martedì 30 giugno 2009

Busy Nijmegen Canal with Ships

As promised in this blog's post, the busy canal would be shown and shared to you. And here they are! Honestly, I am not aware of the name of this canal but what I deard is, it can connect the traveler(in boat, ship or any water vessel) either to Rotterdam or to Germany. In this very particular afternoon, I took photo shots of the ships and you will notice that almost all of the ships are for heavy stuff. Sometimes I even saw ships carrying snad and maybe others garbage. Such a cargo huh???!!

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The first ship approaches...

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I'm so lost in the shadow but at least the background shows... ^^


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This is where they control the amount of water that goes in and out of the canal...

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It's coming.... just look through the bushes...

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Another one....

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Here it is...

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A whole new style

netherlands gelderland, nijmegen, canal, nijmegen
I think my camera can't take the whole length

netherlands gelderland, nijmegen, canal, nijmegen
...and here they meet..

Can you imagine guys how many ships passed by in a matter of minutes? That was taken at around 5:00-5:30 frame and maybe that was just the busy hours for those ships. Such a busy canal it is, right?

mercoledì 10 giugno 2009

Uniquely Nijmegen!

The Kronenburg park, the old Centrum building and one of the weirdest toilet I have ever seen! It is great here when the sun is up high. The temperature is usually higher (warmer) that what we have had in the Hague. Not because that now is summer but I was also in The Hague last summer so I can surely compare.

Simply click the photos to see the story behind them.


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beautiful toilet, weird toilet, livable toilet, decorated toilet


Nijmegen is so old that even the first mention of this place in history is in the 1st century BC, when the Romans built a military camp on the place where the present Nijmegen was to appear. When I viewed the place and see how it is, I could only imagine why: the location had great strategic value because of the surrounding hills, which gave (and continue to give) a good view over the Waal and Rhine valley.

The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia and I quote it:
By 69, when the Batavians, the original inhabitants of the Rhine and Maas valley, revolted, a village called Oppidum Batavorum had formed near the Roman camp. This village was destroyed in the revolt, but when the revolt had ended the Romans built another, bigger camp where the Legio X Gemina was stationed. Soon after, another village formed around this camp.

In 98 Nijmegen was the first of two settlements in what is now the Kingdom of the Netherlands to receive Roman city rights.[2]

In 103 the X Gemina was restationed to Vienna, which may have been a major blow to the economy of the village around the camp. In 104 Emperor Trajan renamed the town, which now became known as Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum, Noviomagus for short (the origin of the current name Nijmegen). Few Roman remains are visible today; a fragment of the old city wall can be seen near the casino and the foundations of the amphitheatre are traced in the paving of the present-day Rembrandtstraat. However, the Valkhof museum has a large collection of Roman artifacts that have been dug up over the years.
Isn't the place interesting? It's not as big as the Hague where I came from but still, the place some some stuff to boast of its own. Am not sober that I am here! ^^

martedì 2 giugno 2009

The Effort's Prize

Gardening takes time and effort. Sweat and burning skin under the sun are some of the stakes but the following are the prizes. I can say that it's worth all the stakes.

Click each photo for the specific story behind it.







Now that it is summer, the beauty of the garden is even more appreciated. When the sun is on, it is really a great feeling to just lie down in there os sit and read. When it's too hot, I have the shade under the trees or the big bushes and I will have col air and cool feeling.

Simply amazing and I am so glad that I did the work. It is really a very good place to utilize and I am so proud of my handy work although, obviously, you can see that it's done poorly. ^^ Still, I can say that the garden serves it purpose. And compared to it's status when the grass was as tall as me, this is so much of an improvemen. :)