After a failed attempt to take off to Giethoorn, me and a friend took off on an impromptu bike trip at the Texel Islands in the North of Holland. We reached the island after an hour on the train to Den Halder followed by a Boat ride to the island, not before accidentally trespassing into the adjacent military docks and eventually getting kicked out by the security personal who showed up out of nowhere figured we were harmless tourists who couldn’t read dutch.
We only managed to bike half of the island, along the incredible dutch country side, which in itself turned out to be a 35kms round trip. It being a sunday, we had to turn back, to be just in time for the last ferry.
After the trip to Paris, I needed a break to settle in and to let the fact sink in, that I actually crossed an item off my bucket list. Most of my time went into the usual work, personal projects and editing photos. It was over a month, before I felt I was ready to travel again. One sunday, with all my friends down being lazy, it was becoming evident that the day’s plan to visit the Tilburg fair was not going to materialise, at which point I decided to take off alone to visit Delft – a very cute university town in the South of Holland.
Two trains and 45 minutes later, I was greeted by the sight of cycles…
Graffiti..
Alternate modes of transport
Gorgeous canals, most of which were calmer, narrower and prettier than those in Amsterdam
Open parks and grounds
Shops and old buildings that look like they are making faces
One bored Sunday afternoon I decided I needed to go somewhere and hopped onto the next train to Rotterdam with absolutely no plan, which to my dismay was a disaster, as most museums and attractions were closed. There was too much sun to be able to do any photography. Boredom lead to an itch for adventure and soon I found myself on a train, alone, headed towards a spot I picked randomly on Google Maps. What I stumbled on to my delight, was the beautiful coastal fishing district of Scheveningen, in the city of Den Haag.
Here are some pictures from that visit and from 2 later planned visits.
Oblivious to the world above ground, is another world, hidden below the ground, which is the Paris underground metro. The first time I came across underground metros, it was in Hong Kong and I thought it was as complex as it could get, but boy was I wrong. I have never ever seen anything like this before in my life. Entire city of Paris sprawls with underground stations, situated at several underground levels, below historic monuments, beside rivers, inside hills, below buildings, basically everywhere. The rail lines pass through the city from one end to another, in several levels, never intersecting, going under every possible imaginable structures and water bodies.
Some of the metro stations themselves are so large, that for an outsider it would take an easy 15-30 minutes just to get to the right platform, that is after you have figured out the entrance to the underground, most of which inconspicuously blend into the streets, sometimes with the only indication being a staircase leading into the ground, in places where they strangely appear to have no business of being there. Trying to use connecting trains to get from one place to another is an entirely different deal altogether. In my 5 day stay, I would have walked almost 5-10 miles just underground, while trying to get to the right platform.
What I can neither understand nor comprehend is that many of these rail tunnels that are still in use, were built almost a century ago in the early 1900s, for electric locomotives – talk about having vision! Few routes are now completely automated and are devoid of any human intervention. That for me represents the culmination of old meets new.
Enough words. Here are some pictures…
Not knowing that the french word ‘Sortie’ meant ‘Exit’ in english, caused quite a bit of confusion the first 2 days, when I tried to find my way out, until I realised it can’t be possible to get to a station named ‘Sortie’ from every corner of the city.
With millions of tulips planted just in the main garden alone, keukenhof stands as the worlds largest flower garden. That is not even including the hundreds of acres of private tulip plantations around the main garden. To say it was a lovely sight is a gross understatement and its something only pictures can convey.
Tulips were not the only attraction, there were lot of art pieces all around the garden, not that anyone cared to notice them.
Along with tulips there were other kinds of flowers too, just enough to not bore people with tulips.
This was the sight right outside the main keukenhof garden
