| New entries 2003 | July 2003
Yesterday, July 3, 24 new sites were added to the World Heritage List. Gambia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Sudan got their first entries. From these new additions, I have already visited two: the well-known Kew Gardens in London (UK), and the Historic city of Valparaiso in Chile.
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| Another one in Belgium | June 2003
This Sunday I drove almost completely across Belgium, to end near La Louvière. Goal were the Four Lifts for ships in the Canal du Centre, impressive remains from the late 19th century industrial era.
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| Eastern Europe (1) | May 2003
The first part of what hopefully will be a summer tour around worldheritages in Eastern Europe took me to the Czech Republic. Yes, I went to Prague, but I'd like to highlight the town of Kutna Hora where I stayed for 4 days.
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| Tournai | May 2003
A short visit to one of the oldest towns in Belgium: Tournai (or Doornik in Flemish). Just to check upon the Cathedral: have the restoration works finished yet?
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| Friesland | May 2003
On the Dutch national windmill and pumping station day, I visited the Woudagemaal in the northern province of Friesland.
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| Japan, again | April 2003
My first real trip abroad this year took me to Japan, one of my favourite countries in the world. I stayed in Kyoto for a week, and after that travelled by train and bus to Koyasan, Matsumoto, Tsumago and Osaka. Both Koyasan and Matsumoto are lobbying for worldheritage status at the moment. In the Matsumoto-museum they now even have a wonderful exhibition of large photos of world heritage sites around the world. Really a must see if you're a fan like me!
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| London | March 2003
Went to London for a job interview at the Ford motor company. Don't know the outcome, but hey, here's visited world heritage number 117.
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| Trier | February 2003
Beautiful weather always inspires me to leave my house and go worldheritage hunting. This freezing but sunny weekend I spent in Trier, a lovely town next to the Moselle and with a Roman heritage unusual rich this far from Rome.
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| Portugal | December 2002
During the last 10 days of the year I toured around Portugal and Madeira. I visited six new heritage sites, revisited an old one (Sintra) and missed two due to weather circumstances. Among the most impressive I count the center of Guimaraes, the castle and convent of Tomar and the monastery of Alcobaça.
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| Around Segovia | December 2002
I just had to get away, again. Last weekend I spent in Segovia, a city 88 km. northwest of Madrid. Besides Segovia itself there are two other worldheritages in the immediate vicinity, Ávila and El Escorial, which I visited both.
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| Nottingham | November 2002
When the company that I work for decided to send me to Nottingham for a few days, I immediately checked my map of the UK. Would there be any world heritage sites in that area? The answer: yes, of course. So I added a short visit to the Derwent Valley and its mills to my schedule.
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| Autumn | November 2002
What is more beautiful on a shiny autumn day than to be in a forest? The park and woods around the castles of Brühl were most colourful today, turning my 105th visit to a world heritage site in a worthwhile daytrip.
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| Pampus | October 2002
The Defense Line of Amsterdam consists of over 40 fortresses and batteries. They are spread out in a large area around the Dutch capital Amsterdam. On a beautiful autumn day I visited Muiden and the island fortress of Pampus.
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| Horta | September 2002
Today I joined the sophisticated crowd at the Victor Horta Museum in Brussels, Belgium. It probably became my shortest visit to a world heritage site ever. Quite nice house though.
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| Bergen, Norway | July 2002
Probably for the last time this summer, I went out to explore a new part of Europe. The choice fell upon Bergen, a city in southwestern Norway. I did what you have to do in Norway (glacier, fjord, boattrip), and I visited two world heritage sites: Bryggen and Urnes.
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| Safle Treftadaeth Byd | June 2002
... is Welsh for World Heritage Site. So Wales is where I headed to make my 100th visit to a worldheritage. I was so absorbed by the place (and there was so little public transport on a Sunday) that I missed my plane back home - for the first time in 12 years of air travel.
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| Flevoland | June 2002
Sounds unbelievable probably, but today I made my first real visit to Holland's 12th province: Flevoland. Only existing as land since 50-60 years, it doesn't held many attractions to me. But it has Schokland, and that became visited worldheritage no. 97.
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| Florence & Pisa | May 2002
Heritage-spotting was resumed early May in Italy. After four rainy days I came to the conclusion that the best thing about Florence is getting away to Pisa: the Campo dei Miracoli over there I experienced as the highlight of my short stay. It's probably not cultural correct to say, but I was disappointed by the city of Florence - too many tourists, too dirty.
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| Two magical islands | March 2002
A childhood dream came true: visiting Easter Island. Finally I could see the famous statues with my own eyes. It was also my first visit to the Pacific, and certainly not the last. Besides this, I also went to Chiloe, an Island just below the middle of Chile.
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| 8 hours in Paris | February 2002
Last Friday I discovered that it takes only a little over 3 hours to get to Paris by train. Although I've travelled quite a lot all over the world, I had never been to the French capital. So on a freezing but sunny Saturday I grabbed my chance and spent 8 hours in this romantic city.
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| Exploring Ancient Greece | December 2001
I am not fond of days like Christmas, and like to escape to a warmer place. This year's choice fell upon the Greece mainland. I started in Athens (visited the Acropolis of course), and then rented a car to explore the Peloponnesus. Finally, I ended my 10 days in sun and snow with Delphi. The theatre of Epidaurus and the fortified cities Tiryns and Mycenae were on my route, but it was medieval Mystras that I enjoyed most.
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| New entries for 2001 announced | December 2001
The notice came by email today: 31 new sites have been added to the World Heritage List. Fortunately a lot less than last years 61. On first sight, the most eyecatching new entry is Samarkand (anchor on the Ancient Silk Route). Only one out of these 31 I have visited, a long time ago: the cliffs of Dorset in the UK.
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| Edinburgh | October 2001
Stimulated by the low prices of air tickets, I decided to go abroad for one last time this year. Well, except for the holidays around Christmas, and the occasional daytrip of course. The Scottish capital Edinburgh provided me both with beautiful scenery and two of my other favourites - bookstores and Asian food.
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| Bruges | October 2001
Back in Europe, where there is still a lot to see. The city of Bruges is a famous international tourist attraction, and my goal for today. What did I experience? Groups of tourists, mainly Japanese and American. Souvenir shops with lace and Belgian chocolate. And in between, numerous medieval monuments.
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| Korea Trip #2 - The South | September 2001
After Seoul and Andong, I stayed in Gyeongju for a couple of days. From there I made daytrips to several places worth visiting in the area. Three worldheritages were among those: Gyeongju itself, the Bulguksa Temple & Sokkuram Grotto, and the majestic Haein-sa Temple. It took me over 3 hours to get to the last one, but the Haein-sa complex was probably the best sight I saw in South-Korea.
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| Korea Trip #1 - Around Seoul | September 2001
The first two weeks of September I spent travelling around South-Korea. I tried the quite typical Korean food, visited rural Andong and rainy tropical island Jeju. And of course some worldheritages: four of them are near the capital Seoul. They include Changdeokgung Palace, Kanghwa Dolmen en the Chongmyo Shrine, but what I liked best are the enormous city fortifications of Suwon.
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| Aachen | August 2001
Sunny Aachen offered more attractive distractions than visiting the Cathedral that is featured on the World Heritage List. Dutiful as I am though I visited Aachen Cathedral and its Treasury before heading for one of the terraces in the city center. The Cathedral I found a bit disappointing, the Treasury is well-presented. And the food and drinks in Aachen I can also recommend after today.
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| Dutch architecture | August 2001
On a sunny Friday afternoon I was in the mood for some cultural nourishment. The choice fell upon the Rietveld Schröder Huis in Utrecht. And I certainly did not regret it: it is a work of art. On the practical side I learned that the former owner, Mrs. Schröder, hated cleaning and therefore had painted the doors a darker colour where you touch them. Good idea, I now want that too in my house.
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| Finland & Estonia | June 2001
A bit bored about daily life, I took the chance of a last minute flight to Helsinki. Maybe a somewhat decadent destination for a weekend-break, but I loved it. Near the Finnish capital I visited the Fortress Suomenlinna. And a catamaran journey of 1.5 hours took me to the Estonian capital Tallinn.
Both are certainly worth their place on the World Heritage List, but Tallinn is a real treasure.
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| Early summer in Cyprus | May 2001
Although only May, it was already very hot in Cyprus with temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius and above. Nevertheless I was able to visit the three world heritage sites: the 9000 year old town of Choirokoitia, the tombs and mosaics of Paphos, and the Byzantine churches in the Troödos mountains. I never imagined that Cyprus was so rich in historical sights, and the most amazing thing is that there is a lot more to be discovered as most of the excavations are from recent date and only scratched the surface so far.
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| Luxembourg | April 2001
Luxembourg is a funny country. At a restaurant with a German menu they took my order in French. I approached the woman at the museum counter in French, she - somehow sensing that I am Dutch - replied in English and gave me a brochure in Dutch. The language-switching is done easily, the people are friendly. Although you might think that Luxembourg is just an extension of Belgium, this is not true: somehow the Luxembourgers made this tiny state into a place of its own.
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| Typical Sunday in Holland | April 2001
Let me introduce you to a typical April Sunday in Holland. The day before, the weatherforcasters tell you the weather will be sunny and not so cold. This is never true: 99 out of 100 days in Holland are cloudy. But you still believe them, because you want to believe them. You have been inside for more than 6 months, and want to go out! So I planned a trip to Beemster. Do some walking, take pictures with my brand new digital camera. Result: visited world heritage number 66 and some gloomy pictures.
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| The Terai | March 2001
The southern part of Nepal, stretching along the Indian border, is called the Terai. It's mostly flat land, and can be burning hot in summer. Parts of it get flooded often during the rainy season. This area hosts 2 world heritage sites: Lumbini, birthplace of Buddha, and Chitwan National Park. Early March I visited both of them, located about 5 hours drive by local bus from each other.
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| Kathmandu revisited | February 2001
Eight years after my first visit, I decided to come back and explore Nepal at a more leisurely pace. I was a little worried however about the large influx of tourists since then. But when I drove from the airport to Kathmandu, I saw that no spectacular changes had taken place: it still is a large village. What I most recognized is the smell: a mixture of incense and motor vehicle pollution.
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| Lier | January 2001
Only a 1.5 hours drive away from my home: the language is the same (almost), but the atmosphere totally different. A pigeon market on the central square. Women showing their expensive fur coats during the Sunday walk around town. No McDonalds in sight, but real (Flamish) Fries for lunch. Lier is Flanders at its best.
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