Team night

As ending of the hockey season we had a team night. We started at Cafe Hesp and went for a rather nice dinner to Restaurant Dauphine. It was complete booked, who said something about a crisis …? It was also very noisy, but I think that is also part of the experience. I left at half past twelve, I know others would go to en end up in many unknown or know places.

Restaurant Dauphine Amsterdam

Cafe-Restaurant Dauphine is located in what used to be the Renault-garage, opposite the Amstel Railway Station. The restaurant’s name “Dauphine” refers to a very successful type of car made by Renault in the early fifties. Also located in this building are Het Financieele Dagblad (leading financial newspaper), and BNR nieuwsradio (financial/business broadcasting station).

Both interior (designed by Heyligers architects+design) and our á la carte menu have cosmopolitan splendour. Dauphine’s kitchen is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday till 11:30 p.m. The restaurant has an over 240 seat capacity. The main bar marks the entry of our restaurant. A wide range of red, white and rosé wines is served, in possible combination with a variety of snacks, such as oysters and shrimp-croquettes. Our wine list (as you can see elsewhere on this site) is extensive, from both Europe and the New Wine Countries, and the prices are extremely favourable. It will not be easy to find this elsewhere.

You can treat yourself to a plateau de Fruits de mer, as well as classic French brasserie food, oysters, delicious crustacea, and some famous trans-Atlantic dishes such as soft-shell crab and XL Hamburger. As well as dining in our main restaurant with parties up to 10 people, we offer the possibility of private dining in two different spaces for both corporate meetings as informal family dinners. Information about this is available on the site.

The restaurant can be easily reached by car via the Amsterdam peripheral road A10, eastbound, exit S112. You can park your car in the basement, the former machinery of Renault’s garage, and as a guest of Dauphine, free of charge! Due to the excellent location near the Amstel Railway Station, you can reach us by public transport (train & tube) as well. Since the restaurant is situated on the ground floor, it offers easy access for wheelchair users (there is also an elevator from the basement parking to the ground floor).

Major changes?

For my trip to Canada I was planning to do the Inside Passage one way. Due to some very interesting pricing for a complete trip I might reschedule all … well there is not a real schedule yet, but this will have some major implications on my plan.

What could be added is taking a cruise from Vancouver.

Sep 9 Vancouver, BC, Canada
Sep 10 Inside Passage (Cruising)
Sep 11 Juneau, Alaska
Sep 12 Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (Cruising)
Sep 13 Skagway, Alaska
Sep 14 Ketchikan, Alaska
Sep 15 Inside Passage (Cruising)
Sep 16 Vancouver, BC, Canada

I think this is very interesting but as said is changing my plan completely. It will be difficult to fit in Vancouver Island.

Possible new schedule:

4-Sep Amsterdam – Calgary
5-Sep Calgary
6-Sep Calgary / Banff
7-Sep Banff
8-Sep Banff / Kamloops
9-Sep Kamloops / Vancouver / Cruise
10-Sep Cruise
11-Sep Cruise
12-Sep Cruise
13-Sep Cruise
14-Sep Cruise
15-Sep Cruise
16-Sep Cruise / Vancouver / Whistler
17-Sep Whistler
18-Sep Whister
19-Sep Whistler / Prince George
20-Sep Prince George / Jasper
21-Sep Jasper region
22-Sep Jasper / Vancouver
23-Sep Vancouver
24-Sep Vancouver – Amsterdam
25-Sep Amsterdam

Will think about it and sleep over it.

My B&B hunt

It took me some days, but found me a B&B for my first 2 days after arrival. It seems Calgary is rather busy that weekend and many hotels and B&B did not have a room available, or were to expensive or not nice enough.

Just today I agreed on going to the Pathway Cottage. It is a bit further from the center, looks very nice and got a recommendation from another B&B, and of course I am also not here to just go/see to Calgary. Being in the outer part seems to be even a better place to check the area.

Rescheduling

Well that takes time ... The last Bed and Breakfast in Vancouver was no problem to reschedule, great cooperation I got. To reschedule the first hotel was a longer process. I have sent numerous e-mail, had some calls and even sent a fax and every time they said that is not possible due to the special you had from the website. Just yesterday (a few days before my targeted arrival) I was able to contact the right person. Also he said at first "not possible", but after some mail with writing about the not so nice behaviour (he could reschedule but for almost 500$ for 2 nights) he proposed to refund all. As result I do not have a accommodation yet so I am trying many alternatives. And I have to say that is not so easy, hotels are rather expensive or do not have rooms. B&B are difficult to find and several I check do not have rooms available (any other date the do ...). Will update later.

Tonight Beethoven's 9th

One of the people at the mother company is taking part in a concert in the Concert Gebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.

NedPhO presents

• Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest


• Toonkunstkoor Amsterdam


• Yakov Kreizberg, director


• Natalya Kraevsky, sopraan


• Jane Irwin,


• altSteve Davislim,


• tenorGeorg Zeppenfeld, bas

Beethoven - 9th symfony in d, op. 125

Facebook

Just got me the www.facebook.com/hpkok naming url. Not that I use Facebook a lot, but it's nice to have my own name now. In the past it was a code. You can have your own, it started last night.

Worth 94 M euro?

Photoshopped :-)

See what you can do in Photoshop, some are really funny :-)

Check out www.worth1000.com

Started to work again

This Monday I started to work again (well actually I did a lot of work from home already) and decided to try to change my (working) life a bit, although this will not be easy.

I also decided to postpone my Holiday until September, it is cheaper but more importantly also less busy. Especially while I have to arrange all accomondation I think it is better to travel a little later.

Hilly and wet

It was a great weekend, tough cycling hilly and partly wet when raining on Sunday.

Saturday (cold and windy) we went South and went to the Humbertus Mill, Sunday (warmer but rainy) we went a bit North-East into Germany.

Sweikhuizen

This weekend I will visit family in Sweikhuizen, a small village in the south of the Netherlands, in a very nice scenic area of Limburg. This part is close to Belgium and Germany.

Back to work

Yep, I am back to work. Although I will be doing intensive rehabiltation for several more weeks I am now back to work, that is great.

Waterland

Today I went north. I took the free Ferry at the Central Station and biked through Amsterdam-Noord (north) to Zunderdorp, Ransdorp and Durgerdam. It is only a few Km outside of Amsterdam but it feels like many. It is very relaxed, especially on a non holiday, although there are some cyclists and several cars. It is part of a route I often take when I have visitors, but on a bike it is completely different, much better I have to say ....

Below 1: near Ransdorp
Below 2: Ransdorp
Below 3: Durgerdam

Pinksteren, Pentecost, Whitsunday

So what is it?

Pentecost (Ancient Greek: πεντηκοστή [ἡμέρα], pentekostē [hēmera], "the fiftieth day") is one of the prominent feasts in the Christian liturgical year. The feast is also called Whitsun, Whitsunday, Whit Sunday, Whitsuntide, especially in the United Kingdom. Pentecost is celebrated seven weeks or 49 days after Easter Sunday, hence its name. Pentecost falls on the tenth day after Ascension Thursday.Historically and symbolically related to the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot, which commemorates God giving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai fifty days after the Exodus, Pentecost now also commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus as described in the Book of Acts, Chapter 2 in the New Testament. For this reason, Pentecost is sometimes described as "the Church's birthday".The Pentecostal movement of Christianity derives its name from this biblical event.

Biblical narrative

A depiction of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in the Rosary Garden of San Carlos Seminary, Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City, Philippines.The biblical narrative of Pentecost is given in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. As recounted in Acts 2:1-4 (CEV): On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.The apostles received the Holy Spirit and were miraculously enabled to go out into Jerusalem prophesying and speaking in languages that all the visitors to Jerusalem could understand as told further in Acts 2:5-6: "Many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem ... they were hearing everything in their own languages." The noise and activity attracted a huge crowd and the Apostle Peter preached a sermon to the crowd with some effectiveness, as Acts 2:41 reports: "On that day about three thousand believed his message and were baptized."