Queen's Day 2012

The Netherlands celebrated today Queen's Day (Koninginnedag).

Most of the people were dressed with orange clothes (the colour of the Dutch Royal House).

From Koningindag 2012

The atmosphere was great!

Live music here and there,

From Koningindag 2012

and Dutch flags almost everywhere... ;-)

From Koningindag 2012

Before we went to Almere Centrum to join the festivities, we watched on TV the official celebrations. This time, Queen Beatrix visited Rhene and Veenendaal. Every year, two cities/towns are visited by the Queen and the Royal Family. 

In the end of the celebrations, the Queen showed her gratitude for the quality of the celebrations ("so many enthusiasm, so many activities, so many participants"). As you may know, her second son, Prince Friso, was buried under an avalanche last February, 17th, in Lech, Austria, while skiing off track. On March 1st, Prince Friso was transferred to the Wellington Hospital in London, the city where he and his wife have lived for many years. It remains unclear if he will ever regain consciousness and come out of his deeply comatose state.

Take a look at these videos to see how generally amusing and simple are the official Queen's Day celebrations and how the Dutch Royals like to participate in most of them.

Games

Exhibition of local crafts

Paintings

If you are living in the Netherlands, how was your Queen's Day?

If you are living elsewhere, have you ever been in The Netherlands on Queen's Day?

Cristina Branco em Almere

Ontem fui uma mulher muito feliz! ;-)

Cristina Branco, Schouwburg Almere, April, 27th, 2012

From Cristina Branco em Almere 2012

From Cristina Branco em Almere 2012

Portuguese Guitar

From

From Cristina Branco em Almere 2012

From Cristina Branco em Almere 2012

Next concert: April, 28th– Stadsgehoorzaal Leiden – Leiden – 20h15

Prague IV (The Josefov)

Take a day, at least, to enjoy properly Prague's Jewish Quarter, or should I say, the Josefov. Along your journey through the six Synagogues, you'll learn the Jews History in the Czech Lands and experience some unforgettable moments.


Helaas, it is not allowed to photograph inside the Synagogues. I only managed  - and I needed to be very quick- to take one photo of the Spanish Synagogue. This Synagogue (1868)  took its name from its Moorish decorative elements.

From Prague Buildings

A visit to the Old Jewish cemetery was also included in the itinerary. Considered the most visited monument in Prague, it's the largest and best preserved Jew's cemetery in whole Europe.

From Prague 2012

We went there after visiting Pinkas Synagogue where we experienced the most touching moments of this journey.

Pinkas is dedicated to the Jewish Holocaust victims from Bohemia and Moravia.

In the main nave, we find their names together with their dates of birth and death. This was like a punch in the stomach and I couldn't avoid some tears.
A lady was praying there and, looking at her, I felt ashamed fot what happened in the Holocaust. I thought about the families and all that they had been through....

Another impressive moment would follow, while seeing the children's drawings of Theresienstadt concentration camp. Each drawing is presented with the name (and sometimes the photo) of the child who made it. Each and every child become suddenly very real to us. Looking at their photos - those happy smile photos- taken months or years before their arrival to Theresienstadt, it's difficult to imagine them imprisoned in the concentration camp.

In the room, everybody walked in a very silent way. After a while, I needed to leave the room to get some breath. I stood nearby the window in the corridor and from there, the view of the Old Jew cemetery gave me some sense of peace. A couple of minutes later I was able to return to the room again.

From Prague 2012

Friedl Dicker-Brandeis (a former pupil of Paul Klee and a Bahaus graduate) was the artist and Art teacher who created the drawing classes for the children in Theresienstadt concentration camp. In September 1944, her husband was transported to Auschwitz and she volunteered for the next transport to join him. But before she was taken away, she gave to the chief tutor of the Girls' Home L 410, two suitcases with 4,500 drawings. F. Dicker-Brandeis died in Birkenau on 9 October 1944. After the war, the children's drawings were recovered and handed over to the Jewish Museum in Prague.

Theresienstadt is located nearby the Czech capital. You can schedule a visit to the camp, if you wish to. In the Synagogue's reception, they will give you all the information you need for.
...

Already outside, I could relax a bit more, after such an impressive visit. I let myself to be enchanted and overwhelmed by the outstanding Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau building façades of the Jewish quarter. In a certain way, I felt I was in Paris. Our visit to the Marais crossed my mind for a couple of seconds. I shared it here with you, remember? :-)

From Prague Buildings

From Prague Buildings

I ended my day looking at the clear bue sky and at the Sun effects in those beautiful buildings in the Josefov.

The word "HOPE" crossed my mind for a while, as well as the words of Pablo Neruda:

"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming."

(to be continued)

Prague III

In the Castle, I found particulary interesting the walk in the Golden Lane.

From Prague 2012

This small street of historic houses dates from the 15th century.

From Prague 2012

There we can buy souvenirs, snacks and drinks.

From Prague 2012

The Golden Lane was originally known as the Goldsmith's Lane, due to the many goldsmiths residing here.

From Prague 2012

In the Castle, another interesting point is the oldest city's vineyard.

From Prague 2012

The Castle is the perfect place to be if we want to enjoy great panoramics of Prague.

From Prague 2012

Again some images from Lisbon crossed my mind, seeing these white houses.

From Prague 2012

It was already evening when we crossed Charles bridge again.

From Prague 2012

Arriving in the other side of the Vitava river on our way to the Old Town Square, I felt once more in Lisbon, more precisely, in the Downtown, on the way to Praça do Comércio, coming from Rua da Alfândega, or going to the Rua do Arsenal...

From Prague 2012

(to be continued)

Prague II

On our way to the Castle, there is plenty to see and visit, like Saint Nicholas Church, for example, the largest of Prague's churches, founded by the Jesuits and a masterpiece of Baroque style.

From Prague 2012

From Prague 2012

All the interior of St. Nicholas Church is decorated with statues, paintings and frescoes.

From Prague 2012

Above the Baroque organ there is a fresco of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music. This organ was played by Mozart in 1787.

From Prague 2012

Another beautiful church that deserves a special visit is Our Lady Victorious church, the home of the famous Child-Jesus statue called the Infant Jesus of Prague.

From Prague 2012

According to Wikipedia, "on 26 September 2009 Pope Benedict XVI declared the church and the Infant Jesus the first station on the Apostolic Road in the Czech Republic. The Pontiff also donated a gold crown, decorated with eight shells, pearls, and garnet gemstones to the Infant Jesus of Prague, which the statue dons today".

Already in the Castle, the great Saint Vitus Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Prague, was waiting for us. This cathedral, an excellent example of Gothic architecture and the biggest and most important church in the country, contains the tombs of many Bohemian Kings and Holy Roman Emperors.

From Prague 2012

Helaas, it was closed when we arrived, so we paid more attention to the architectural details.

From Prague 2012

From Prague 2012

From Prague 2012

(to be continued)

Prague I

Let me take you to the most wonderful places we have been in Prague...

From Prague 2012

What about a visit to the magical traditional puppet stores?

From Prague 2012

There are several in the city waiting for us. :-)

From Prague 2012

Do you want to buy a puppet to "protect your house"? ;-)

From Prague 2012

I think I will buy one. I only don't know which. I like them all!! :-))

From Prague 2012

1 o'clock already?

From Prague 2012

Let''s have lunch in the Old Town Square and enjoy good live music,

From Prague 2012

surrounded by beautiful buildings and amazing monuments as the Astronomical Clock.

From Prague 2012

From Prague 2012

From Prague 2012

From Prague 2012

Shall we go to the castle now?
To get there we should cross Charles Bridge, one of the most beautiful European bridges, decorated with 30 statues, most of them baroque-style, originally erected around 1700, but now all of them replaced by replicas.

From Prague 2012

At this point of Charles Bridge, we pray to John of Nepomuk. He was thrown into the river Vltava from Charles Bridge on 20 March 1393 at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. According to the tradition, if you ask him for something now, your wish will become true within a year.

From Prague 2012

After crossing Charles Bridge, we are at Malá Strana.
This street reminds me of the second largest Portuguese city, Oporto, because of the colours of the houses.

From Prague 2012

And this one, reminds me of Lisbon, between Graça and São Vicente de Fora...

From Prague 2012

(to be continued)

Easter 2012

This year's Easter...

Chocolates from Knusz

a lovely store in Almere Haven, where we went for the first time this year.
These chocolates are absolutely delicious!
I want to come back there, not only to try other ones, but also to enjoy a nice cup of tea or coffee. It seems they have a nice selection of them too...

From Easter 2012

Paastol

the Dutch Easter traditional bread. We bought it in a traditional bakery, also in Almere Haven.

From Easter 2012

I love to eat a slice of it on Sunday Easter breakfast with a cup of barley coffee.

From Easter 2012

Portuguese traditions were not forgotten, of course.
From a delicious roasted lamb on Sunday Easter lunch...

From Easter 2012

to a glass of Port wine with a chocolate ;-)

From Easter 2012

We usually buy the lamb in a Moroccan butcher in Almere Haven who also has a grocery store. Every time I go there, it seems I am in Portugal. His grocery store is so similar to the Portuguese traditional ones...

Ah! I was very glad to see that this year Blokker's Easter table was set up with the famous Portuguese Vista Alegre's porcelain. Goed zo!! ;-)

From Easter 2012

Nest is a word that we usually relate to Easter. These photos were taken during our walk yesterday afternoon. We enjoyed it very much, by the way. I'm very glad to live here, surrounded by Nature. :-)

From Easter 2012

From Easter 2012

From Easter 2012

Then it was time to watch some movies.
In this one, we had some glimpses of Amsterdam... ;-)

A cozy and relaxed Easter. Very nice! We needed it!

I hope you have enjoyed a nice Easter too! :-)

Stay well! :-)