There are some lovely sights in Amsterdam, not least the buildings and monuments and the eclectic mix of architectural styles.
When in Amsterdam, I love to wander around the city. There’s always something new to see.
Have you been to Amsterdam? What do you like to do?
The Changing Seasons post hosted by Su at Zimmerbitch.
Well, what a start to January 2020! The very first day of the new year, I got to spend a glorious day with my best friend and life partner – Chris! (He loves it when I call him my life partner! Hee hee)
We both used to live in Bangkok and saw each other all the time and now he lives in Rotterdam and I live in the UK we don’t get to see each other often, so when he came to meet me in Brussels, it was a very special day.
I met him at Gare du Midi train station just after 10 a.m. and we went for coffee to warm up.
We spent the rest of the day walking around. We went to the Christmas market near St Nicholas church and had hot rum – not the nicest drink I have ever had. You could smell the fumes from the alcohol as you took a drink. I ended up throwing mine away, but Chris enjoyed his!
After some more wandering, we settled in the lovely Cafe Metteko which reminded us of one of our favourite haunts in Bangkok – Cafe des Stagieres.
We stayed at Cafe Metteko until it was time for Chris to head back to Rotterdam on the train. We had such a lovely day together – reminiscing about the past, making new memories for the future, but more than that – we had a lot of fun, as always. You know when you just get on with someone – that’s Chris and I!
The next day, I took myself off to Bruges. I spent 4 hours wandering around, snapping away with my camera.
I walked around the city..
I also made a bee-line for the canals and one of the prettiest streets in Bruges – according to the Rough Guide to Belgium!
I’ll write more of Bruges later, but, for now, if you would like to take part in the Changing Seasons, here are the guidelines..
The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge where bloggers around the world share what’s been happening in their month.
If you would like to join me and the others in this challenge, here are the guidelines:
The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic)
The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):
A lovely part of Rotterdam is the Maritiem District where you can learn of the city’s maritime history. For more information, check out the website.
Or, you can just wander around with your camera, like I did.
I hope you enjoyed the stroll!
On a sightseeing day around Rotterdam with my tour guide – Chris, we walked down to the river Nieuwe Maas (New Meuse) – a distributary of the Rhine River – which divides Rotterdam into north and south.
The north and south are connected by several bridges and the two that caught my attention were the Erasmusbrug and Willemsbrug.
The Erasmusbrug is a cable-stayed and bascule bridge which connects the north and south of Rotterdam. It is named after Desiderius Erasmus who was one of the greatest scholars of the Northern Renaissance (Wikipedia).
The Willemsbrug connects the north with Noordereiland and is another cable-stayed bridge. It was named after King Willem III of the Netherlands (Wikipedia).
I’ve had a thing for bridges for a while now. I love the different styles of bridges and these two in Rotterdam make the grade! In my eyes anyway!
See what a couple visits and a camera does for you! Rotterdam is definitely growing on me.
In one of my favourite mediums, here is the result of a photo walk around the city of Rotterdam in black & white.
I hope you enjoyed the photo walk around Rotterdam. Is there a place that you didn’t take to at first?
On a walk around the city of Rotterdam, there is plenty of greenery to be seen.
The trees are fabulous, the canals are pretty, and the birds are just chillin…
So, yes, Rotterdam is getting prettier and more interesting by the minute…
My first impression of Rotterdam was that it was a dreary, industrial city with not a lot to see and nowhere near as pretty as Amsterdam.
Having been there a second time, I have since changed my mind and it’s growing on me, but when I went to visit Chris in March last year, I was in two minds.
Having said that, I still managed to find lots of art and sculptures around the city.
Have you been to Rotterdam? What did you think of it?
While I was in Valencia last year, I was on my way to meet my friend and I came across the Serranos Gate or Torres dels Serrans (in Valencian). I had some time to kill, so I went to explore.
The Serranos Gate was 1 of 12 gates that made up the city walls of Valencia. It was built in the 14th century and used to defend the city from attacks.
It is still seen as the main entrance to the city and, today, if you climb up to the top of this Gothic-style monument, you will get some amazing views over the city and beyond.
Even though it was January and not that warm, the climb upwards still made me sweat!
But, it was great to see how well-preserved this lovely old gate still is.
Finally, one more flight of stairs to climb and you are at the very top.
If you go to Valencia, make sure you take the time to climb the Serranos Tower!
See morrisophotography for more photos. 🙂
When in Valencia, a fabulous place to visit is the City of Arts and Sciences or Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias.
One day, I had arranged to meet my friend, Mark, and as I walked along the dry Turia riverbed, suddenly, I saw these huge buildings looming up in front of me. If you’re into buildings and architecture, like me, these ones definitely have the wow-factor!
This place is so impressive that it is one of the 12 Treasures of Spain alongside the Sagrada Familia and Alhambra, and it’s easy to see why.
There are 7 structures, each has a different purpose.
L’Hemisferic houses a cinema, a planetarium and a laserium. It’s in the shape an eye and with the reflection from the surrounding water you can see the whole eye.
El Museo de les Ciencies Principe Felipe looks like the skeleton of a whale and it’s where the science museum is.
L’Umbracle is a open walk-way with different species of plants that are found in Spain. It’s also where the local parrots have taken up residence.
L’Oceanographic is the largest oceanographic aquarium in Europe where’s you’ll find over 500 species of aquatic animals including dolphins, sharks and seals. We were going to go there because some say it’s one of the best aquariums in Europe, but we decided against it as we didn’t want to see the animals in that kind of environment.
El Palau des les Arts Reina Sofia is an opera house and performing arts centre.
El Pont de l’Assut de l’Or is a cable-stayed bridge connecting both sides of the city.
L’Agora is where concerts and other events take place.
Mark and I wandered around marvelling at the amount of work that had gone into designing and building this stunning complex. It’s definitely a must-see!
For more photographs, go to morrisophotography 🙂
I love street art! Wherever I go, I always make a bee line for it if there is any about.
When I was in Valencia in January 2019, the streets of El Carmen are full of street art. I spent a good couple of hours wandering along the small alleys and streets in search of these colourful creations.
I’ll leave you to follow in my footsteps…
Hope you enjoyed the walk around El Carmen. Do you have a favourite piece of street art?
