Canal bridge

View on the Beekstraat, that runs on both sides of this narrow canal in Elburg. The streets were deserted on the Sunday morning hour we were there; most likely the Elburg inhabitants were attending a church service as they are known to be very devout. And I guess 10 am is a bit early for most day visitors - just some early birds like us ;)

No.31

The backdoor of no.31, in an Elburg street.

Happy Friday!

Rosemary Alley

Flowers on the corner of the Rozemarijnsteeg (Rosemary Alley), in the village of Elburg.

3D street art 3

This is another 3D painting from Leeuwarden that I'd like to show you. Like the previous ones I posted on this blog earlier it was made by Dutch artist Leon Keer..

..and can be viewed from 2 sides. The Leeuwarden train station is in the background, as well as the mist fountain with the 2 heads I showed you recently.

I'm linking to Sami's Colourful World.

On the ferry

Photo taken earlier this month from the ferry between Genemuiden and Zwartsluis; crossing the Zwarte Water river takes only a few minutes. The ferry goes back and forth about 200 times a day, 7 days a week and takes pedestrians, cyclists, cars, motorbikes and trucks.
We don't have many ferries like this in the Netherlands, so it was a nice break during the travel home.

Garden centre

Each time I visit our local garden centre they have new and creative displays for their home and garden plants.

They told me that because they don't belong to a large store chain, they don't have to stick to a certain fixed design for their interior. That means their stylist is given a free hand. And he or she is good!

Passage

A passage in the historical town of Elburg.

Car date

'Only for car date', says the text on this sign at the train station car park in Haren, a sign I had never seen here before. Google told me that it is meant as a parking place for a 'shared car'; a privatly owned car that can be booked by others through an organisation for a certain day and time. The person who books the car only pays for fuel and the amount of time, and the owner of the car earns some money.

I'm linking to signs, signs.

Land of language

On and around the Oldehoofsterkerkhof in Leeuwarden is the international Lân fan taal (Frisian for 'Land of language') project this year. The programma shows you how limitless our language is, and you can learn, experience and feel the importance and diversity of language. The text on the wall says 'Language is everything, everything is language', or: 'taal is alles, alles is taal' in Dutch.
If you'd like to read more about the 'land of language' project, click HERE.

3D street art 2

Following up on last Saturday's post, this is another 3D piece made by Leon Keer in the city of Leeuwarden. This one is on the Wilhelmina Square, in front of the Fries Museum. I like how the little girl appears to jump onto the pencil sharpener.

The 5 floor paintings by Keer in Leeuwarden are all in the context of M.C.Escher. Escher (1898-1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who explored infinity, reflection, symmetry and perspective and created impossible objects. If you are not familiar with his work, check the official Esher website HERE, it's truly amazing. The Fries Museum currently has an exhibition about Escher's life and his work.

I'm linking to Sami's Colourful World.

Mist fountain

I have showed you pictures from this artwork a while ago, but then the mist fountain wasn't operative yet. These seven meter high children's heads are the first thing you see when you leave the Leeuwarden train station. They were made by Spanish sculpturor Jaume Plensa (1955); he named it 'LOVE'.

A view from the other side with the train station in the background. As for the 'fountain', I think the effect that the mist gives is a bit minimal. When I passed it in the afternoon there was quite a lot of wind which made the mist hardly visible anymore. On the other hand, it's a nice and original work of art.

3D street art 1

A nice 3D street art at the Sophialaan in Leeuwarden. The artist is Leon Keer (1948), who created 5 3D paintings that can be found on the way from the train station to the Fries Museum. Leeuwarden is cultural capital of 2018 and launched a number of creative projects; they are meant to show that 'anything is possible'.

And the same piece seen from the other side.

Ducks

While eating an ice-cream and sitting on a bench, a couple of ducks decided to come round and see if anything tasty would come their way.

One duck even jumped over the white line that was (I think) put there to keep them in the water, onto the stone quay. But ice-cream is not meant as duck-food, and our sandwiches were long gone. Sorry!

Veluwezoom observation tower

Until 1978 an observation tower was used to watch out for fires in the forests and heathland of the Veluwezoom NP, something that was then taken over by small airplanes. But instead of taking the tower down when it was out of use, it was decided to restore the structure and leave it as a landmark.

The height of the tower is 34 metres. Visitors are allowed to climb until the first platform.

Highland cattle

On the same walk where we passed the sculpture ´Highlander´ that I showed you yesterday, this vast animal stood still in the middle of the path just after a crossing and apparently wasn't going anywhere soon; maybe it was just happy to be in the shade as it was a very warm day.
Our hiking route told us to take a left here, so there was no need to get closer..  Phew! ;)

Highlander

Last Saturday we made a day hike in the Veluwezoom National Park. Founded in 1930, it is the oldest national park of the Netherlands. The landscape consists of forests and heathland that is kept open by grazing of Highland cattle.

And it was Highland cattle that inspired Amsterdam artist Jantien Mook to create this bronze sculpture, placed here in 2013. It is part of a project called 'Ode to the Wilderness'.

National Park bicycles

As mentioned before on this blog after an earlier visit to the Hoge Veluwe National Park: it has a large number of 'white bicycles' that are free to use for all visitors. There are large parkings at each of the 3 entrance gates, as well as near the visitor centre and museum in the heart of the park.

It's a great service for visitors. There were still a lot here when this photo was taken last Friday at the Hoenderloo entrance, but during holiday seasons most (or maybe even all) of the bicycles can be found somewhere on the many bicycle paths in the 55 km2 large park.

Lane

We enjoyed hiking in De Hoge Veluwe National Park this weekend.

Jopie Huisman museum

The Jopie Huisman museum in the village of Workum exhibits drawings, painting and items collected by this Frisian self-taught painter. Jopie Huisman (1922-2000) was known for his compassion for people and the place where he lived, Workum.

When 3 of his paintings were stolen from an exhibition in Nuenen in the early 1980s, Huisman decided none of his works would ever be in a museum again. His friends however thought that his paintings were too good for not showing them to the public, and took the initiative to open a permanent display. That became the Jopie Huisman museum in his home town Workum.

A Workum street..

..showing the typical and charming architectural style that you can find here.

Fiep Westendorp illustrations

A while ago the Fundatie Museum in Zwolle presented a small exhibition showing a number of orginal illustrations made by Fiep Westendorp (1916-2004). Westendorp was a very well known Dutch illustrator for children's books. The drawing above is a nice example. The text ('t is altijd Big Ben weer!) means: it's always Big Ben weather!

Three generations (including myself) grew up by knowing her for her drawings in B&W in 'Jip en Janneke', a series of children's books written by Annie M.G. Schmidt. They tell about the lives of 2 children, together wit Takkie the dog and Siepie the cat. The books are known for its simplicity and wit, and are still popular these days.

Garden flowers

In our backgarden, a photo from earlier this week.

I'm linking to Floral Friday Fotos.