Write this down: it's the 26th of December
Apr. 1st, 2014 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beelikejOne of the reasons I have been stalling with the Australia picspams is that I was trying to not be reminded of a particularly disappointing event, which happened the day after Christmas. I wasn't sure if I should mention it in my journal and blog, since it involves bitching about other people, but as the song goes "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to", so I'm going to whine share my feelings, dangit. Because it's a pretty big deal for me when people forget my birthday, especially when these people are my family and therefore should know that it's the second most important day of the year for me. (Number one is Sinterklaas;)
Long story short; despite of staying in a house with my brother and his inlaws, nobody even congratulated me and there were no presents, except from my mom (who gave me a selfmade card with a gift certificate for a book and the promise of a fancy dinner when we got back home, see below) and my sister in law's sister (!) (who gave me a giftcard for the cinema near Sydney, which I went to with my mom for American Hustle later that week). So, ehm, yeah, colour me depressed.
BUT! A week and a half ago my mom and I finally managed to get together for that fancy dinner. I also bought a book of my favourite author, because the restaurant was in a corner of this huge restored bookstore set in a church from 1465:) It's a gorgeous building; they kept a lot of the magnificent features of the original church intact while also using the height to the advantage of presenting books in the most glorious way. If you love architecture and books and history and fancy food, check this out!
First we'll sit down for dinner at Waanders In De Broeren. After dessert we'll take a good look at the store/church, mkay? All the dishes come in big or small sizes; we picked small for our starter and main course, but of course big for our desserts *grins*
Warnings for meat-eating, skulls/gravestones and artistic nudity.
Mustard soup with bacon, so creamy and exactly mustardy enough. We shared our buns because we each got a different one! Also nom.
Oh, alright, here's a peak at the bookshop/rest of the church; the restaurant is situated in the back.
Main course: for me a roe deer steak (with fried decorations and a red pear), my mom had a wild boar burger. Once again we shared bites:) IT WAS SO GOOD. *licks lips just thinking about it*
Dessert! Just mine in the picture, my mom had special coffee with a selection of cakes, I had 'Zwolse chocolade' which was this plate with all kinds of chocolate goodies. That's white chocolate icecream with soft white chocolate curls, the lolly-pops are icecream dipped in black chocolate and in the upper right hand corner is a rich brownie with three chocolate variaties.
*rubs belly*
Time to explore the building!
They restored the organ to its full glory.
The murals on the ceiling are also original (we'll climb up there later for a closer look)
Standing with my back to the organ, facing the restaurant.
The other side, isn't it beautiful?
The former floor of the church had several gravestones, they are now decorating the walls.
In front you can see a glass case in the floor...
During excavations of the square in front of the church, they found a human skeleton! The body was tied up and had a fractured skull. Extensive research into his murder also taught us he was a young man who lived between 1316 and 1440, so before the church was even build! His bones are in the glass display case lit up by a manual light switch.
They also did a facial and body reconstruction of the man, which is a permanent part of the exhibition on the top floor.
Climbing upstairs to the art-exhibition, you also get real close to the paintings on the ceiling. *stares*
Ready for some modern art? NSFW warning!
Colourful woodwork by Hans van Benthem
White ceramics by Hans van Benthem, this exhibition is called Keep on dreaming;)
More ceramics, with my mom in the background.
A detail out of the cabinet above. Sweet dreams :-p
Too bad the rest of my family missed this; that was the best late birthday party ever \o/
Long story short; despite of staying in a house with my brother and his inlaws, nobody even congratulated me and there were no presents, except from my mom (who gave me a selfmade card with a gift certificate for a book and the promise of a fancy dinner when we got back home, see below) and my sister in law's sister (!) (who gave me a giftcard for the cinema near Sydney, which I went to with my mom for American Hustle later that week). So, ehm, yeah, colour me depressed.
BUT! A week and a half ago my mom and I finally managed to get together for that fancy dinner. I also bought a book of my favourite author, because the restaurant was in a corner of this huge restored bookstore set in a church from 1465:) It's a gorgeous building; they kept a lot of the magnificent features of the original church intact while also using the height to the advantage of presenting books in the most glorious way. If you love architecture and books and history and fancy food, check this out!
First we'll sit down for dinner at Waanders In De Broeren. After dessert we'll take a good look at the store/church, mkay? All the dishes come in big or small sizes; we picked small for our starter and main course, but of course big for our desserts *grins*
Warnings for meat-eating, skulls/gravestones and artistic nudity.
Mustard soup with bacon, so creamy and exactly mustardy enough. We shared our buns because we each got a different one! Also nom.
Oh, alright, here's a peak at the bookshop/rest of the church; the restaurant is situated in the back.
Main course: for me a roe deer steak (with fried decorations and a red pear), my mom had a wild boar burger. Once again we shared bites:) IT WAS SO GOOD. *licks lips just thinking about it*
Dessert! Just mine in the picture, my mom had special coffee with a selection of cakes, I had 'Zwolse chocolade' which was this plate with all kinds of chocolate goodies. That's white chocolate icecream with soft white chocolate curls, the lolly-pops are icecream dipped in black chocolate and in the upper right hand corner is a rich brownie with three chocolate variaties.
*rubs belly*
Time to explore the building!
They restored the organ to its full glory.
The murals on the ceiling are also original (we'll climb up there later for a closer look)
Standing with my back to the organ, facing the restaurant.
The other side, isn't it beautiful?
The former floor of the church had several gravestones, they are now decorating the walls.
In front you can see a glass case in the floor...
During excavations of the square in front of the church, they found a human skeleton! The body was tied up and had a fractured skull. Extensive research into his murder also taught us he was a young man who lived between 1316 and 1440, so before the church was even build! His bones are in the glass display case lit up by a manual light switch.
They also did a facial and body reconstruction of the man, which is a permanent part of the exhibition on the top floor.
Climbing upstairs to the art-exhibition, you also get real close to the paintings on the ceiling. *stares*
Ready for some modern art? NSFW warning!
Colourful woodwork by Hans van Benthem
White ceramics by Hans van Benthem, this exhibition is called Keep on dreaming;)
More ceramics, with my mom in the background.
A detail out of the cabinet above. Sweet dreams :-p
Too bad the rest of my family missed this; that was the best late birthday party ever \o/
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no subject
Date: 2014-04-01 08:19 pm (UTC)At least you had a good dinner with your mom. It looked yummilicious - especially dessert :D
Thank you so much for sharing the photos with us!! I love them, all the beautiful architecture and art and what an absolutely fascinating story about the bones they'd found.
I'm so glad you had a great belated birthday celebration. :)
no subject
Date: 2014-04-03 01:53 pm (UTC)The fancy dinner was spectaculair, every dish was delish! My mom definitely made up for the rest of the family, that was a great present
I love sharing photos and it makes me happy that you enjoy them. (Of course it would be even better to show the awesome in person; consider this an open invitation:)
no subject
Date: 2014-04-01 09:37 pm (UTC)Tell, me what book you got????
no subject
Date: 2014-04-03 02:09 pm (UTC)I bought Dutch book "De Man Van Je Leven" (The Man Of Your Life) by one of our best authors Arthur Japin. I don't know what it's about yet, because I buy his books blind:)
Some of Japin's earlier books are translated, most famously his first novel, "De zwarte met het witte hart" (1997), translated as The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi. It's based on the true story of two Ashanti princes who were taken from Africa (Ghana) to the court of the Dutch king Willem II in 1837. Recommended!
Most of his books are inspired by historic events, yet my favorite of his writings are his own diaries (from 2000-2007) about him traveling the US, doing research for one of his books (about a native American woman) and falling in love with a younger man, while he still loved his partner back home as well. (Spoiler: the three of them are currently living together in the Netherlands!)
For future reference: asking me about books will make me babble;)
no subject
Date: 2014-04-03 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-03 02:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-06 09:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-07 10:17 am (UTC)