Travel | My travel wishlist for 2015

This year I hope to finally graduate from university after one year of delay. But then what.. I have no idea what I should do after that! So I figured that I'm going to take a break from studying and explore my interests and the world.

Here are some places I hope to visit in 2015:

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• Bruges. My dad went there with his buds a while ago, and he really loved the city. He showed me great pictures of the historic centre and I got an instant sensation of jealousy! I have a soft spot for historical cities so I must go there sometime too!

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• Scotland. I have already been to England and Ireland.. so I should also go to Scotland right? My preference goes out to the rural areas of Scotland, more than the cities such as Edinburgh, because these areas are like a timemachine through which you go back to the middle ages.
  
  
• Last, but not least, I want to explore more of my homecountry The Netherlands. There are still so many places I haven't seen! Such as Groningen, Friesland and a big part of the Wadden Islands (shame on me!!).

So there are places I hope to visit this year, but there are also places I already planned to visit!

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• Vienna. At the end of January I will be visiting Vienna for a few days. I can't wait guys! When I think of Vienna, I see this fairytale city with majestic buildings and cute little streets. Many pictures will be taken haha!!
  
  

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• NYC. Coming June I'm going to New York Citeeeehh!! For years and years I wanted to go to this enourmous city which 'never sleeps' and I'm finally going there!

Have you ever been to any of the places I just told about? Got any recommendations? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below!

Thank you! x

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Travel | Mount Koya 高野山

Near Osaka, there is a small mountain called Koya san. 

It is home to many Buddhists temples where you can spend the night in a traditional setting. 

It's a great place to hike in nature and learn more about Buddhism.

These beautiful pictures were taken by my boyfriend :)

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Hotspot | Oudemanhuispoort Bookmarket // Amsterdam

Close to the Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam, on the Kloveniersburgwal, make sure you don't pass right by a small alley; the Oudemanhuispoort. It's a small jewel you must visit when you're in Amsterdam. 

In this alley, there's a daily bookmarket which has been there since 1879! Can you imagine? Wow! Tons of books and prints are waiting to be sold by a few elderly men. These books and prints are almost all used, so they cost a fraction of their original price and since these salesmen are quite friendly, they may even offer you an extra discount. I purchased a few books there for just €1,- apiece! If you can't read Dutch, no worries! You can find books in a variety of languages, English, French, German, even Japanese! A great chance to expand your literary horizon I'd say!

The bookmarket is opened everyday, except on sunday, from 9 a.m. untill 5 p.m.

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Hotspot | Dining at the Berliner Fernsehturm

If you have ever been to Berlin, you can't go around that tall thing which is towering over every building and you can see from every corner of the city. Yesss I'm talking about the Berliner Fernsehturm! 

It's a great place to get a beautiful view of the Berlin streets and buy a few souvenirs of Berlin's most famous tower. But, did you also know that you can eat all the way up in the tower? At a dizzying height of 207 metres above the ground, you can enjoy great food and drinks in a restaurant which turns about its own axis! And the best part for a 'Dutchie' like me is the fact that it's not that expensive either! 

When you make a reservation at restaurant 'Sphere', you get a premium ticket, which means that you're able to go up in the tower without having to wait in an enourmous line and you have free access to the panoramic floor.

Got curious? On the website you can check out the menu and make reservations.

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Travel | Why you should definitely visit Leiden sometime

First of all, HAPPY NEWYEAR EVERYBODY!! Let 2015 be a super awesome one for you! And maybe you should try and visit Leiden some time this year. A little while ago, I showed you guys some photo's of Leiden, a city which I love dearly. But, I didn't really explain why I love it so much. So here it goes!

1. It's just like Amsterdam, but smaller and less crowded with tourists. As a 'small town girl' I wasn't used to the 'big city life', even though I feel more at home in bigger cities. So, Leiden was a great starting point for me when I left my home in little Eibergen. 

2. When I say that Leiden is just like Amsterdam, I mean that it also has canals and these old houses which look quite similar to the canal houses in Amsterdam. I love them! 

3. Leiden is a city with loads and loads of students, and even though I'm not the typical outgoing and partying student, I still really like them around me. It keeps the city young and vibrant. 

4. Maybe the best feature of Leiden is its location. With Leiden as a startingpoint, you can visit a lot of other cities to go shopping or immerse yourself in the Dutch culture. By train, it only takes 10 minutes to political The Hague, 20 minutes to historical Delft, 30 minutes to vibrant Rotterdam and 30 minutes to the cultural capital of The Netherlands; Amsterdam! Win-win situation I would say!

Would you ever want to visit Leiden? And if you already have, what did you like most?

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Personal | Some changes...

Oh lordy! It's already December 31st... Which means a fresh new year is starting as of tonight! So.. yeah, as corny as it may sound, I came up with a few new year's resolutions. I never really had the need to have these resolutions, but this year I thought it would be very beneficial for me to try it. 

Get skinny

I'm not really thinking of losing a lot of weight, but I could eat a lot less candy and snacks. Especially the last few weeks I've been overeating big time. Oopsie..

Gain some stamina

Since I'm trying to lose a few pounds, I should also start exercising a little more. During the spring, I already started running, but then, one day I fell down the stairs and hurt my tailbone really bad! Running was just too painful. Quickly after that, we had to move house quite suddenly because me and my boyfriend live in 'anti squatting houses'. So yeah, we had little time left to run. But I'll start running again very soon. Really...

Spend more time with friends

I've noticed that I haven't seen my friends that much the past year. Such a shame, because being with friends is the best! So for the coming year, I'm determined to spend more time with my friends. 

Do you have any new year's resolutions or do you think it's a cliché? 

I wish you all the best for next year! Hope you're having an awesome time tonight!!  

Byee! xo 

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Travel | Nara 奈良

Aahh.. beautiful Nara.

Famous for the deer (shika), deer cookies (shika senbei) and one of the three great Buddha's (daibutsu)!

The day we visited Nara, the streets were packed. We didn't know that there was a festival going on and that something special was about to happen that night.

These beautiful pictures were taken by my boyfriend :)

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Travel | Japan ♡ Antwerp?

When my boyfriend and I visited Antwerp, we both stumbled upon something surprising. Antwerp has a special connection to Japan! And as two Japanologists we feel like we too have a special bond with Antwerp now. ;) 

Anyways, we learned that this is because of a tragic story about a Flemish orphan boy, Nello, and his dog, who both live poor lives and eventually freeze to death in the cathedral of Antwerp. For some reason, the Japanese are crazy about this story, because it is widely read in Japan and since the 1970's multiple anime series have been produced.

These beautiful photo's were taken by my boyfriend :) 

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Travel | Fushimi Inari Taisha 伏見稲荷大社

In Kyoto you can visit the Fushimi Inari Taisha. It is the head shrine of the Inari spirit and it's known for its thousands and thousands of torii. 

These torii lead you all the way up a mountain, but I already had walked the entire day so I couldn't walk to the very top, I was exhausted! Woops..

Nonetheless, it was a great experience, and seeing all the torii lined up like that is really breathtaking.

These lovely pictures were taken by my boyfriend :)

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