Medical Bioinformatics and e-Bioscience

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Places where we live and where we came from

The people from the Bioinformatics Laboratory live in various cities and towns in the Netherlands. The photos below provide a biased impression of these places.

We live in the Netherlands

s-Hertogenbosch

Historically 's-Hertogenbosch (or Den Bosch as it's commonly known) is one of the most important towns of the south of the Netherlands. In the Middle Ages it was a major religious and political centre. Surrounded entirely by a city wall in the old days, much of the orignal structure of the town is still intact today. Its historical buildings, maze of narrow alleys and old canals make 's-Hertogenbosch a great place for a short stop-over.

The St Jan Cathedral (Dutch) is one of the main attractions of the city. The area around the cathedral has many old houses and small streets lined with shops, restaurants and bars. This is the best area to spend your time.


Besides the Cathedral Den Bosch has its Binnendieze. Formerly this was a sewer, but now people can go downstream in small boats to get a sight of the old centre of Den Bosch. The former sewer gives you a unique view of Den Bosch. It’s possible to sail through the old centre and even under houses.


Part of the City wall of 's-Hertogenbosch.

Amsterdam, de Jordaan

The Amsterdam Jordaan is undoubtedly the most sung about, described and romanced town district of the Netherlands. Started as a district for the poor, today it is a favorite place for students, artists and young proffesionals. This new inhabitants of the Jordaan, together with the people that stayed behind from the erarly days, make this neighborhood a pleasant place with a mixture of all kinds of styles and activities.
Read more on wiki Jordaan, jordaanweb.com or jordaaninfo.com

You can take a virtual tour on Jordaan in Site and see the neighbourhood where Angela lives.

Arnhem

Arnhem is situated in the green province of Gelderland, in the east of The Netherlands.

Arnhem’s location near the border of Germany, played a pivotal role during the final days of the Second World War. To find out more about the scale of devastation caused by the German bombing and the events that inspired the film ‘A bridge too far’, visit the 73 meter high Eusebius Tower that dominates the skyline of Arnhem.

From here you will have a great view over the city and its green surrounding, for example the country estate Park Sonsbeek, Arnhem’s largest and most well-known park. It is great for walking, cycling and generally watching the world go by whilst relaxing on a bench and enjoying the great views.

Arnhem has an extensive network of trolley buses. Here is bus number 3 that brings you from the Central Station to Burger's zoo and back. By the way, taking this bus is also the most convenient way to pay a visit to Perry (no, he is not on display at the zoo).

Hoorn

Hoorn is a harbor town with an old center. It is located 40 kilometers north of Amsterdam at the IJselmeer, which used to be the Southern sea (Zuiderzee) before the dyke (afsluitdijk) was build. During the golden century Hoorn was an important base for the Dutch east india company (VOC). Hoorn got city rights in 1357 and currently it has 70,000 inhabitants. To see and do in Hoorn:

Hoorn has the second largest carnival of the Netherlands. The carnival takes place in august and has one evening with fireworks above the IJselmeer and it finishes with a fair.



You can go back in time by taking the steamtrain from Hoorn to Medemblik. This train passes through typical dutch scenery (windmills, cows and tulips) In Medemblik you can take the boat to Enkhuizen. There you can visit the open air museum (Zuiderzeemuseum), where old dutch buildings were reconstructed and old crafts are demonstrated. With the normal train you can return to Hoorn.


Hoorn has a nice old city center. A shopping area is located there and every saturday there is a market. There are also many nice restaurants and pubs in the center.


Interesting architecture can also be found in Hoorn. Old buildings from the VOC time are located at the Red Stone square (Rode steen). A prominant building is the great church designed by Bleijs, who has also designed the Sint Nicolaas church in Amsterdam. Another landmark is the Park Theater, a modern building designed by Alberts and Van Huut.

Google map with highlights of Hoorn

Naarden

The fortified town of Naarden is the oldest town in the Gooi and Vecht area, as well as one of the most picturesque cultural monuments of the Netherlands.

In order to find out more about the turbulent history of this town, we can highly recommend a visit to the Dutch Fortress Museum. Additionally, Naarden has sights such as the impressive Saint Vitus Church, famous for its unique painted ceilings and the annual performance of the Matthäus Passion. Climbing the bell tower is worth the effort for the lovely view. The town hall dates from 1601, a typical example of Dutch Renaissance architecture. No wonder Naarden is a very popular place for Dutch people to get married.
Other little gems are the Burgerweeshuis (the Commoners Orphanage) and the town gardens. The Naardermeer (Lake of Naarden) is one the oldest nature monuments of the Netherlands. Jan des Bouvrie is the Netherlands’ most famous interior designer, ostensibly known for dragging Holland out of its 1970’s orange and brown period into the 1980’s white opulent minimalist style. His gorgeous shop is located in Naarden’s former Arsenal building.

If that is not to your taste, Naarden offers a wide variety of antique and interior decoration shops, as well as the annual ‘La table en fête’ trade fair. To make your day out complete, choose from a large number of restaurants, ranging from nice family places to fine wining and dining.

Huizen

Huizen is a small town situated between two highways, where the main concern is ‘who made those skid marks on the cycle-track??’. Okay, that is not entirely true, but it did make the frontpage of the local newspaper. The village is located in the region called ‘Het Gooi’. This is where the dutch version of Desperate Housewives takes place of which parts were filmed in Huizen. The name ‘Huizen’, which is the Dutch word for ‘houses’, is first mentioned in 1382. This name was given because the people lived in houses made out of stone instead of the more common turf huts.
Huizen is a former fishersmansvillage. This tradition seased when the connection between the South Sea and North Sea was closed by the ‘Afsluitdijk’. The old harbor is still in use and a number of the original fisher boats, in particular the ‘botters’, still sail. There is even a competition every year where original fishining boats compete with each other.

Every year the ‘Huizerdag’ (www.huizerdag.nl) is organized with all kind of cultural activities like the traditional ‘eel smoking’, performances of local dance clubs, and demonstrations of martial arts. There are also a lot of physical activities for example skiing on our artificial ski slopes, sailing on ‘Gooimeer’, laser gaming and kartracing.

Moreover, it is surrounded by small forests and heaths where you can make nice walking- and cycling-tours. Huizen is best reached by car, both because we do not have a train station and also because you can park for free everywhere.

We came from all over the world

to be added