I’ve now back from my six days trip to see my friend Chantie in Alkmaar / The Netherlands. It was a great trip and I had lots of fun. People asked me before I left what plans we had. I couldn’t really give them a good answer, because we had no spesific plans. This wasn’t a typical vacation where you do touristy things like see the cheese market, ride a canal boat, go to Amsterdams and see Anne Frank and the Van Gogh museeum etc. This was a trip to see a friend and hang out together.
We watched a lot of movies, like Prime, Muriels Wedding, In her Shoes, Gran Torino, the Reader and It’s Complicated. We also played a lot of rummy. 56 games to be spesific! Yes, I know it’s a lot of games, but once you start, you get addicted.
But we didn’t just do that, we also went biking to see tulip fields, animals, farms etc, we visited a farm, walked around the neighbourhood, visited her family and went shopping.
I have to say we saw a lot of cute animals during my stay. I will definitely show photos of that, but first I want to share photos of things I think are very Dutch.
Lots of bikes on a row, beside the canal. Oh and we have a bridge. Then we have three essensial things from Alkmaar.
De Hertenkamp and the clock. Spotted on a biking rid to a park / farm. Lovely building. And I’m pretty sure the clock will be awesome when it’s completely green.
A tree seen in the same area. Big and beautiful.
Gorgeous alley with tall trees. As you can see, it was very sunny that day.
Left side of the street; a wind mill. The right side of the street; a canal.
Taken from Chantie’s balcony. There are bikes everywhere!
Flowers from the flowershop. The left photo is taken from Chantie’s balcony. The right shot was taken while we rested on a green patch outside her apartment. There are stores on the ground floor and she lives on top at the 4th floor.
Oh my! What a scene. This year I came in time to see the tulipfields. It was oh so beautiful. Breathtaking I have to say.
They are all standing up so straight. These are grown just for their bulbs. These flowers will soon be harvested and destroyed. I wanted to bring some home, but Chantie didn’t let me. I doubt the owner of the field would’ve missed a couple of tulips, but still… they were left alone.
Tulips in the foreground and a typical Dutch mill. Yet another beautiful scenery.
More flowers, now with another color. The fields are amazing.
Isn’t the Netherlands beautiful? I think so. There is so much beautiful things to see and photograph, and for a photographer like me, it’s like heaven on earth.