Easter Sunday had finally arrived and after starving myself of chocolate for the past 40 days of Lent, I can happily say I was more than excited to see this day come. On Easter Sunday we had our flight home from Rome which flew into Dusseldorf airport, before we got the train back to Nijmegen we decided to eat in a local German Restaurant to celebrate the occasion. I have surprisingly become rather fond of the German cuisine. The next couple of days we relaxed back at Vossenveld while grazing on lots of chocolate. Classes started back on Wednesday with our new modules of Global citizenship and Social Responsibility. I found the new courses interesting and I am excited for the coming week’s lessons in these classes. On Friday it was our Greek flatmate’s birthday (Iro) and she decided to make us all some of her Greek speciality dishes with one of my favourites being Tzatziki. It is delicious. Tzatziki is made of strained yoghurt, mixed with cucumbers, carrot, garlic, salt, olive oil, and pepper. Tzatziki is served cold and is often served with bread (loaf or pita).
Iros Greek themed birthday party
On Saturday evening, our Eramus group had a cocktail party whereby each floor had to create their own cocktail and dress up like movie stars. Our floor decided to make a non-frozen version of a strawberry daiquiri and it was delicious. All in all we had had a great night, dancing, laughing, and drinking with all our Erasmus friends.
Having fun at the Erasmus cocktail party
This week we also booked our next trip away over the may vacation. May vacation in the Netherlands is from the 30th April to 6th May. The 30th of April is Queen’s day in the Netherlands. It is a traditional celebratory day in the Netherlands. This day is also known as "Koninginnedag". Queens’s day is a national holiday in the Netherlands. It is celebrated in honour of the Queen's birthday which is the 30th of April. Interestingly, this day is not the birthday of Queen Beatrix (The current Queen of the Netherlands). It is the birthday of her mother, Queen Juliana. Queen Beatrix decided to keep this date, because her own birthday is the 31st of January is in the winter. Queen's Day is also an occasion to showcase the world-famous ‘orange craze’. Therefore, it is normal for people to wear orange clothing and creative orange accessories on this day. The colour orange represents the name of the Dutch royal family and the House of Orange. In Amsterdam, on Queens’s day it is normal to see orange banners and orange coloured foods and drinks. I am excited to join in the orange craze in Amsterdam on Queens’s day this year.
Dutch people start celebrating Queen's Day on the evening of the day before. Usually the evening before, and this is called Koninginnenacht, Queen's Night. The clubs in Amsterdam organize special festivities and from what I have heard, for young people this is the night to be in Amsterdam. The atmosphere in the city is buzzing at this time and I also know that Amsterdam hotels book up early around this time. Amsterdam is very busy on this night as many young people move from one party to another, while others prepare the next day market.
After celebrating Queen’s Day in Amsterdam we have planned to fly to Geneva the flowing day. We plan to stay in Geneva for two days and we have also booked a flight to Barcelona to follow this trip in hope that we will catch a few rays of sun. I am very excited about the weeks ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment