Technically this probably isn’t urban, but it’s such a busy waterway near Europe’s largest port that it feels urban. This is the view looking downstream (towards Rotterdam and the North Sea), from the bridge I biked over as noted in the prior post.
The story behind these two photos above & below is that on the day I’d booked a pre-paid hotel for myself in the lovely Noord-Brabant town of Bergen Op Zoom, I awoke to find that the trains which normally run regularly between A’dam Centraal & Vlissingen (both of which we’ve shown you in the posts linked there) were stopping at Dordrecht. This was due to overhead power lines being out on the bridge over the last big-water crossing in southern NL before the border w/BE a bit further south. All the options being offered included many connections as we did a loop east and then back west, so I said “f-it, I’m sure I can bike from Dordrecht to the next train station south of the water, pop my bike back on a train there, and then continue to Bergen Op Zoom as planned. I mean, after all, it’s not like the bridge is out, and this being NL, there’ll be at least an adequate bike lane and route all the way in.” As demonstrated in the photos below, it was possible, and by the next day I was able to take the train straight through from Vlissingen home to A’dam. ‘Twas fun and felt rather adventurous, if I do say so myself…Later on I realized that Zevenbergen, to which I biked, was actually farther away than the station at Hoge Zwaluwe (I wonder if at least Sam will bother and have time to map-search these places, hmmm…), but had I known and biked there instead, I’d have missed these lovely canals and farmlands above and below, and just been industrial all the way except some of Dordrecht city which was often quite pleasant.
Since this is the main highway connecting all the largest Dutch cities and ports including Rotterdam to the largest Belgian cities and ports including Antwerp and Brussels…well, as you see it’s a pretty long and busy bridge. Still fun, though loud. There was a gas station on the other side where I biked on up and rewarded myself with an iced coffee from the counter of a franchise whose name is common.
Above, the piece of the southeastern coast of England, and below 15 minutes later with the Dutch coast dimly visible behind many offshore wind turbines. All from mid-May’s return to A’dam after the US weeks.
The days around the solstice brought spectactular sunsets from my apartment. This was nearly 11pm on the 22nd of June :-). I must cherish this, when we’re six months on and I’m winter-depressed again…
There are two islands in this photo of the canal / moat that surrounds the lovely Noord Brabant town of Heusden, where I spent a week at the start of July. More to come from those evening after-workday-from-home walks.
Since I’m scheduled shortly to be flying off again for very distant parts for work reasons, I thought I’d fondly remember another of these lovely moments as our plane gained altitude after departing from my beloved spiritual-home airport of SFO. If you follow the line of the lower fin on the plane’s tail, I’m pretty sure it’s Mt St Helena that you’ll see as a bump on the far horizon.
Above: early Sunday along the Aussenalster (Outer Alster) in Hamburg; below, a view of some of the later swimmers in the Binnenalster (Inner Alster) in the first leg of the HH triathlon. I was just out for a walk before heading for the train home to A’dam after a short visit with family / friends :-). The weather was much more conducive to lovely photos than it was the last time I walked (and showed you) these shores.
Queen Louise of Prussia was very much loved indeed, judging by the many monuments and memorials to her, and the flowers I saw by some of them. Above and below left, in the Tiergarten; below center on an island in Charlottenburg castle gardens and below right her mausoleum in another part of the castle gardens. We’ve got *lots* more fun stuff from those gardens stored up for you…think royal cherubs and such 🙂
(so much world, so little time....) 