Bicycles, bicycles....

Walking through the city I sometimes happen to meet a derelict bicycle.



In the area around train stations, people want to put their bikes as near the train as possible. They are in a hurry so it must be an easy place and it has to be done quickly. There are a lot of abandonned bicycles near Train stations. You only notice this when the "parking place" is closed or moved. Regarding the bicycles that never are collected a large percentage of people that take a train never comes back. The bike is there to stay and decay.



In certain alleys you might even be able to follow the process of disintegration. The bicycle in question is mostly stolen or at least “borrowed”. You recognise it because there is no air in the tires



The first days nothing happens. After some time someone will kick it. Friends will come along and jump on the wheels. Good nights for these actions are Friday and Saturday. It is mostly a group activity and alcohol helps a lot. Then the wheels get lost. And then other parts. Why don’t they take the saddle first? Most of the saddles stay on till the end.



This is a real beauty. Rising out of the pavement. Regarding the pile of leaves, it must have been there a long time. It was already februari when I took this picture.

A lot of bicycles go for a swimm. But then they become invisible. Only when they come out again it is obvious they have been in for a long time. Near our station we regularly find bicycles hanging on the rails along the canal. When they are lucky they can be rescued in time by their owners.



While I kept this blog haning for some time I finally found a "bicycle without the saddle". But it could be a safety measure. Who would steal a bicycle without a saddle.....

Spring is coming…. and so are the tulips.

    

This morning I got a mailing from the “Keukenhof” it opens on March 24. It must be almost spring then…. 

The “Keukenhof” is the fairy tale park with tulips and all all other bulbs you can think of. Tulips are for many people the equivalent of Holland and maybe even of springtime in Holland. 

Of course springtime is more than tulips; the soft green leaves starting to grow on the trees, the crisp air that puts you into a mood to clean the house, getting up in the morning with the sun already shining (when it doesn’t rain).

Just 2 years after Columbus discovered America, the first tulip bloomed in the Hortus Botanicus at Leiden (Holland 1594). People went crazy about this flower and 40 years later this culminated in the Tulipmania. Now we would say a Tulip-bubble. In that time also the Tulipière became fashionable. 

 

So, if you want to see tulips in Holland there is one place you cannot miss. It is this “Keukenhof”. The word "keukenhof" refers to the use as a kitchen garden of a mansion. Ages ago herbs for use in the kitchen were collected on this spot.

And there is more. There are of course the fields where the tulips are grown. Most of the fields are near the coast in the provinces of North- and South-Holland. The bulbs need a mixture of sand and clay.

Not only along the coast there are bulb fields. Also in the “Noord-Oost polder” are large fields full of colorful tulips and other bulbs.

The tulips are special, but look at these tender frittillaria or the daffodils.

  Or this blue river of grape hyacinths that runs through the "Keukenhof"......

See also on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47357125@N08/sets/72157626286247464/

An absurd evening …..

I had been listening to the music of the organ grinder......

Staring at the window with the round glasses, they became less and less bright. The night came down and I decided it was time for an evening walk. So I started to walk at random through the beautiful old city of Bruges.

 

When I saw the bear in I loved him at first sight. His little black nose, the trustworthy eyes…. I asked him to accompany me for my evening walk into the city. He said he would be pleased to come with me. As he had been standing all day, he was a bit stiff. After some stretching he was ready to go.

We decided to go to say hello to the golden lady with the falcon. She resides at the chapel of the Holy Blood. The bear asked her about the falcon; “did it fly today?” “Ahh no”, said the lady, “I forgot to remove the cap”. Her knights kept looking straight ahead, as if they didn’t want to see us. “Nice of you to come, it is very boring to stand here all day”. “I am waiting for the procession of the Holy Blood”.

 

We left her waiting and went to the other side of the square where we saw the “carwash”.  The bear said to me; “this is a work of modern art…” “Yes”,  I said; “I see.” I tried to look at it so I could see the beauty that was within. Reflecting water did the trick. And it looks good.

 

Finally we thought it was a good idea to visit the Bishop. But he was sleeping. He must have been reading, because the book was still in his hands. I never noticed his thin long fingers before.

No problem, we were perfectly capable to amuse ourselves. A beer and a red wine, some nuts….

I kissed the bear on his nose and he went home. He needed his sleep for the long day to come.

We had a lovely evening…..

Carnival

 When I had to be in Brazil on march 6^th this year I didn’t think of it being Carnival time. So here I am celebrating my first Carnival and enjoying it.

 The more important Carnival Parades are not, like in Europe, happening in the “common” streets but in a special Carnival street. There the Parade is held along a street with galleries for the public. Some of these streets are covered against rain. Ther is this saying ….  “In Brazil it always rains on Carnival”….. and I can assure you it does!

The Parade consists of several groups from clubs called “Escolas the Samba”.

Everything happens in the late evening and night.

I was amazed to find out that there are rules for the Parade of the Escolas de Samba. There has to be a “couple” carrying the flag, ……

 

they need to have at least 10 “Baianas” (ladies from Bahia with wide skirts twirling around), …..

at the front there is a little group greeting the public. They are forbidden to dance Samba, so they perform some sort of ballet.

In Taubaté the wagons have to be pushed by manpower. Time for the presentation is restricted.

The performance is judged by at least two groups of judges placed at intervals along the street. Apart from the creative side one gets points for moving and singing. If you don’t obey the rules you loose points on that item.

The band is called “Batteria”. There is always a Queen of the Batteria. Master of the Batteria and singer of the Samba are very important and  wanted functions. You can compare this to the status of a star football player. 

The most amazing one for me was that “The King” has to weigh 120 kilo’s or more!! This King, the symbolic mayor during Carnival, with his Princesses watches the Parade and visits all the clubs and dances. This goes on for four days. 

It is good to see that all sorts of people join: Not only slim beautiful girls and handsome young men, but also the more round and riper women and men, little children, even old ladies spinning around in their Baiana costumes.

In the little village of Quiririm the Carnival is very simple. No Escolas de Samba, but a street or a bar forming a “bloco”. It is more like a fair. One bloco per night drives through the village; no rules (and of course no jury).

 They wear awesome T-shirts supporting their bloco.

Lots of people dance in the middle of the village and enjoy the drinks and food.

 Around 12 it is time to go to bed……

Little men in space

Walking through cities you see a lot of irregular things. Among these are, what I call, the “little men in space”.

I spotted the first one in The Hague. Every summer there is an outdoor art exhibition in the center of the city. It was the little man with hat balancing on the rope.

The second one was the man hanging on the pole. This was in Prague. You have to be very alert to see this one, because he is high up in a street that is not so wide.

In the large park of the castle Rosenborg in Copenhagen there is a man balancing on the top of a pole on his left hand. It was spring and the weather was still a bit cold. He showed me the blue hole in the sky. Summer is coming!

Finally there was this guy flat on his stomach on a chimney of a church. Was he trying to swim in the air? This one is in a little old town called Hoorn, in the province of North Holland.

Now, where ever I go, I keep looking for these “little men in space”…..

A giant guard against the sea

It was late in the afternoon when we visited the Hondsbossche Zeewering. It is a high and barren dike in the province of Noord Holland (North Holland), just south of the little village of Petten. A guard against the sea that casted a large shadow into the polder.

The dunes here were narrow and for centuries people tried to enforce them. But on several occasions the sea broke through. Finally in 1880 the existing sandy dike was made stronger and in 1981 it finally was brought to Delta height; that is 11,5 meters above sea level. In Holland sea level is called New Amsterdam Level or NAP (Nieuw Amsterdams Peil).

It is a windy place. Especially “out of season”.  But look at the beautiful geometric pavement of the upper part facing the sea. Or this line of wooden poles going on for ever between the blocks of basalt.

Standing on top you can see the difference between the water level of the sea and the water level of the wildlife sanctuary “De Putten” in the polder. The name “De Putten” refers to the holes that were left when digging out the clay for the dyke.

We stood there looking at this giant; our shadows becoming part of the scenery.

 See for larger pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/47357125@N08/ 

Egypt: For a better future

The main thing these days we want to know more about is the news about Egypt. Today there is “the march of millions” on Cairo. People are gathering in the Meydan Tahrir, the square of the Egyptian museum. Peaceful people, families, expressing their wish for Mubarak to leave.

I am so happy that until now there was a minimum of violence. 

When going to Egypt some time ago, I tried to take some pictures of what I at least thought to be daily life there. There is so much beauty along the Nile: The fishermen in little boats, the women washing carpets, children herding cattle. There is so much poverty everywhere; the poverty more visible in the cities then in the countryside. People are working for a pittance, needing at least two jobs to feed their families. 

Let’s hope reforms will come now.  Let’s hope there will be less corruption and enrichment by a happy few. Let’s hope this will result in more work. Let's hope there will be a better future for the Egyptian people.

For more pictures see: Egypt