The semi-submersible heavy lift ship Blue Marlin

26 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

MV Blue Marlin carrying USS Cole © U.S. Navy - PH2 Leland Comer

MV Blue Marlin carrying USS Cole © U.S. Navy – PH2 Leland Comer

Blue Marlin is a semi-submersible heavy lift ship from Dockwise Shipping of the Netherlands. Designed to transport very large semi-submersible drilling rigs above the transport ship’s deck, it is equipped with 38 cabins to accommodate 60 people, a workout room, sauna and swimming facilities. Blue Marlin and her sister ship MV Black Marlin comprise the Marlin class of heavy lift ship.   read more…

Hengelo in the Overijssel province

12 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Steven van der Wal

© Steven van der Wal

Hengelo is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the International Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. During World War II, the city was often bombed by the Allies because of the presence of the railways and the war industry activities of local factories. Accidentally the heart of the town was bombed out, during the Bombing of Hengelo on 6 and 7 October 1944, killing several hundred people. This has also left the city without much of an historical centre.   read more…

Theme Week Amsterdam, Hollands party capital

26 April 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, European Union, Bon voyage, European Capital of Culture, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

Amsterdam inner city © Emes2k

Amsterdam inner city © Emes2k

Amsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, with an urban population of 1,209,419 and a metropolitan population of 2,158,592. The city is in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. It comprises the northern part of the Randstad, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in Europe, with a population of approximately 8.1 million according to larger estimates.   read more…

Curaçao in the Caribbean

12 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Sea Aquarium © Bjørn Christian Tørrissen/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sea Aquarium © Bjørn Christian Tørrissen/cc-by-sa-3.0

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast, that forms part of the Dutch Caribbean. The Country of Curaçao (Dutch: Land Curaçao; Papiamento: Pais Kòrsou), which includes the main island and the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao (“Little Curaçao”), is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of over 150,000 on an area of 444 km2 (171 sq mi) and its capital is Willemstad. Prior to 10 October 2010, when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, Curaçao was administered as the Island Territory of Curaçao (Dutch: Eilandgebied Curaçao, Papiamentu: Teritorio Insular di Kòrsou), one of five island territories of the former Netherlands Antilles.   read more…

The barque Europa

3 February 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  4 minutes

Figurehead © flickr.com - Jose Luis Cernadas Iglesias

Figurehead © flickr.com – Jose Luis Cernadas Iglesias

Sailing ship Europa is a steel-hulled barque from in the Netherlands. Originally it was a German lightship, named Senator Brockes and built in 1911 at the H.C. Stülcken & Sohn shipyard in Hamburg. Until 1977, it was in use by the German Federal Coast Guard as a lightship on the river Elbe. In 1985 a Dutchman bought the vessel (or what was left of it), and in 1994 she was fully restored as a barque, a three mast rigged ship, and retrofitted as a special-purpose sail-training ship.  read more…

Venlo on river Meuse

23 December 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

De Parade © Joaquin Maturana Contti

De Parade © Joaquin Maturana Contti

Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg. In 2003 Venlo was awarded the title Greenest city of Europe by the EU. In 2012 it will host the Floriade.   read more…

Tilburg, in the heart of Brabant

5 December 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Street view © Michielverbeek

Street view © Michielverbeek

Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant. Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout. Tilburg University is located in Tilburg, as are Avans University of Applied Sciences and Fontys University of Applied Sciences. Tilburg has nearly 30.000 students at one of these universities.   read more…

Arnhem on the Lower Rhine

25 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Sonsbeek House © Michielverbeek

Sonsbeek House © Michielverbeek

Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city’s development. Arnhem has almost 150,000 residents as one of the larger cities of the Netherlands. The municipality is part of the city region Arnhem-Nijmegen, a metropolitan area with 736,000 inhabitants. Arnhem is home to the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen and ArtEZ Institute of the Arts.   read more…

Theme Week Amsterdam – Albert Cuyp Market, the largest daytime street market in Europe

1 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit, Shopping Reading Time:  5 minutes

© flickr.com - yeowatzup/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – yeowatzup/cc-by-2.0

The Albert Cuyp Market is a street market in Amsterdam, on the Albert Cuypstraat between Ferdinand Bolstraat and Van Woustraat, in the De Pijp area of the Oud-Zuid district of the city. The street and market are named for Albert Cuyp, a painter from the 17th century.   read more…

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