Travel
Issue 17. July/August 2013
Hidden Paradises •
“When I spoke to the King at the reception on Queensday, he was excited to hear an ambassador trying and speaking Dutch”
By your Travel Adviser, Dicky H.I. Riel
In Italy, two little spots of paradise:
Orthodontic
Practice
If travelling to Tuscany and to Florence there is a fantastic place to stay, to enjoy a nice break or holiday. Hotel/Ristorante Villa Le Rondini lies on a beautiful hill with a special view on the City of Florence. This 16th century villa is encircled by 22 hectares of park, olive trees and set in the typical Tuscan countryside. For sport lovers, golf and riding facilities are at short distance, and on the premises there is a tennis court, swimming pool and even a heliport! Villa Le Rondini’s rooms are decorated in classic style but with air-conditioning and their restaurant uses products from the nearby family farms. There is a large parking area at the Villa and good public transportation nearby, bringing you to Florence city centre in just 10 minutes. Address: Hotel/Ristorante Villa le Rondini, Via Bolognese Vecchia, 224, 50139 Florence Tel: 0031 055 4000081 www.villalerondini.it South of Rome, at about 2 hours’ drive on the way to Naples and Abruzzo, is another location worth mentioning. In an area known as Ciociaria there is Fuiggi and Fuiggi Terme! Nowadays, the Italian mineral water San Pellegrino is well known but few people know that the water from the source at Fuiggi is of the same level, if not higher in quality. Fiuggi Terme is also famous for Spa health treatments. The adjacent town of Fiuggi has a very nice golf course and many good hotels set in nice surroundings. Closer to home: A hidden paradise in Belgium Just outside Gent and not far from Brugge lies St. Martens Latem, a very cosy village in green surroundings with a well-known golf course. This village, formerly known as the Artist Village, was home to a number of famous painters and artists and still retains a special cultural feel and you will find it hard to leave! It’s a good place for a short break or a weekend and can be combined with a trip to the Belgium coast – Oostende and Knokke are about an hour away. Alternatively, take a boat ride on the Leie, the pretty river that runs from Gent via St. Martens Latem to the North Sea. From Gent you can take a boat going to St. Martens Latem and one of the recommended stops is at the Auberge de Pecheur. a fine hotel with an excellent restaurant. It can also be easily reached by car and has good parking facilities. Watch out for the next travel review by Dicky Riel, where he will be revealing little hidden paradises in Georgia, in Algeria and in Venice.
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His Excellency George Troup of New Zealand
meet the ambassador •
Text by Priya de Langen I Photo by debestpix.com
His Excellency George Troup, Ambassador of New Zealand speaks to Priya de Langen about his work in The Hague, his love for Dutch food and speaking to the King in Dutch. “The Hague is a popular place to go for ambassadors. In our service, it is one of the positions that is most sought after and I feel very lucky to have been sent here,” says George Troup, Ambassador of New Zealand Embassy. Troup assumed his position in The Hague in 2010 and in the three years, he has made efforts in improving the already strong diplomatic and economic ties that exist between the two countries. The Netherlands is the largest European investor in New Zealand and two countries share a historic relationship – a captain of the Dutch East Indies Company and his sailors were the first nonMaori to conduct an expedition into a land that is currently known as New Zealand in 1642. The relationship between the two nations was made stronger by migration over the years. A significant number of Dutch migrants settled in New Zealand after World War II while many New Zealanders have also settled in The Netherlands. Troup estimates that currently 10,000 New Zealanders are residing on Dutch soil. His scope of work is wide-ranging and he says that the main objective of the embassy in The Hague is working with the Dutch. He says he is keen to promote the possible synergies between two countries in the oil and gas industry. “We are interested in investment from The Netherlands. We are interested in selling the New Zealand know- how to The Netherlands and using the Dutch know-how in New Zealand.” Troup has also hosted a reception for a conference of the Superconductors industry to showcase what New Zealand is doing in this industry. His duties also include attending and representing New Zealand at important conferences held by international organisations such as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons based in The Hague. He observes that he likes talking to intelligent and knowledgeable Dutch people from all industries. “One of the great things about a posting here is the Dutch people all know what is happening and they try to tell you about it and they say it honestly.” Of course, it is not always about work for Troup who has taken to acclimatising to the Dutch culture and way of life with gusto. He admits that croquettes and bitterballen are some of his favourite Dutch fare and even forces his visitors to try herrings, which he says he likes very much. In his spare time and for recreation he has taken up Dutch biking: “I really enjoy cycling across the dunes; I live in Wassenaar and I like to get on my bike and sometimes cycle along the dunes to Scheveningen and then come back through the woods of The Hague.” He likes to attend concerts and appreciates the Dutch taste in music, for composers like Bach, whose music is popular in The Netherlands. Furthermore, he spends time showing family and friends who come to visit around South and North Holland or takes them on a ride to the countryside. Troup has also taken to the Dutch language and spent two weeks on an intensive Dutch course in a language school in Vught, near Den Bosch. “I can read and write Dutch and I can often understand what is said on the television and in the news but the challenge is to practice speaking. Dutch people speak English so well that they all turn to speaking English when I speak to them.” One could say that the language lessons have paid off since he got the chance to speak to King Willem-Alexander in Dutch. “When I spoke to the King at the reception on Koningsdag, he was excited to hear an ambassador trying and speaking Dutch,” he recalls.