KLM Special

For my current expedition, I found really good connections and prices on KLM. The staff, especially on the long haul flights are super friendly. One of them, Esther, even guided me once I landed in Schiphol Airport on how to make a direct connection to Rotterdam, followed by a water taxi to Krimpen aan de Lek.  I also hear that the staff gets treated really well. That just makes me want to post this page with all things connected to my flights on The Royal Dutch Airways.

This is my itinerary on KLM:

Singapore to Amsterdam 

Amsterdam to St Petersburg

St Petersburg to Amsterdam

Amsterdam to Singapore

Have you seen the amazing clock at Schiphol Airport? 

... and the air plane toy store? 

The night shift

Pre-flight briefing 

Snack time :)

I had a wrap

Pancakes for breakfast

Pizza

Coffee 30,000ft up

Linda preparing for landing. 

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I Am sterdam

My journey continued from the south of the Netherlands to the north... well... specifically Amsterdam. I'm a big fan of Rembrandt's works so the Hermitage and the Rijks museum was definitely on the list. It rained 75% of my time there so spending my time in the museums was going to take up most of my time there. This part of my trip is just a touch and go. As long as I get to visit the museums, I am happy. :) 

Here are my excerpts from the trip: 

Huge group portraits were a very common thing in the history of the Dutch. Here's a whole hall filled with them! 

Okay, I'm glad I don't have to carry this when I go around doing plein air. 

Here's the line of people waiting to view Rembrandt's The Night Watch.

These were selling at the museum shops. Too cute!! 

Love the pretty looking buildings all over Amsterdam, especially those beside the canals. :)

And here... a sketch of it.

Passing by an antique shop, I see a vintage human anatomical study set for sale. 

Here's sketching while coffee-ing at Vinnies. I was sketching this from the outside when it decided to drizzle 20 mins into the sketch. 

My favourite Dutch super market chain, Albert Heijn, has a mini cafe area that serves up a pretty good brew. I'm there everyday for my meals. Everyday. 

It took me awhile to locate the famous set of buildings. And then I had to wait for the rain to stop to sketch this piece. ;) 

A view from my room. Great to be able to sketch from a different perspective! 

 This is the Vinnie's time-lapse I did. 

Next stop... St Petersburg.

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You spin me round

The start of my summer painting tour begins 20km east of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. This village that I will spend most of my time at is Kinderijk, famous for its 19 windmills built in the 1740s.  The weather was calm. It drizzled here and there, but in general, the wide open space is perfect for plein air painting. 

Why windmills? The south of the Netherlands have had water issues since the 13th century. Polders are low-lying pieces of land. These windmills are built on different levels and each one has the task to pump water to a higher level until it meets sea level.  

 I live on the other side of Kinderdijk – in another village called Krimpen ann der lek. Everyday, I take a water ferry that carrie me, my bicycle, cars and other passengers across. The journey takes less than 5 mins. Here's a clip of that journey.

The cost for my bike and me is 80 cents in Euros. The colourful ticket issued by the conductor reminds me of old movie tickets. 

Good morning from kinderdijk! 

There's a wonderful coffee place that serves really good food too called Buena Vista Grand Cafe that is situated near the entrance  of the windmills. Margaret and Jan own this place and are great hosts. They even allowed me to come in the paint their collection of vintage radios. 

Windmill numer 19

I's interesting to know there are people actually living in these windmills! :) 

This windmill shows the journey to the windmill and ending up halfway to paint De Blocker. 

Here's an ink sketch of several windmills.

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