Mini Playlist #1

for dancing

I. Alt-J - Hunger of The Pine (Single)

2. Jay-Z Picasso Baby (Magna Carte... Holy Grail)

3. Lana Del Rey - Old Money (Ultraviolence)

4. Jurassic 5 - Concrete Schoolyard (J 5)

Kasteel van Horst

The Castle of Horst has always been one of my favourite childhood memories. When I was only a little girl, we went on a schooltrip here and were amazed by all the different stories attached to the ancient halls. One was of a Lord who got his head cut off and had been roaming the lands around the castle for decades.

A forest walk-trough.

I planned a day-away with my mom to visit Horst when my exams finished. I was so excited to get there and here all the stories again from one of the castle guides, but unfortunately the castle had been going trough some renovations and wasn't yet opened to the public. So, we went on a walk instead. Luckily, no sign of the Headless Lord.

This one looked like it came straight out of Pan's Labyrinth.

Walking trough the forest, my ears got filled with a lot of cuckoo-ing and crowing from the birds that were sitting on high-up branches and flying above our heads. A lot of wild flowers decorated the side of the paths leading up to the castle.

I also spotted a lovely tribute to Mother Mary on a tree outside someone's house.

Despite the fact that we could not visit the castle, we still managed to have a nice afternoon. Even going on a walk 20 minutes away from your home, can make you feel like you're on holiday. I hope to be able to come back soon and get my ears filled with bird chatter and stories.

Speak to you soon,
Lize

Day trip: Amsterdam

A day trip to Amsterdam

Yesterday I went on a day trip to Amsterdam accompanied by my mom and sister. Whenever we go somewhere they idea usually came from me, because I love days in between the hectic lifestyle that we have to just get away and do something different than our normal every day habits. Plus, I've been wanting to go to the Anne Frank house for a while now, but that doesn't happen until the end of this post, so do read on!

Since it was a sunday and the three of us had to be up early the next morning, we decided to not make our little trip too long and decided before we left that we would only visit two things and just take enough time to see everything there possible. Our first stop was the Rijksmuseum, home to numerous paintings, furniture, musical instruments and even weapons. Artist ranging from Vermeer to Van Gogh were present and the museum itself is quite large as well, so we didn't get to stop and take in everything carefully, but we saw most of it and had a great time. And that's the most important thing, right?

There even was a rather large library inside of the museum. We weren't allowed to touch any of the books or walk around in it, but I can only imagine what knowledge lies hidden away in the dusty pages of the thousands of books that were safely stocked away on those shelfs.

We stayed for a good three hours, then went outside in the garden and met a nice lady from California who was there with her two kids to visit a few different cities around Europe. She told us how lucky we were that we got to go to a different country in just a matter of hours and hearing how she rarely ever even goes outside of California, I couldn't agree more.

Then came the highlight of my week and so far of my month. We visited the Anne Frank house! I have always been fascinated about World War II and loved learning about it in school. It still baffles me how things like this can even happen and that mass murder has occurred multiple times in history. 

The line was quite long and for a moment it only seemed to get longer and longer, without us getting any closer to the entrance, but maybe that's just because it was so cold outside. I think we queued up for about 30 minutes (not the slowest waiting line I've been in) and then got to go inside. It was very crowded, but it didn't really bother me that much, since I wanted to take enough time to really grasp everything that was there to see.

There were photos of Anne Frank, her father Otto Frank and the six other Jews who were in hiding for so long. While walking around the house you came across little film fragments of people talking about Anne and the war that went on for five years. How she was such a joyful girl and no one had any idea that she had been having these deep thoughts about life. She never thought she would die during the war, but she couldn't picture a life after it either. Locked away in those rooms for so long, unable to make any noise after it got dark or run water or play music. But she wrote her heart out and I think we can only appreciate how this little girl took it upon her to write about everything that had been going on, so that maybe in the future people could realise how wrong they had been and now they do.

The rooms where the eight people had been in hiding remain empty on request of Otto Frank, but the pictures Anne put up on her wall were still there. I bought five postcards at the gift shop to hang up on my wall, in honour of Anne and the many Jews who's lives were taken away and their families and ancestors that to this day still have to live with the horrors that took place.

Speak to you soon, 

Lize

Outside is the right side⎪Camping

Camping out in the garden

It seems my photo is a bit out of focus, but I honestly didn't even have enough place to look trough my lens.

I have been gone for a while. I guess I was figuring out what on earth I was actually doing. Holidays always leave me in sort of a daze, being happy and sad at the same time can be so confusing. I decided that I still wanted to do this for myself, though. For that maybe one day when I'm old and bored, I can come back to this place and read about how I used to spend my time off and what I hoped to become.

I spent last year studying, trying to figure out if I made the right choice and studying some more. I felt unsure of the choices that I made and even now I'm hesitant about what my future may bring for me. Since I didn't pass all of my exams, I have to retake two of them this summer. They're in two weeks and I started studying yesterday. It felt like a big adjustment after weeks of trying to not think about school at all. I wasn't in the right mindset for it and it left me feeling very tired, which is when I decided to set up my tent in our garden and create a place to be alone with my thoughts and become myself again.

This tent is actually meant for four people, so given the fact that I was by myself in there, I had enough place to sleep in different positions without having to feel too claustrophobic. I have always been font of camping, even though I have never actually done it out in the woods. Most of the time I stay in our own back garden. Close to home, but it still seems so far away when you're in there and the zipper's up. I made hot cocoa and watched Submarine and I felt so at ease with myself that when I woke up this morning I was happy to start studying again. It kinda made me feel like I was going somewhere.

I once made this photo set of screenshots that I took whilst watching the movie. It looks so peaceful out there.

I must admit I felt a bit nostalgic, though. Last time I camped out I was in high school and everything seemed so much easier, so effortless, so logic. Thankfully my cat joined me by nightfall and I felt a bit less alone. I still wish I could have been someplace else when I woke up this morning. As if the night had brought me a peace of mind and a different place to restart. To begin again, not to merely go on.

Where do you like to go when you're trying to get away for a bit?

Speak to you soon,

Lize