Zwolle is the capital of Overijssel Province here in NL, and I spent a (rather rainy) day & night there a few weeks ago in order to experience quite a magical concert by the combined Amsterdam Sinfonietta & Nederlands Kammerkoor which featured Faure’s Requiem, a Shostakovich Chamber Symphony, Part’s wonderful De Pacem Domine amongst other gems. Herewith a few “signs”-relevant Zwolle views, the first I’ve shown since a few posts in the summer of 2022 (!), the only other time I got out of the train in Zwolle. Spoiler alert: I’ve now been inside the unique modern addition featured in that link: something else to watch for in upcoming posts :-).
First inhabited stork-nesting platform I’d seen this season, biking home through Vondelpark a few weeks ago – above. Below, same platform seen from the other side, last weekend. And further down, since it’s spring flower season here, more from last weekend’s walk in Vondelpark for your viewing pleasure :-).
They’ve been steadily renovating and sprucing up Amsterdam’s Royal Palace – never a residence, only where the the royal head of state holds state meetings when in A’dam – for quite a while now. The gold ornaments on the roof are looking nice and shiny and, spoiler alert, I’ve managed a few more legit royal-adjacent digs visits recently, so we’ll very soon be showing you this view again- next time with sunshine :-).
Recently I promised more photos from den Bosch, et voila. I (and work) treated me to a week of intensive Dutch at a school just south of the city, which ended on the weekend of Carnaval. Den Bosch is one of the two main provincial capitals in which I’ve always heard they take the whole Carnaval thing seriously. Above is the Saturday car parade with Den Bosch Centraal train station in the background: frogs, the red – white – yellow, jackets (usually black) with many patches, and general festivity are the theme. Below, more from Saturday and Sunday.
99% certain I’m showing you the city of Ijmuiden, a lot of North Holland (the province) including Amsterdam, the Markermeer & the Ijsselmeer, a lot of Flevoland (the province) and even bits of Overijssel & Friesland (the provinces)…what makes me 1% unsure is that, enlarge it as I try, I can’t really quite find Amsterdam landmarks that I recognize, which just goes to show how perspectives can change, or how much resolution one mobile phone’s camera can generate. These are all from shortly after takeoff for my December flight to ORD.
It’s night on two years since I last shared views from Den Bosch with you, but having recently spent a weekend staying there, these are the first of more to come.
Posting a bunch of photos from an afternoon walk last month around my neighborhood on a cold Sunday afternoon. During my most recent walk past this new stork platform above, I didn’t yet seen indications of any nesting storks taking up residence, but I do think I’ve seen a few storks soaring through the sky already.
(so much world, so little time....) 