One day – thats how long the beautiful city managed to stay draped in yellow and orange, with the colors of fall at its prime. It was disappointing to see them all blown away from the trees by the constant wind & rain, and cleaned up from the road by the city’s vigilant municipal keepers and cleaners.
For most of my life, I have only known 2 seasons – hot summers and rainy winters. Never have I ever experienced the typical fall or autumn seasons, until I visited this national park. The trees in various shades of green, yellow and red; the bicycle pathways coloured in orange by the fallen leaves; the cool breeze carrying with it the smell of freshness; the sounds of chirping birds; cycling through the woods – it all made for an exhilarating experience.
It was also the first time I saw mushrooms growing in the wild
I stumbled upon this building, while browsing through the pictures of buildings with modern architecture in the Netherlands. A sudden urge to see it led me to jump onto the next train. After a series of incidents – missed metros, taking the wrong train, getting myself lost in the station, being stuck in in a bus in mad traffic, I finally reached 2 hours later – way beyond my initial estimate of 35 minutes and it was all worth the trouble as it turned out even more stunning than what I expected.
Although it seemed quite opaque from the outside with the black walled exteriors, the interiors on the contrary were just the opposite – there was a flood of natural light everywhere.
The huge atrium basking in sunlight exhumed an enormous sense of space which made everyone and everything seem small – the readers were merely specks of dust amongst hundreds, reading a book or two from a collection of millions. That amplifying effect turned the softest of rustles – my slow footsteps and the camera’s mechanical shutter, into the loudest of noises, which apparently due to damping effects of the building design, no one could hear but me.
The sharp dramatic shadows, casted by the natural light, in most corners of the library, made it quite enjoyable to shoot silhouettes from a variety of angles.
It probably was the first time that four of my friends, all unanimously agreed, for an impromptu trip to the beach. After a 30 minute train ride, we reached Zandvoort and 5 minute walk later, we were at the beach. It being a friday, neither of us were in a hurry to do anything and that gave me with plenty of time to walk around and take pictures.
It was especially fun watching the dogs run about, for no particular reason, but for the joy of it.
