Piano

Next to the Christmas tree in the hall of Groningen Central Station -see yesterday's photo- was a piano. This girl played for about 15 minutes, while her friend encouraged her and sang along. It was very sweet.

Lights

At Groningen Central Station.

Zuiderdiep

Bicycle path along the Zuiderdiep in Nieuw Buinen, the final photo from last Sunday.

Noorderdiep

On foot, following the bicycle path along the Noorderdiep in Nieuw Buinen.

Westerdiep view

The homes at the Westerdiep (see yesterday's post) in Nieuw Buinen have a wide view.
PS. Yesterday's snow is gone already.

FIrst snow of the season

The Westerdiep at the edge of the village of Nieuw Buinen, earlier today.

Vulcanic grill

Lanzarote restaurant 'El Diablo' was built next to a vulcano and is located in the heart of Timanfaya National Park. With a large grill put over a vulcanic opening, they use heat coming directly from the earth. When we were there, potatoes and chicken were being prepared.
The most recent vulcanic eruption on the island took place in 1824.

Self portrait

In 1970 César Manrique created this 'Autorretrato'. It is now on the walls inside the Fundación César Manrique in the village of Tahiche, Lanzarote.

Wind sculptures by César Manrique

Driving around on Lanzarote you can't miss the art works made by local artist and architect César Manrique (1919-1992). Several roundabouts have spectacular wind sculptures that make you want to stop and look, and study them to find out how clever they are. The one above gently moves forwards and backwards in the breeze..

..and here everything just turns around in both directions; so not just in the direction the winds blows but actually in opposite directions.

It's the season

Coming from the Netherlands we are not used to the combination of Summer temperatures and the Christmas spirit, but yes it was really that time of year :)

Lago Verde

Lago Verde ('The Green Lake') near the fishing village of El Golfo. The remarkable green colour is caused by algae that live in the water.

This photo was taken from the same spot as the first one, only a little more to the left.

Flying

Obviously the conditions for paragliding and hang gliding were very good on (or should I say 'above') the island of Lanzarote, as we spotted them frequently. This photo was taken from the viewpoint at Mirador del Rio.. 

..and here we witnessed a landing at Famara Beach.

Lanzarote cactus garden

Photo taken at the far edge of the 'Jardin de Cactus' or Cactus Garden, on the island of Lanzarote -one of the Spanish Canary Islands- where we enjoyed a sunny and warm holiday.

A bench..

..and a tree as well.

Animal drawings

Drawings on the wall surrounding a skateboard area next to De Kwinne youth center in Stadskanaal.

The artist obviously likes animals :)    I'm linking to Sami's Colourful World.

Sunday hike

Two photos from earlier today, and what a glorious day we had. A bit of a cold start with 0°C (32°F) though the bright sun made it a very pleasant hike.

Trees are rapidly losing their leaves now, like the beeches here on the left.

Fresh milk

During one of our hikes recently we passed a dairy farm along the Oranjekanaal in Zuidveld, near Orvelte. The sign saying 'melktap' ('milk pump') caught our attention..

.. so we had a closer look and discovered a 24/7 self-service organic milk device..

..and even a place to sit and rest. Isn't that nice? We went along without taking a bottle of milk in our rucksack, but I'm sure many passers-by do so.

Sugar beets harvest

Two weeks ago the sugar beets on the field behind our back garden were harvested. Being able to watch this from so close is one of the advantages of living in the country! :)

The sugar beets will be transported by truck to a commercial producer of sucrose (table sugar) in Hoogkerk, about 50 km from here. Last year 600 million kilos of sugar were produced in the Hoogkerk factory, though due to this year's dry Summer it is expected to be less this season.