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| Wilhemina park |
I finally got round to start writing a very belated series of posts documenting our December vacation in the Netherlands. It partly took so long because of my hectic schedule, but mostly because I find it impossible to write down my impressions immediately after returning home. It's too fresh, too raw and it refuses to be packed neatly into a rounded post. I have to let the memories, experiences and feelings mature.
As
for the title: Second honeymoon. While we were on vacation Mr. C
jokingly remarked that the secret recipe for a successful marriage
consists of a few simple ingredients:
- listen to what she says
- never forget an anniversary or birthday
- buy her some nice jewellery
- take yearly vacations together
Out
of this list an idea was born. Since we love to get away during the
December holiday season, and it was what motivated us to plan our honeymoon for the
last week of December, we're going to try and make a tradition of it and
go on "honeymoons" every year.
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| Silver maple planted in 1898 |
Netherlands was beautiful and what I'll remember most is the feeling of
calm, relaxed atmosphere where everything was neat, organized and
beautiful in a very distinct humble and understated manner. People were
kind and eager to assist us but not extremely outgoing or pushy.
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| Silver maple planted in 1898 |
We stayed in Tilburg for most of our vacation - our base camp and we
made daily excursions to the outskirts of Tilburg, Breda and Amsterdam.
Netherlands is relatively small, very similar to Slovenia. So in that
regard it felt very familiar to the daily road trips we're used to.
The distance between Tilburg and Amsterdam is only about 120 km by car.
Similarly Rotterdam and Hague are only about 150 km from Tilburg, yet we
chose not to go since I felt that we would exhaust ourselves trying to
see everything.
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| Art sculpture in the middle of Tilburg's canal |
The Textile Museum is housed in a converted AaBe Factory that manufactured wool blankets. It was a must see for me!
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| Textile Museum |
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| Textile Museum |
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| Textile Museum |
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| Wool before processing | |
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The video shows an original mechanism that distributed power to the machines used to process the wool. The power was derived from a huge machine housed in a separate room.
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| Spools of wool yarn |
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| Old poster for AaBe blankets |
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| St. Dionysos Church |
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| St. Dionysos Church |
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| Appartment building complex positioned over the street |
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| King William II |
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| St. Joseph's Church |
St. Joseph's Church is situated right next to the city centre also known
as the Heuvel. The Heuvel was a central meeting point in the middle
ages and the only source of fresh water for the citizens of Tilburg
until 1898.
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| A replica of the water pump |
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| Tilburg's walk of fame |
Interestingly Tilburg also has its own walk of fame. I love that they've chosen to fill it it footprints and signatures of prominent citizens: mayors, artists, writers,...
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Tilburg's walk of fame
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