2013-12-15 Amsterdam Centraal, NL

Winter in the Netherlands isn't always that spectacular. It was already mid-December when I took a stroll in the city centrum. I got few shots for this blog as well, the famous Amsterdam Centraal railway station being the major factor. I had also few other shots of some pedestrian birds and impropatu street musicians - sadly they didn't work out well.
And the outcome: 7 photos to go, in chronological order.

Amsterdam Centraal railway station. It was built on an artificial island.  

The West side tram stops, ever so busy. 

The busy city of Amsterdam is always under the construction. The white ball was brought in for the Amsterdam Light Festival. 

Busy Damrak filled with tourists and Christmas booths. 

Look closer at the left tower. It is not a clock, but something very different. 

Basilica of St. Nicholas

Where do you find this? Ok, I admit - this is not from the same footsteps anymore, but more to East.. View down to the Oudezidjds Kolk. 

2013-10-19 Prinsengracht, Amsterdam, NL

Prinsengracht is the outermost of Amsterdam Waterbelt canals. Many tourists could recognize this canal for running past the Anne Frank house.
Even in autumn there is plenty of boat traffic going on - not to mention the bikes! You really can't avoid them anywhere in NL
And the outcome: 14 photos to go, in chronological order.

André Citroën (yes, THE Citroën) and René Descartes (yes, THE Descartes), both mentioned in the same door. Should dig up the story behind this one day.

Vijzelgracht bridge. Vijzelgracht used to be a canal from 1658, before it was filled and turned into a street 1933. Note the clog boat!

X marks the spot, but this marks the electric car park. 

The futuristic blue light pole belongs to the electric car park. 

Duct tape. It mends everything, everything. 

Accidental duck face. 

No time to watch around on the iconic canal district, I've got Angry Birds on! Or, more probably, she's trying to find her way around with navigation. 

Old orange lifeboats are popular in Amsterdam, refurbished as canal cruisers. 

Bikes, bikes, bikes. What can I say - not a day without a bike photo!

Iconic canal houses, built on 17th century. Also another typical canal cruiser: an old sailing yacht with keel and mast removed. 

Underground apartment. 

The false facade on top is meant to make the house look bigger. Same applies to windows, which get smaller by every higher floor - they are to create an illusion of a taller building. 

Sticker culture, just like graffiti and stencil pictures, is still strong. 

Happy cruisers! Drinks and snack and music - no matter the time of the year or age of the cruisers. It's just something you must do every now and then :-) 

Fin.

2013-09-18 Ferry over 't IJ, Zaanstad-Amsterdam, NL

't IJ is the one of the dominant features of Amsterdam. Where as the Amstel river is cutting city in half separating West and East, the mighty 't IJ separates the centrum from North. It is historically a bay, not a river. There are tunnels for cars and ferries for pedestrians and bikes. But there's also one  ferry called Hempont, not so widely known one, for cars - connecting the neighbouring city of Zaanstad to Amsterdam. This, like many others in the neighbourhood, is hosted by public transportation company GVB.
This time I made a small exception to my "5 minute in one spot" rule, because technically I didn't move. It was the spot (my car on the ferry) itself that was moving. 
And the outcome: 13 photos to go, in chronological order.

Waiting for my turn to get onboard the ferry Hempont.

My ticket! Paid by cash to the real live people selling them - no fancy-pancy pincards nor NFC here.

Somebody's home on the waterside.

Exit view, the half-abandoned shopping mall on the Cornelis Ouwejanstraat.

Good to have these things onboard as well, don't you think?

Another rear view - and yes, the ferry is lime colour.

Pipe connections for... I don't know.

Sign 'Motoren afzetten' means turn off the engine. This scooter boy wasn't bothered by it, and happily kept his scooter running for the whole trip.

Up there the bridge, where all the steering magic happens.

Hydrofoil ferry from Amsterdam to IJmuiden. Sadly these Fast Flying Ferries (name given by their operator Connexxion) were discontinued 2014-01-01. They looked awesome!

't IJ isn't a river, but originally a bay. Nowadays it's an important waterway.

A (short) moment of sunshine.

Boats and ships of all sizes pass by all the time.

As the South bank of 't IJ is getting closer, people are already getting ready to get off the ferry.

So here we are, Amsterdam!

2013-01-16 Spaklerweg, Amsterdam, NL

Monday after the weekend in France. A bit dull, but back to the normal everyday life. I went to a hardware store for some odds and ends for the apartment renovation. The rainy weather eased down for a small time of sunshine - and with some amazing colours! The photos I took are not enhanced for saturation, they are pretty much as is.
There's one funny twist to this location: there used to be some old water cleaning facility, decommissioned years and years ago. Even the Google satellite view still shows the old situation from at least 4 years ago: http://goo.gl/maps/vARqT
And the outcome: 12 photos to go, in chronological order.

They are busy building an apartment block. Already half a year gone, but on the other hand they are creating vast underground parking area into something that could be best described as wet sand.

Modern day Dutch habits: using your smartphone while cycling.

Not miniature tombstones, but warning posts for gas pipes. No idea why they have so many here.

Rain + sun = rainbow! (Ends up in the hardware store Gamma, funny enough.)

I guess those Liander cars have some sort of a nest nearby. They were constantly driving back and forth, here 2 of them.

Even though this is not the centrum and despite the fact it's in the middle of the day, there was reasonably lot traffic.

Only a couple of a years ago there was just wasteland, where this building now proudly stands.

These charming buildings have been there, behind the railway and metro track, for a little bit longer. They are jail buildings - so criminals are the few lucky ones in whole Amsterdam who actually have a nice view :-P

One just must love the colours with the after-rain light.

Some cyclists were too fast for my camera.

180 degrees around, and you are greeted with a very different view.

As a last photo, close-up on the grass littered with these white flowers. Feel free to inform me about their name :-)

2013-09-15 Place Nouvelle Aventure, Rijsel-Lille, FR

We had a nice weekend trip to France, visiting the city of Lille (or Rijsel, as it is known in Dutch). I took literally hundreds of photos there.
We stopped to a cafe on the market square Place Nouvelle Aventure (near the Marché Couvert market hall). The open air market is called Marché de Wazemmes. I decided to take few photos for this blog as well.
And the outcome: 11 photos to go, in chronological order.

Having a beer on the terrace, watching the people passing by.

These gentlemen had something seemingly funny to discuss about.

...while some ladies were not all too happy about some smells around. (It was actually just a smell of a regular open air market, nothing overwhelmingly bad there.)

Some kids spotted me shooting and wanted to participate, too! They were not begging, just having fun.

Shoelaces needed some attention.

Mother and son? Aunt and nephew? Cougar and a catch? Can't tell, but one can really come up with interesting alternative stories about people walking by :-)

The shops extended their services to the street, which just makes sense.

Needless to say, people of all ages and sizes like the sunny market.

Even the professional beggars need a rest. They were shouting and begging for a while, but then sat down for a break.

The eye brows.

Sunny day on a terrace, not a bad place for a date.