Friday - Watermuseum in Arnhem

As every Dutch schoolgirl (and boy) knows, this country's link with water is strong and has ancient roots, so it's no wonder that in Arnhem there is an entire museum dedicated to it.

Loads of interactive displays and games for the kids and some food for thoughts for the grown ups too, with water at risk of becoming as expensive as oil in a not too distant future.

Sobering thoughts but the museum offers ideas for some innovative solutions as well.

Since the museum's official page seems to be experiencing some issues today, I paste a couple of other links in English as well.

http://www.watermuseum.nl

http://www.holland.com/us/tourism/article/the-netherlands-water-museum.htm

http://www.arnhemnijmegenregion.com/netherlands-water-museum

Public water tap (Korea).

Thursday - Street Art Amsterdam

Not everyone is a fan but indeed street art is nowadays very prominent in the art world panorama, with a scraps of wall spray painted by Banksy fetching up to thousands of £££.

Often we walk around and watch, without seeing, the many amazing and thought provoking things that the urban environement can offer.

The contrast between old and new and gezellig and urban is even more visible in Amsterdam and provides excellent raw material for great pictures.

This tour offers a different perspective on the been there/done that feeling given by your average walking tour and will surely contribute to increasing your knowledge of the city, appreciation of contemporary art and, of course, your street cred.

https://www.facebook.com/StreetArtAmsterdam?directed_target_id0

In Utrecht, but street art nonetheless.

Wednesday - Fietzerria, or On the itinerant pizzeria.

If you see a guy biking on the fietspad or on a country road with a massive stone oven on his bakfiets, worry not, but rather start following him, as you might have a chance to savor some freshly made pizza.

Renato is a Brasilian architect living in NL with a passion for building ovens and baking pizza and he is currently touring the country.

Upon request, he can park in your garden, entertain kids and grown ups and teach you how to bake.

The results, of course, are yours to eat!

PS: the website is quite yummy too.

http://mypizzaoven.nl

Tuesday - L'addition svp!

Till the 14 July (ca va sans dire!) it's French Restaurant (long) Week!

Possibly to honour the ongoing Tour de France, 100 French bistro, brasserie and restaurants scattered all over the country offer a 3 courses dinner for 30 euro, plus free aperitif.

Check on the website for one close to you.

Sadly, view on Montmartre not included.

http://www.franserestaurantweek.nl

Monday - Life is a beach

There's only one advice I could possibly give to anyone today and it's the following: leave your work as soon as you can and head to the nearest beach, pond, river, park or whatever spot of open air you fancy and make the most of these wonderful summer days, as you never know here when it's going to be over (or if it will be summer ever again).

Personal favourites: Wassenarse Slag, for not having any concrete building in sight and Meijendel, near the nudist beach in front of the bunkers, for at safe distance from Scheveningen's madness.

Burgh Haamstede Zeeland or one of the Wadden Islands when we want to make it a weekendje weg.

http://www.kustgids.nl

http://www.beachpedia.eu

Sunday - Metropolis Festival Rotterdam

Festival season in full bloom and this weather calls for spending time outdoors without worrying about the raincoat you didn't bring.

Rotterdam again today, with the free entrance Metropolis festival in the Zuiderpark (not far from the Ahoy).

Pop, indie, rock, hip hop, world music and more.

Several bands who played here in the past went on to become internationally famous superstars.
Think Radiohead, The Killers, Interpol, Gossip and more recently The XX and the Black Keys.

So who knows? You might chance upon the next big hit!

http://metropolisfestival.nl/

Picture taken at an unrelated NERD concert in Rotterdam.

Saturday - The great outdoors (playground) in Groningen

There's an amusement park near Groningen offering a wide range of fairly uncommon, to say the least, but amusing indoor and outdoor group activities such as bushtrail, catapult building, crates pile ups and highland games.

Since getting wet today will not be an issue (temperature's forecast is in the middle 20 C and above), I would go for the build-your-own-raft-and-see-if-it-floats one.

And, if you prefer a more chillaxed thing to do, you can always join a petanque tournament.

http://www.outdoorinternational.nl

Friday - Milan Festival Den Haag

Starting today and ending on Sunday (literally, with fireworks), the Milan Festival in the Zuiderpark is the largest open air event in Europe celebrating the Hindustani culture.

Expect deliciously spicy food and Bollywood music, but also hip-hop, catwalks, markets and a cricket tournament!

http://www.milan-zuiderpark.nl/

Thursday - Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas

I do realise it's not the most cheerful of topics, but funerary art is still, after all, art.

That's why I think that the tomb of Engelbrecht II van Nassau, which can be seen in Breda's Church of Our Lady, is worth checking out.

What stuck me was that while normally these marbled lord and ladies are always fully geared and covered in bling, in this case Mr and Mrs van Nassau are lying almost on the floor, simply clad in a sheet, while all the pomp and circumstance's outfits are carried above them as if to say: all is vanity.

Now to brighten you up: entrance to the quite beautiful church is free (with optional donation), you can watch a presentation about the evolution of the House of Oranje-Nassau and the toilets are very clean.

Wednesday - Den Haag Sculpture 2013

Every summer on the Lange Voorhout in The Hague, in co-op with the museum Beelden aan Zee, there's a free open air exhibition of massive sculptures representing the latest contemporary art trends in a certain country.

This year it's time for Russia. NL is celebrating in 2013 its ties with that country, from when Peter the Great came here incognito to learn the rudiments of sailing and canal digging to the opening of the Hermitage in Amsterdam.

The sculptures are quite impressive, although some may find them puzzling at times. In any case, they are surely better fitting in their elegant temporary setting than the hideous monster trucks and roller-coasters of the Queensday's Kermis.

Another thing that would be perfectly fitting under the lined trees is a proper Christmas market hosted in small wooden houses. The whole area has a sort of Dickensian quality that would make it the prettiest Christmas market in NL: in case you are reading, think about it Major Jozias van Aartsen!

http://www.denhaagsculptuur.nl/index2.php?lang=eng&item=home

Bizzare but true fact about NL and Russia's links: it would seem that Putin's daughter lives in Voorschoten.

Tuesday - Upstream on the Maas

A tip for a sunny day: a water bus trip up the Maas from Erasmusbrug to Dordrecht, the picturesque and still not touristically exploited town south of Rotterdam.

With the OV chipcard a single trip costs 5 euro and your bike travels for free.

http://www.waterbus.nl/landing.php

Not the Waterbus

Monday - Rotterdam's Pride: Groos

There's an area just outside Rotterdam Central station which is being re-developed as an alternative cultural hotspot.

The idea is to use the urban landscape and several empty office buildings to create spaces for music and art studios, cool independent shops, funky eateries and even an unexpected post industrial bier-garden in a former parking space.

The new kid on Het Schieblock (...) is Groos, a shop that wouldn't be out of place on London's Brick Lane, selling clothes, art and other objects exclusively made by Rotterdam's designers.

Sustainable, local and deffo cool, what's not to like?

http://groosrotterdam.nl/

Here's an interview with the owner (nice guy, btw):

http://www.losbangeles.com/culture/tjeerd-hendriks/

Groos = old Rotterdam's word meaning proud

Sunday - Park Pop in The Hague

It's impossible not to mention it, above all because it's free: Park Pop in The Hague.

This years bigger names, Bob Geldof and Sinead O'Connor, will be pulling large crowds of older music fans, but on the 3 stages there will be selection of (Dutch and international) bands, including Noisettes, to cater for all age and tastes.

Bring a picnic blanket, but not your drinks and snacks, because, as is crowd surfing, they are not allowed.

The organisers however are understanding enough when it comes to bring your umbrella: dat kan..

Park Pop starts at 14.00 in the Zuiderpark.

Saturday - Full Moon Festival

Tonight in Tilburg, with all female DJs line up and the bonus of a good cause.

1 euro of every purchased ticket goes to "Because I am a girl", a charity supporting the financing of the education of underprivileged girls all over the world.

Good music + good cause = nice Saturday afternoon.

Ah yeah, as a bonus, it takes place in a park and  it's not going to rain tonight!

http://www.fullmoonfestivaltilburg.nl

Friday - I like Chopin

Classical concerts in Botanical Gardens, that's what the Hortus Festival is all about.

Tonight, Chopin in the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam.

The actual festival starts on the 17 July but these teasers are already quite tasty indeed...

http://www.hortusfestival.nl/

Thursday - Shop it like it's hot

Time to go wild and keep the Dutch economy turning during the Shopping Night in Den Haag, with a mega pimped up koopavaond and shops open untill midnight.

Catwalks on the Grotemarktstraat, goodie bags to be won, free magazines and make up re-touchs in the Haagse Bluf plus entertainment starting with B (don't ask...) on the Grote Markt.

Beware of pickpockets and the occasional Thursday evening street fight.

Wednesday - Little church in da hood

Pauluskerk is a church not far from Central Station in Rotterdam that has been controversial in the past for the very open minded and tolerant approach of its minister, especially towards drug addicts.

Now it may become controversial for its architecture, since this is how it looks like after renovation.

Although there are a lot of Rotterdam haters out there, I personally quite like the building and find it fits very well in the general redevelopment of the station area.

Tuesday - Warm comfort farm

Another cool thing about living in NL is that, even when you live in a city, the countryside is never too far away.

The Terp is a farm in Gelderland whose main activity is the production of organic pumpkins for supermarkets.  Those small round one that you have surely seen at the AH when the season comes.

Not only that: for 50 euro per year (+ admin costs) you can adopt one of their cows, get to see it twice per year chez the farm and get a 4 numbers of the newsletter magazine Koevoet (Cowfoot).

http://www.cvdeterp.nl/NL_home.asp

http://www.adopteereenkoe.nl/

Monday - Leiden open air poetry museum

While walking around Leiden you may chance upon a poem, sometimes written in Dutch, often in another language, painted on the side of a building.

They are part of a project started in 1992 and include a grand total of 101 poems scattered across the town.

Here's a list (in Dutch):

http://www.muurgedichten.nl/wandeling.html

Apparently, several other cities around the world followed Leiden's example and started similar projects too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_poems_in_Leiden

Sunday - Sail away, Sail away, Sail away

This is not the massive Sail event that takes place in Amsterdam every 5 years, however Den Helder being the HQ of the Dutch navy, one can expect it to be up to standard.

OK, although theoretically it is the second day of summer and sun and warmth would have been preferable when it comes to spending time at sea, it's probably still worth a visit, especially to see the large boat parade this afternoon.

As a British friend once told me: there's no bad weather, just wrong clothes.

http://www.saildenhelder.nl