Latest

Ah, Royalty.66

Biljoen castle & estate sit on the edge of Velp. Apparently first built and established in 1530 by one of Gelderland’s dukes or some such, it seems to have hosted Louis XIV and various other royals in the centuries since. Lovely park, too.

Posted by  |  September 25, 2025 | Categories: Gelderland, Netherlands | Leave a comment

Lake Living.76

Up the street from the abbey & park I recently shared from my last Brussels visit lie two lovely little lakes, called the Etangs d’Ixelles according to my map, of which I’d also been previously unaware.

Posted by  |  September 24, 2025 | Categories: Belgium, Brussels | Leave a comment

Small Wonders.276

All from my July Thailand visit. I’m hoping my friend and reader Jean (sorry, I know I’m overdue to answer en email…) will confirm or correct my tendency to call the flowers that aren’t water lilies plumeria or frangipani. They smell lovely but I’ve a feeling they’re maybe not really what I think they are…

Posted by  |  September 23, 2025 | Categories: Bangkok, Thailand | Leave a comment

Small Wonders.275

Posted by  |  September 22, 2025 | Categories: Netherlands, Zuid Holland | Tags: | Leave a comment

Village Views.115

Posted by  |  September 21, 2025 | Categories: Gelderland, Netherlands | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Image

City Lights.95

Posted by  |  September 21, 2025 | Categories: Malaysia | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Islands.95

One thing I recall Sam and me both enjoying about Vlieland, on our short visit already four months ago, was how varied the terrain was for such a relatively small island. Above you see a fair amount of this variety, with forests and, yes, the hills created over ages of sand piling up and plants growing sufficiently to create enough soil for trees, and so on. In the distance I’m pretty sure you’re seeing Terschelling, the next island over. But it could possibly be the mainland instead. Below, more of the variety.

Posted by  |  September 20, 2025 | Categories: Friesland, Netherlands | Tags: | Leave a comment

From The Air.85

I know it doesn’t show anything recognizable but for some strange reason I like this photo enough that I want to share it. It’s somewhere in the air between Beijing and Amsterdam back in March, but given the time zone changes and that the entire 12+-hour flight was in daylight, I’m really not sure where this was :-). (Left Beijing at 11:30 or so, landed A’dam 17:30 or so.)

Posted by  |  September 20, 2025 | Categories: Airborne & Unknown Location | Leave a comment

Image

Mountains.85

Posted by  |  September 19, 2025 | Categories: Malaysia | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Lake Living.75

I’ve shared a few teaser glimpses of this lakeside residence built in the early 1900s for the Kroller-Muller family in two past posts, awaiting the right moment to share more images of this beautifully-situated building that’s quite impressive itself, too.

Posted by  |  September 18, 2025 | Categories: Gelderland, Netherlands | Tags: | Leave a comment

Ah, Royalty.65

Although I bike past it several times a week, I guess I’ve not yet shown you the outside of Amsterdam’s Royal Palace, shown to the left here next to the 15th-century “Nieuwe Kerk,” so called b/c in the 1400s it was the new kid on the block after A’dam’s first 1306-built church, which as of this building’s opening became and has remained the “Oude Kerk.” The 1655 palace started life as a town hall – as noted in earlier posts about it. (And since their full time official residence is down in the Hague, this is really only where they do formal stuff that needs done in A’dam, I think.) I’ve sorta been waiting for the construction to finish before I took photos, but I liked how the setting sun lit this clouds on this evening, so here you go :-).

Posted by  |  September 17, 2025 | Categories: Netherlands, North Holland & Amsterdam | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

County Views.165

The Calfire site tells me that the Picket Fire started on August 21 and was 100% contained on the 7th of September. When my friend Howard sent me these photos of its smoke billowing near Mt Saint Helena on the 27th of August, he said residents in Santa Rosa could smell the smoke from it, but not in Sebastopol. I keep fingers crossed for a quiet rest of the fire season throughout North America, not only near my once and future home in SR ;-).

Posted by  |  September 16, 2025 | Categories: California, SF Bay Area, Sonoma & Napa, United States | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Urban Entrances.165

Another delightful discovery on an evening walk at the end of day-long meetings in Brussels last week was the gardens of the Abbaye de la Cambre, which from the late 12th Century until abolishment in 1796 (French revolution and all) was a Cistercian Abbey in the Maelbeek valley…which to most untutored visitors today looks like a hilly part of Brussels. Yes, unlike A’dam, Brussels has hills! 🙂 But then, it also has more uncleared dog poop on its sidewalks than A’dam does, just sayin’. Today the complex houses both some religious stuff and an arts institute, while the gardens are quite lovely and open to the public.

Posted by  |  September 15, 2025 | Categories: Belgium, Brussels | 1 Comment

City Views.265

Posted by  |  September 14, 2025 | Categories: Italy, Lazio, Rome | Leave a comment

Urban Canals.205

Posted by  |  September 14, 2025 | Categories: Netherlands, North Holland & Amsterdam | Tags: , , | Leave a comment