Kerstmarkt in Valkenburg

Unfortunately it got a bit silent on my blog those past months, so I’m trying to get started again with this holiday-themed post.

Living close to the Dutch border, I thought it would be great to actually go and see a Christmas market over in the Netherlands.

So my sister and I decided to visit Valkenburg, where they have Christmas markets in caves. Sounds pretty interesting, doesn’t it?

After like an 1-hour-long drive from where I live we made it to Valkenburg aan de Geul, located in the Dutch province Limburg. Luckily we were able to find a car park easily, and we were even luckier as we got a parking ticket for free by some Dutch people that were leaving.

The town of Valkenburg is pretty cute, in the center there are lots of small bars, shops and restaurants, creating a really warm and cozy atmosphere. As it was Saturday night, it was pretty crowded though unfortunately.

After taking a stroll throughout town we ended up at one of the caves: the Fluweelengrot (Velvet Cave). (The other one, the Gemeentegrot, was too crowded, so we decided not to go inside.)

The Fluweelengrot is located beneath the ruins of a castle from the Middle Ages, used as secret passageways back then. Since 18 years now, from November through December every year, it hosts a popular Christmas market. As you stroll through the underground corridors, alongside lots of small shops selling all kinds of Christmas-related stuff and more, you get to see beautiful decorations as well as paintings and sculptures.

In contrast to German Christmas markets, there are just very few food stands and stands where you can get mulled wine and the like, on the outside as well as the inside of the cave. Which is interesting cause I think in Germany those are like the most important and popular stands.

Another popular event in the Netherland’s “Christmas city” is the Christmas Parade, which takes place twice a week in November and December. The day we’ve been visiting Valkenburg was the last day of the parade.

As we didn’t check the route beforehand, we didn’t really know where to go so that we have a nice view on the parade. So we ended up in a really crowded place and couldn’t see much of it. 

As we were about to find our way back after the parade, we came across a place which was a lot less crowded where the parade was just about to start. So we watched it for a second time, this time actually seeing all the dancers and floats.

So if you ever want to visit Valkenburg and see its Christmas Parade: make sure to check the route online and see where the best place to watch it is.

Throughout the parade, they played the same song over and over, which got a bit annoying after some time, but it was a nice song and overall the parade was really beautiful.

Here are some small videos of the parade to get a better impression of it: 

I hope you liked this little post about the Dutch Christmas city :)
For more information about Christmas in Valkenburg, visit: http://www.kerststadvalkenburg.nl/en/

Merry Christmas to everyone!! 

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Aotearoa - The Land of the long White Cloud

Green mountains. Sheep everywhere. Active volcanos. Breathtaking fiords. Mount Doom. Beautiful beaches. Pancake Rocks. Glowworm caves. Bungee Jumping. Plenty of waterfalls. Hobbiton. Fish n Chips. Palm trees and ferns. Lovely Kiwis. And kiwi birds. And kiwifruit.

What place is it I'm describing here?

Right – the beautiful and unique New Zealand, the country that is famous for Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and of course Xena: Warrior Princess. The place with the most stunning sunsets and the prettiest night sky I ever saw.

This is what my first blog series will be about. As this country has SO much to offer and I have been spending almost a year backpacking in Downunder, I would love to share the greatest sites and aspects of this tremendous place.

It’s rather hard managing to put it all into blog entries, so I decided to split everything into categories instead of regions. So you can see from the title of each post if it will be interesting for you :)
I will write about the beautiful nature of New Zealand, it’s cities, animals and farm life, art & architecture, food, hostels, backpacking life, events and more.

Aotearoa, as in the title, is the Maori name for New Zealand and is roughly translated as “The Land of the long White Cloud”.
Maori are the indigenous people of NZ – many city and street names are still in Maori language, but it’s not really spoken much. The kids do learn it at school though. I really like that language and would love to make some effort to learn it a bit better.
By the way, there is the “Maori Language Week” when on TV they will show only the Maori names of all the cities and towns in the weather news, it’s pretty hard to know which city/town is which then :D

The topic of the first post of this series will be cities. Here’s a small preview:

So, has anyone been to NZ yet and wants to share their impressions? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments!

 

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Life is like a puzzle without a solution.

What to do with life?

That’s the question a lot of people are asking themselves. And so am I.

 

First of all, let me introduce myself shortly: I am a dauntless videogames playing beer loving cosplaying animal supporting zombie fighting rollercoaster riding dreamer who wants to discover the world.

So what am I gonna write about in this blog?

Simple question - everything and anything that comes to my mind and catches my interest.

But most of all it will be about my travels and how I see the world. And stuff.

Anyone who wants to join my journey on discovering the world, the meaning of life and other interesting stuff is very welcome to come along and read my blog.

So grab a snack, draw a beer and enjoy the show!

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