Friday, January 08, 2010

Friday Feature - The Netherlands

Welcome to the first of "Friday Features." While this blog has an underlying writing theme, it's certainly not restricted to that audience. Everyone is welcome. I thought it would be fun to take some field trips. To that end (at least that's the plan), on Fridays I'll be sharing photos from some of my trips, and will also be welcoming guests to share their journeys in pictures.


I have a terrible memory for details. Couple that with my dread of description, and you'll understand why I like to have a camera available whenever I go out. One never knows when you'll find something worth recording.

I'll kick things off with some pictures of a trip we took to Holland. Hubby had a meeting in the small town of Harderwijk. While he was doing Important Meeting Stuff, I toured the countryside.

I hope you like it – and just maybe some of these shots will inspire a scene or a story for you as well. Or remind you of something you've read, or somewhere you've been. Today's shots were taken in the days before digital cameras, and I scanned my snapshots. Plus, it was a cold, gloomy day. Not the best quality, but I hope you get a feel for the place. And yes, I've asked my son to share some more of his Really Good pictures down the line.



The countryside in Putten, which is where we stayed.


Harderwijk






The Hague


Delft


The Kuekenhof



Have a great weekend. Enjoy your virtual road trip, and I'll see you Monday. If you've got pictures to share, email me (link in the sidebar).

18 comments:

Sam said...

You dread description? I'd never have known it from reading your books. ;)

I'm lousy at description and take a lot of pictures for the same reason.

Terry Odell said...

Sam, thank you. I've never been comfortable with trying to get what I see into words, and it's a struggle. I'm delighted to know that it's worth the effort.

Renee Field said...

I love your description Terry. I also love the sunny pic considering I'm knee deep into winter now. Send more colorful pics and I totally get what you mean about trying to convey what you see in writing - sometimes words do seem inadequate- Renee Field (www.reneefield.com)

Marie Tuhart said...

Terry, I too take a lot of pictures when I travel. Seeing these pictures took me back to 1985 when I visited Holland with my mom and sister. We had such a good time.

Thanks for sharing.

Marie
www.marietuhart.com

Terry Odell said...

Renee - thanks. Most of those pictures were taken on our city tour day. The temperature was about 4 degrees (Celsius, not Faherenheit, so maybe 40?). It was an unexpected cold snap and I was with my daughter who was in shorts. We spent a lot of the time at the Keukenhof looking for indoor greenhouses and drinking hot chocolate (which is VERY good there).

And yes, it's fun to look back at the pictures. I know I'll be enjoying lots of fond memories as I dig through files for more Friday Field Trips.

Ray said...

I've never been to Holland. The one time we were supposed to go it was decided that port fees were too high to justify the trip. Later the ship did go to Poland and Estonia. What I like about Europe are the traditional old buildings. Here if something has historical significance it stands only until some developer can fill the space with gaudy condos or cookie cutter houses.
Keep this up. I love travel photos.

Ray

Terry Odell said...

Ray - thanks for the encouragement. Most of our travel has been in conjunction with a business trip. When it's hubby's trip, I have time to play. I have Africa pictures on my website from that trip. I had another website where I shared all sorts of travel notes and pictures, but it's long gone.

GunDiva said...

I love these pictures. One of my instructors just spent three weeks biking across Holland and his pictures were amazing! I'd never thought of visiting, but after seeing his pictures and now yours, I think I'll have to put it on my list of places to visit before I die. If I can find my pictures of Cinque Terre, I'll email them to you. Cinque Terre's where I really and truly fell in love with Italy.

Mary Ricksen said...

Great pics, thanks Terry, nice for a change.

Terry Odell said...

GD - my parents did an Elderhostel tour biking across The Netherlands. Quite rigorous, but they enjoyed it a great deal. And I'd love to see your pictures. I've got some of Genoa and Rome, which is the extent of my travels to Italy.

Mary - thanks. (I'm going to interpret your comment as meaning 'nice for a change of pace', and not 'there's finally something nice on this blog'!

Alice Audrey said...

Good thing you carry your camera around. You got some great material.

Terry Odell said...

Alice -- thanks. I ended up buying a new cell phone for the camera feature for all the normal everyday stuff where I'd never remember to carry a camera. Heck, half the time when I DO have my camera, I leave it in the hotel room. I don't get decent quality with the phone, but at least I have memory triggers.

Back in the day, I carried a Nikon with interchangeable lenses. And shot film. Often Black & White.

Sheila Deeth said...

Lovely road trip to start my weekend. Thanks!

Terry Odell said...

Sheila - have a good one!

Wynter said...

Wow - love the pictures. I went to Holland as a child, but don't remember much. Nice to see such beautiful pictures on a freezing, gloomy day.

Terry Odell said...

Thanks, Wynter - it wasn't much warmer that day, and almost as gloomy. But the scenery was much more interesting that flat Florida.

Cate Masters said...

Love the pics, Terry! I don't travel much, unfortunately, but I love to take photos too, and recently began posting them on my blog, as well as Facebook.
Love that Delft is Delft-colored too!

Terry Odell said...

Cate - coming from a family of camera buffs, we have more pictures than anyone could look at in a lifetime. The digital format has made it too easy -- no need to 'ration' the way we did with film.