Monday 30 May 2011

A Restaurant surrounded by Contemporary Architecture

Let me show you my favourite restaurant in Almere Stad.

One of my great pleasures in this city: to sit down in Bobbie Beer 's terrace, enjoying the sun and the view of the Weerwater lake, eating a delicious boerenomelet. Also one of my Dutch spring favourite moments!

Yes, I begin to have my routines here ;-) My first year in the NL was "The discovery year", the second one was the "Sandra's between two worlds year", the third has been more relaxing. Yes, I've been feeling at home for some time now: with my favourite places and rituals ;-)
...

A Restaurant surrounded by Contemporary Architecture

If you enjoy a restaurant with a beautiful lake view, surrounded by exquisite Contemporary Architecture, Eetcafe Bobbie Beer is the place to go.

This restaurant is located in the heart of the city, in front of the Weerwater Lake, De Kunstlinie [Almere's Theatre and Cultural Centre] designed by the japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa [SANAA, Tokyo, 2006] and the Utopolis Cinema, designed by the Dutch architect Floris Alkemade [OMA, Rotterdam, 2005].

From Almere (III)


The restaurant is situated in the Lakeside, a building of the architect Bjarne Mastenbroek [SeARCH, Amsterdam, 2007].

From Almere (III)


The surrounding area, De Citadel, a unique contemporary city center in the Netherlands, was designed by Christian de Portzamparc [Atelier Christian de Portzamparc, Paris, 2006].

From Almere (III)


The Food

Bobbie Bear meat is top quality: the beef is from the South American Pampas and the green Irish meadows, the lamb is from New Zealand, the pork and the chicken are from the Netherlands and Germany.

From Almere (III)


However, if you want to eat something typically Dutch, you should ask for “Boerenomelet” [Peasant's omelet], generally an omelet with onion, pepper, celery root, carrot and mushrooms [only available for lunch]. The price is very affordable: € 7,25.

From Almere (III)


Decoration

The restaurant is decorated with teddy bears: Beren.

From Sinterklaas 2010


The Terrace

On a sunny day, we can enjoy the terrace and watch the boats and the swans in the lake.

From Almere (III)


From Almere (III)


A Restaurant Chain

Bobbie Beer is part of a restaurant chain. You also find a “Beer” in several Dutch cities like Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda and Dordrecht, for example. You should look for the nearest one on their site.

Eetcafe Bobbie Beer
Address: Forum 101
1315 TG Almere
Tel: 036-53 03 555
www.beren.nl

Thursday 26 May 2011

Let them talk

Enjoy!

Very busy times. Sorry!

Thursday 19 May 2011

Alive and Kicking

Hallo, dear friends and readers

Sorry for my silence without notice. However, I'm alive and kicking! ;-)
I hope next week to be here more often to keep you posted.

Simple Minds, Alive and Kicking



Beijinhos!

Wednesday 4 May 2011

4 en 5 mei: Dodenherdenking en Bevrijdingsdag

May 4: Remembrance Day in the Netherlands (Dodenherdenking)

From Coisas Minhas

(last wednesday, Begijnhof, Amsterdam)

On May 4, the Netherlands pays its respects to the civilians and members of the armed forces of the kingdom who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the outbreak of World War II.
The main ceremonies take place in Amsterdam at the Dam Square and it's usually attended by members of the cabinet and the royal family, military leaders and representatives of the resistance movement.
Two minutes of silence are observed at 8:00 p.m. throughout the Netherlands.
These are my flowers to those who lost their lifes in WW II, other wars and peacekeeping missions.

May 5: Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag)

On the 5th May, 1945, the Canadian General Charles Foulkes and the German Commander-in-Chief Johannes Blaskowitz reached an agreement on the capitulation of the German forces in the Netherlands, in the Hotel de Wereld in Wageningen.

From Coisas Minhas


To celebrate this day, I have bought this book. I'm very curious about it.

Hidden like Anne Frank is a book by Marcel Prins which tell us twenty-two stories of surviving Dutch Jews hidden during the Holocaust.

The site about the book is in English too.
Listen to their voices, look at their photos, click on the map to know the places where they were hidden. I think it's very interesting!

Happy Liberation Day, Netherlands!!

For more information about this year's celebrations, please, click on this link:
4 en 5 mei.

Sunday 1 May 2011

Koninginnedag (Dia da Rainha)

Yesterday, April 30, was Koninginnedag (Queen's Day/Dia da Rainha), a national holiday of the Koninkrijk der Nederlander (Kingdom of The Netherlands/ Reino dos Países Baixos).

As usual, people went to the streets in the four countries of the kingdom,
(Aruba, Curaçao, The Netherlands and Sint Maarten) dressing in orange, the colour of the ruling Dutch Royal House, the House of Orange-Nassau.

From Koninginnedag 2011


The Orange dynasty was established as a result of the marriage of Hendrik III of Nassau-Breda from Germany and Claudia of Châlon-Orange from French Burgundy in 1515.

From Koninginnedag 2011


Hendrick's nephew, William, de Zwijger (William, the Silent/Guilherme, o Taciturno) was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648.
The present Kingdom was established in 1815, after the Napoleon's defeat in 1813. Some years later, Belgium seceded from the Kingdom (1830) and Luxembourg ended its personal union with the Netherlands (1890).

From Koninginnedag 2011


It's tradition of this national day to participate at the flea market. In each street, we find people trying to sell the result of their spring cleaning: toys, books, clothes, shoes, china, name it. This is the only day of the year that the Dutch government permits sales on the street without the payment of value added tax.

From Koninginnedag 2011


Yesterday, we saw second-hand articles quite in good condition and brand new too (they were never used as they had the plastic covers yet). As a pro-recycling person, I like this kind of second-hand market.

From Koninginnedag 2011


A friend of mine was once in Bussum, a whealthy area, and he bought by a couple of euro very nice toys for his child.

From Koninginnedag 2011


From Koninginnedag 2011


Look! What a very creative manner of selling old books. ;-)

From Koninginnedag 2011


We enjoyed our Queen's Day very much. :-)

The terraces were like this...

From Koninginnedag 2011


People were singing 70's hits like ABBA and others.

From Koninginnedag 2011


These ladies were singing "Le Freak ". Suddenly, I remembered my childhood...;-)




Meanwhile, Queen Beatrix was, as usual, visiting two places of the kingdom. This year, she went to Weert and Thorn, in Limburg.
I think this is a very good way to promote the tourism in the country, specially the less known towns and cities. I never heard about the Planetarium in Franeker (Friesland) until the Queen was there in 2008.

This is the promotion film about Thorn and Weert.You will be able to see the typical Thorn white houses and the Weert horses, as well as the traditional clothes and the monuments of both places.



Queen's Day is celebrated on the 30th April, Queen Juliana's birthday (1909), as a choice of Her Majesty, Queen Beatrix, not only as a tribute to the former Queen, but also because the weather is better this time of the year.

Have a nice week! Stay well! :-)