Posts with: Leeuwarden

Through the eyes of… Feng Chien Kao (Connie) from Taiwan: Clean Air and Small Classes

After 13 hours flight, I arrived at Schiphol Airport. It was the first time I visited to Europe. Everything was so new and fresh. I was surprised that the Dutch were so tall. I seemed like a child in the crowd. More →

A Syrian girl in Leeuwarden [3]

Since 2015 Friesland received approximately 2,250 adult refugees. Leeuwarden houses the majority of these immigrants, about 540. Naimee Alayobi, an 18-year-old Syrian girl told us her story and talked about her dreams and the challenges of starting over in the West. This part 3 of a series of 3. More →

A Syrian girl in Leeuwarden [2]

Since2015 Friesland receivedapproximately 2,250 adult refugees. Leeuwarden houses the majority of these immigrants, about 540. Naimee Alayobi, an 18-year-old Syrian girl told us her story and talked about her dreams and the challenges of starting over in the West. This is part 2 of a series of 3. More →

A Syrian girl in Leeuwarden [1]

Since 2015 Friesland received approximately 2,250 adult refugees. Leeuwarden houses the majority of these immigrants, about 540. We rarely get a chance to see the journey and difficulties of a refugee through the eyes of one of them. How is the integration with Dutch society, what are the obstacles of learning a new language, work, study. What are the biggest difficulties and what are the best things about living in Friesland. Naimee Alayobi, an 18-year-old Syrian girl told us her story and talked about her dreams and the challenges of starting over in the West.  More →

Through the eyes of… Marieke Sucker from Germany: Pretty tiny houses and open people

Before I started my studies here in Leeuwarden, I had never been to the Netherlands, even though it only takes me a three-hour road trip from where I used to live in Germany. Why I never came here? I don’t know, maybe because I thought as close neighbours of Germany, the Netherlands wouldn’t be so different andtherefor uninteresting. But only my very first visitprovedme wrong. I was really surprised on the first sight and never stop discovering habits, behaviours, traditions, and places that are different from Germany. More →

Asteriks, Leeuwarden’s most charmful venue

Despite Leeuwarden’s size compared to other Dutch cities, it has interesting music places in almost every corner, a combination that is perfect for developing a solid music scene. Blokhuispoort probably hosts the most peculiar of all venues in the Frisian capital. Once you go through the stone arch that hosts the main entrance of the building, you walk across the first courtyard where you can find a café and the library above it, if you glance to the left. Carry on to the second courtyard and in the further left corner you will see the entrance of Asteriks. Although this might be hard to believe, up a spiral stone staircase, almost claustrophobic, you will find… a concert hall. More →

Welcome to the Village: it started off on a beer mat

The festival that started off on a beer mat. Welcome to the Village was established in 2013. A group of friends that form the organization of ‘Poppodium Asteriks’ were having a drink together and decided they wanted to do something outside, a festival. This soon turned into a unique festival that is becoming more popular every year. Rutger Smit, festival- and production coordinator of Welcome to the Village (see picture),is giving us a better look at the festival. More →

Graffiti and Cultural Capital on the next level

If you walk from the Wilhelminaplein to the Station in Leeuwarden, you will notice some artworks. This time it is literally streetart, because there are five art works directly placed on the street, or more on the sidewalk. More →

The Holy Trinity of Leeuwarder nightlife

The nights in Leeuwarden are very different than the days. It’s when the night animals come out in all their glory, and that surely is something worth observing. Dutch and foreigner youth alike both disinhibit themselves in the streets that belong to them after sunset. This usually corresponds to Grote Hoogstraat, Oude Doelesteeg and Ruiterskwartier, the three streets that gather pretty much all the night life of the city. More →

Through the eyes of… Dela Cardona

I have been in Leeuwarden for more than half a year now, but when I first got here, there was a lot of stuff that surprised me. For example, at the beginning it was quite awkward because at the time of introducing to someone, everyone shook my hand! In Spain, the normal thing to do is to introduce to someone giving to kisses in the cheeks, and that’s why every time I met someone I got closer with the intention of kissing them, but they gave me their hand to shake it. At the beginning it was a bit uncomfortable to me, but now shaking hands is the normal thing to me. More →

Seven lilies on a flag

Have you ever wandered through the small Frisian cities and recognized the blue and white striped flag, with the red heart-shaped symbols on it? Right now, you can find it on bottles, postcards or in souvenir shops. I saw it around a hundred times, until I thought about, what the story behind the Frisian flag might be. More →

Street art in Leeuwarden [6]

This work from Klaas Lageweg shows Saskia van Uylenburgh, the woman of the well-known baroque painter Rembrandt van Rijn. Saskia van Uylenburgh was born 400 years ago and was the daughter of the former mayor of Leeuwarden, that means she was part of a highly respected Frisian family. During her lifetimes having a relationship with an artist was not common because he was in a lower social position than her. Saskia was the inspiration and the muse of many of Rembrandt´s paintings. More →

The Stânfries X

You might have seen her, floating in the Frisian Canals. This ship is known in Leeuwarden due to her use presence in the annual arrival of Sinterklaas, expositions and other cultural activities. The Stânfries X is one of the few ships left of a period in which most cargo was transported over water. A period of trade between Holland and Friesland in which every now and then a ship sunk to the bottom of the Zuiderzee. A period that started for the Stânfries X in 1912, in Groningen. More →

Street art in Leeuwarden [5]

This work is a reproduction of an artwork from the famous M.C. Escher. It is located at Princessehof, the ceramic museum in Leeuwarden. The artist used the motive of a bird or more birds very often in many different ways and developed various graphic styles. Next to the huge bird consisting out of many birds is a sign and it is written: ”De graficus M.C. Escher werd geboren in het Princessehof op 17 juni 1898. De muurplastiek, naar een houtgravure van zijn hand, werd onthuld op 20 juni 1998” Translation: ”The graphic artist M.C. Escherwas born in the Princessehof on June 17th 1898. The wall plastic, after a wood engraving by his hand, was unveiled on June 20th 1998”

 

The forgotten women of Leeuwarden

This year, the city of Leeuwarden got the title of the European Cultural Capital. Rembrandt is one of the biggest artists in the history and what people might not be aware of is the fact that his wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh, was born in Leeuwarden. So who was she? More →

The organisation that brings a neighbourhood together

Spring is here, and for the organisation Meetingpoint Lifemaster it means that it is high time for the event Spring Guest, or Lentegasten, as it is called in Dutch. Thanks to a course, which I am currently taking in my school, I got the opportunity to visit the event and be a part of it. But who are they, the people behind the Meetingpoint? And what do they do? More →