Pictures from the Netherlands

Pictures of our daily life, mostly in Amsterdam area in the the Netherlands, where we moved in 2010. Events with more photos have their separate directories (take a look at the free Egypt demonstration in particular).

Also see pictures from the Netherlands 2004, 2006 and 2007, 2009 and 2010.

Pictures marked with an asterisk (*) added on the 9th of January 2012.

Markets

Funky Sunday Market at Westergasfabriek

Colorful decorative balls
Seriously, that knitted dragon is awesome
As is this knitted lampshade (which had knitted fly agarics at floor level!)
Some lamps and bowls (we bought one of the mosaic bowls, but a far nicer one)
Look, it's a tiger!

Kinkerstraat voorjaarsmarkt

Gnomes and Aslan make for fancy car toppings
The police were very attracted to the market and we found out why

Gardens and plants

Cacti etc at the Osdorp garden center
Columbines on our balcony
Our balcony flowers
The lilac on our neighbour's balcony
Tiltshifted wild blackberries
Orchids growing as symbiotes (Leiden botanical garden)
Some really colorful leaves
Flower macro (-"-)
Pink flower (-"-)
The garden (-"-)
Beautiful flowers (-"-)

Animals

Angry birds committing acts of terror (Red Light district)
Ugly ducklings aka swan babies (Oosterdok)
Snails snuggling (sluggling?) (ALERT: This picture may look gross if you don't like slimy things)
* Yes, it's an albino wallaby (Amstelpark)

In and near Slotervaart

(The part of the city we live in, "behind" Vondelpark about halfway between Schiphol airport and Amsterdam city center.)

Contemporary street art
Some very interesting and colorful architecture
Feeding parrots at our balcony
Some buildings nearby our place
A man fishing from a canal
A woman feeding birds
Ethnic segregation
A cat stalking bunnies
More wild-ish bunnies
A bear guarding a construction site
Cherry blossoms at the nearby street
A weird apartment complex next to Sloterpark (they have a splendid view!)
A butterfly
These trees were almost harp-like
Lauri in perspective
A closeup of the big tree
A cat
Plum(?) tree
Lots and lots of colorful memorial flowers (Westgaarde cemetery, Osdorp)
A baby's grave (-"-)
More of the cemetery
Sometimes, we live by the lakeside
A sunrise at Lelylaan
* Reeds by the canal

Urban life elsewhere in Amsterdam

A view from the Dam (the Royal Palace on the right)
A sunset from Lauri's workplace
Have you seen him?
The subway has some beautiful interior designs - this one is the yummiest
A bit hazardous looking young love

Outside of Amsterdam

It's a good sign to be warned of koalas when going to see as doctor, right? (Leende, near Eindhoven)
The Maarheeze train "station" just two platforms in the middle of nowhere (near Eindhoven)
Leende again, now 1.5 months later (it was a very warm day, even though it may not look like that)
A magnolia flowering in Vught (next to Den Bosch)
A canal at the Den Bosch city center at night
A windmill in Leiden
The famous water tower in Utrecht looks kind of like a chess piece
All the best flags at once (Utrecht)
Lush street scenery (Utrecht)
Pixel art street art in Utrecht
The main(?) canal of Utrecht
Some weird architecture (Utrecht)
Escher in het paleis museum, a former royal palace (The Hague)
Fancy lamps inside the museum (The Hague)
Colorful architecture (The Sting, The Hague)
The Passage, the oldest (and pretty fancy!) shopping mall in the Netherlands (1882) (The Hague)
Dizzying skyscrapers under construction next to The Hague central station
A very funky hotel in Zaandam
The Beverwijk Bazaar is so huge it doesn't really photograph well (2,000 stores or something)
A nice yard right at the beach in Hoorn
The sunny beach in Hoorn
More of the beach
The Hoorn haven is huge
Weird building in Hoorn
This was a bit creepy (Hoorn)
* The Brederode ruins(Santpoort Zuid)
* Roosa in Utrecht
* Awesome yarn bombing in Leiden
* More yarn bombing (-"-)
* -"-

Delft

Beautiful stained glass at the Oude Kerk
Innards of the church clock
-"-
The Delft city house
The market square and Oude Kerk
Oude Kerk from the inside
You can use this phone to call God. Unfortunately it's out of order.
I guess it would help if you give God more monies?
A view from the Oude Kerk
Illie heart Natha
Another splendid view
-"-
-"-
-"-
A really funky building with textile graffiti
Delft science center

Events

Some friends at my book release party
My Italian friend Roberto at my book release party
The Ratha Yatra parade of the Krishnas
Women dancing in the parade

Street art

Very creative B&W street art
Classical meets modern in graffiti
Groovy animals
Various graffiti and bikes

Parks

Cherry(?) flowers (Sloterpark?)
A black swan (Amstelpark)
Seashells (Amstelpark)
The Amstelpark train (Amstelpark)
Young drivers (Amstelpark)
More terrified young drivers (Amstelpark)
Two storks at home (Sloterpark)
A bunny family (Sloterpark)
The young Eurasian Coot is very ugly (Flevopark)
A frog closeup (Flevopark)
Two more young Eurasian Coots (Flevopark)
A stork portrait (Flevopark)
Young drivers in trouble (near Flevopark)
Some not-very-friendly looking insect (Oeverlanden)
These insects had a very kinky place for mating (Oeverlanden)
A view over the Gaasperplas lake
Tiny snail with blackberry noms (Gaasperplas)
Spot the frog? (Gaasperplas)

Other

A palm in evening light (our home)
Summer noms (home)
These blackberries I picked myself (home) (Yeah, they're on the ugly side, but hey, you don't get any wild blackberries in Finland!)
* Roosa in Artis
* The extravagant improvised cupcake with vegan caramel frosting, popcorn and chocolate ganache