Continent-Hopping: Where?Wednesday

Last week we were in sunny southern California, home to the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano. Said to contain the oldest building still in use in California, the mission is a beautiful place to visit. In addition to the gardens and buildings, there's plentiful wildlife: the famous swallows, other birds, lizards, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Highly recommended if you find yourself in this part of the world.

Grass is always greener...

Back in February, I posted a pic of this houseboat in Amsterdam. It now looks like it needs a haircut. Makes me wonder how one mows the roof (?)

Amsterdam Abstract

Every once in a while I like to throw in something a bit different. This is the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. There is a water feature between the main museum building and the auditorium. The swirls in the water (algae? seaweed?) remind me of some of Van Gogh's paintings.

Thanks to all who visited on Theme Day. We're just returning from a lot of traveling but hope to visit some of the sites over the next few days.

Evil Commemoration: May "Numbers" Theme Day

I commented on our anniversary post that, through researching blog posts, I've learned a lot about this little town that we've called home for nearly two years. This theme day post is another example.

You might guess that "1944" refers to a war event. But you might not guess that Wassenaar, with its tree-lined streets, big homes and green spaces, played a very significant role in the advancement of warfare.

That's right ... during WWII, the first-ever ballistic missile was fired from occupied Wassenaar. You can read about the V2 in Wiki and more about the first missile's landing in Chiswick(London). The dutch resistance provided critical information to the allies about the rockets, launch sites, and factories; you can read more about that here.


This small plaque sits on an unassuming corner in a quiet part of town ... marking the spot where the launches took place.

We're posting this remotely and can't list all of the sites participating in May's "Numbers" theme day, but you can visit the City Daily Photo Blog Portal to see more from cities around the world.

Haar-dy Ho!

After posting a German castle ruin yesterday, I thought I'd dip into the "archives" to show you a castle from here in The Netherlands.

You don't necessarily think of castles when you think of The Netherlands, but there are actually quite a few castles and ruins throughout the country.

This is Kasteel De Haar, located about 70km from Wassenaar in the province of Utrecht. It was rebuilt in the late 1800's on the 15th century foundations. The "new and improved" version was built with new-fangled modern conveniences like central heating and running water.

We hope you enjoy the contrast with yesterday's post. We're taking more time off, but we plan to participate in May's Theme Day, so please come back and visit on May 1. Many of our recent posts have been outside of Wassenaar, but our post will be a return to reveal a little-known but historic fact about this town.

On the Rhine/Rhein/Rijn: Where?Wednesday

If you like castles, beautiful small towns, terraced vineyards and overall nice scenery, then we can heartily recommend a cruise down the middle Rhine in Germany.

We took a round-trip cruise from Rudesheim to St. Goar, and literally saw so many sights I can't even tell you which castle ruin is pictured above.

I Am...

The city of Amsterdam's marketing slogan is the centerpiece of the Museumplein, a large open space that borders the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Concertgebouw.

Politie Paarden Parade

Amsterdam's police force were all over the city a couple of weeks ago. At first we thought that there must have been a major drug bust, or perhaps the royal family were in town. But later we saw the tail end of a protest march weaving its way through town -- although we never did find out exactly what they were protesting against (or for).

Thanks to all who commented on our recent photos and our one year photoblogging anniversary. It'll take a couple of days for us to catch up on our fellow bloggers' sites. We just returned from a wonderful trip to Germany with our sister-in-law and her boyfriend ... we'll show a sample in a couple of days.

Happy Anniversary!

Another shot from the Keukenhof garden. These bands of color wind their way all through the park.

Without much fanfare, this celebrates our 1-year anniversary. I guess a photo of tulips and other bulbs is appropriate for a photo blog from The Netherlands!

We have really enjoyed sharing our experiences in and around Wassenaar and The Netherlands (and sometimes beyond). We've learned many interesting things while researching some of our posts. We've learned to look for things to photograph that we wouldn't have otherwise. And we've "met" a lot of interesting people who have visited and commented. So thanks to all those who've come to see a little bit of this part of the world.

Now, we're off again ... hope to see you back next week.

Grape River

The Keukenhof is a world-famous garden in the province of North Holland devoted to the display of flowers, primarily spring bulbs. Now in its 59th year, the garden is open from late March through mid May.

While there are indoor exhibits (featuring flowers like the ones pictured here yesterday), the main attraction is the open air garden. Millions of tulips, daffodils, and other bulbs are spectacularly displayed.

This woodland garden scene features a river of muscari (grape hyacinths) surrounded by tulips and daffodils.