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            • News
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              Number of first-years at the Campus Fryslân has doubled

              Campus Fryslân in Leeuwarden to hold special ‘local solutions to global problems’ climate adaptation courses

              Martini Tower to ring in curfew with centuries-old alarm bell

              Martini Tower to ring in curfew with centuries-old alarm bell

              More than a start-up: Chordify helps people play their favourite songs

              Groningen-based Chordify app got 73.7 million visitors in 2020

              Gemeente Groningen to support struggling sports clubs

              Gemeente Groningen to support struggling sports clubs

              US Climate group suggests much of the Netherlands to be a new Atlantis by 2050

              US Climate group suggests much of the Netherlands to be a new Atlantis by 2050

              Additional Coronavirus measures to be announced on Wednesday

              The “Toeslagen Affair:” why did the Dutch government resign last week?

              Masters of chess: Jorden van Foreest played against world champion Magnus Carlsen

              Masters of chess: Jorden van Foreest played against world champion Magnus Carlsen

              Leeuwarden to hold pro-refugee demonstration on Saturday

              Asylum seekers’ details illegally shared with the police by The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA)

              Crystal Meth lab found in old barn in Miedum (Leeuwarden)

              Crystal Meth lab found in old barn in Miedum (Leeuwarden)

              Trending Tags

              • Covid-19
              • Lifestyle
                • All
                • Food & Drinks
                • Nightlife
                • Shopping
                • What's happening
                Digital ESNS festival reaches people from ‘124 countries’

                Digital ESNS festival reaches people from ‘124 countries’

                The show must go on: ESNS music festival starts Wednesday (online)

                The Northern Times’ ESNS 2021 highlights: Thursday and Friday

                Drenthe backs subsidies to improve bee and butterfly numbers

                Drenthe backs subsidies to improve bee and butterfly numbers

                The most wonderful time of the year…

                The most wonderful time of the year…

                “Number of physical lessons at NHL Stenden can rise again, thanks to lower Coronavirus levels”

                NHL Stenden holding online Christmas celebrations for students unable to get home

                City Central to host Boxing Day online games night

                City Central to host Boxing Day online games night

                Groningen’s top restaurants get together and develop gourmet takeaway box

                Groningen’s top restaurants get together and develop gourmet takeaway box

                ESN organising Christmas events (online and offline) for Internationals

                ESN organising Christmas events (online and offline) for Internationals

                Groningen’s market takes extra measures to stay open

                You are what you eat: gastronomic local delights

                Trending Tags

                • Culture
                  • All
                  • Dutch history
                  • Typical Dutch
                  RUG, UMCG, and Groninger Museum come together for face mask competition

                  People called ‘Wappie’ (traditional Frisian name) surprised with its new meaning

                  41st edition of International Film Festival Assen to be completely online

                  41st edition of International Film Festival Assen to be completely online

                  Rolling Stones exhibition in Groninger Museum extended

                  Rolling Stones exhibition in Groninger Museum extended

                  The show must go on: ESNS music festival starts Wednesday (online)

                  The show must go on: ESNS music festival starts Wednesday (online)

                  Drenthe’s two millennia-old horn blowing Boxing Day tradition

                  Drenthe’s two millennia-old horn blowing Boxing Day tradition

                  NNO and Groninger creatives to pay musical tribute to the city

                  NNO and Groninger creatives to pay musical tribute to the city

                  A Coronavirus-proof Christmas in the North: Get into the holiday spirit despite the lockdown

                  A Coronavirus-proof Christmas in the North: Get into the holiday spirit despite the lockdown

                  Sinterklaas: treats, poems, and racist caricatures

                  Sinterklaas: treats, poems, and racist caricatures

                  Forum Groningen to show film as tribute to footballer Diego Maradona

                  Forum Groningen to show film as tribute to footballer Diego Maradona

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                    From a WhatsApp group to a community: BLOG offers a ready-made social space for Black Ladies in Groningen

                    First students snap up alternate study spots in Oosterpoort

                    Dutch student grades rise during pandemic whilst mental health suffers

                    NHL_Stenden_studying

                    New students in Leeuwarden get ‘Coronaproof’ introduction week

                    Dutch King orders new 2-million euro yacht from Frisian boat builder

                    King visits Drenthe, ignored by window cleaner

                    The freshest of threads: send in your designs and become the next sustainable fashion sensation

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                    “We were hoping to start making friends in the summer”

                    “We were hoping to start making friends in the summer”

                    Party at home like a King with Temple this weekend

                    Party at home like a King with Temple this weekend

                    Heads in copper clouds: a Portuguese wanderer in Friesland

                    Heads in copper clouds: a Portuguese wanderer in Friesland

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                    Vlieland football team suffers from serial prankster

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                      The RUG is one of the Netherlands’ best universities, so why do its teaching staff give such low-grade feedback?

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                      Could you Meet Your Future in the Digital World? Online career event for Internationals going live in February

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                      The Northern Times’ guide for learning Dutch in the North

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                      From Chile to the USA: Repak in Emmen eyes up the global market

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                      Could you Meet your Future in Energy? Online career event for Internationals in the North

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                      RUG Campus Fryslân and Wetterskip Fryslân team up for climate adaption competition

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                      Fryske Akademy in Leeuwarden to receive EU subsidy for furthering ‘world-citizen’ education

                      Fryske Akademy in Leeuwarden to receive EU subsidy for furthering ‘world-citizen’ education

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                      Leeuwarden: an enchanted city

                      Leeuwarden: an enchanted city

                      The Northern Times by The Northern Times
                      January 7, 2020
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                      Ekaterina Netchitailova is an academic who recently moved to Leeuwarden. She has lived in four different countries and in a number of different cities, so how did the Frisian capital seem to a complete newcomer? This is the third and final piece in a three-part series exploring feeling ‘home’ in Friesland. You can read Ekaterina’s first two installments here, and here.

                      By Ekaterina Netchitailova

                      I was still in the Fire café, enjoying my second coffee verkeerd when the shops slowly opened, revealing more people. But somehow, the magical Leeuwarden managed to remain quiet. It didn’t have crowds of people one often sees in other towns on a holiday. People would go to a shop, but it looked like it was all done in a leisurely manner, without rushing anywhere and with time left over to stop for coffee or lunch, or a peek to check what the Frisian museum has on offer. People walk, clearly enjoying the beauty of the city and its architecture, and that special aura.

                      Even cats in Leeuwarden seemed quiet and tranquil, with one taking a strategic position upon a bench at the Fire café, under a heater. I noticed the cat at once; not being disturbed by the passers-by and visitors to the café in the slightest. It clearly belonged, melting into the surrounding, adding something extra to the town that started to believe had something special, something that other cities had lost. Was it the quietness, I wondered? Or just the unexpectedness of it all? Maybe the amazing and sometimes weird architecture, Michelin-starred restaurants that emerge from different streets, cats that seem to conduct a really chilled-out existence? Or was it the Leeuwarders, who appeared to have a relaxed attitude to the life around them, offering cake with my coffee, volunteering to take me directly to a place I was looking for when asking for directions, saying ‘hello’ to me in the middle of the street while not knowing me?

                      I wasn’t sure, but by the end of that Sunday I was in love with the town. I could see myself settling there easily. I could picture myself in the Prinsentuin, where I could hear the birds without any interruption and admire the sky with total freedom, and whose vastness was even more pronounced and dramatic in a low-rise city. I could see myself in the local cafes, drinking my coffee or wine, taking time to just watch the surroundings without the pressure of shopping or rushing anywhere. I could envision my cat finding her place among all the local cats, and adopting the same nonchalant attitude as the rest of them, taking a walk on the main street as if she owned it, marching into the local cafes and taking a place on the bench.

                      The next day I had my job interview, and for a couple of hours after, while I was waiting for the decision, I was praying that it would be positive. It would no longer be a complicated relocation to a totally new place, it would be home-coming to a magical place, where buildings speak to you because no one interrupts their voices, where cakes are served as a surprise, where people are clearly relaxed, and where cats are obviously happy.

                      I got my wish, and moved to Leeuwarden, not a town, but an enchanted place: a hidden gem in the Netherlands.

                      Image via Friesland.nl

                      Tags: birdsongcatscoffee verkeerdFrieslandhomeLeeuwardenopennessrelaxedsky
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