Archive by Author
Sailing in Friesland Posted by Karoly Molina on Oct 6, 2016
One of the coolest experiences I had this year was a sailing trip in Friesland. We drove from Maastricht to Leeuwarden so we could board our recently renovated zeilboot and sail towards the Waddenzee via the canals. Before sailing away, our schipper gave us a few safety instructions. Anytime he asked us to do something, we…
Book Review: In the City of Bikes by Jordan Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 29, 2016
There is a section at the gift shop of the Rijksmuseum that has books about the Netherlands in different languages (mostly English and French). Every time I am in the neighborhood, I check the selection and purchase one or two books. On one of those trips, I purchased In the City of Bikes: The Story of the…
Pokemon Go but for Books Posted by Karoly Molina on Sep 22, 2016
In Belgium and the Netherlands, there are alternatives for book lovers looking for a Pokemon Go-like experience! Aveline Gregoire, a teacher in Belgium, came up with the idea because she wanted to clean out his bookcase. Instead of selling the books, Aveline thought it would be a great idea to have a book-finding game inspired…
Book Review: Eline Vere by Couperus Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 17, 2016
My latest Dutch read is Eline Vere by Louis Couperus. The novel was published in the late 1800s in a newspaper before being printed as one novel. When I started reading this novel, I had big hopes because the book jacket compared it to Flaubert’s Madame Bovary and Couperus was compared to the great masters of the…
The 2016 Olympics in Rio Posted by Karoly Molina on Aug 10, 2016
Last week, the Olympic Games began in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both Belgium and the Netherlands have athletes competing in a variety of sports, and both countries had a pretty good start. The Nederlandse Olympische Ploeg consists of 242 athletes competing in 22 different sports including turnen, handbal, boogschieten, paardensport, and wielersport. During Sunday’s cycling race, the Dutch cycler Annemiek…
Dutch Gardens Part 4- Insects Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 28, 2016
Continuing the July theme of gardening, this post deals with the pesky and not so fun part of gardening: insects and pests! Insects are an important part of a garden (and nature), but too much of any is a bad idea. Bijen I think I have mentioned these little guys on every gardening post, probably…
Dutch Gardens Part 3- Flowers Posted by Karoly Molina on Jul 20, 2016
My last two posts have dealt with the basics of Dutch gardens and the moestuin. This post will talk about the different flowers and plants that are common (to my knowledge) in the Netherlands. In order for bloemen or flowers to thrive in the Netherlands, they must be able to take lots of rain and be winterhard (strong enough…