The heavily-flooded Maas (Meuse), which here functions as the border between the Dutch provinces of Gelderland (to left, north in this photo) and Noord Brabant. Took this, plus the shots of two different castles in two different villages below, during a 26 December walk with my friend Kiki while visiting her for a lovely Christmas-holiday afternoon.
Three important things happened today in my world: 1) The sun actually shone for most of the afternoon; 2) Clouds were sufficiently absent long enough for the sun to be still shining as it sank beneath the horizon (below, at 4:41:08 according to my camera — above was at 4:25:39); and, most important in my little world, the earth has rotated enough now that it actually shines in the windows on my balcony for a few short minutes at the end of its time above our horizon here. (For a comparison sunset further north and west plus several hours later, check this past post from early August: my windows face mostly north, a decent amount of west, with only one little sliver of southwest.) Note that it might have shone in a bit for a couple days now, but with clouds omnipresent nearly full-time since early October (I do not exaggerate), wouldn’t know. So this is just me sending a bonus post to let the sun feel appreciated and welcomed.
2023 saw my first — and second! — visit to Geneva, with the second visit giving me the chance to watch the sun rise over mountains and lakes in France and Switzerland (above), with distant views including Mt Blanc back in France on the “far side” of Switzerland, as it were, from the side on which our plane had entered. The return flight from that first visit was an evening flight that let me watch the sun set over France and then watch cities over France, Belgium and NL light up (below) before we came in for our landing at Schiphol here in A’dam. One gallery for each flight, below.
Cheating slightly here, since one shot was really taken in a village and the other in a city, but I think one must not continue the whole holiday-lights thing too far into the new year…
A bonus video from a harbor walk that (my cousin) Sam & I did en route to a concert during his visit in October, for those with bandwidth to view it – posting it separately in hopes it’ll work better this way.
I’ve decided it’s time to stop clinging to my remaining photos from that lovely high-summer visit to Paleis Het Loo, now that we’re more than six months later and emerging from the year’s shortest day here in the north. Above: Amsterdam’s Royal Palace from the same morning as the last couple posts. This building is used as the capital’s royal reception hall for guests some of the time, and as a museum the rest of the time. (In NL, the seat of both government and state, i.e. where the PM, King and parliament all ply their respective roles is The Hague…but everyone agrees Amsterdam is the capital nonetheless.) Apparently this building began life as a Town Hall in 1655, and was made over into a residence for royals in the 19th century. Now that my bike ride to work takes me past it both coming and going, I do expect and hope to get in for a visit. Below: all those remaining mid-summer photos left from that lovely afternoon which led to the first post in this series.
These are all taken from the same spot and same time as the second photo in the post just below. Above, looking north from Dam Square along Damrak; next, looking east to the monuments on Dam Square & the lovely Dam Straatjes lights in the heart of the Grachtengordel in central A’dam; and at the bottom, looking south along Rokin, which is the name they call Damrak Street once it gets south of Dam Square. All taken during a short break from the rain during my bike ride to the office earlier this week.
Turns out that in 2020, midway through the year off that I took in the heart of covid, I really got into the festive decorations for the holiday season. That year, I sensed that many homeowners put in an extra effort, and I enjoyed biking and walking all over town to enjoy and photograph many of these creations, which I shared in many blog posts that December. Fast forward to this third Christmas in my current Amsterdam-based life. I’ve been too busy w/work and travel, and Amsterdam weather too absolutely abysmal whenever I’ve been around, for me to want to do any walking or biking to just seek out any holiday decorations one might find. (Picture me, instead, biking home after a long work day in my new rain-pants and fighting heavy headwinds with driving rain instead.)
Moreover, though they do a good job of neighborhood lights here, there’s no culture of holiday decorations in anywhere near the over-the-top manner you’ll see if you click that December 2020 link. (The image below shows you what they do on the central plaza that hosts both Dam Square & A’dam’s Royal Palace – see, just not such a thing, eh?) But on a day-trip to Brussels shortly before I flew off for that exhausting trip to Southeast Asia, I did have the distinct honor introducing my dear friends Howard & Gene to the national symbol of Belgium, already decked out in his seasonal finery on that last (rainy, naturally) Saturday in November. They’d never known of the existence of this unusual national symbol of that neighbor nation-state to the south! 🙂
Those paying any attention may notice an unusual theme in these two posts which’ll go up on the 25th – the prior post being an entrance my cousin Sam & I were a tad surprised by while walking to a movie theater during his visit. It’s just coincidence, friends, not a commentary on my mental state. Or, to the extent it is, let’s just say I and most colleagues I’ve spoken with will not be sad to see the end of 2023. Here’s my first of many wishes for a kinder, gentler 2024.
2023 saw my first — and second! — visit to Geneva, with the second visit giving me the chance to watch the sun rise over mountains and lakes in France and Switzerland (above), with distant views including Mt Blanc back in France on the “far side” of Switzerland, as it were, from the side on which our plane had entered. The return flight from that first visit was an evening flight that let me watch the sun set over France and then watch cities over France, Belgium and NL light up (below) before we came in for our landing at Schiphol here in A’dam. One gallery for each flight, below.
I’ve decided it’s time to stop clinging to my remaining photos from that lovely high-summer visit to Paleis Het Loo, now that we’re more than six months later and emerging from the year’s shortest day here in the north. Above: Amsterdam’s Royal Palace from the same morning as the last couple posts. This building is used as the capital’s royal reception hall for guests some of the time, and as a museum the rest of the time. (In NL, the seat of both government and state, i.e. where the PM, King and parliament all ply their respective roles is The Hague…but everyone agrees Amsterdam is the capital nonetheless.) Apparently this building began life as a Town Hall in 1655, and was made over into a residence for royals in the 19th century. Now that my bike ride to work takes me past it both coming and going, I do expect and hope to get in for a visit. Below: all those remaining mid-summer photos left from that lovely afternoon which led to the first post in this series.
(so much world, so little time....) 