Category Netherlands

Prague Bridges, August 2019

Euro 2020 Match Day 15 – Netherlands v Czech Republic

The last 16 tie takes place in Budapest. 55 ‘European nations’ entered initially including ex-Soviets like Armenia & Kazakhstan, the four UK countries, Israel for political reasons and bizarrely in my opinion Faroe Islands and Gibraltar. What next, Jersey & Yorkshire? Czech Republic I first visited Prague in 1992 when it was part of Czechoslovakia, […]

Euro 2020 Match Day 11 – Netherlands v North Macedonia

The match in Amsterdam is a bit of a dead rubber with the Dutch already through to the knockout stages and the plucky Macedonians on the way out of the competition. Netherlands The second city of Rotterdam is far less visited than Amsterdam, but is a decent place to spend a few hours. I went […]

Euro 2020 Match Day 7 – Netherlands v Austria

The last game of the day takes place in Amsterdam. Netherlands Amsterdam is famous for many things, not all of them savoury. The canals that criss-cross through the city are wonderful for just strolling along or for stopping for a beer in the sunshine. I have stayed in both a youth hostel and a luxury […]

Euro 2020 Match Day 3 – Netherlands v Ukraine

The final fixture of day three takes place in Amsterdam. Netherlands Amsterdam was where my travelling began way back in 1987. It was my first inter-rail trip, with my first ever overseas train journey taking us from the port of Hoek of Holland past flat fields of cabbages to the iconic Dutch city. Our introduction […]

Bridges of Europe – Part Two, Northern Europe (Benelux & Scandinavia)

The feats of engineering that have enabled road & rail bridges to be built in the mountainous regions of Scandinavia is nothing short of mind boggling. Cutting right through mountains, traversing raging rivers and spanning majestic fjords, they have been built with hard toil and ingenious design. Best of all, they not only blend with […]

2018 Gone, 2019 Beckons

Travels in Europe, Asia & The Americas It is the time of the year to reflect back on the year’s adventures and look forward to what 2019 may bring. There is something different for me this year however. A recent nine-day hospitalisation has given me time to think about what the privilege of travel really […]

The Holland Express

My thoughts on the new Eurostar service to The Netherlands.

Bridges of Europe – Part Four, Northern & Central Europe

The feats of engineering that has enabled road & rail bridges to be built in the mountainous regions of Central Europe & Scandinavia is nothing short of mind boggling. Couple that with the atmospheric canal bridges in the likes of Amsterdam, Bruges & Stockholm and you get a rich tapestry of crossings throughout the regions. […]

Eurostar – Going Dutch

The long awaited direct service from London to Rotterdam & Amsterdam is soon to be operational, but you will have to wait a tiny bit longer to book. Yesterday saw a promotional run of the route for invited journos and the like (my invite was clearly lost in the post, haha). The route takes a […]