Das Blumenmädchen

About a week ago, we arrived at a camping in Austria we had already visited in 2012. A lovely campsite with large campingspots and a -as it’s called- ‘nature-pool’, with which I mean a pool divided in two parts, a part in which lillies grow, and a part meant for swimming. And the best part? The small salamanders swimming around with you.

Since we had been to this place before -Reisach, Karinth- we didn’t quite have tp explore the environment but could start hiking straight away. And so we did. As we drove off for some local touristinformation, we found ourselves reading a pamphlet for a herb-hikingtour. We immediately were interested and eventually ended up booking a herb tour with Erika.

One day later, we found the hiking part of the tour was pretty disappointing. However, the herb part was really fun. While Erika pointed out several herbs on the way and, in German, told us everything about the healing characteristics those had,  we gathered those herbs and their flowers and stuffing them into our backpacks, which made Yara look like a flower girl. 

1,8 km futher, well, actually back at the point of department, we spread out our flowers and began forming a circle of long, thin willow branches (those things really are extremely bendable!). Having formed the skeleton of our garland-to-be, we started making little bouquets and attached those to the branches with thin metal wire again and again until the whole circle was filled with colorful flowers. If you do this yourself, make sure you use flowers that dry nicely, because after forming the flowercrown, you can lay it down on its back and let it dry before hanging it to your wall or door, or whereever you want to hang it.

Now there is only one challenge left; which is bringing our creations home without crushing them in a really full car on a 1200 km drive…
Here are some extra photo’s of the flowers we used to make the flowercrowns, just because I love the way they turned out ;p

-Nerissa 

When in Wanneperveen

When you are in a place as remote as Wanneperveen, you MUST relax and be active at the same time, how? Read on!

Despite of the rain that bound us at home the first day, we got our bikes out again and drove off to Giethoorn. This time it was even more deserted than the day before, good for us 🙂 As you might have noticed in my previous blog post, I’m quite enthusiastic about Giethoorn. Why? because it is such a cute little village. The small pathways along the water are regularly interrupted by even smaller bridges. The other things that make Giethoorn so attractive are her houses, they are built in such an other style than the ‘common’ houses in the Netherlands. And last but not least, the tourists… A while ago, Giethoorn was described in a popular Japanese travel guide as one of the most representative cities of the Netherlands. This was taken over by other travel guides resulting in Giethoorn becoming one of the most popular cities in the eyes of the Asian travellers. However it’s funny to see all those tourists wandering around Giethoorn, you’ll have the constant feeling you’re being photographed. Smile!

After visiting Giethoorn once more, we cycled on through the cornfields (man, they have A LOT of corn over there) to Meppel and without notice, we crossed the ‘border’ to Drenthe, leaving Overijssel (that sounds a lot cooler than it is). Meppel definitely is worth it visiting. It isn’t very impressive and it’s not much different than every other village in Drenthe, but as soon as you enter you notice something’s different. We smelled some kind of tomato soup/cheese bread smell which our Meppel-knower told us was typical for Meppel. And the atmosphere seemed to be different, cosy. A little recommendation, well, actually two: you should definitely visit the local bakery, just because they serve simple but delicious lunches. Also, you should visit the ice cream shop (across the corner), it’s called ‘IJsmakers’ (‘ice cream producers’). They don’t offer a whole lot of choices, but whoa, the tastes they offer are soooo good and creamy! (try tony chocoloney-salted caramel)

All right, that’s it. So… relax, cycle, shop, go canoeing and eat ice cream!

-Nerissa

 

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Wanneperveen

It’s 11.47 pm., we’re sitting on the cold kitchen floor looking at a boardgame, not actually playing a boardgame. Several hours before, we arrived at the holliday shed of one of us four. We all graduated and my best friends and I decided this would be the perfect time to go on a little vacation.

Wanneperveen it would be. We already decided we would go canoeing, so this place was the right place to go since there isn’t a lack of water in this little town. Having arived to the house, we were quite hungry -duh- and found out we had a little problem. There wasn’t a oven, as we though there would be. BUT as one of my friends accidentally pressed a button on the microwave, ‘pizza’ appeared on the small display, our back-up plans were not needed. And so we eventually landed on the kitchen floor, trying to answer quiestions about the world -‘the great topography game’-.
As you might expect, we got to bed quite late and got out of bed quite late too. It turned out to be raining pretty much all day. So after we picked up our bikes and got to the grocery store in Giethoorn, it was time for another set of games. And… lucky us, it got dry after dinner, so we were able to get onto the water and canoe for a while.

I know it doesn’t sound like much, but when you are in need of a relaxing holiday, you should definitely go to Wanneperveen or its surroudings some time. And don’t forget the ‘famous’ town of Giethoorn (if you don’t mind a lot, and I mean A LOT of tourists)

-Nerissa

Disneyland parc

Day two of our Disney adventure.
As we enter the parc we see the giant castle that represents Disney. The long road that leads to it is crouded and surrounded by all kinds of Disney themed shops and small restaurants. Oh well, crouded isn’t the right word to use, as it rains most of the day it is relatively quiet.
We intended to use the same strategy as day one, but failed, no fastpasses for us today.
Just like the Studio’s, Disneyland park is also devided in several parts. Aventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Discoveryland all have their own theme, as you can tell from the names.
As before, I’ll give you my top-5 attractions:
1. Space Mountain: Mission 2: This ride includes a lot of speed -my friend wiped the tears of her sheeks afterwards- and darkness. You’ll be launched in some kind of tunnel, after witch you get through several looping and spins. On your way through, you get to see planets and comets, joined by matching sounds.

2. Sleeping Beauty Castle: Nope, this isn’t really an attraction, but it is totally worth it paying a visit. As you get upstairs, you can follow the stained glass pictures that tell the story of Sleeping Beauty in a stunning way. (Don’t forget to take a look outside too)

3. Le Pays de Contes de Fées: Not much of an exciting attraction too, but good for some rest. A boat will take you to several miniature settings of Disney story’s and films.

4. It’s a small world: I know, you wouldn’t expect me to recommend this, but I do. Through the years I’ve experienced quite something of this small world in the Efteling – the Netherlands-, so I was kind of expexting somewhat the same. But it wasn’t at all! It was so much bigger en more extravagant. Oh, for the ones that don’t know ‘it’s a small world’, you get to travel around the world in a boat, floating along several landscapes and figures repesenting different countries.

5. Alice’s Maze: Feel like Alice for just a moment. It’s not nerve wrecking, but super fun to do and to take photo’s in there.

In the evening, there are two things you MUST see at least once. Firstly, the Disney Magic on Parade. Disney figures standing on themed wagons make their way through the parc while making a true show.

Secondly, the Disney Dreams show, in which Peter Pan leads you through several stories projected on the Castle. Also fire and water adjust to a spectacular show. This show is at the end of the day, just before closing-time, so make sure you don’t mind mass-walking to the exit or leaving just before the show ends.

Concerning the food, we ate at Café Hyperion this evening. The burgers served were just delicious, also for vegetarians 🙂 AND… there is a Jedi college-ish thing which is amazing. The younger children get to dress up like Jedi, are being teached how to fight with a lightsabor and eventually get to fight Dark Vader.

LOVED IT!

Disney Studio’s

We decided to split our Disney visit in two, as there are two parcs.
The Disney Studio’s is the smaller of the two parcs but at least as fun as the other. When you enter you get in a Hollywood-like hallway -Studio 1- with restaurants at both sides. Walking through, you definitely should take a look at all the details, as you should actually do in both of the parcs in total.
The Studio’s are devided in several ‘worlds’  you can visit: Production Courtyard, Backlot, Front Lot (which is Studio 1 in its total) and The Tune Studio.

Studio 1

I recommend you to get your first fastpass as soon as you get in the parc. It will tell you what time to come back and prevents you from standing in long lines. You can have only one fastpass at the time and you never know what time will appear on the card.
Then the attractions itself, some of them will be closed as they are repared, so I can’t tell about all of them. Here’s my top-3:
1. Ratatouille: You are drove around in a mouseshaped car while you are wearing 3D glasses. At first I didn’t know quite what to expect, but I loved it. You make a trip though Gusteau’s kitchen, storage and restaurant, just like in the movie. The ride is a combination of 3D movie and actual decor. You’ll move along giant sausages as you see panicing shef’s running around on the sidescreens. In one word AMAZING.

2. Crush’s Coaster: Remember the turtle in Finding Nemo? In this attraction, he wil thake you on a tour through the underground watersystem. Also, parts of the movie are shown in addition to the experience. There’s just one disadvantage, the fragments are in French only.

3. The twilight zone, Tower of Terror: I don’t like to say this, but it actually was pretty scary. You have to wait in line partly inside the old hotel, then you’ll hear a story and you’ll be challenged to re-experience the journey of the people in the story. You enter an old service elevator and will be raised and dropped in the dark, this doesn’t seem too scary, but the fact that you can’t really see where you’re going truly is.

Now, there’s only one thing left to tell. As it gets later you’ll eventually want to find yourself a place to eat. We googled some places in preparation months before our department, so we got some backup (A lot of the restaurants happend to be closed). We ate at Colonel Hathi’s Pizza Outpost -in Dinsneyland itself-, which was a bit disappointing. The pizza menu was as big as two pizza’s and some pasta’s and the pizza’s we ordered were quite cold already. Not the best choice for us.

Disneyland Paris

It’s 6.25 in the morning, we’re waiting for the bus to arrive.

This morning my best friend and I took of to Disneyland Paris in a bus full of total strangers. Exams are done, so it’s time for some relaxation and fun. And having slept through most of the almost 10 hour, very rainy drive, we finally arrived at ‘Hôtel Kyriad’, close to Disney. We booked a trip including 2 days of entrance, so we’ve got plenty of time to explore everything 🙂

I’ll be posting some highlights tomorrow and the day after, so if you ever plan to go to Disney Paris or just like reading happy things; enjoy

-Nerissa

(View from our hotel room)