From the archives #55

South Africa (2006)

During our stay in Durban we made a trip to the Valley of a 1000 Hills, and visited the PheZulu Village to see one of the magnificent and rhythmical Zulu dancing performances. In between shows these 2 dancers were enjoying their view over the valley.

Enjoy your weekend!

A sign of Spring?

I enjoyed a visit to Museum Buitenplaats in Eelde yesterday, and of course also had a look in its beautiful museum garden. No green leaves yet however, we need to be patient..!  :)

Linking to Skywatch Friday.

Water tower

Halfway the marked walking trail around Zuidlaren we crossed the premises of the former pychiatric institution ´Dennenoord´. The oldest buildings on this huge area of almost 91 hectare (about 225 acres) date from the end of the 19th century, and have been registered as cultural heritage since 2007.
The water tower that you see at the end of this lane was built in 1895 and provided the water for the people who lived at Dennenoord. It isn't in use anymore, but was rescued from demolition when it officially received the status of national monument. Besides a 'private' water tower, Dennenoord also had its own church.

Let's see

Maybe not so difficult to guess that this is the facade of an optician.. :).  A photo from last Sunday in the village of Zuidlaren.


For more signs around the world go to signs, signs.

Sheep for sale

These sheep with their boulder-bodies and metal head and legs were for sale in front of a house in Zuidlaren. Aren't they sweet?

Zuidlaren bakery

This bakery in the centre of Zuidlaren advertises for the real 'Zuidlaarderbollen'. The Zuidlaarderbol is a large round bread, richly filled with raisins and currants. In the past this type of bread was regarded to be the 'ideal' bread for the farmers in this area, as it was very nutritious. For me it is a real treat and just delicious to eat with some butter :)

Nowadays the Zuidlaarderbol is baked in large quantities especially in the weeks prior to the Zuidlaardermarkt, an annual horse and country market that is held in October. The horse market is the largest in Europe, and is attended by Dutch, German and Belgian horsetraders.

The bakery has a nice sign as well, I think I will post a close-up of it on a later date.

Around Zuidlaren

This is one of many wonderful sunny views we had this afternoon when we were walking a marked trail named 'Rondje Zuidlaren' (something like: 'around Zuidlaren'). Zuidlaren is a town in the province of Drenthe, known for its village greens in the centre. This photo was taken just outside the village.

From the archives #54

Sweden (2013)

Let's go for some Summer colours today. During our stay on the Swedish peninsula Hornslandet, about 300 km north of Stockholm, we spent a day in the town of Hudiksvall. This beautiful Jakobs Kyrka is regarded as one of the highlights. The church is part of the Swedish Lutheran church and can accommodate 540 people.

Contrast

Inside the Drents Museum in Assen you find a mixture of old and new, classic and modern. From this spotless white room with ditto bench you pass the glass doors and enter the old part again, with stone colourful floor tiles and a generally dark(er) interior. And whether you like this contrast or not, it certainly makes the building more interesting!

See-through fence

I'm standing outside the Jacob Cramerpark here, next to the museum in Assen (see also my posts from last Monday and Tuesday). Somehow the hanging branches fit very well with the fence.

Elan Valley Trail

Looking back here to our visit to the Elan Valley in mid Wales, last August. This valley is well known from The Elan Valley Reservoirs, a chain of five man-made lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers. We spent a wonderful day walking the Elan Valley Trail; a path suitable for walkers and cyclists, following the line of the railway used in the building of the dams.
This sign was next to the valley Visitor Centre, where we stopped for a rest and a drink.

Linking to Lesley's signs, signs.

Jacob Cramerpark

Following up on yesterday´s post, I´m still at the roof garden of the Drents Museum and standing almost on the top, maybe you can recognize the 'roof-like' shape. The buildings in front belong to the old part of the museum, while the new part (under me) was built partly underground.
This roof garden is known as the Jacob Cramer-Park and is open to visitors during museum opening hours. Jacob Cramer (1899-1998) was a politician and the Queens Commissioner (in Dutch: Commissaris van de Koningin) of the province Drenthe from 1951 until his retirement in 1964.

Museum Visitors

After my visit to the Drents Museum in Assen last week, I also walked through the Jacob Cramerpark, the museum park. The sculpture, showing three people looking at/through a frame, is called `Museumbezoekers' or 'Museum Visitors', and is part of the museum's art collection. It was created by Dutch sculptor Bert Kiewiet (1918-2008).
The park, here to my right, is in fact a roof garden and is built upon the roof of the underground part of the museum. I will show you more photos later.

A tree-bench

Maybe not such a good choice for February I think, but it might be just the right place to sit on a warm Spring afternoon..

Seen in the centre of Assen.

From the archives #53

Athens, Greece (2010)

Away from the tourists, but still in the heart of Athens..

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Precious eggs

The Drents Museum in Assen currently also exhibits a collection of beautiful and very valuable Russian eggs, that are on loan from the Landesmuseum in Liechtenstein. The highlight is this 'Apple Blossom egg' by Fabergé from 1901. The materials used are gold, diamond, enamel, and a mineral called nephrite. Beautiful, isn't it?

The total collection in this room consists of hundreds of unique eggs. They tell the story of the bewitching court culture in pre-war Russia and the artistic refinery and blossoming of the applied arts at that time. Hurry if you want to see them as the exhibition closes at the end of February!

The glass showcases in which the eggs were put gave a nice reflection, both of the eggs as well as of the lights. I'm linking this last photo to Weekend Reflections.

Malevich in Assen

No less than 60 original paintings by Kazimir Malevich can still be seen in the Drents Museum in Assen. Malevich (1878-1935) is the most important Russian artist from the first half of the 20th century. The collection is owned by the Russian State Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Malevich painted a lot of figurative works with agricultural life as its central theme. After his death, nearly all his work went to the Russian State Museum and was barely known outside the Soviet Union under the communist regime. After the perestroika, they gained some fame.
I really enjoyed seeing this exhibition of colourful paintings!

Punch Bowl

For today's sign I chose this photo from the city of York, made during our visit last August. The Punch Bowl is a traditional English pub, serving a range of real ales and pub food.

From their site: "Said to be haunted, The Punch Bowl has been a pub for over four centuries. We have a historical connection with the Whig Party from the 17th century. Punch was the preferred drink of the Whigs, whilst the Tories likes their claret. Any pub displaying a punch bowl sign was therefore declaring its political allegiance."

Contributing to signs, signs.

Moss

Zooming in on the moss on top of our garage roof, on a cold winter morning in January.

Village church

During our hike yesterday we passed the 14th century village church in Eelde, which is a registered state monument. Even though it is the backside that you see on the photo, I found the view with the surrounding trees and the small door that apparently was much bigger once, quite appealing..

Sunday hike

A photo taken this afternoon just outside the small village of Bunne, near Eelde. You may notice the green landscape; all the snow that was there a week ago already disappeared completely!

From the archives #52

Iceland (2008)

It's the 1,000th (!) post on my blog today, showing a surreal landscape of boiling mudpools and steaming fumaroles in Hverir, a geothermal area in the north of Iceland. It was a weird and overwhelming experience to walk here, with the smells, the colours, the heat..

Nature's Theatre

The 'theater van de natuur' (Nature's Theatre) near Sellingen is a project from the 1990's: a small hill was created to give people a wide view on the scenic surroundings. Poems can be read on the stone steps when you go up, and on the top is a platform with this iron theater-shaped frame placed on a high round table.

I posted photos from this exact spot before, then taken early June (2013) which makes the lookout surprisingly different, to see them click here.

Regional centre

View on the Water Tower and the 'Streekhistorisch Centrum', the regional historial centre in the town of Stadskanaal.

Golden Lion

The GOLDEN LION is a pub in Richmond, North Yorkshire. A photo from our holiday in the U.K. last Summer.

Linking to signs, signs.

More of Westerwolde

Two more photos from last Sunday, taken near the village of Sellingen in the region Westerwolde.

Westerwolde in winter

Some snow fell again just before the weekend. These pictures were taken yesterday afternoon near Sellingen where we had a wonderful walk. It was grey, hazy, and really beautiful!

The region we are in here is called Westerwolde; it is located in the north east of the Netherlands,  alongside the German border.
I will show you 2 more photos tomorrow.

Colour

I thought I'd post something colourful on this first day of February: how about this blue tit's yellow belly!

Have a great Sunday :)