TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Happy New Year fellow travellers and (good) lifestyle enthusiasts! The Oudgracht from the Vismarkt.

These pictures of Utrecht were taken last summer… I never tire taking pictures. Sometimes I wish I get tired of this hobby, but it seems that the more I do it, the more I hanker for more. It goes the same way with taking pictures of Utrecht, my adopted hometown. The city is currently going through a significant facelift. It is a massive upgrade that the whole landscape of the city will change, and for the better. The old city centre will stay the same, though, as this is, of course, the historical and protected core of Utrecht but the central station and Jaarbeurs area will become a state-of-the-art cosmopolitan belt. The Singel canal will also be brought back which will bridge the old and new part of Utrecht Centrum. The project is implemented in phases and is slated to be completed in 2020. To learn more about this ongoing city project, please go here: Utrecht CU2030 (good news: there is an English version of the website) The CU2030 does not mean – See you in 2030 and t...

There’s no lying, I am a big fan of markets and with this I mean special lifestyle outdoor markets, farmer’s markets and food markets. I have a dedicated travel category in the blog for this and you can find it here: Food & Farmer’s Markets – with over 100+ markets visited  all over the world and the list is growing each month! This is the 103rd market post so to speak. Yes, I am really a big fan =) Last summer in June and on a weekend, I was at home and it was my birthday. I like to keep my birthdays low profile and do not talk openly about it with friends and family on social media. There were also lots of things going on in my mind about work. I was supposed to invite family over the weekend for lunch, tea or dinner but I called for a raincheck instead. I needed to de-stress. So I told the Dutchman that I am going for a walk in Utrecht centrum, alone. In the past shops were closed during Sundays in the Netherlands. But these days, Sundays are business as usual in t...

If you walk out of (still going under renovation) Utrecht Centraal Station to the Jaarbeurs exit you will see these 3 huge cylinders dressed in colourful thick PVC curtains hanging on the steps. They drop and sway against the wind like an aura. The idea of this art installation is for commuters and passersby to interact with the made from industrial material curtain. For people to simply step inside the curtain cylinder, stay there for a few moments and perhaps reflect for a bit more with the help of the aura-like surroundings. The 'Aura' is a work by PolyLester - artists Gabriel Lester and Martine Vledder. I have personally not been inside the Aura yet, but maybe one of these days, perhaps on a weekend when I go to the Oudegracht and hunt Pokemons, I will pass by here. Oh, the Oudegracht has lots of Pokestops with lures all the time! It also reminds me that on this spot where the Aura installation is located, you have 4 Pokestops as well =) These pictures were taken...

Last April Bru visited me in Utrecht. It was great timing because although the day was not that warm, it was dry and the sun shone from time to time, which is quite a novelty in always damp and humid Netherlands. Umm, lekker =) Bru and I first went to the Dom Church to light a candle for Blondine. I missed her so bad. She left last April and I was still coming to terms of her leaving me and leaving all of us. She never wanted to leave in the first place. She wasn’t ready... no one is really. Life is unfair. It is never fair. You always have to fight for your own life and for fairness as well. That is the raw reality of life. After visiting the Dom Church, Bru and I did a little bit of window shopping, which really was just plainly looking at the window displays and shelves sans the actual shopping activity. Then we proceeded for lunch. I didn’t have a venue in mind, but because it is lovely weather I want Bru to taste the real Utrecht ambiance. The Oudegracht, the old canal...