', the historical anniversary of the end of Leiden's siege by the Spaniards in 1575.
The 'onzet' is the greatest party in town and the 3rd of October is even a holiday only celebrated in Leiden. That means that most stores and all public institutions stay closed during the 3rd of October, no matter what day of the week it is. The celebrations started yesterday and the whole city got transformed into an amusement park, with a lot of stalls selling food, sweets and other things, whether needed or not by human kind.
As you can expect it from a festival in Europe, also a lot of alcohol is being consumed all around and, as you can expect from a Dutch festival, the smell of wheat is also noticeable wherever you go.
I tried the most challenging fairground ride with three other friends, as you can see further down in one of the videos. For the ridiculous price of 8 Euro per ride you actually do get a quite exciting ride, going 360 degrees and a massive speed.
Check out below for pics and videos:

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

I haven't watched the whole video yet myself. But the part I've watched so far were really interesting. Especially the part of 'enable dreams for others' really caught my attention. The person speaking is a professor in America, he is holding 'his last lecture' and this is actually true, as he will pass away a few months from now due to cancer.
Let's enjoy his passion for life till the last moment and reflect on our own attitudes....

Some impressions from a sunny day in Leiden

Zijlpoort in Leiden, former city gate

Grachten in Leiden, the famous Dutch channels

A restaurant close to the Zijlpoort

View in downtown Leiden

The Besteenmarkt in Leiden, getting ready for the 'Leids Ontzet' festival

Open bridge, seen from the Zijlpoort

Shopping street in Leiden, the Haarlemmererstraat

A boat manoevering on the channel

Gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag Antje!

Vandaag is Antje's 21ste verjaardag! In de fusie van haar studentenhuis hebben we samen met haar gewacht tot de klok 12 uur slaagt en met haar gevierd.
Van harte gefeliciteerd....

Tara Superstar

The newest face in our Sinology society in Leiden is only a few weeks old and just starting to realize how the world around her works. The proud and happy parents are Ayleen and Tobias, they are proud to be the parents of Tara superstar:

Taipei street scene

Bus, taxi, scooter, smoking man

色狼。。。

Ticket check in Dutch train

Ticket check by a cool conductor in a Dutch train, Den Haag to Amsterdam

Leiden Centraal

The North Sea

Some impression from the North Sea at the Beach of Scheveningen, The Hague

Bei den PHlern in Reeuwijk

Was macht man auf einer richtig guten Klassenfahrt, wenn es Abends draussen kalt ist und drinnen etwas waermer? Wenn der Mond, obwohl in vollstem Rund, hinter Wolken verborgen ist und die einzige Lichtquelle weit und breit die Halogenroehre im Aufenthaltsraum ist? Richtig! Spieleabend:

Und das geht besonders gut, wenn man 3o angehenden Grund- und Hauptschullehrerinnen und zwei angehenden maennlichen Kollegen ist, denn die wissen wie man spielt! Gehoert ja schliesslich auch zum spaeteren Berufsbild immer fuer Anregungen und gute Laune zu sorgen.
Es war uebrigens auch so, dass sich die PHler ein Bild vom niederlaendischen Schulsystem, der Kaesemacherei, Windmuehlen und anderen kulturellen Highlights der landschaftlich gesehen flachen Nachbarn informiert haben.

"Rischtisch scheeee..."

Impression from the "on-bike-perspective" heading towards the city center coming from Leiden Central Station.

Another video clip shot from my bike. Jana is obviously enjoying herself in Leiden; note on the back the other 11 girls with who I went to the beach yesterday.

Beach-feeling....