Pictures from the Netherlands
Pictures of our life in Amsterdam area in the the Netherlands, where we moved on the 8th of September 2010. Pictures marked with * added on the 25th of December.
Also see pictures from the Netherlands 2004, 2006 and 2007 and 2009.
Oh, and the snowball war.
Our temporary apartment
Located near the Dam square, with windows to all four directions. It's too bad it was just temporary.
Lilies bought for us by the landlord
Our friend Teemu was visiting on the way back home from his world tour
The living room isn't too shabby
Neither is the kitchen
The study has nice collections of books, art and globes
The lilies in full bloom
The balcony has a nice view (and like most rooms, a dog figurine - can you spot it?)
The toilet has some nice artworks (one of the owners is an illustrator)
Another view (the tiger painting is Maija's favorite)
Some events
There were lots of hurdy-gurdies on the Dam square
Some event in Noorderpark/Florapark
Only the Dutch could invent a "vertical bike" (Amsterdam Festival Duurzam/Amsterdam sustainability festival)
Milking a cow - when asked whether she wanted to drink the milk, she politely replied "nee, dank je" (-"-)
A cute hippie girl ironing some screenprinted(?) shirts (-"-)
Craftymarkt in Oosterpark was full of cute stuff
A demonstration for Turkmenistan on the Dam
Goats and other animals
Yep, at the geitenboerderij in Amsterdamse bos (in Amstelveen) again.
For a moment Lauri almost let Maija adopt this geitje (wouldn't you have?)
Rabbit-kangaroo-goat hybrid?
This goat was alpha-maling the heck out of the herd
Another way too cute picture of the little one
Then in Rembrandtpark.
A bunny
Whoops!
A rooster doing what they do best
A goat and a sheep (or two sheep?)
For reference, this is not how you give goats something to drink
In Nethack, these things grow up to be horses (then warhorses)
Other stuff
15 minutes after settling into our new home, we were greeted by a double rainbow!
The sad camel is sad Who makes a children's carousel as depressing as this, seriously? (Albert Cyup markt)
A lot of churches nearby (this one is particularly noisy)
A huge spider (Amsterdamse bos, Amstelveen)
A colorful vine (Amstelveen)
The Saturday organic market at Nieuwmarkt (near our temporary apartment)
A mushroom stall at the market
A flower stall (-"-)
A vegetable stall, potatoes, beans, etc (-"-)
A lovely flower store in the Jordaan district
Juicy berries as someone's fence (Amsterdam Zuid/South)
A foggy morning (from our window)
More of the same fog
A vine with grapes on the street
A nice sunset
-"-
Funky graffiti on Waterlooplein
An even nicer sunset
-"-
A cat on a restaurant window
A pink chair in front of the vegetarian restaurant Boelhod
An autumnal canal scene
Some graffiti in Jordaan
Children climbing on a tree in Vondelpark
Autumn colors in Vondelpark
* A blue tit in the tree in front of our study window
VU Hortus Botanicus
Perhaps even better than the more famous Hortus.
A dog enjoying the sunlight
A piggy bank?
Japanese gardening
A pretty red flower
Atmospheric lighting
A flowering agave(?)
A cactus armada
Some kind of a succulent
Cacti with DOF tricks
A spider
Spiral-shaped cacti
Small pink flowers
A dragonfly threesome
Winter/Christmas/Sinterklaas in Amsterdam
The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on the 5th of December. Besides presents, many weird traditions (and non-traditional celebrations) are involved. (Some of the pictures are taken through a window, which explains the weird reflections.)
A girl iceskating at the Rembrandplein Winterland fair
Heavy snowfall viewed from our apartment
The outdoor market was a bit snowy, including the groceries
Sinterklaas had a bit of a rowdy party going on at the canals
The canals were quite icy
More Sinterklaas disco boats
Snowy canalside scenery complete with snow "graffiti"
* A view from our street on a snowy morning shortly after sunrise
* The central station from Lauri's workplace
* Beautiful winter scenery in the city center (from Lauri's workplace)
* More snowfall from our window
* Maija's Christmas feast
