A Day Out Artis

We were yesterday at Natura Artis Magistra, also called Artis Zoo. This is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and located in Amsterdam. It was founded in 1838 and it is now celebrating its 175th anniversary. Yes! 175 years of existence and still counting.

Natura Artis Magistra:  "Nature is the teacher of art."

Our friend who lives in Amsterdam is an Artis member. She has one year limited access to Artis Royal Zoo. She gets also discounts in the Artis stores, restaurants, parking, lectures held in the zoo and discount entrance to other zoos in the Netherlands and Belgium. She comes in the zoo twice or three times a month. We haven't seen her for a couple of months, so we planned a day out with her. Chosen destination? Artis Zoo.

Happy Birthday, Dick Bruna!

Today, Dick Bruna, the father of Nijntje is celebrating his 86th birthday!

Credit: Photo: Dick Bruna at Wikipedia.org

The Ghent Experience

Ghent is a capital city of East Flanders province in Belgium. There are three official languages in Belgium: Dutch, French and German. People who live in the Flemish region of Belgium, where Ghent is, speak Dutch, the first official language. Belgium is very ideal place to go to if you live in Holland, because it is nearby and they speak the same language. You can feel as if you are at home.

I have been twice in Antwerpen for a day-out. I have not yet been to any other places in Belgium other than Antwerpen. So I was happy when we visited Ghent two weeks ago. It was my first vacation in Belgium and  both our first time in Ghent.

If you are looking for a middle ages city to visit, Ghent is the place to be. It has musea, port, university, monasteries, arts-treasures and castles. This is a place where you can enjoy history and trendy day-out and nightlife.