Sunday, May 24, 2015

Deep, steep and narrow; the Corinth Canal

A canal through the Isthmus , the narrow land-bridge between the Peloponnese and the mainland of Greece, has been an issue since ancient times. The earliest plans date back to the 7th century BC. In the first century AD the Roman emperor Nero made a first attempt, by removing soil with a pickax. (see Corinth Canal)
It takes some adapting, the first time you look down the 90 meters. 
It is deep, steep and narrow. All that into extremes. The actual depth of the water is 8 meters.
The canal is now mainly used for tourist boats. The maximum width for ships is 17,6 meters.






 The view to the other side was blocked by the bridge(s) we were on. No way to cross.


A mirror with some ripples.




This grebe is probably not aware that he (or she) is floating in this amazing reflection. And that by floating there he makes it even more complex.














When the sky is blue and there is almost no wind a water surface is an ever-changing mirror.
Especially when there are just a few ripples in the water; hopefully in a nice pattern.
Just flip over the pictures (vertically) and a colorful under water world reveals itself.
These pictures were taken in the small Dutch town of Delft (famous for it's blue and white
pottery named Delft Blue).








































Terraces seem to float among the leaves of waterlilies.







Cars are parked underneath blue draperies .....



.......or in front of sketchy houses.




















































Reflections in winter are made even more interesting by snow and ice in the canals.




Ohhh, this "hanging tin" sure is a give away...






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