The street….

Coming back to the same place after some time makes you see things different. As this blog is not so much about text, but about seeing things…..  So after some months you certainly happen to see “other things” or “new things” in the street where you have been many times before.

A little mount of sand… ants? Or is there somebody else living on the edge of the road. 

Why didn’t I see these footprints in the concrete before?

Common knowledge tells us there is a bus stop in front of our apartment bloc…. But no sign anywhere. A bit further there is also a bus stop… I only saw the sign this week, although I am walking there already for 5 years. Normally bus stops in this region are very obvious and obnoxious; firm concrete hideouts to protect us from sun and rain.

 

By then I got completely into local pavement. The municipality orders the use of tiles with a certain pattern for the pavement (sidewalk). Most of these are old and worn. 

There are also other patterns, or just concrete, or bricks, or sand….. 

Don’t think you can walk without using your head. There are holes, bumps, steps, declining parts for cars, lower parts to lead water to the gutter when people clean their patio’s…. 

I asked about what happens when somebody trips over a gutter or some other irregularity….. No one seems to know. Walking on Havaianas probably prevents a lot of stumbling. It could take a long time before you know who has to pay your hospital bill.

And yes, what do you see in every other street…..  If we can’t go to Copacabana we will just have the pavement in front of our houses!

Of course there is nothing like the real thing…..

It smells like autumn……

Fresh, blue sky and almost no wind.  It smells like autumn: Herbs, rotting leaves and mushrooms. The weather is crisp (and crunchy too - like “Dennis the Menace” once said). 

After walking around a bit I decide to go to the Arboretum in the Delftse Hout. It is a like a small sheltered valley divided into differend habitats. (I just hear on a BBC gardening program that an Arboretum is the place to go in autumn!!)

Orange and yellow leaves float on the water. Most leaves are still on the trees. The reeds are dying off.

On my way to the Botanical Garden of the Technical University in Delft it is obvious that winter is coming. Dead leaves gather in quiet corners against a wall.

The fallen berries (very poisonous) of the Taxus Baccata are alarmingly RED. 

The first thing that catches my eye in the Botanical garden is a sign calling attention to the fact that Delft University is working on alternative ways to get Taxol from the needles of the Taxus tree. According to the text Taxol is the most expensive drug in the world in the fight against cancer.

The Botanic garden is hidden behind some old university buildings. It is hard to imagine that the entrance on a busy street corner gives way to an unexpected green oasis in the city of Delft.

 

 

Although the greenhouse is not as grand as the one in Leiden it is worth visiting. It contains tropical and subtropical plants. In some places you see additional educational information.

But the best part are the mini quails. I was warned that I had to be carefull not to release them from the greenhouse. At first I thought they were all gone. I didn’t notice them. But then there was this soft squeaky sound in the “bush”. Surprise; they are really mini. A few extremely well camouflaged chicks were walking almost under my feet. Keeping in mind that they are completely deaf…….