Whew! Well, I have returned from my trip across Belgium and the Netherlands with my family, completed another essay outline, and successfully completed my first ever oral history exam (I passed - YAY!). Therefore, I have time to post pictures.
Amsterdam was absolutely fantastic. Our family friend Aislinn really showed us the best of the city, and it felt nice not to feel quite so much like tourists. We had so much fun. I think the highlight for everyone was probably the night-time boat trip through the canals on someone's boat.
We then moved on to Brussels, visiting along the way Delft and an amazing profusion of tulips. Brussels was lovely, but has a vastly different feel that Amsterdam. Then, on our way back to my sleepy little college town of Groningen, we visited Antwerp for its absolutely breathtaking cathedral. Of course, all of this means pictures, pictures, pictures!
It has also been suggested that I post some of my National Poetry Writing Month pieces. Since it ends tomorrow (finally!), I'll probably post some a little later today. Don't worry, I won't post all of them! On Sunday I will be leaving for Paris and Florence, so I will not have any opportunities to post until I get back. BUT there will of course be more pictures. I apologize in advance for far too many images of the architecture!
Anyway, here are the pictures of our trip. Enjoy!
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| Amsterdam pictures, beginning with one of the many leaning buildings in the city. |
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| The West Church. |
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| TULIPS! |
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| I promise I tried not to post too many pictures of pretty flowers! |
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| Brussels! Don't remember who this was a statue of....Leopold or Wilhelm or someone. |
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| The palace. |
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| Parliament, I believe. |
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| In the main market square. The old City Hall, now a hotel. |
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| Just...interesting. |
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| This building had some pretty cool artwork. |
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| I made it full size so you can see the lyrics in the cigarette smoke :) |
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| The Church of Our Lady |
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| Random graffiti. |
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| More Church of Our Lady. |
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| Antwerp Cathedral tower. |
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| I LOVE stained glass. Have you noticed? |
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| The cathedral was actually serving as a gallery for a large number of Reuben paintings. You might recognize this as one of his most famous. |
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| This is REALLY COOL because there aren't a lot of cathedrals where you can still see the paint on the columns, and these were gorgeous! |
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| The central market square and former city hall. |
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| So, I don't remember the story behind this fountain, but it's something to do with the Romans, and the hero at the top is actually throwing a hand. Which makes the top-most stream of water metaphorical blood....oh, how Roman... |
I hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for poems!
