Amsterdam by bicycle

WARNING, despite the fact that this was a trip to Amsterdam, and there are tonnes of pictures, all of it is rated G, for Grood, or Great, or Good, or Great and Good.

Past weekend, went with my cousin to Amsterdam for the day. We rented bicycles and absorbed some arhic-culture. Nice time. I think I'd have to say that bicycles are the best means of seeing a city. I took so many pics in this day trip, it really made me feel like a tourist.


-Amsterdam by bike, and I believe the guy at the bike rental place charged us a lower rate because we were dutch and not the regular tourists, although I'm not sure on that.


-MuziekGebouwAan'tIj, (Music Building on the Island), a really nice fairly new building. The black block jutting out the side is a jazz concert hall I believe.


-Bimhuis, the jutty-outy black block.


-See-thru, this shot gives a better view of how the building has a skin of glass, and a giant concrete heart.


-Nice sign-age, I think I'm gonna end up highlighting a lot of the nice sign-age in this trip post.


-Large open spaces, monolithic blocks of concrete, and nice sign-age. I like how the signs for the elevator aren't placed on a 'sign' but are just decals on the wall, very simplistic and minimalist, and nicely done.


-Oh, and really nice hardwood floors. I think this building also makes me appreciate materials when used nicely. Lots of natural light also from the massive glass exterior walls.


-Bar tables at the downstairs dock-level. Close up of the nice hardwood floors, and nice view of immense glass wall and open space.


-More sign-age, again, decals incorporated into structural elements for the sign, plus placement at stairs and the angle all work really well.


-Lone party? Champagne bottle sitting on the deck outside for some reason? It looks lonely, damn it, I should have gave it some company.


-Mmmint, fresh mint tea, which consists of hot water and mint leaves, add honey as desired.


-New canal development, made to have a similar 'look' to the older canals/streets of Amsterdam. This is built on an island with newer development, so it isn't made to detract from the charm of old Amsterdam, but is rather a new take on it. (or so my interpretation goes)


-The house in the centre is the one I picked out, SOLD, where do I sign. I really like how the stripe of wood slats on the left side blends in with the door. That and the mix of wood, glass, and steel.


-Marine Musem Amsterdam (or was it maritime museum?) either way really nice classic architecture on a massive building.


-Same museum, further away gives more perspective on its mass.


-Architecture Centrum Amsterdam, I think at this point, I'm just taking pictures of pretty buildings.


-Back of Architecture Centrum Amsterdam


-NEMO science centre


-Bridge from NEMO


-openbare bibliotheek amsterdam






-anti-theft scanners are even nicely designed, (frosted glass I think?) but by the looks of the rest of this library, nothing else would have been good enough


-gotta love the sign-age, very nicely indicated, and becomes the central feature to the library, the floor sign-age incorporates into the escalators, and the white back-light with black lettering is very clean. I just thought this was really really nicely done, and added a lot to the library.










-upholstery by Hella Jongerius (of Droog Design)


-why don't all libraries look more like this?


-Multimedia floor


-this is a library?


-not a lightswitch rave?


-so much light, open space, nice work areas, 'design', ooh, and more pretty hardwood floors


-DS, on a kinda not related note, just a detail shot of a Citroën DS in the streets of amsterdam, what I belive to be one of the most beautiful cars ever produced.

Het Kerstdiner

First Christmas away from home, but still have family to spend it with. This was the big Christmas dinner with my mom's family.

-There's Waldo, er-me.


-Pre dinner setup, my cousin and I did most of it, and another one pitched in towards the end.




-Christmas cocktails


-Table for 17




-and then there was family

Demi-winter?

Last week, we had a few really nice kinda wintery days in the NL, where, due to the humidity and temperature, a thick layer of frost settled everywhere. It kinda looked like winter. In the south it even snowed a bit. Normally this frost wouldn't stay the whole day but Holland being Holland, we didn't have sun really for 2 days, so it stayed for 2 days.


-Before work looking in direction towards train station Geldermalsen


-After work looking in direction towards train station Geldermalsen


-Rooftop patio/garden at work looking onto train tracks


-Evening walk from work looking towards the road I just crossed

Sunny day out in a rainy rainy country

Alright, time to post again. These were taken a while ago, on a nice sunny Saturday afternoon when I decided to ride the train into Eindhoven and wonder. Unfortunately I didn't bother taking pictures in Eindhoven. Oh well, next time. Most of these are kinda rando/me trying to make interesting pics. The train station is an interesting place.


-Steps up from the platform, notice the groove on the right next to the stairs? That's there for people with bicycles- subtle.


-Pedestrian Overpass, the architecture of the station is interesting, don't really know what else to say about it.


-Empty platforms


-Schedule/weather shelter


-Intercity Train bypassing this station (as it's not big enough for the intercity trains, only the "stoptrain"s), in background is the indoor bicycle garage/repair shop where I haven't gone yet since I'm not paying to park my bike, and have luckily not had bike problems yet.


-A bit of a wait yet


-More empty platform, noticing the grooved patterns in the ground, I've come to wonder if they are specially there for blind people, so they can feel there way around? It does direct them directly to where they need to be if you follow the grooves.


-Skull Candy

People Problem or Design Problem?

So, I had heard from family about how bicycles get hauled away so easily if you don't follow th rules. Also, about how prevalent bicycle theft is here. So it's very much watch it, or your bike is gone.

I took these pictures kinda documenting the apparent issue of people not following the rules and was wondering whether or not this is a people problem, or a design problem, as you often hear that a problem creates a design opportunity, or some junk like that.


-Fiets Weg? Sign at Train Station, Boxtel. Essentially, is your bike gone? Well since you were a chump and didn't park it in the racks provided, the police came around and picked up all the improperly parked bikes, and you can pick it up at the government office during normal business hours, and provide the key to verify that it is you bike. There may also be a fine or so that has to be paid, but I don't think that is mentioned in the sign here.


-Fiets nog niet weg... So, notice the cyclists, despite the sign and warnings still don't lock their bikes up in the racks like they're supposed to. I think they actually parked their bikes at the sign as a sign of defiance or spite. Or maybe just to make it a good picture.


-Vervelend Fietsers, so, notice all the bikes parked (supposedly) in front of the normal bike parking, it's really annoying if you go to park your bike, and there's a mess of bikes in the way to the bike racks. Since I get kinda pissed off at people for doing this, I don't feel bad for knocking those bikes over or outta the way. Really, I think the deal is these are the same people who would otherwise get speeding tickets all the time as they are constantly in a rush and didn't plan their time out, or they're just lazy jerks that like to make things difficult for everyone else.


-Fiets stallen, looking down the roadside aisle of the bike parking, yes, there are a lot of bikes (for a city of 30,000), and it does look full, but people don't bother trying. Looks like some people on the left tried to be stealthy by parking similarly and in line with the other bikes, like they're camouflaged. Seriously though, when I ride in, I usually spot a spot within the first 10 metres.

People are just lazy chumps, I think thats my conclusion.

Double Dutch

Alright it's a back to back posting, since it's been a while-ish since I posted, and I wanted to keep Sinterklaas separate from my other meanderings.


-Typical Dutch - some kinda pastoral dutch landscape I suppose, looks kinda nice. I was taking note at the time of how manicured the landscape is across the whole of the country. Pretty much everywhere, things are placed and pruned and looked after. Not too much wilderness in this country. The bicycle paths (like the one I'm standing on) are a very welcome thing. I do love bicycling.


-Walking with Max - out on a walk with my grandparents dog. Nice path, more manicured areas, makes for nice pics. (these were from a while ago now - 24th Nov)


-"Slot Well" - essentially, just the local castle in the town where the family's from. Quaint, not too big for a castle, but still has a moat.


-Gatehouse and gates


-What's the goat equivalent to "bah-ram-ewe"? These goats were pasturing next to the castle on the slope of the dike. Curious little guys they were.


-Homes built from bricks, not wood, not crappy drywall over some shoddy construction, but bricks - this is how you get solid long lasting construction! Notice the only wood being used here is for the roof rafters. Ok, I'm not against wood construction, but drywall is crappy, it's the drywall I'm damning.


-Not my train, but a train passing by - view from work overlooking rooftop patio/balcony, overlooking street-front, looking onto train-tracks.


-Yet another covert photo from work - it's really a nice work environment. Far left is the stairs down to the landing, with stairs to ground level leading off the bottom of the pic.

Hmm, one final note/thought, when blogging, does one write comments on one's own blog in response to other comments, or just make a new blog entry in response to the comments?

Sinterklaas

Right, so yesterday (the 5th) was Sinterklaas.
The Dutch equivalent to the presents portion of Christmas (as here Christmas is just a religious holiday (so I believe at least). It's my first time ever experiencing Sinterklaas, and already I'm too old/don't believe in the myth. I think the beard is to white to be real. Seriously.

-Pomp and circumstance? ok, not quite, but I guess this guy gets quite the entrance. The local marching band giving an intro to the welcoming of Sinterklaas to the local town. (Notice local town in Background, band in foreground, children in fore fore ground).


-There's Waldo (Sinterklaas), traditionally he's supposed to arrive on a white horse, on a boat (from Spain), (or to the least just the horse), but apparently where my family comes from, he never likes to make a normal entrance. This is kinda close I suppose, in a small horse drawn wagon, (black and white horse). I was told that he came in a amphibious car before, as well as a helicopter, a convertible, on a moped (I think).
[right, a note, he always comes before the 6th, as this photo has a time stamp of Nov 24th on it].


-Family influence - So, it's my uncle holding the horse on the reins, in the event that it gets spooked, and his girlfriend/wife/partner holding the reins. Their horse and wagon, and happy to give the tired old guy a ride. The horse is looking to become famous I think, as it got to be used in a movie shot in the Efteling theme park. Looked interesting from some of the behind the scenes pictures they showed me.
Hey look at that, a Bugaboo stroller, surprise! (Yes, I am a design geek)


-Sinterklaas made a quick stop in at work too? Yesterday morning at work, everyone had a chocolate letter V on their desk - the traditional gift associated with Sinterklaas, although the letter is usually your first name initial, here, I'm guessing the company name is the letter of choice.