Biggest fan

this was saturday a week ago. the little boy in the green shirt was so very happy and bouncing around... many, many times he tried to climb the stage, and a few times he actually did. so funny to suddenly see him sitting on the stage. until his mom got him off again... but then he returned at another place and did it again.

today the train was delayed when getting back from work. actually, i ran for it (if i dont i have to wait 15 minutes, and i dont like waiting), but then i just sat in the train, and it didnt move. after 2 minutes i got annoyed (with trains and such i get annoyed easily). with 5 i wondered what was going on (as were my fellow passengers. people started to check their watches. ah no, their phones. i checked my watch). a little later the train driver announces that the conductor is missing. by then i could almost take another train that would actually be more convenient for me (as i then dont need to take the subway, but immediately would get where i had to go). another train comes in and i hestitate a bit more (my more convenient train?!). in the end i did get out, only to get into an even later train in the same direction... :(

the worst part of it all? the above is extremely boring, AND they were actually handing out free icecream at the station to celebrate that they finished some major construction work. i passed, since i had to run for my 20+ minutes delayed train.... :(

King's day!

since last year we have a king, and so the traditional queen's day is now renamed king's day (the dutch havent had a king since 1890...!). its also moved from april 30 to april 27 (the birthday of our current king). but... since april 27 is on a sunday this year, we had kings day today; the 26th... complicated, no?

but the day itself isnt complicated at all. you should wear at least something orange (as this is the dutch royal color. the royals are named "van oranje", which literally means "from orange"), you go out and have fun! if it falls on a weekday, it means the day is off (for most people; shops are also mostly closed or only open half days). the day is spent outside; kids (mostly, but some adults too) put all the stuff they dont want anymore on a blanket in the park, and other dutch in need of this crap buy it for not too much money (mostly). many kids do tricks, or play an instrument, or sing songs like you see above, and hope to get some money. its all fun when the weather is nice.... :)

well, the weather wasnt bad at all! and this was my first kings day since a loooong time. we bought some crap from people who didnt want it anymore, walked around a lot, were dressed in orange, and saw the fireworks ending all the festivities!

White as...

...snow!!! but we dont have any snow.... buuhhhhh! its even pretty mild weather right now. so no snow anytime soon either. whereas in boston they had the first real snow i think!

this dog was watching the hat of his (her?) owner. she was taking a picture and then returned to retrieve her dog and hat. so cute! i tried to secretly take some pictures, but then some other guy noticed and started to take pictures of the dog as well, so then i stopped.

Twin girls..

this was a few weeks back, near the finish of the amsterdam marathon. those 2 little girls were so cute! i only took one photo, as i didnt really dare taking photos of them. but they were too cute!!

its been raining on and off the past few days. and its really getting colder. this evening we biked to the city center and i was glad to have my gloves!! surprisingly, nobody is wearing gloves or a hat yet, but i really missed a hat!

Moving anything!

with a bike, you can move about anything... here, to the right you see a man moving his dog!! i must say, i had never seen that before, so i had to take a picture when i saw this today (i have seen women moving their dogs in a little basket on the front of their bike). the dog was really enjoying it. unfortunately, i only could take a picture while the dog was not looking our way... :( we were waiting for a red light and i had to put my camera away before it would turn green again, as otherwise all the bikers behind me would get mad at me moving so slowly (biking really is a race, and you will get angry looks, or even yelled at if you dont move fast enough, most certainly people will use their "fietsbel" to let you know you have to move out of their way immediately).

i love those saddle bags and use them to get groceries home (their size determines how much groceries you can get at once... luckily they can be pretty big!), my bag (i dont like biking while having to carry my bag), or whatever else. unfortunately, with my bike stolen last month, i also lost my colorful saddle bags, and i have not yet bought new ones... :(( they are pretty expensive, and i want bags that are really big (like those on the left bike). at least i do have a little basket on the front again, for light stuff (but no dog for me!!)

Cool duckling

i did visit the ducklings on my walk yesterday. they were wearing cute straw hats and some had a runners number on them. this one is from last year april, when they all got a cape and looked much cooler, actually!

yesyes, they get dressed up for various occassions. i think thats really nice... here you can see a slideshow of some of their other outfits.

Dutch snow....

this morning it was so warm that it felt like one of the first spring days; it was a bit humid. warm, but not superwarm, yet definitely with the promise that real summer is on its way.... normally you then look around (in boston, at least) and see the marvellous blossom trees all around you, and the grass getting even greener (if thats possible). but today; all grey. leafless trees... and me dressed too warm, as i am expecting winter!! winter! and im not getting it... :) i still have these nice red winter boots that i cannot use as there is no snow... :(

whereas in the netherlands its crazy once again; they have snow!! and far too much of it for what they can handle. trains are not riding, traffic is a mess, etc etc (although ofcourse, many people will still go to work by bike, because thats what real dutch do.... (not me though)). it started today and tomorrow more is expected, if i read the news correctly.... so yes, im a little jealous...

here a picture i took in the netherlands in december 2010, in a cute little city just above amsterdam, haarlem. some kids playing with a piece of ice, as then there was some snow too.... :)

A sculpture

this is a huge new sculpture in the decordova museum in lincoln, not too far from boston. i cant count how often we have been here by now; its such a great museum! there is a large sculpture park, and inside the museum are ever changing exhibitions of modern art. sometimes i dont like them at all, sometimes its ok, and sometimes its great! the sculpture park is always great; the grounds are so beautiful, even without the sculptures. it used to be free entrance with your bank of america card every first weekend in the month, but not anymore, unfortunately. but now its free every first wednesday of the month, and its always free if you come by bike (how nice is that?!).

the above sculpture is named lincoln, and was made specifically for the site by dewitt godfrey. here you can read more about it, and see it from another angle; i guess we have seen it 2 or 3 times now, and with the light and all i really had a hard time taking a picture i liked. i settled for this one because of the little boy; it also shows how huge it is! (you can walk through a few of the bubbles).

this was last saturday when the weather was really great. today it was quite chilly... and this weekends forecast does not look too good, colder weather is really coming our way...

Please climb!

"for your safety, do not climb the sculpture" is a sign that always accompanies large sculptures that seem to be there just for climbing.... the sign actually also accompanies sculptures or other large objects you never thought of climbing. until you saw the sign, that is.....  well, this life-size replica of lady liberty's face is an "interactive sculpture", meaning its meant for climbing! and climbed she was, mostly by children, it was lovely to watch. its called "face of liberty", made by zaq landsberg.

after i had seen a picture of this sculpture somewhere, i just had to see it for myself! its on governers island, a small island just half a mile off the southern tip of manhattan. having been to new york numerous times, and seen quite a bit of it, i have to admit i had never heard of governors island! so, that was cool, as we always try to see something in new york we havnt seen before. the island is accessible by a free ferry (from manhattan or brooklyn), but its only open during summer, and then only during weekends. there is art, a fort, sometimes there are festivals and there is a lot of green space where you can just hang out. ah, and beautiful views of manhattan! i really enjoyed walking around there, and wouldnt mind to visit it again sometime. i took quite some photos (this was back in june), so perhaps i will show you more some other time.

The inflatable...

do you see it? that tiny blue inflatable tire? not allowed in the water. not allowed!! never mind that the water (until the red thingies) is not deep at all.... or that the mother was with the child in the water while she was wearing it (do you wear an inflatable tire? i dont know...). i thought it was really so sad! here i really liked the 2 girls (twins?) with their colorful swim caps... placed above their ears... :)

so, thats the lake we went to yesterday. its called walden pond (maybe you know it from the writer thoreau, who lived on the shore of this pond for a while, in 1845, and wrote about it at length). as mentioned, we swam across it. while standing on the beach (as you can see), it doesnt seem far at all! and while swimming, you think each time while looking up; ah, almost there. and then you still arent... but i really liked swimming it, i think i never did something like that before! (except for last weekend, when i swam it for the first time, haha).

Water fun

there are several fountains in boston that provide a lot of fun during summer. and ofcourse a break from the high temperatures.... unfortunately, i am too old to run around like this... instead i take pictures... ;)

this is at the christian science center, close to prudential and the symphony (our original destination, but it turned out the office is closed on weekends during the summer. grrrr!!)

Poor dog

the poor dog was being laughed at when he (she?) didnt dare to cross the bridge. normally, only cars pass ocer this part of the bridge, but it was closed for all traffic for some festival where tim had to play. well, those grates were indeed quite scary, and the dog was not the only one not wanting to go there (when i took a leisurely stroll with tim, i had to hold him the entire time as i was too afraid to walk by myself. hahahhaaha. seems so stupid now, as the grates were definitely smaller than my shoes, but it does something to your brain that makes you walk funny. just like when you are on an escalator that doesnt work....). eventually, the dog went... slowly.... 

i didnt post for 2 days. i was just.... beeehhhh. so tired every evening. and then just for bed i "had to do my blog", and just didnt want to. my computer is still soooo slow, so just watching photos to decide which one to post is really annoying.... so i went to bed instead. but i actually like doing my blog... so.. its weird. i want to, but i dont want to. blablabla. lets goto bed again.. :) good night!

Water fun

this picture was taken at the frog pond, during a hot summer day.... (just like this one, perhaps it was the same day? i dont remember!). just like yesterday, it was (and is, its 11 pm now and still above 30C) very hot, perhaps even hotter.... luckily we have the pool to cool down a little bit. unfortunately, it closes at 8 in the evening, and this is strictly enforced. at 8! who wants to stop swimming at 8 on a hot day/night like this?! but no, there is no discussion. pool closes at 8. (while it gets dark here around 9, so i would think they at least could keep it open till 9!). 

thats something else i miss from the netherlands, there it gets darker so much later in summer.... buuuhhhh!

and guess what, we are having the AC on right now, and i am cold!! i am about to switch it off (dont like it during sleeping), will probably be another difficult night of sleeping again....

Whats there...

... to see?! 

this is an old pic, taken during the st patricks day parade. it was funny to see the kids all like above, suddenly. something interesting surely was coming! (it turned out to be a big red elmo....).

this weekend was busy, we had friends over and did "boston sightseeing". even so we do that almost every week by ourselves, im somehow quite tired now!! but it was nice (and i ate too much. beehh. tomorrow i have togoto the gym)! we even went bowling, saw some cemeteries, a museum and whatnot....

While driving...

... dogs like to stick their head out of the window. i always find it so funny, even cute, sometimes... :)

this was taken when the weather was a bit better. now we have heavy rain, and its a little chilly. but it makes boston very green, trees are getting leafs again and grass is coming back. pretty! 

(this should have been posted last night, but somehow i fell asleep on the couch. that usually doesnt happen to me on a monday.... grrr!)

Center of....

...attention! in the brooklyn botanic garden. under the blossom trees... :)

just by being a (cute) baby, you get all the attention... nothing more is required. some people strive their entire life to get that attention back... how many actually achieve and/or earn it...? i think its funny....

Well, hello!

i found this angel at a cemetery in salem. at first sight i thought it really ugly, but when taking pictures i kind of liked it...

Just cute

i have posted more often pics of this sculpture in the public garden (like here, here and here). i guess every time i go by there i take a picture. i think every single kid loves it and it is so cute to see!

sometimes people (who? just anyone? i dont know!) dress the ducks up a bit. sometimes for some sports game, for christmas, etc. or just to dress them up. but i dont think they need any of that. they are wonderful just as they are!

we went for some shopping today. a store was moving to another location and had huge discounts. i was very content with everything i bought, it was amazingly cheap (one of the blouses i got was just 75 cents! and a pair of hiking boots for 8 dollars (they were 150 or so? tim wanted them, but they didnt fit him, so he was very happy, but jealous at the same time, when they did fit me). but... somehow i walked out of that shop with a huge bag of stuff for a total of 60 dollars! yep, huge discounts, but had everything been priced normally i wouldnt have spent anything.... smart, those sales people....

Spring day!

above was in miami, last december during our holiday. it was so weird to be in a place where it was really warm at that time of the year. but i liked it a lot... (and would love another holiday!).

and now, today... it was 22 degrees celsius (71 F) in boston!! everyone was walking around without jackets and some even had found their flip flops... interesting how quickly people dress right for a drastic change in the weather (im not that fast). i hope it will stay like this, if i cant have my snow, this is a very nice alternative!

Oooohh, beeeghhhh..

i take so many pictures... and then i just copy them to my laptop, view them. select some. forget the rest. i usually do not take the time to throw out at least the unsharp ones... i do sometimes copy them to an external disk, as im so afraid to loose them. and... because my computer is overflowing. beeghh. i should sort them out. also, i am planning to make a photobook from our road trip. i should write emails. sort out papers. ooh, shit, and file my taxes (iieeekk!! last year was such a frustration, i dont want to do it again..). but what do i do when i come home? on a good day, to the gym. on a lazy one.. just cooking... then couch. then bed. 

im very frustrated with my computer, too. the past few weeks it suddenly became extremely slow. time for a new one? beeehhh... 

i wish i could just do like the cute dog above. enjoying some sun.... :)