Transformers: bike edition
The Netherlands is well known for its bikes. Everyone there rides bikes and it is not strange to have several in your garage. If you walk through Amsterdam for example, there is no escaping us cyclists. We are everywhere! There are bike lanes and special traffic lights. Dozens of bikes…
Memory medley
Time flies. It’s true. Suddenly I’ve entered 2015. I didn’t even realise it. The new year comes with new chances, change, more adventure, endless possibilities and lots of choices. But that’s all in the future. Today, the first of January, was the same as yesterday. I rode my bike to…
Picnic in paradise
I like road tripping, but no matter how much I enjoy staring at the landscapes I pass when I’m driving, it’s even better getting out of the car to explore. On the way from Christchurch to Arthur’s pass, you drive past Castle Hill. The place is popular for bouldering, but…
Broken hearts and weak knees
I’m heartbroken, so I’m trying to find things that let me calm down and forget about the things racing through my head. I also needed to be reminded of why I came here to New Zealand and why I love it so much. So I escaped to the mountains. I…
Travel theme: golden
You know that little cute rooster on top of churches? It was always a cool little thing, until I stared it straight in its eyes. In an old church in Riga I found an old rooster, now retired and stored in a room full of curiosities. That tiny little thing…
Tasting the Rangitata
“Paddle, paddle, paddle.” I hear from behind me. I put my paddle in the water like a woman on a mission. The further we go, the more confidence I gain and the further I hang out of the boat. It probably doesn’t look half as cool as it does in…
Earthquakes 101
Last night I felt my very first earthquake. Although my colleague at work acknowledged that there had been an earthquake, he laughed the size away. For me it was the first one I actually felt. It woke me up in the middle of the night and it took me a…
If only for a day
O the amount of times I’ve speculated with someone about what I’d do if I won the lottery. If this would ever happen, the reality would probably be far from all my crazy dreams. But dreaming is nice. Speculating is nice. So what if I had one day in my…
Pick your color
Yesterday I took a test. It wasn’t a necessity, but purely something that developed from curiosity. At Harvard they developed some implicit association tests. It’s not a questionnaire, but rather makes you place things into categories as fast as you can. The test I took was to find out if…
Weekly photo challenge: gone, but not forgotten
Home. It’s a place I haven’t been in a while, especially around Christmas time. Actually, it’s been a while since I had a cold Christmas. It’s gone, but not forgotten!