Best sorta closer views I’ve managed to take of Ijmuiden (right) and the Zuid-Kennemerland National Park (that’s the green dunes in the center), because on this flight we took off to the north and then turned towards England so, as you see, we banked right over it all :-). Any time you see photos of Sloterplas from my apartment, this is basically what’s out there in the distance where the sun is setting – it’s all more or less due west of me. Below, more including the coastline of Noord and Zuid Holland. I also got some of the best views of the islands and peninsulas of Zeeland, and the area around Hoek of Holland and the Maeslantkering that I’ve gotten, so stay tuned :-).
That’s the coast of North Holland at the top, with the port of Ijmuiden (“mouth of the Ij,” which is the industrial-sized canal that runs from Amsterdam directly over to the North Sea) in the top-left quadrant and the lovely town of Castricum to the right. All as seen on Tuesday morning as our plane oriented itself towards the runway at Schiphol.
Above, the moon sets over Sloterplas as seen from my balcony window on the morning of 26 December. (Before hopping the train down to Den Bosch aka ‘s Hertogenbosch for that lovely day we showed you in our last post.) Below, a gallery of pretty much every other remaining “city lights” relevant photo I took in NL during 2023 but haven’t yet posted. A note about the dawn photo of storefronts: the rose-shaped light decorations, which you will notice extend all the way down the street, tell you that this street is “Rozengracht,” which means either the street alongside the Rose Canal, or Rose Canal. In this particular case, I’m unaware of there actually being a canal named Rozengracht any more, but I’m guessing there might once have been one and the street is all that remains after the city did what the Dutch have always done, redirect the water. It’s entirely possible a more-knowledgeable Dutch friend will either email me or post a public comment to educate us all :-).
Above, a sunset photo still in my folder from March, and below the last from a lovely sunset evening concert at the Muziekgebouw up by the harbor in May.
Above, a sunset photo still in my folder from March, and below the last from a lovely sunset evening concert at the Muziekgebouw up by the harbor in May.
