Kiss Me...

The second of three Alexander Taratynov sculptures in The Hague. This one is based on Klimt's The Kiss.

You know the drill, if you would like to compare the sculptor's interpretation to the original, click the link.

Tomorrow is Theme Day for the City Daily Photo Blogs; check back on Thursday for the final Taratynov sculpture.

Blind Leading the Blind

Recently we came across another sculpture exhibit in The Hague. There are three statues by Alexander Taratynov; they're all based on famous paintings. This one is based on Brueghel's Parable of the Blind ... click the link if you want to compare it to the original. Check back over the next couple of days to see the other sculptures.

More Tiles

Another tiled building entrance in The Hague.

Update: to answer Abe Lincoln's question (see comments), these tiles are generally in the vestibule, not on the door. Here's the uncropped shot; it's a strange angle shooting into the doorway, but hopefully you get the idea.

Terrific Tiles

Many of the buildings in the Netherlands have fantastic tiled outdoor entrances. In particular we like the ones with art deco & art nouveau influences. This is from a building in The Hague.

Blue Jag

This blue Jaguar was obnoxiously parked (note it's diagonal to the street) near an outdoor cafe in The Hague. If you click on the picture you might notice a parking ticket stuck under the windshield wiper.

My guess is that the owner's wallet isn't going to shrink too much from the fine.

A Tale of Deux Villes

We like the art nouveau detail on this building in The Hague. Especially the fantastic metalwork on the balcony and the green tiles over the archway (bottom of photo).

This building sits on the Buitenhof, or "outside court," opposite the Binnenhof ("inside court," where Parliament sits). From what I can tell (based on the internet and my limited translation skills), it sits on the site of the former offices of the two cities of Alkmaar and Enkhuisen from the days when the cities of the republic had representatives that influenced the government. At the turn of the century it was a hotel, now it is a movie theater.

Note: Alkmaar coat of arms at the top left, Enkhuizen top right (sorry for cutting you off, Enkhuizen!)

Green River

I don't know if "greenness" is a word, but that's what caught my eye during one of our evening walks around Wassenaar. Many canals here are covered with algae, but this has to be one of the longest that I've seen totally green. Even the stick floating in the canal is covered in the stuff.

Mama Moped

This piece really made us laugh ... another work from Den Haag Sculptur. It is enclosed in glass and so it was very difficult to get a good angle, so here's another perspective.

Planet of the Apes?

Each year, Den Haag Sculptur (The Hague Sculpture) exhibits a number of public art works. A couple of the sculptures really caught our attention.

This is White Ape by Lisa Roet. It's big; you're seeing it from my eye level (and I'm 6'2").

Not Scotland

A couple of weeks ago we heard a strange droning sound that soon turned into the familiar music of the bagpipe. I went outside to find this man playing the pipes in our neighbor's yard. This is not a common occurrence in Wassenaar, and very quickly he was being watched by a whole group of people from the neighborhood.

Note the sun rays pointing to the piper. This is not enhanced, the only alteration I've made to this photo was to reduce the size for publishing. And this was even before he started playing that king of bagpipe tunes, "Amazing Grace."

Apologies for the two-week break in publishing, as we were on holiday (in Scotland, of course!). Technical difficulties kept us from publishing from afar.

Royal Entrance

This is the entrance to the Binnenhof in The Hague, home to the dutch parliament. This is the wide view of the detail shown in last Friday's "red" post. The lion relief from that post is just over the arch.

The missing red maple leaf

The entrance to the Canadian Embassy in Wassenaar. The wind would just not cooperate for me ... the flag didn't move at all. So no nice pic of the maple leaf, and no real burst of red. But you get the idea that it is a nice lush setting for the embassy. And, there were a couple of maple leafs on theme day anyway. Thus ends a week of red ... thanks for the visits and the comments.

The Red Lion

Continuing the theme of reds that were in contention for last Sunday's theme day. The red is pretty obvious here ... the Netherlands' coat of arms. This one is above the entrance to the dutch parliament (Binnenhof) in The Hague.

Insider note to our Chicago friends...every time we see these lions we think of a certain Chicago pub.

Your guess is as good as mine...

This shop display window in The Hague was another "red" contender.

Why she's got the clown nose on is anyone's guess!

Rode Kruis

This candidate for July theme day would have been another "what's red about it?" post. If you look closely (or click the photo for a larger version) you can see a banner stretched across the windmill. Last week was collection week for the Netherlands Red Cross.

We've supported the Red Cross ever since our apartment building in suburban Chicago burned down 16 years ago. They immediately set up shop and helped the displaced residents with food and temporary living accomodations. They provide an invaluable service to people who suffer in disasters big and small.

And it's always good to have an excuse to take another photo of our Wassenaar windmill "Windlust."

Pay attention to this red!

Most of the bike lanes in the Netherlands are a different color to distinguish them from the road and pedestrian lanes. And they are generally a shade of red, like this one in front of our house in Wassenaar.

Bikes {fietsen} are king here ... having priority over cars and pedestrians, it takes a while for foreigners to get used to watching out for and yielding to bicycles and those pesky scooters {bromfiets}.

The most dreaded sound in all of the Netherlands is the bike bell. Especially when you're walking. When we hear a bell, we kind of freeze in anticipation of being struck by some wild bike rider. Generally they just swerve and give us the evil eye.

For a humorous look at bikes in Amsterdam through the eyes of a foreigner, check out this site.

Hats off to Beetle at Cologne Daily Photo ... the bike lanes are also red there and were featured as the theme day photo on July 1.

Time for some more red...

Thanks to all who commented on yesterday's photo. The statue is indeed located in the Red Light District of Amsterdam. You can learn more about it here.

This week you can see more of the candidate photos for July's theme of red. This clock is somewhat of a mystery. It is located on a busy intersection in Wassenaar, but stands somewhat blocked off in a neglected corner of the parking lot for the hotel Auberge de Kieviet. It's not working (or at least it doesn't tell the correct time). It just kind of stands there alone in the brush. The hotel dates to 1916 and I would guess that the clock is fairly old too, but the way it sits in this unkempt area seems strange to me ... it deserves to be featured, not hidden.

But it's not Red!

Oh yes it is! OK, technically the photo itself is not red, and it's not in Wassenaar. But there is a reason why the subject matter has a very strong red connection. We were supposed to be creative, right?

Can you guess the red connection? Feel free to guess by leaving a comment.

Big hint number one: it has to do with its location. Big hint number two: the subject is universal, but I think this could only happen in the Netherlands.

I'll continue the red (or red-related) theme this week with some of the ideas that lost out to this one.

Here are the other daily photo sites with a "Red" theme today:
Shanghai, China - Mumbai, India - New York City (NY), USA - Manila, Philippines - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Hamburg, Germany - Stayton (OR), USA - Los Angeles (CA), USA - Hyde, UK - Oslo, Norway - Brookville (OH), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Stavanger, Norway - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Joplin (MO), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Selma (AL), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Seattle (WA), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Arradon, France - Evry, France - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Boston (MA), USA - Grenoble, France - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Hilo (HI), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - La Antigua, Guatemala - Brisbane (QLD), Australia - Singapore, Singapore - Tel Aviv, Israel - Hong Kong, China - Sequim (WA), USA - Paderborn, Germany - Saarbrücken, Germany - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Tenerife, Spain - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Sydney, Australia - Naples (FL), USA - Cologne (NRW), Germany - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Mainz, Germany - Toruń, Poland - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Singapore, Singapore - North Bay (ON), Canada - Jakarta, Indonesia - Montréal (QC), Canada - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Baziège, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - New York (NY), USA - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Sharon (CT), USA - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Villigen, Switzerland - Chicago (IL), USA - Torquay, UK - Brussels, Belgium - San Diego (CA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Paris, France - Seoul, Korea - Manila, Philippines - Milano, Italy - Austin (TX), USA - Chennai, India - Madrid, Spain - Seoul, South Korea - Wailea (HI), USA - Toronto (ON), Canada - Ajaccio, France - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Zurich, Switzerland - Sydney, Australia - Budapest, Hungary - Moscow, Russia - Auckland, New Zealand - Torino, Italy