The Annoying Judges

These two judges were judging the achievements of the theatre groups who competed each other for the approval of the public. This was at an evening theatre sport, which is a from of stand-up comedians, but the audience have a large influence on the plays. It was great fun.

What to Choose?

What to choose is always a difficult one..I just need one tin with beef...

Traffic

I was in a traffic jam yesterday and noticed something I hate, since I was driving so slow I had the time to take a better look around then I usually do. I noticed what I know already, cameras everywhere... At this point, close to Rotterdam, they are even located within 1 km of each other.
That is not speed control, it's total control! It gives me the very unpleasant feeling being tracked all the time. I was stopped by police not long ago. They knew everything of me, the origin of the car, lease company, my employer, I bet they knew much more then they said.

To feel uncomfortable: www.privacymatters.nl

Adieu France

Adieu France! My trip to Strasbourg was a very nice experience, but I am moving back home. I took so many shots, I could fill my blog for weeks. But I leave that for the Strasbourg Daily blogger....

Shop Window

Funny shop window, soon this will change to a spring decoration I suppose.

Strasbourg Cathedral

Strasbourg has a huge medieval Cathedral, with a added typical spire as you can see on the first picture I posted of Strasbourg. I could spend hours discovering every detail. As you see often at French Cathedrals there are a lot of statues on the outside. I guess they have had a facelift in the recent years.

More at Wikipedia, must be of to work now, posting a picture at my blog has become one of my morning rituals..... I am late today!

Werewolfs

Werewolfs were there and part of the parade.




I also spotted satan, which reminds me that I have some pictures of the really fantastic cathedral of Strasbourg I want to post tomorrow.

Daemons, hobgoblins, trolls, gnomes and devils

Daemons, hobgoblins, trolls, gnomes and devils were plentiful present at the Carnival. This one attacked me, when he noticed I took a picture of him, and I noticed he noticed, my fate was sealed. I tried to run away but it came after me, performing some ritual on my head with the thing he has in is hand. I called for help but nobody came to the rescue...they all laughed at me.




(when you zoom in the first picture you can see the eyes of the man behind the mask making his judgement)

I wonder is this some kind of folclore?

Carnival 2

What I liked from the carnival was the amount of work the groups of people put into it. There were so many nice initiatives. This was an eye catcher; four huge puppets, I guess it is not too difficult to make.

Maybe an idea to for the coming ‘cow market’ in Woerden. I have to gather some friends to work together… that might be fun.

I loved the‘Robot man.

Carnival

We happen to be in Strasbourg during the carnival (isn’t that supposed to be over after Ash Wednesday?) . It was very interesting to see, the carnival is quite different from the one you see over here (much less alcohol is flowing). It was great fun, a lot of people dressed up with themes. A lot of French candy was thrown.
The king and queen of the carnival, they were enjoying themselves so much they made it onto the papers.

The crisis wagon.

There were groups throwing flags high in the air.

Strasbourg

I have returned from my trip to Strasbourg, it was a real surprize! Strasbourg is a city with an old city centre, a German-French culture, great food and a lot to see. I made a lot of pictures I will share some, here are a few of Strasbourg downtown.

Some of these houses are really old.

New Office

I have brought a visit to the new office where my brother works. One of my brothers is manager at a painting company. His company moved to a new office, which is magnificent really. Top design and very luxurious; one of the contradictions you see going on here. All though we are in a crisis, business and live is going on as it used to, people shop, go to restaurants, spend and so does business, from the outside. On the macro level business did decrease drastically, on micro level everybody is going on as usual. I guess we are running on reserves? I don't know.

Anyway here some pictures of the office, it are quite a few. I will be off on a short city trip to Strasbourg in France. I will show some of the photos later in a week...:)

Baker Advertisment

The wall advertisment of a local baker: Bread, Banquet (this means cakes, pies and tarts) and.. the last one I don't need to translate.

Spring is Coming

Spring is coming, yahoo!

Perlino

Have a glass of Perlino! When you’re up or down, this sweet, rich spicy wine, makes your heart joyfull... I discovered it at the local Italian Deli and actually bought it because I liked the label. It has become one of my favourite drinks, at the end the day, sipping and over thinking the events which passed me that day...

The wine comes from Italy, the Piedmont region, the Perlino product line has several sparkling, aromatized and fortified wines and vermouth.. So if you have a sweet tooth: perlino.com.

Bicycles

This is a very familiar site for me, and I hardly notice, but I know that for foreigners this is a very unusual site. It are the bicycles at the train station of the commuting people.

Man on a Bench

When I took the picture of the rooster, I saw a man resting on a bench. I on the contrary am rushing home; I want to save as much time as I can on this free day to do something else.

Restaurant Maria

Maria: to eat, to drink, to dance... I have never been to that particular restaurant, but the announcement makes me think..

Maria Square

I have arrived at Maria square, I had to return to the station, the building I wanted to visit was closed so I am returning home. This is a picture of the fountain in the centre of the square.

Concert Announcement

A poster anouncing a concert. Ebbe und Flut is German for Ebb tide and High water, I don't know anything concerning this concert, I like the comic like Japanese style image of the poster.

Old House

This is just a house I think to be interesting. It is definitely a very old house. The round little tower is the stare case. This is something they did in the middle ages. The front has been fashioned in the 1700's, the white front on the ground floor looks like an extension made in the 1800's for a shop. I know that the back wall is made of a wall of a monastery which used to be on that site. In the shop beside this building you can actually see the wall with some artefacts of long ago.

From the front, see a tiered tourist trudge with his camera..

When the Rooster Crows

I saw a statue I have never seen before in a small park, a rooster who looks behind him. I must have past it thousends of times but never seen it.

Hidden Mural

I could spend months blogging on the Dome so I will stick to one particular shot.

First a very short history of the Dome Church: it's probably near the site of the first church of Utrecht, founded by St. Willibort in 600, dedicated to St. Martin (the protection Saint of The Netherlands). It has been a rich Catholic Church until the reformation when it became Protestant and which it remained till today, it still functions as a church and has an active community.

During restorations they found some artefacts which survived the iconoclasm of 1572. This painting was found under layers of chalk. When I see it I am always fascinated, as if it is a 'window' to the past, knowing that people of five to six hundred years ago looked at the same image almost unchanged.

Information on the church
The dome from the air with Google maps

And this is how it sounded today....... :0