Ineke van den Hout

casamance

2010-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

Due to the time I spend in remote Gambia, I lost some days to spend in Casamance, southern Senegal. Casamance is reknown for its rebels, who are quiet at this moment in time. There were travel warnings, but beside an enormous presence of military, tanks, and guns, I didnot experience anything negative nor dangerous. I went to Ziguinchor, as there was a festival at the coast, which meant all the accomodation would have been full. Ziguinchor is on the mouth of the river Niger, and surrounded by mangroves, I found it very pretty, calming and restful.
I took a day trip to Cap Skiring, and in hindsight I wish I had spend all my time there! It was stunningly beautiful, warm ocean, white beach and NO people! Perfect!
As soon as I accepted that the local people would NOT allow me to walk alone across the road, I had fun! I accepted the fact that I "needed" a guide, to tell me that the fishing boats were full of fish! To tell me where the beach was! I spend the day shopping and swimming! Bought a bracelet as a souvenir, and ended up bargaining for a Bob Marley dress I didnot really want! Only in Senegal eh! I was sad that the visa ran out and I had to leave for Mali!! I thouroughly enjoyed Senegal especially Casamance!

remote gambia

2010-01-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

My time in Jali, the remote village in The Gambia, was very short, but I did manage to participate with a celebration of some sort. A lot of boys had just been circumcised and the women celebrated this fact with music and dancing. It was quite interesting as some of the women dressed up like men, and acted in a real macho and arrogant way! What fun I had, dancing with the men/women!!
Until the local translator told me that in two weeks time it would be the girls circumcision!
He said that a lot of Europeans had problems with this, but he said, it is just the same as the boys!!
I sugested that it was NOT, unless they cut of the testicles of the boys! Then it could be similar! He advised me strongly NOT to mention this, as people would just kill me!
It was hard to keep my mouth shut, as all the people who know me are aware off, but I managed. It was interesting to see that the local women seem to have no problem with any of this and see this as a white person;s problem!
The circumcision practise is outlawed by the government, but in the remote parts of the country nobody takes any notice at all!
Overall it was a wonderful opportunity to experience life in a remote village! It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

the gambia

2010-01-23T01:35:00.000-08:00

Ah! The Gambia! What a relief to be able to speak English again! I think the first day I spoke to literally everybody in the market! To the extent that people started to give me free gifts! To shut me up ; may be; but they did tell me it was because I was so friendly! Gambia is a very small country; surrounded by Senegal! I stayed in the capital; Banjul; for a few days. I made a day trip to Jufereh and James Island; of Roots fame. I was told by everybody I met; that you couldn;t go there on your own. This was of course suficient for me to make sure I DID do it on my own! It was a rather long trip with the local bus; quite an experience. This time there were chooks on board and two goats on the roof top! Jufereh and James Island made me rather sad; but I was glad I went there: I must re read Roots as it has been a long time since I have read the book. From the capital city I went to Senekunda; a large fishing port. Very touristy and a lot of sex tourism. This means that the bumpsters constantly harrass; for money; sex; drugs without the rock and roll! I had a lovely hotel where there was a fully operational swimming pool! So I read; swam and read some more! Bliss! On the way to Casamance border; I met a young peace corps worker; who invited me to visit her little village. Since I was just regretting not having seen the rural aspect of The Gambia; I jumped at this change! I spend two days in a very remote village! What an experience this was!

sensational,sensuous, senegal

2010-01-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

As soon as you cross the Senegal river, you just know that you have left Arabic Africa behind! Here it is , the real Africa! The women are more outgoing, the colours more vibrant, the music louder, and the men more flirtier than in Mauritania. THe police man at the border, asked blatently for a "tip"! He made a mistake in his book, for which he wanted me to pay! Then he stamped my passport with the wrong date, and asked for money to fix it! He was determined, but never met a more stubborn bitch then me! I don't pay at bordercrossings, not now and not ever! He let me go when I did my so called "mama mia " act! Ask my children what I mean by that! Playing the drama queen BIG time. He ended up laughing and letting me go. It was a delight to all the senses to be in Senegal. In MAuritania, the people in general are quite timid and rather shy. The women don't speak to you at all, and the men are soft spoken and very helpful without wanting anything else in return. Not so in Senegal!! The people are outgoing, loud and very, very colourful! They still want to help you , to take you where you want to go, or not want to go! In Saint Louis it all became a bit much. I actually got cranky once! Oops! I have now recognised that this means I must stop moving for a few days. Can't travel as I used to do in Latin America anymore. Funny that! I need a big break every second or third day! I went to Dakar, where I stayed in a lovely hotel on the foreshore, with a private beach. The idea being that you wouldn't get hassled by the millions of sellers! Didn't really work, but once in a while the boss lady would yell out of the window and all the sellers would scatter, only to return five minutes later! I met a gorgeous woman from Barcelona, Magdalena. We had great fun together. Visited the island of Goree. If I had know it was so gorgeous there I would have stayed on the island and make hundreds of waterclours. As it was I went for the day and did nothing! Told you I am getting lazy! After Dakar I went further south. Found a little hide away paradise. A small islan near the border of The Gambia. You have to take a boat, then a donkey cart. Finally you come to this little village. It is build like an African village. Straw huts, solar heated water. MY bathroom was under the stars. It was absolute bliss. Warm water for swimming. Free kayaking. Mangrove walks. I saw so many birds typical for Senegal. And I saw my very first monkeys!! Green monkeys they are called for some reason or other. Wonderful. I also heard and saw the footprints of hyennas and jackalls. I laughed a lot. Swam a lot and became fully relaxed. NObody trying to sell anything at all! Bliss! A shame there was a booking for over 40 people for the weekend, and I was forced to go on! The border to The Gambia was only 20 kilometers down the road, so that is where I went next.

into the desert

2010-01-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

Atar is a lovely place, where time has stood still! I found a gem of an auberge, Bab Sahara, The door to the Sahara, run by a very friendly Dutchman, Justus. His German wife was not there, but Just was helpful, funny and very very nice. I didn;t do much at all in Atar! Getting lazy in my old age, but just hanging out in an hammock was awesomely good for the soul! I travelled from Atar to Chinguetti, where I spend five days in the desert. I had planned to make a six day trip from Chinguetti to Terjit on a camel! The guy at the hotel suggested that I go for one day first! How right he was! I had to be dragged off the beast! Decided I need NOT to prove anything to myself and to let go of very wild dreams! Hence I did lots of watercolours and read lots of books! Chinguetti is in the middle of the desert. I visited two oasis and climbed up the highest sanddune! That was my effort for the week! I enjoyed seeing all the antique , handwritten Koran books. If it was anywhere else the books would be behind glass! As it was they were just stored in cardboard boxes! I returned to Atar for Christmas, where I had an international Christmas with a whole bunch of wonderful people. I had spend one day in Terjit, where I met the most amazing people ever. Mauritania was all round an amazing experience. People are very poor but give away anything they have. So incredibly hospitable, helpful and kind. I loved it! Nouakchott, the capital, was really nothing to write home about! I needed to go to the Senegal Embassy to apply for a visa to move on. And move on I did as I had planned to spend New Years Eve in Senegal!

sand, sand and more sand

2010-01-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

This is Mauritania! Sand, dand and more sand! Going over the border from Morocco to Mauritanis was indeed quite dangerous! While putting in the petrol in the taxi, the guy bend over the petrol tank, indeed , with a burning cigarette in his mouth! If I hadn;t screamed like mad, and just did everything to attract attention, I would have been blown sky high to smithereens! I went over the border about a week after the kidnapping of three spanish people! I figured out that it had all ready happened and I would be safe!
Don;t ever confuse the actions of mad fundamentalists with the average moslim! Bombing, kidnapping and the killing of people is HARAAM! Or in English a sin. And indeed the people of Mauritania are kind, gentle and rather sweet. Men feel like protecting me and want to help me. This impressed me over and over. Without wanting anything else but to be kind. I spend some time in Nouadhibou, a border town. Border towns are by nature very ugly, but this one won the major price! It made Yuendumu win the tidy town award! People just live literally on a garbagedump. Very depressing. It is a town with many different nationalities .People hoping and wishing to get from there to somewhere else, except it is the end stop for many.
From here I took the iron ore train to Choum. This was an experience never to be forgotten. I had so much fun. The young conductor, who sold me his bed, well wooden plank barely wide enough for my bottom, let alone anything else! Of course he refused the money several times. He mad me tea the whole eight hours, which was not really very good. If you have ever needed a train toilet in a third world country,you know what I am talking about. If you never have, take my word for it, it is NOT a pleasant experience! In Choum at 2.00 AM in the morning I was tossed of the train and hauled into a four wheel drive. This car took over two hours to be loaded and re loaded! Needless to say when I finally squeezed into my allocated spot, i doubled over from laughter! Here I am in the middle of nowhere, with the most amazing night sky ever!! With about 8 moslim nomad men, being squeesed into a spot a child wouldn;t fit in! BUt of course I did fit and I did travel! It was amazing. I arrived in Atar around 5.00 AM where you just crawl onto a mat and go to sleep until it is light! Atar was lovely, time has stood still there.

moroccan marvels

2009-12-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

Morocco; I had not pictured the smells. Shelves upon shelves of auromatic oils.Sacks of herbs and spices. Some of the sacks tops rolled down to show the smooth red henna. Lumpy ginger stems, shiny black carob sticks all letting off their spicey, incensy perfume into the air! Visiting souq after souq these smells will linger forever in my mind!
Morocco; I had not pictured the Grand Taxies! The Mercedes, normally built for four or five, in Morocco the drivers fit in four people on the back seat and two passengers on the front seat! Although in Sidi Ifni there was SIX people on the back seat! It is compulsory that one passenger is at least obese! Everybody pays for one place! You have to be squashed as a tourist and you have to have at least one elbow in your kidneys! But it gets you there, to you destination, faster and cheaper than the local buses!
Morocco; Where the young boy in the pizza bar plays with the knife as if he is shaving himself, than wants to cut your pizza with the same knife! I don;t think so! Morocco where you ask for a sprite and they open a coke! Where it doesn;t matter because the teenager working in the pizza parlour finishes off everybody;s soft drinks anyway, and he likes coke! Morocco ; where in the south the people have difficulties giving change! Always in their favour though!
Tomorrow I will go over the Mauritania border. I am aware of the dangers, I have heard of the three spanish aid workers who were kidnapped! I am taking an informed decision. Just know that I love you all. Life is good and god is great!

home alone

2009-12-06T03:59:00.000-08:00

In Agadir Peter flew back to Oz. I went on alone. I came from the mountains with a headcold, which transformed itself into bronchitis. Hence I stayed put in Agadir, where the bed was soft, the pillow fluffy and the water could nearly pass for hot. Then Tiznit; Mifelt and Sidi Infi. Sidi Infi has a great surf for you surfers out there. I have a roo with a view and wonderful people in the hotel. Boiling hot water and vicks to help me along. Internet access far and few between plus if it is there it is extremely slow. Don;t expect too many e mails. I am on the way to Mauritania. Keep you all informed.

sounds of silence

2009-12-06T03:51:00.000-08:00

After the BIG cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh we moved on to Imlil, a wonderful little village in the High Atlas mountains. On the bus there we met a deligthful young man, Ahmed, whose family had a guest house. Pure fluke the moslim feast of Aid Kabir, the slaugther of the sheep, was on for five days. It is based on the Koran story of Abraham, who wanted to slaugther his son because he had no sheep. His son was named Abdullah, for people who want to know. The story in the Bible is slightly different; but we didn,t point that out to anybody. We stayed in the mountain lodge and literally could hear the silence at night. We became guest of the family and trotted along to grandparents and the like. Of course we paid for it all, but it was definitely a highlight of the Moroccon visit. The mountains are stunningly beautiful albeit extremely cold. The next day two man got dressed up as the ghost of the killed sheep and scared everybody by yelling and smacking people with a rubber hose. The actual cutting of the throats was not something I wanted towitness, ask Peter for details and photographs.

meknes

2009-11-10T04:42:00.000-08:00

Ah! Meknes! How wonderful this city is. We arrived and planned to stay a day or two. We ended up staying five days and I didnot want to leave!
The first day we ended up in this gorgeous old Palace, now a museum. We ended up having a guide, which I normally donot want at all. Hafid was delightful and incredibly knowledgable.
I came back to make some watercolours of the place. Mainly the Harem s entertainment room. I could hear the music, laugther and smell the sweet smell of the opium pipes!
Hafid s English was excellent and as he came checking up on me every half hour or so we started talking. He brought me cups of sweet Moroccon tea. Cushions to sit on. Very sweet. Before the day was out he had asked us over for a meal at his mothers house the next day. Friday was a public holiday and all was closed. We gratefully accepted. Out of respect I wore my jellabah, traditional dress, which I was given for the Berber wedding. His mother was very pleased. She was adorable and also makes the best couscous ever. We had a thouroughly interresting afternoon. His mother was very concerned who would be looking after my children, as I was gallavanting across Africa. Needless to say that she didnot understand the aspect of our culture, which means your children actually move away from you. I am sure she felt very sad for me.
Hafid came with us on Saturday to Moulay Idriss and Volubilis. These Roman ruins are the best I have ever seen. Most of the exquisite mosaics are still in tact. The grounds are over 40 hectares. Needless to say that it is impossible to see it all. I did some watercolours, but could have spend weeks here. One day I would love to come back and just stay in the small village!
Leaving Meknes was hard to do, making new friends, also means having to say good bye , not knowing when you will meet or see each other again.

Fes

2009-11-10T04:33:00.000-08:00

Fes was not at all what I expected. The travel book warns about getting lost in the Medina. Being hassled by false guides. Nothing about people trying to run you over at all times!
The Medina of Fes is wonderful. We didnot get lost at all. Very disappointing. Probably means that we werenot adventurous enough.
Medinas are the old part of the towns. Walled in, narrow streets and a delightful maze. In Fes the government have started doing up the old houses and how absolutely gorgeous they are.
Souqs are the markets, I am absolutely hooked on going to the markets. The produce is fresh not intervered with and it tastes like it should. Tomatoes actually tastes like tomatoes. I love the pommygranates. Red, ripe and juicy. Also the only thing my stomach can hold at the moment. I still cannot eat proparly altough if I stay away from the sweets all is well. Kasbahs are old places where people still live. People also live in Medinas so I actually fail to see the difference. Fes is the first big city we have come across and we didnot stay long at all.

shitty sahara story

2009-11-05T02:17:00.000-08:00

We travelled with our so called friend, Majid, to Merzougha. His family has an auberge, camel treks and four wheel drive business. This is the guy who took us to his cousins wedding, gave me a dress for the occassion. It was at his mothers house that we had a wonderful couscous. We left on our camel safari late monday afternoon. Rode for about two hours. Slept under the stars. I had hoped to experience the silence of the desert. No such thing! The generator of the tourist groups kept buzzing till late in the night. Dutch and German tourists had the need to sing stupid songs as loudly as possible through the desert. Screaming and shouting. Very disappointing, especially since I had asked, and paid for, NOT to be near other tourist. To me it felt like being in an Holy place. Obviously I was the only one!
The next morning Pete woke up ill. Severe shits. We were in the middle of no where so onto the camel he went. Two hours later he couldnot go on any longer. He fainted and collapsed.
It was only about eleven o clock. Four mobile phones between the guides but none of them capable of doing anything. Finally a four wheel drive came to take us back. By now Pete was projectile vomiting as well, so straight to a doctor! Injection an lots of tablets and back to the auberge. By the evening I came down with it. I am not the best of nurses, hence I became a teacher! When I am not well just leave me alone and go away. I will go to sleep and wake up when I am well again. In the mean time Majid kept asking for the rest of the money. We were supposed to go out for five days. We went for less than two. When I was ill dispossed he asked Peter, who still was feverish and not well, for the rest of the money. I didnot realise this until I was well again. Okay so out of a hundred people ninety nine are really nice! People tell me that Muslims are not aloud to lie, steal or kill. If they do they are NOT good Muslims! This is wonderful, but HOW can one tell if somebody is a good Muslim this is the question! I suppose there is nothing in the Koran about being a bullshit artist or con artist! Never mind another lesson learned and no harm has come to us. We have both recovered, although I still cannot eat anything without vomiting it all up again. On a positive note, we both lost weight!

borderline

2009-11-05T02:03:00.000-08:00

Travelled from Saiidia to Bouarfa. Along the Algerian border. The landscape looked very familiar, much like central Australia.
People welcome us to their country all the time. Drinking mint tea is the local past time. For men only, of course. We have been invited to peoples houses to have tea twice now. Somehow it becomes complicated afterwards. We have had one wonderful meal, couscous in somebodys home, in Bouarfa. Then there was the Berber wedding we got invited to. Unreal. Pete sat with the men and I with the women. Lots of fun. Especially as nobody spoke any other language than Berber!
I can get away with Dutch, German, Spanish and English. My French is coming back albeit too slowly for my liking. We never got to see the bride. It can take days for her to show up. We decided NOT to wait!
We travelled all the way to Figuig, 4 kilometers from the Algerian border. Saw my first oasis. Was great walking through early in the morning and getting lost in time.
Things I love about Morocco are the people, they are warm, friendly and funny.
There is NO grafiti! None what soever. This was an enormous contrast with Portugal which was so ugly with its grafiti. The food here is delicious. The colours are wonderful. The people on donkeys. I SO wanted to see that. The helpfulness of the people, especially at busstations. This again in contrast to Spain and Portugal where the busdrivers were borderline rude. Altogether Morocco is easy to travel, a pleasure to travel in. A pure delight!

morocco

2009-11-03T11:22:00.001-08:00

Morocco; beautiful; colourful and the most amazing people I have ever encountered.
We entered on the 9th of October via Ceuta. Ceuta is a Spanish enclave. A wonderful mix of Andalusian and Africa delights. I thought it was extremely pretty and Peter liked it because of the duty free booze.
From Ceuta we took the very early morning bus because I was so excited that I couldnot wait. Of course this created a problem at the other side of the border. NO transport. A minor little detail I forgot that the time was two hours earlier. Instead of seven o clock in the morning it was only five o clock. Never mind we caught a taxi and arrived very early in Tetuoan. Of course being this early also meant that the hotel had no free rooms as yet. So we waited. Had breakfast and did a speed course in the Arabic language.
Chefchauen was next on the list to visit. A little place which gets white washed with blue wash. If this make any sense at all. I wanted to stay and just paint forever. The whole village looks like it has been dipped into ice and has turned into a snowglobe.
Things I love about Morocco; the poeple and the colours. and the people did I mention the people. No grafiti and wonderful people.
In the small villages the people still ride theis donkeys. I was beside myself because I had expected this in Portugal and of course I never even saw a donkey in Portugal.
We stayed nearly a week in Chefchaouen.
Al Houcima is a fishing port . THis is where we spend Pete s birthday on the beach. I am not sure WHY Australians travel the world in search of great beaches as we have the best in the world. But that is what you do on holidays. Had a marvellous fresh seafood platter on the wharf. Very special. Afterwards we travelled to Saidia also on the coast. It is also very close to Algeria. You could shake hands if they were friendly people. Saidia is a touristy seaside town for the Moroccons. Amazing. First day great weather and great waters. So we decided to stay a day longer. As my friend Murphy would say of course the weather changed. Wild and wonderful all day. The next day as we left the waters went back to being like a mirror. Just awesome.
We also had the best meal ever here in Saidia. A sardine tajine. Pete had photographed the sardines in the morning as the man selling them came around on his moped. In the evening we ate the little buggers. It was fingerlicking good. Of course the fingers of the RIGHT hand only. The down side; there is somehow always a downside to every story ; is that my stomach couldnot handle the richness of the food nor the olive oil it was cooked in and I have been unable to enjoy a proper meal since; but by jove it was worth it.

Sevilla; Granada; Malaga

2009-10-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

Sevilla was my all time favorite city. Old castle on the top of the hill. Beautiful; enormous cathedral. The third biggest; after St Peter, in Rome; St Paul in London than this gorgeous cathedral in Sevilla. We walked: walked and walked some more. Saw an incredible exhibition about the way of seeing. Very impressive. Also went to the old bullring. We contemplated going to see a bull fight; but as the bull gets killed in the end; I decided I couldn;t face that. So for my birthday we saw a flamenco dance performance. All of a sudden I don;t remember how to spell it. I would love to come back to Sevilla and study Spanish. Granada was purely for the pleasure of seeing the Alhambra. I could have done with a week there. I just loved it. It took awhile to get our heads around how to get in etc. Much smarter to buy the tickets on line; rather than wandering around ; waiting in wrong queues and being totally baffled by the system we didn;t understand. I bought Peter the Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving; who lived there for three months; while writing the book. I loved the watercolours and ink drawings hence the reason I bought it. The old city in Granada was alqo very interesting. Narrow winding streets; full of wonderful things we did;t buy. We only stayed two nights: A shame really.
Malaga ;too; was lovely. I have no idea what we did there. We went to the beach some where in Tormilinos. If ever a place was ruined this is it for sure. We are ready for Morocco.

portugal

2009-09-27T11:13:00.017-07:00

In Portugal for two weeks and finding it hard to leave. We visited of the map places. Pinhal Novo is where my friend Alex lives with his wonderful Portugese wife, Vera, and gorgeous daugther Julia. I had not seen Alex since he was 18 years old! This is 18 years ago, so needless to say that it was hard to recognise each other! He is my mate from Costa Rica. A long time ago, 1991, I spend two weeks with his wonderful mother in Guanacasta, CR. Now Alex lives and works in Portugal. Pete and I visited Fatima, where the only thing worth mentioning is that in between all the religioso articles of very shitty, made in China, quality where the T shirts of Ronaldo!! Famous soccer player! Didn't get Holy though. I loved Sines, a small fishing village, where Vasco da Gama was born. The famous man who found the route to India. Columbus was looking for this route, but misplaced it, Vasco was on the ball and found it again. We are in Tavira today. Absolutely fabulous. tranquilla and pleasant with very cheap accomodation. A room without a view ,but quiet and cheap. We found one in Lagos too, but full of bedbugs, who only liked ME!! and I left my favorite pants in the "pica pica" room! Damn! I am sad to leave Portugal, but on Tuesday it is my birthday, and I want to eat Paella and drink Sangria in Sevilla! This is a place I would love to come back to. Highest praise from me. There aren't many places I would love to get back to at all. Portugal has been a pleasant and wonderful experience. Going out for grilled salmon tonight, with the local fabulous wine. Salmon here is cheaper than Nile perch. Figure that one out! I want to make a note that this will be without photos. I am having a hard time uploading photographs. Mainly because all the instructions are in Portugese. Could have something to do with the problem. See you in Spain.

ineke, peter, barcelona

2009-09-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Ah!Barcelona! What can I say? Wide streets, large walkways with big trees and lawns in the centre of the roads. Parking underneath very clever

planning. Often in the medium strip there are playgrounds for the children. Once we even saw a veggie garden!

Of course there is Gaudie! How quirky and weird he is. How exciting to see his work every where. We saw great exhibitions, mainly Picasso and Miro. Didn´t see any Dali, which I regret a bit now. (never been a great fan of Dali) Met up with my wonderful friend, Josep, and ended up staying at his place. Also met a wonderful new friend, Tineke, whom I chatted to at the airport in Eindhoven,and who ended up giving me a lift right to the frontdoor of my hotel! Isn´t life wonderful? The three of us shared a wonderful sunday in Barcelona

Flying Visit Eindhoven

2009-08-29T03:22:00.000-07:00

One more sleep and I am leaving for Barcelona!
The last 10 days I have spend in the city of my birth.
Even visited my birth home where nearly 59 years ago I arrived without the assistance of anybody else! Of course my mother was there, even then I was independent!
The highlight of course is the visits to family and close friends.
I just wish I could spend more time relaxing rather then playing the Flying Dutchman! Like a cyclone I see as many people as possible. The wonderful relationships I have with some of the family and friendships that go back to my Kindergarten days are absolutely exquisite.
I am having difficulties putting photos on Facebook! (ignoramus computerwise!) Have patience dear friends as I am meeting my True Love on Tuesday!
Points I have noticed in Holland. Roadworks are every where!! The whole country is broken up. It started years ago and is now beyond control, I believe! A concrete jungle. Question is, WHY not finish one stage of the roadworks before starting the next stage? Messy and un attractive.
That Eindhoven is NOT a disabled friendly city. Pushing my mother in a wheel chair is hard slog. The uneveness of the foot path is all over the city. The traffic lights are NOT in tune with each other making crossing the roads hard yakka.
Dirt! My home town has become old, worn out and very, very dirty.
Friendliness is increasing. During my walk in the park everybody said hello back for the first time during my stay in Eindhoven. Noticable was that non of the friendly recipients was white!
Great to reconnect with friends and my beautiful niece and nephews.
Barcelona Here I come!!!! (patience for the photos!)

Amsterdam

2009-08-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam die schone stad is gebouwd op palen!
This means Amsterdam , this beautiful town is build on poles!
This indeed true. As this used to be a swamp a long long time ago.
Asthe saying goes in Holland, God made the world but the Dutch created Holland.
And that Dutch people are called arogant comes as a big surprise!
Amsterdam in summer is gorgeous, seductive and very intriging.
However, I am being told I am very fortunate in having THREE warm days in a row!
This is the height of summer!
Mind you the first day, day of arrival , it rained! As I had not seen rain for over nine months, this was quite exciting. Except that it went on and on, I spend most of the days putting my jumper on, and then taking it off again.
Great being here with Michelle and learning HOW to download pictures onto facebook.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS

On the road less travelled!

2009-08-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

Have arrived in Adelaide. Yesterday. Good to meet the children and outlaws again. Always feels like coming home.
As I am new to this blogging business, give me time to develop my own style. Talking about style, check out the new direction my art is taking. Having sold an enormous amount in one week, I feel I am indeed on the road less travelled!
I find painting the wildflowers of the centre enormously satisfying and meditative.
They are pure JOY in the making and the people who buy them feel this JOY immediately as well.
So my new mission statement is;
To bring JOY to the world!!
Ode to JOY.
Feel like bursting out into a christmas carol!
Keep reading this BLOG as we travel the world togehter.
Leaving for Amsterdam tomorrow! Kind regards to all. ineke

Welcome

2009-08-04T06:57:00.001-07:00

Welcome