TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Last weekend was just perfect for a castle call. The reluctant Dutch sun shone and the weather was dry. The Hollandse Waterlinie flows through here. On our way to “ Slot Loevestein ” (Loevestein Castle), we got tangled a bit. We circled Zaltbommel Centrum twice, which I didn’t mind really as the place was quite pretty, but alas we couldn’t find the tourist information desk or at least a huge map of the vicinity. Thus, we re-traced our steps and reached the Golden Tulip Hotel who was nice enough to print the direction for us. The attendant told us that the castle is still a 15-minute drive away. Lesson learned: Write down the directions and do not always trust your memory. The older you get, the more you forget. Loevestein was built by the knight, Dirc Loef van Horne in 1360. The castle was originally called, “Het steen huis van Loef”, which means - The stone house of Loef, thus it came to be known, Loevestein. In the Middle Ages and during the 80 years of war with S...

Welcome to CeBIT 2007 in Hannover, Germany! Well, I did not primarily went to Hannover to visit the world famous CeBIT 2007 trade show, but because I had a meeting with one of the big names in the IT industry there. Thus, no choice really. CeBIT 2007 in Hannover, Germany, the biggest trade show exhibition in the world. This is only a little section of the HUGE exhibition area - this I believe is part of the communications exhibit halls. This is the skywalk stretch from the CeBIT exhibition grounds moving towards the train station. I took this shoot on my way out. The films were very badly taken, but I promise I will try to improvise my 1-minute filming skills next time. It was also snowing, at least last Monday and I was so glad I had my hat with me to protect my just blow-dried hair. Quite strange when spring is right at the door. March though has always been a very tricky month. Last year, we were flooded with snow, in some areas knee-deep, for a whole week. ...

The synonym of “slot” is “kasteel” , which means castle. And, a castle is most often called a slot when it is a small one. In the Netherlands one can find many slots . During winter, most of these little castles are closed. Some though, the popular ones, are open on weekends, while a few are currently (shall I say, always?) under restoration. Come April, many of the castles in the country will be open for visitors. Het Slot Zeist (The Castle Zeist) in Utrecht from a slanting angle showing its little bridge. Most castles in the Netherlands are protected by a surrounding body of water, which is called a moat. And if you look closely at the first foto, I was trying to get near to a duck! Click the second foto with the -Het Slot Zeist. On the right side text is a summarized English version of its history. If you have good eyes, you can easily read it. The Zeist Castle in my opinion is one of those not-so-romantic and not-so-fairytale-like castles in Holland. The structure and design is ...