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!

2013-09-15 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.

13-09-12 Rijnstraat Amsterdam NL

I was just doing my regular groceries, when I found the tree with a bench built around it. In a bit funny spot along the Rijnstraat in Southern Amsterdam. Why not to stop and take few traffic shots!
So I endured the staring people from by-passers, cafe customers and car drivers, and let my camera sing again. By the way, the buildings seen here represent the typical Amsterdamse school, a pre-war architecture style.
And the outcome: 13 photos to go, in chronological order.

First view: Amsterdamse school buildings, cars, bikes and a P-sign without any parking spots.

Construction worker having a break; smoking a cigarette and playing with the smartphone.

No two Amsterdamse school buildings are the same, even when they might appear so. This one has been spiced up with the GSM antenna.

Amsterdam is not Amsterdam without the bikes.

Some of the kids sport the trendy cruiser bikes - spiced up with a typical Dutch front rack.

Dutchies can sometimes be a bit creative with their driving routes and bending the rules.

It's not raining, so it's a proper weather to sit out on a terrace.

It would have been a nice photo if the single mother actually was driving that truck with her kids :D

Snorscooters are allowed on bicycle paths. In theory they aren't supposed to go faster than 25 km/h - a rule very often bended.

This little branch mistook the autumn for a spring.

The pentagon seat around the tree I mentioned earlier.

One can only wonder how come more people don't get hurt in the traffic. This is nothing unusual and not even a close call - just normal road crossing.

As a last image, the pentagon bench work-around (pun intended).