Category Archives: Enjoy

The first time on a bike

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On the bike!In Spain driving a bike is not nearly as natural as it is in Holland. There are very few bike lanes and if you are one of the lucky few with a bike you will find yourself on a dangerous spot. Other users of the roads are not used to bikes and they just don’t take into account there might be bikes around. In Holland it cannot be more different. Here you are the king of the road on your bike. Everyone knows you are there and you can drive everywhere on your bike.

It was a good moment to introduce Alex to this great concept. Together we drove a few laps and Alex did quite enjoy it. At first he had to overcome some of his anxiety, because we were going quite fast, but he got the hand of it quite fast en even enjoyed himself. Still, it was his first time and after a few lats he started asking for mamma. Still, the bike seed has been planted and now the biker in Alex can start to grow.

In the news, thanks to Angelina Jolie

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Ana in the news!
Who would have thought it possible that Ana would be the main news in the local papers thanks to Angelina Jolie. Ana does research and screening for generic markers related to breast cancer. A topic that recently became world news thanks to Angelina. The current awareness resulted in interviews, newspaper articles and publications.

Of course it makes me feel very proud of my Ana!

Fathersday

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Today is fathersday in Spain. Alex (with a little help from his mother) got me this beautiful picture! Naturally I was very happy with this very nice gift. The photo was taken on the Canteras beach where Alex was just checking out the local scenery.Vaderdag 2013!

Color again

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Vrede van Utrecht five euro in color!There is another 5 euro coin available and this time they minted another small batch of colored coins. The number of colored coins is 1000 and this is a little bit more then the previous set with the colored tulips, which counted 750 sets. Again the entire batch sold out within a day.

The colored set of the Utrecht five euro coin exists out of 6 silver coins where each has a little colored detail. For each country/area that signed the treaty of the Peace in Utrecht there is a colored coins present in the set. For each country the coloring that is used is based on the countries flag or arms from 1713. The countries that participated were France, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Savoy.

Even though these coins are not legal tender this remains a mystery when you review the website of the royal Dutch mint. Clearly they want to sell the colored coins quickly without any hassle. They announced (*) the coins on their website with the specifications stating “Nominal value: 6 x 5 euro”. In the news item announcing the new coins the colored set is mentioned right alongside the rest of the coins. A bit strange because the colored coins are legally viewed worthless and should not be considered legal currency.

The (official) colored coins sold by the royal Dutch mint until now:

Year Coin Quantity Introduction price
2013 Vrede van Utrecht color set 1000 sets
6 silver coins per set
Nominal value 5 euros per coin		 € 275,00
2012 Lucky 10 cents 15.000 coins
Nominal value 10 cents		 € 4,95
2012 Tulpen vijfje color set 750 sets
4 silver coins per set
Nominal value 5 euros per coin		 € 200,00

(*) Sadly the royal Dutch mint does not preserve the content of their website. As soon as a product is no longer available in their shop all the details related to the product disappear.

Back to Leiden

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The situation in Spain is very difficult at the moment. There is a very high unemployment rate and if your lucky, and have a job, there is a lot of uncertainty. After years of employment people suddenly get contracts that last only a month. If you are sick at the end of the month you are automatically without a job.

After quite some debate we have made a decision to do whats best and try to create more stability for our family. We wanted the security of two incomes in these strange times of crisis. After months of searching for a job here in Gran Canaria I took a gamble in the Netherlands. This turned out to be a lucky shot and one week after sending my CV and a phone call I got myself a nice contract for half a year. A contract worth more that three times a similar job here in Spain.

Of course it was a very difficult decision. My family will remain (for now) in Las Palmas and we will have to see how we fill in our future together. I’m going back home to Leiden and start there the 1st of April. The positive feeling of returning to my roots, my family and my friends is however overshadowed by the nearing goodbye of Alex and Ana. Even though I know the goodbye is only for a while and there are lots of ways to keep in touch, it is still painful to think I will not be there for Alex in the middle of the night when he wants his milk.

It is a big change for us, but we are confident it is the best thing we can do for our future. I’m heading back to Leiden (first to Noordwijkerhout) and then we will see where the future leads us. See you very soon!

Climbing stairs

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Last week Alex had another checkup where he also got a few more vaccinations injected into his little leg. During the checkup they asked us if Alex knew how to climb a stairs. We did not really try this with Alex but there had been a few times that Alex liked to go up and down some stairs with a helping hand. We said that stairs for Alex were no problem, and a few days later Alex showed us that he really did master the art of climbing!

Scarcity

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2 euro dubbelportret!The departure of queen Beatrix and the arrival of our new king Willem Alexander is of course very big news and just like a lot of other commercial parties the royal Dutch mint is trying to get a nice slice of the cake. They are producing aankondigingspenningen (announcement coins), abdication sets, special 2 euro coins and a lot more merchandise. Right now all products feature the portrait of our queen, but after the 30th of April there will surely be a big number of new coins which are minted with the portrait of the new king Willem Alexander.

The new 2 euro with both portraits of Beatrix and Willem-Alexander will be mixed with the normal 2 euros and there will be 20 million of such coins, so for sure you will encounter a few of them. For collectors the KNM has a different approach. Once again the created an extra nice coin but in a very limited edition. So limited that they were sold out in days. It seems like a standard approach to quickly sell a few coins which then become very rare and expensive.

The last few emissions by the KNM in 2013:
2 euro dubbelportret – sold out in 3 days
2 euro verdrag van rome in coincard – sold out in 15 days
muntrol 2 euro dubbelportret – sold out in 1 day
BU set Nederland 2013 – sold out in 11 days

Once sold out the price of the coins usually quickly doubles. It almost obligates collectors to review the KNM facebook page and website to keep up to date with new releases. I am not sure what exactly is the advantage for the KNM, but coin dealers must be very happy.