Category Archives: life

Hello mountains. After a six hour nights ride from Panama City we arrived in Boquete. Surrounded by mountains, the city is the starting point for hikes to waterfalls or through the jungle, zip lining and visiting coffee plantations. One of the main hikes in the town is Volcano Baru and I was very set on going up that mountain. Since the best time to hike is at midnight (then you get to see the sunrise), at 23.50 we were in the shuttle on our way to the start of the trail. Unfortunately I really did not enjoy the hike haha. It was a long five and a half hours up and another four long hours down. And most disappointing of all, the clouds covered the sunrise. Oh well, now at least I can say that I did that hike. If the sunrise is pretty, I can definitely imagine that it is worth going up for so long. Boquete is a charming little town and I wish we had spent one or two days extra here to explore some more waterfalls and visit a coffee plantation.

It is cold and rainy outside again which means it is very cozy inside and I spend a lot of time wrapped in a blanket. I must admit fall/winter is not my favorite season, but I do really enjoy a sunny day and going for a forest walk. However, it is the season to eat apple pie and I have already made one twice, simply because its so easy and so yummy to snack. And of course I am also hoping we get more snow, so I can fully submerge myself into the Christmas vibe. I can’t forget to mention of course: I also graduated from university and am proud of say I finally have an official bachelors diploma. Anyhow, I am very comfortable on my couch today and since it is rainy outside, chances are I will stay here all day haha :).

It’s now October, the days are getting shorter and it is getting a lot colder outside. I really am starting to feel fall and winter arriving. On the one hand I’m excited because the seasons can be quite pretty, but then again I am not looking forward to the daily grey skies and the sun setting at 16.30. September was a good month and although I was busy working the daily
9-5, the weekends were very enjoyable. It included a day trip to Ghent to move my old roomate into her new apartment, day trips to Amsterdam to visit museums and eat Italian sandwiches, evening trips to the beach, work lunches and enjoying the last bits of sun outside.

It’s October and I’ve been out of summer for a few weeks now, but I finally am getting around to posting these pics ahah. After my crazy traveling all summer, I very much enjoyed being the last two weeks of August in the Netherlands and keeping busy with all the activities there are to do here. This of course includes evening bike rides past windmills, day trips to Amsterdam to eat Italian sandwiches and visit museums, and of course going out for drinks. Two friends of mine, Katharina and Helen, came over from Cologne for the weekend to visit. It was a super fun (but a bit expensive) weekend, yet I enjoyed being the tour guide for the days and taking them around the area to explore lovely little Zuid-Holland. Unfortunately, now we are back to the daily rainy and grey weather, which just makes me want to sit inside all day. It is quite cozy which I do like, but going outside is not as fun…

I haven’t done all too much exploring of the Netherlands until last week when we went to Texel and Marken. Marken was my favorite and I was surprised to visit this very cute little town that I had never heard of before. The town also makes its own beer, which I very much enjoyed. Texel, on the other hand, is a classic Dutch island with beaches, light towers and more small red brick villages. It was great for a day trip! The island is really not that big, but can be still very fun to drive around and look at the nature. If you like watching birds, then this is your place.

Three years later (of which half I basically did not go to uni) I have finally completed my bachelor. To be honest I have no idea where time went and I still feel 18 years old. Before everyone heads out of The Hague to move onto their next stage in life we’ve been keeping busy, going to the beach, getting coffee & drinks and trying to catch up on all the things we haven’t been able to do for the past year. I am currently on the job/internship search, so I am just trying to enjoy my last summer start as a student for a little longer. Soon enough I’ll have to become a real working adult haha

Two weeks ago everything was frozen ands no covered the grounds of the Netherlands. This past week we however have welcomed warm temperatures and sunshine, it has been so great. It somewhat even felt like summer haha…the ice cold rose in the evening or just hanging out at the beach. Even all the brunch dates! Eventhough corona is quite frustrating, I feel like we’re finding ways to get through it and still enjoy things in life (like food). The sun really makes all the difference and makes my busy thesis writing semester a bit better. I mean how can you complain if its possible to write your thesis with your face in the sun or toes in the sand while listening to the ocean. Perks of living somewhat close to the beach haha

Yes there can be a lot of snow in the Netherlands. We were all really surprised, especially since the temperature also got really really low. But I must say the week the snow lasted, I really enjoyed myself. The “grachten” froze and everyone was walking around on the dutch frozen water (most people were ice skating actually). The snow really gave The Hague a winter feeling, which was super enjoyable. Unfortunately, I was not able to go skiing this year but luckily there was some snow here to replace the cold winter feeling haha.

The new year started a few months ago and as always I am late posting. But I found the pictures on my camera roll and thought would be nice to share.

Unfortunately the skiing season this year has been canceled and Christmas has been spent in the same place that we have spent the whole year. It’s not horrible and I actually quite enjoyed the holidays. It is actually my first Christmas ever in the Netherlands but I really do miss being able to go somewhere. Oh well, that must wait. The best way to get through a Dutch Christmas is eat a lot of food and hit up the beach. It’s actually quite pretty and sometimes you get lucky and are surprised with some sun. This Christmas was quite low key but it ways nice to spend some days with the fam. The most important thing to mention is the turkey we had on Christmas eve which might have been the most amazing turkey I’ve ever had. It was so good, I seriously could not stop eating…cheers to that