Day 7. Nostalgia
Early in the morning, after our last croissant et fromage and nesquik drinks, we depart for Nederlands, making a quick stop at Belgium along the ride. Au revoir Paris, au revoir France, i shall set my foot here again someday :)
The Head of Committee for the whole trip, Anggun. The trip happened around August-September 2012, now it's June 2013, and just about a month ago she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Time flies, does it?
Part 1. Brussels, Belgium
Ola Brussels!
That's me in the corner :D
The old building was undergoing renovation at the moment, and they thought "hey why not cover it with a handsome painted drape?"
Walk on, walk on, walk on
Chocolates and waffles everywhere. Bottom row shows photos of the famous Belgian waffles. The toppings are actually quite ordinary, so it's a good thing that we don't need to fly to Belgium just to have waffles for dessert. But the Belgian pralines, aaaaah.....exquisite. Melts in your mouth the moment it touches the tip of your tongue...................
Among the crowd, a family consisting of beautiful people such as Tante Naning, Ajeng, Lita & Oom Sutresno :)
If you see Tin Tin on the wall, it is because he was created by a Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, under the pen name Hergé. On the right is the (weirdly) famous Manneken Pis (the boy who pisses) of Brussels.
Fritomium, the Atomium fries that drove everybody wild (as shown on the right picture above). Such a cure to an empty belly!
Greetings from the Atomium!
Later that night...
Part 2. Amsterdam, Nederland
The moment I realized that we have arrived in Amsterdam, i started to cry. It's not out of happiness, not out of missing the town where i spent 2 years of my childhood, not out of anything but the longing i had for my father. It just dawned to me that the last time I was here (in Amsterdam), my father was still with me, with us, our family was a whole, and it was a very happy one, with all its imperfections.
"Hey Amsterdam, do you remember me?
Do you remember my father?
He's in someplace better now..",
i wanted to shout out to the streets.
With Tante Endang. She and her family (Oom Jos, Iwan & Lara) were one of our closest and dearest relatives when we were in Nederlands. They made our winters warm :)
We stayed at Steigenberger Airport Hotel Amsterdam. It was formerly called the Dorint Hotel Amsterdam. And so far this hotel has been the best of them all. The room's very luxurious, and the food at breakfast! It's everything i've ever wanted for breakfast, so happy :') Unfortunately we didn't get to spend too much time there, for we arrived there at approximately 11 pm and we had to be checked out by 7 am the next morning for our next agenda: Rotterdam! the fishermen's village! scoop scoop!
Day 8. The Fishermen Village of Rotterdam
Getting Industrial // Going Green
The petit and shy houses and home-offices.
Riding along the coastline
Souvenirs!!! Yay!
Here we are watching a short clip about Nederlands.
The amazing Abangs
All in costume and ready for photo session!
Family.
There were so many of us it took quite some time (and shoutings) to set us all up. But in the end everybody was visible in the frame, so well done Dutch-lady!
The Haaring & Frikkandel along the coastline of nostalgia
I thought about my dad and my family every second i was here. I missed them tremendously.
Day 9. Last Stop: Hamburg
Stopping for some magic tricks!
Checking out our last venue of performance, the Museum fur Volkerkunde, Hamburg. It's undoubtedly the most beautiful museum i've ever been in. They had this sky-high ceiling, and the floors and the walls are made from marble, keeping the temperature inside cool but not too icy. Marble-lous, i might say :)
Latihan & gladi resik
Syua Saatchi, the youngest & littlest Gamelan player among our group :)
Shopping time!
so happy when i can finally get my hands on Starbucks.
The Indonesian Embassy at Hamburg
Roaming around the backyard
Day 10. The Final Performance of the Trip
I took some time to take snapshots of these beautiful girls backstage. It was hectic for sure, but hey there's always time to pose ;)
Gema Citra Nusantara style: always helping each other out :)
FINISHED!
Day 11. Time to Go Home
Did i tell you about the hotel we stayed in at Hamburg? It's called Leonardo Hotel, and i think it used to be a Hospital from the war days. It's pretty damp and creepy that some girls grouped into one big crowd so they won't have to spend the night in their own rooms. But i think my room was quite okay, and i did sleep peacefully, thank God! O yeah, at breakfast they had pork! and come to think of it, I think pork was available in every hotel breakfast we stopped by earlier. Did i have a slice or two? Only God knows. (i hope i did not).
Re-visiting the Volkerkunder Museum on our way to the airport
The day before, we went to this annual festival by the lake, i forgot what it's called. And it was closed by giant fireworks. How I wish i could ride that brightly illuminated ferris wheel. Anyway the fireworks was amazing, they're not rare like Gandalf's, but they did suffice :)
In the end there was not much to say, I have described the beauty of (parts) this continent through my photos because I know I won't be able to find the right words for it. I'm just very lucky to have been a part of this unforgettable journey with Gema Citra Nusatara. Will I be a part of another trip? I hope I will *cross fingers*. Thank you, sincerely, to everyone who had participated in my experience, I hope my presence did not sour yours :)
