There are many reasons for me to feel good in this September. I finally have a peace of mind about many things. It's good to see how some pieces of a puzzle found their spots in the "year book of 2023" and now I eagerly wait to experience and enjoy the rest of the year. Still many months to rock n roll. I'm really happy getting back to yoga practice, I get so much better contact to my body, mind and breathing after every lesson. For me the best combination to stay fit is running, yoga and pilates. All of these actions & practices supporting each other perfectly.
It's important to see and experience something different regularly. Then it's easier to go on with the normal routines. I have still extremely much to see in the Netherlands. It's a never ending project. So small country, but so many interesting places! Luckily we did one "uitje"(a little day trip/visit)a couple of weeks ago.
Doesburg
Our long term plan is to visit all the 9 Hanseatic towns of the Netherlands - still five to go. Around the middle ages, when Amsterdam was still a small town, the Hansa towns were successful economical & transportation spots by the water. You can sense the history and the visible & cultural marks of the past times when visiting these towns (Deventer, Zwolle, Zutphen, Doesburg, Kampen, Elburg, Hattem, Hardewijk & Hasselt) along the rive Ijssel and near the national park Veluwe region.
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| A star shaped form of old Doesburg |
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| A typical roof silhouette of Hansa in Doesburg |
A historical and tasty short weekend with great walks around the town, admiring the architecture and the surrounding Nature. You can easily take the train from Amsterdam to Arnhem (East of Holland) and travel from there to Doesburg by a bus. By the way Doesburg is very well known for the mustard and there is a great museum for that as well. Every first Sunday of the month you can visit a big market in the centre, where the local creative people are selling their products.
I think the Holland travels should not only focus on Amsterdam or other big cities. If you have an opportunity, pick one of the Hanseatic towns as well and get to know the history a bit more.
Lalique Gallery
We visited one museum in Doesburg and what a great surprise it was. The museum in named after René Lalique (1860-1945), a very productive french glass and jewellery designer from the art deco & art nouveau period. The museum is located in two old national monument houses, a very beautiful experience. Flora, fauna and feminine forms were the inspiration for art nouveau. The designs have beautiful lightness and flow and phenomenal sense of using the materials. The jewels had such detailed balance and I found his perfume bottles such art also. At the museum shop were a collection of perfumes for sale - of course I had to buy one for later inspiration.
The museum has regularly different exhibitions beside the basic collection. During our visit there was a great show about graphic design from around 1900 - "Mucha & Tijdgenoten". During that time the color photography was not yet developed and taken over the market. That's why many artists had a lot of work: posters, pictures for the magazines, fashion illustrations. Back then these marvelous works were not seen as art. Looking from our perspective it really was a very beautiful period of time when a lot of work was made on paper and a lot of patience was needed to create these unique hand made art works. One of the most famous poster artist was the french Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec from Paris. The museum about his work and life story is located near Montmartre in Paris - another great museum to visit.
The life energy, the inspiration is so important part of staying motivated, curious and open. I get the biggest "kick" when seeing something like this. It gives always hope, to see the humanity and expression of feelings and thoughts trough any interesting art.
That's the reason, thinking of the long, soon arriving winter time, I bought a museum year card. You can visit as much you like a long list of Museums in the Netherlands with this card during one year. This personalized card is only sold for the people living in the Netherlands.
Via the following link you can compare the prices of different sorts of discount cards for tourists. You can choose the best option for your purposes:
Bloemendaal aan Zee
I had not been at the beach in Holland for a while. Since we sold our car, it was not so spontaneous to make a short visit there. Actually you can take a train to the beach, but we never did it. I was so happy to see the see and feeling the Atlantic breeze. I love big, open views and the far away horizons. The water was still warm and we had a long walk at the sandy beach.
The Autumn sun was giving such a reflective shine on the surface of the sea. I loved the sharpness of some waves, the speed they confronted the sand with a dominance. I always had a big interest about the adventurous sailors who go to chase their dreams over the restless seas. I read so many books about their trips and hard experiences. I am afraid of the dark side of this massive forse of Nature, but I love to watch the Sea and I feel alive when I hear the waves. It's really like hearing the earth breathing, how it's alive and wants us to be alive. That's why I often seek the water, walk along the water. It makes me calm in any restless moment of my life.
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| autumn sunsets are the best |
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| Evening salad with pink mood with a glass of Rose |
I think my September has been balanced so far and I feel it was a good recipe of different things that made me extra happy. It is also the contrast between the more challenging summer period and finally things getting easier & clearer that made me space to take a better care of myself.
The pulse of September is getting calmer and stronger. Lucky to be old enough to know the importance of taking your time (and us time) when the opportunity comes.
Creating opportunities by making choices!
Less overthinking and trusting the feeling!
