A traveller's tale and Christmas greeting!
I went to Amsterdam a week or so ago, which was wonderful: I had the privilege of seeing so many famous art works (by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Hals, Van Gogh and more) in the flesh (er - in the paint?) and enjoyed the curious architecture of canals and gables and green parakeets in the park and so much more.
The streets were decorated for Christmas and there were a couple of German-style Christmas markets selling delicious hot gluhwein to keep out the very chilly and damp Dutch winter. Inevitably I brought back Delft-look Christmas tree decorations - a Saint Nicholas with his sack of gifts, clogs and, of course, a windmill.
OK - so where are the pictures? Sadly my beloved digital camera, loyal companion of so many global adventures, broke on the flight out - actually on the plane where it is (unlike in the airport) impossible to buy a replacement. Such bad timing! The lens motor unit is completely dead which means that the camera is beyond repair. So, I have to offer only three photos from the aeroplane (please click on the link and then on the image to see the larger version - for some reason "new" LJ doesn't like my HTML anymore): the tiny chequered fields of southern England
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next, the sea with the edge of the Dutch coastline coming into view and showing the artificial structures for conducting water and defending against the sea
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and, finally (yes, really finally!), a shot showing the green and watery landscape with is typical of this area.
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The rest, as the Danish prince neatly put it, is silence.
But I did have a lovely trip and can offer a couple of photos (from a friend’s phone so not great) of the big (3 metres, 9 feet) Christmas tree in my house now, with a close-up in which you can just see the windmill and clogs if you squint hard!
Happy Christmas!