Bikers in the sky

Thanks to I amsterdam Facebook contest, last week I won tickets for a circus show "Luce", so on Sunday evening we went to see an open-air circus.

Whatever you think about circus - it was very different. There were no animals and clowns, just a couple of bikers, a couple of singers in Italian and Dutch (or maybe it was Flemish) and a couple of girls running around and smiling.

It was very weird and I did not read the information about the show before going - too bad, because even in the end of the show I was not sure what have I seen.

However, it was interesting to see a completely different circus show and I had fun watching it all, especially outdoors. The bikers who were biking in the sky were the best part!

Curious? Here are a video I found from the same show.

Kad ir jau par daudz

Domāju, vismaz daži no jums vēl atceras manus iepriekšējos ierakstus par "slepeno pielūdzēju"... Līdz šim par to visu tikai pasmaidīju un neņēmu pie sirds, bet šodienas "piedzīvojums" lika pārdomāt esošo situāciju.

Pēcpusdienā devāmies ārā, lai ar riteņiem dotos uz tepat netālu esošās ēstuves "Talia" pirmo dzimšanas dienu (to pirms gada atvēra divi itāļi, mūsu paziņas).

Vēlējāmies braukt ar riteņiem, bet... kāda sakritība - no visiem riteņu stāvvietā esošajiem divriteņiem tieši mūsu abiem (mana un Maikla) bija tukšas riepas.
Piebilde Nr. 1 - riteņu stāvvieta atrodas apakšstāvā, kur iekļūt var tikai mājas iemītnieki ar atslēgu. Tur parasti atrodas aptuveni 10 riteņi.
Piebilde Nr. 2 - riepas nebija pārsprāgušas, tāpēc iespēja, ka piektdien vakarā mēs nejauši varējām uz kaut kā uzdurties, ir izslēgta. Rūpīgāk apskatoties, tika atklāts, ka ir noskrūvēti melnie uzgaļi no riepām (tur, kur riepas tiek uzpumpētas).

Protams, var jau teikt, ka kādi mājas rezgaļi gribēja pajokot vai kādam ļoti vajadzīga tieši mūsu melnos uzgaļus, bet mūsu mājā (aptuveni 10 dzīvokļi) ir tikai pāris jaunieši, lielākā daļa ir cilvēki pusmūžā, un līdz šim nekas līdzīgas netika novērots.

Vēl pirms pāris nedēļām manam divritenim tika nolauzta taure - iepriekš domāju, ka vienkārši kāds piedzēries mājinieks nebūs redzējis, kur iet (jo divritenis bija blakus durvīm), bet nu...

Nē, nekādu pierādījumu par to, kurš ir vainīgais, man nav. Bet pašsajūtai nevajag pierādījumus...

Kas būs nākamais?

Bike trip to Muiderslot

Yesterday we decided to have a short bike trip and visit Muiderslot, a nice castle around 15km away from Amsterdam. Previous two times when I was there, it was closed (wrong timing) and I learnt that parking a car is quite expensive, so a decision was made - it has to be by bike and during daytime!

It took around 90min to go there with our city bikes and against the wind - not very nice. However, Muiderslot turned out to be a very, very nice and cute castle. I can imagine kids feeling like in paradise there as there were so many activities they could do - exploring the castle, dressing up like princesses and knights, playing several games and going on a guided tour led by other kids (last year primary school).


I do not know if it's always, but yesterday there was also a falcon and his master, showing the falcong flying around and telling more about falcons in the country.

On the way back we decided to take a small detour and cycle via Weesp, which is just 3km away. Didn't spend so much time there, but it looked a small and nice town as well (bigger than Muiden).

A tip - all shops seem to be closed on Sundays in Muiden and the service in restaurants is quite slow, so bring your own water bottle!

My pimped bike

Every now and then I take part in different online competitions, where you need to answer to one simple question and you can win tickets to some events in Amsterdam.

Several weeks ago through such a possibility on Amsterdam Magazine's Facebook page I won... the possibility to get my bike pimped!

So in the middle of February I gave my cute bike to them, answered to some questions how do I want my bike to look like (something about travelling, of course, and nothing pink, of course) and started to learn how to walk again :) I also asked them not to make my bike black as my cute boyfriend is saying that I am wearing too much black clothes already now.

And then the magical moment came... I got my bike back! The Dutch artist had made it all yellow with one sentence in around 10 languages (unfortunately no Latvian, but there is Korean, Polish and others) - "My boyfriend says I am wearing too much black". That was so funny! She said she likes to work with quotes and that quote in several languages symbolises my love for travelling.

Now the article is published and you can either drop by Amsterdam Magazine office in Amsterdam and get the printed copy for free or read it online on their webpage (page 56 for the next three pages).

That's not all... This month my cute boyfriend also won in the same competition and his bike is being pimped right now by a different artist! Let's see what (s)he will come up with!

To Schiphol airport by bike

What to do if you have a flight only at 2pm, but you need to leave home already at 9am and shopping doesn't seem to be fun?

The answer is simple - biking to the airport! And that's what I did on Thursday, when I took my flight to Riga.

I wanted to try biking to Schiphol airport already for quite some time (just to have a drink there or so), but never managed. This was a perfect opportunity to do so. It's only ~15km away from Amsterdam downtown, so duable if you are in no rush. Without any rush, the trip took for me around 90 minutes.

There are several ways where to bike. Although the map suggested me the fastest way through Amsterdamse Bos, I didn't feel like going through the forest alone, so decided to bike along Nieuwe Meer - and also because I haven't seen it before. Perfect signs everywhere from there on to the airport helped me not to get lost.

The trip could be divided in three parts. First one to Amsterdam Zuid was nothing special, have done it loads of times. The second to Nieuwe Meer and around it was really nice and peacful, almost no people (especially exactly at Nieuwe Meer), just me and the nature. The third part to the airport is quite boring. You see the airport and planes already from 5km distance, but still need to bike around all the airport teritorry before you reach the terminal. No exciting views and the motorway just next to you.

Yesterday when I was biking back from the airport (yes, it was a short trip abroad), decided to take the fastest route (the signs said - 9km instead of ~15km) through Badhoevedorp. The first part was nice, through that small village/town/place and then along the canal, but the second part was nothing so special again.

Should try once to reach the airport through Amsterdamse Bos as well :)

If you are wondering about the pictures - they are taken in the airport :)