SPRINGGGGGG-(onion)/photo.of month

It's Spring, so here are two pictures of spring onions/chives in my garden. The first one is still 'budding' and has a baby stink-bug on it (so cute). Please click on the pictures for detail (they're much better that way).

The European Fine Arts Fair + Rest. Beaumont

Tefaf, 2nd time.
This year we decided to stay for a weekend so we could enjoy this amazing fair and also the lovely city of Maastricht (With generous help from Dick) .
Eric had managed, once again, to book a great hotel at a great location. When we got to our room, there was a cold bottle of bubbly waiting for us (pre-arranged by Eric) which set the tone for the whole, amazing weekend.

Our room was a little basic but comfortable and I do recommend this place if ever you decide to visit Maastricht: Hotel and restaurant Beaumont:
We decided to have our meal at the Hotel's restaurant, which was extremely good! We were advised to book a table and, by eight, the place was full. A lot of the people eating there were locals which is always a good sign. The service was very good, the food and wine, excellent and the ambiance pleasant. It was so good, that the next day (after having looked around in this culinary city) we decided to go back to 'our place'. 
The hotel arranged regular transport to the TEFAF for free and, the next whole day was spent, 'drooling, longing and dreaming' at this worldwide, renowned fair. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of modern art for sale, this year, but also enjoyed looking at the old Masters (Rembrandt for only € 34 million.) 

We looked at everything...from Jewellery (of course) ... to Egyptian, geographical finds ... to clocks (again, of course).

Dream on Son.

Miró

Crumpled copper.

Visit and sight seeing I/ Restaurant

I'm late with this blog but then it's been a crazy time with lots going on, in the world and in my life.

Thankfully I had my friend Caroline (Cal) come over for a visit from England. It was great to have this special friend stay with me for a few days and take my mind of all the things that need doing. We chatted (lots), tried out strange restaurants and went on a touristic sight-seeing-spree.

Cal and I chose a restaurant with Arabian cuisine called Nomads. We didn't quite know what we were letting ourselves in for but liked the idea of a bit of an adventure.  We headed for Amsterdam, and picked up a slightly apprehensive Eric. It was quite an experience. We were escorted to and 'inner room' where we were asked to take off our shoes and lie back on  'lounge-like' couches. The food was served on large, round, decorated, metal serving trays. Most of it was quite good but there were one or two dishes which were just 'tasteless'. The interior was pretty amazing and the atmosphere had a touch of a market place, where we were offered a massage or tarot card reading (NOT my thing). There was a beautiful belly dancer who managed to dance between the 'tables', while we were drinking some potent cocktails.
All in all, if you're willing to 'just go with the flow', it is an enjoyable experience. Have a look by clicking on rest. Nomads (choice of english translation).

Visit and sight seeing II/Madurodam

As for the sightseeing-bit. Well.....we went to Madurodam. This is a place where one can see in detail many old and new buildings located in Holland, but then in miniature size. It was more impressive than I thought it would be, the weather was good and we enjoyed ourselves. For more info. click on: Madurodam or just let the pictures speak for themselves.
The last picture shows Cal checking out our House of Parliament 'Het Binnenhof'. An hour later we were actually admiring the real thing in The Hague, which made it extra special. For a better impression, please click on the pictures.

Dutch House of Parliament

Polder Picture

This month's picture was taken, in the polder behind the farm where I live. Our farm borders on a huge bird reserve and I took this picture on a walk through the reserve, several weeks ago. It shows the typical FLAT countryside of Holland. All of it below sea-level. At the moment thousands of Canada Geese and hundreds of swans are gathering there. you can hear them honking from a long distance away.
This sculpture was place there last year. (for best result, click on picture)

Strange things in the windows of the 'Farm'

I was wandering around outside with my camera and got intrigued by the weird things which the owner of the farm displays in the windows of the front part of the barn. Even though it had been raaaaiiiiiningggggg for 'weeks', I thought they would make fun pictures (I actually like the effect of the rain on the windows) and would also show you more of the place where I live.
The owner used to store loads of cheese in the barn and would sell them at farmers markets, hence the scales and cheese in the left window (right).
For better effect click on the photographs.

This poor shark's jaw was bought by the owner at a fish market in Kenya! How he got it through customs is a mystery to me. Not sure why he placed it in the window... maybe he's trying to tell us something...

Birthday Boy at restaurant Stork

Two weeks ago we celebrated Eric's birthday by trying out a new restaurant 'Stork'.
You'd think the name might refer to a large bird and babies, but no! The restaurant got it's name from the company which owned the huge factory building in which the rest. is now situated. They used to manufacture large machinery there and the designers of the restaurant decided to leave many parts of the old factory intact. This has made for an interesting and quite exciting interior.
It is located right on the river bank and one can watch boats of all sizes sail by, up close, while enjoying a good meal. A large terrace should make it a fantastic place to visit in the summer.
It is supposed to be the largest Fish restaurant in Europe and so we took the opportunity to dress for the occasion and sample their food, which both of us thought was very good. The service was still slightly disorganised but very friendly. Personally I wouldn't mind if they replaced the plastic chairs with something more comfortable and chique.
For information (Dutch only) + pictures click here.

the bar in the centre of the hall
We had to wait a while before we could toast to Eric's birthday but it was worth the wait.

Scallops+Prosecco Jelly

As starter....

Super Skate wing+pumpkin

Best Fish and Chips ever!