Relaxing with in the shade by the canal on a summer afternoon is excellent, but zoom in and you’ll see that this young woman is laughing along with her friend who is almost perfectly hidden behind her.
Tag: canal
Amsterdam Aquaculture
The impression of plantlife in every edge of the Netherlands was one I expected to drop away as we entered more urban areas, but the canals of Amsterdam, too, were lined with green.
Water Outside the Opera
The highly varied flotilla approaching the Dutch National Opera and Ballet speaks to a kind of imagined universality of classical art—where every citizen might gravitate to something high-minded.
Amsterdam Draw Bridge
This modest iron drawbridge in Amsterdam has a mid-nineteenth-century-ness that fits charmingly among the tall buildings and trees neighboring it.
Boats in Ommen
Though boats are an everyday part of Dutch life, the large fraction of these boats that were occupied by people living and traveling in them (thus not leisure-craft nor houseboats) leads me to believe that I observed the river-and-canal-going equivalent of the caravans also visible at the edges of the image.
Stopping Along the Ride
Travelers of all kinds pause for a moment in Amsterdam, and this long-distance bicyclist (see his touring rig hiding at the left side of the image) is no different. I like this moment apart, with a lone figure in the foreground but a massive crowd on the bridge and boat in the background.
Bicycle Pause: Amsterdam
No idea how this standard Amsterdam bicycle came to rest in the middle of a canal bridge, but the combination of transportation modes speaks to the Dutch experience pretty effectively.
De L’Europe
Does anything say “international intrigue” like a fancy hotel in a European capital?
The Man Relaxing in an Amsterdam House Boat
Amid the historic architecture, the riot of midsummer greenery, and the chaos of boats on the canals of Amsterdam, I appreciated the stillness and calm of the man relaxing in the window.
Lunch on an Amsterdam Canal
I was semi-impressed to see the pigeons waiting patiently far away from this lunch-enjoyer in Amsterdam, but then I saw the green writing as his feet. While I’m sure that simple graffiti or utility markings are the true meaning of the lines, I like to imagine instead that they represent some kind of arcane invocation that protects his sandwich from avian interference.
Canal Through Suburbs
Chicagoland’s nearly 2D topography and nineteenth-century population boom conspired to make for a remarkably uniform grid of structures and roads. Even the water that might “go rogue” in another setting is often confined to the grid.
Dinner on the Water
Crisp late autumn nights are the perfect time to sit between a warm heater and a cold canal for some early supper.
State Police on the Seine
The architectural grandeur of Paris makes even utilitarian buildings, like the State Police headquarters in the distance beyond the bridge, are marvels.
On the other hand, the shadows and mysterious doors along the Seine itself look more like the setting for a Cold War spy thriller…
Walking on Rideau
Standing on the thick ice of the Rideau Canal in the winter, in the same place where I could be underwater in the summer and in view of the Capital, makes for quite the juxtaposition.
Capital and Canal
The Canadian Capital has this charming, European flair to it in the winter. Between the stone walls, steep hills, and canal locks (not to mention the bridge), I’m left waiting for a sophisticated spy thriller to begin.
Decaseconds 