Stairs and ladders are generally seen primarily as tools to bridge physical heights. But the more than 40 artists and designers in the exhibition Stairway to..? show the many faces of the ladder and stairs. From the societal ladder...
400 years ago, in 1626, Jan Steen was born in Leiden. I came across this remarkable painter three times in the stamp catalogue. Although the name Steen does not refer to the Stone Age, his name does have something to do with 'stones'...
Years ago, I met a philatelist who collected stamps from Austria. Every year he went on vacation to Austria, and then he would try to take identical photos of images that appeared on his stamps. I wondered at the time whether multiple...
Last chance: November 2, 2025. This is the last day to climb onto the roof of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. Indeed, the church located on Dam Square and next to the Royal Palace. If you this...
It has been 75 years since the series Churches in Wartime was published. It was the time of reconstruction, also for the destroyed churches. It was also the second First Day Cover of the Netherlands. As a baby boomer (born between 1946...), have you
Together with my wife, I went cycling in the Veluwezoom. We stayed in the charming village of Ellecom and cycled to Dieren, Doesburg, and the village of De Steeg. I don't exactly consider 'De Steeg' a name for a village,...
Deventer is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. Together with my wife, I visited this 'cookie city'. After all, our first association when we think of Deventer is 'Deventer cookie'. During our stay, however, we noticed that Deventer...
Together with my youngest daughter, I went to Middelburg for a weekend. It was fun and enjoyable. I couldn't resist looking to see if there were any stamps of Middelburg. The first one I came across was the...
Leiden is the Key City, the City of Discoveries, and the City with the oldest university in the Netherlands. It is therefore inevitable that many remarkable people have lived in Leiden. I will introduce you to 10 of them....
My wife and I have been to the same holiday destination several times, but three times the name of the country was different. In 1979 it was called Yugoslavia; in 1991 it became Macedonia, and since 2019 the country has been called North Macedonia. Which is the same...
Together with my wife, I took a trip to Germany and we visited Trier. What a beautiful city! As a Leiden city guide, I (unconsciously) started making a comparison between Leiden and Trier. Do you want to know which city won?...
The 36th edition of the VriendenLoterij Open Monument Day (OMD) takes place on the weekend of 10 and 11 September 2022, with the theme 'Sustainability lasts longest'. During the VriendenLoterij Open Monument Day, thousands of monuments throughout the Netherlands open their doors for free...
The Leiden 'hobby designer' Frans Hemelop recently released his 11th Leiden courtyard stamp. There are 35 courtyards in Leiden, so he could keep going for a while, but Frans has indicated that this is his last. It is another beautiful stamp...
On October 23, 1956, unrest erupted in the People's Republic of Hungary due to a spontaneous uprising against the Stalinist regime. The massive popular uprising lasted until November 10, 1956, and was ended by the harsh intervention of the Soviet army....
The Greek composer and political activist Mikis Theodorakis died on September 2, 2021, at the age of 96. In 1964, he wrote the music for the film 'Zorba the Greek' and the accompanying song 'Zorba's Dance', or 'Sirtaki'. It stood...
* " indicates required fields
