WINDY RAINY DAY

What do you do in a rainy and windy november day, if it happens to be your birthday?

The Weekend was there, so I took a extra free day, and went first to Rotterdam to visit my daughter .

View from the front window day time

At night.

After we went to Amsterdam, where my sun and my other daughter and friends were waiting.

View from my daughter place.

This is nice, a rainbow, must be a gift for my birthday. Thanks, sky.

We went to a scientific museum called " Nemo" Everything is interactive and

we had a very nice time playing around.

After that we want back and we walked with my son in the streets of Amterdam.

China town .Coffee-shop (They don't sell coffee, but cannabis and other stuff.)

And we went throughout the "Wallen" The red district place where the ladies are on the windows, more or less naked, selling what they have to sell.

Nowadays is become a tourist attraction, and it is funny to see all families taking the tour . Strange times indeed. .

They don't care to much of the church just there. (The old church of Amsterdam).

We  had a good time. Speedy the dog has been a very good boy, he behaved good in the car and also at home.

I think he stats to like the netherlands. Perhaps he likes the smell of cannabis. You never know with dogs.

By the way, I don't smoke the stuff, I don't smoke not even normal cigarettes, but I had a couple of glasses of Beaujolais nouveau, a good year for wine this year.

I had to leave the birds at home, and the turtle, but they managed to be alone  for a couple of days. (They had extra food and they look happy)

That was that, I'm now a year old and that  is not a good thing ... or perhaps it is a good thing.

SIMON'S STORY.

This is the time of the year when I go out to work is  the dark, and when I come back, it is dark again. In between of this darkness must be some light, but, at work, there is no time to look at the light outside, and it  is mostly cloud anyway.

Yesterday I was walking home in the dark, when I saw a tiny shining particle, it was so sharp that my eyes hurt."What is this" I kind of said to myself.

"I"m a piece of the sun. Night came so fast that I could not get back,The clouds had shut the door, and I could not get back. I've to wait to tomorrow now"

The sweet voice surprised me and i didn't know what to say" Do you something to drink? or to eat? are you hungry,"

I was afraid to get burned, but the light said "Don't be afraid, my light is not the one who hurt, but the one who gives life"

I was even more astonished and I kept repeating like a robot "What are you?" The light laughing " I've told you who and what I am"

The light turned around and climbing to a roof top said "Bye, and thanks for the company" and the light disappeared behind a tall building.

It wasn't cold anymore in the streets, and the darkness of the night was softer and sweeter. In the morning the sun will shine again, and the tiny piece of the light who lost his way will be back home.

LEAVES AND TREES

After the busy trip at Rotterdam and the always busy and rushed life in Brussels, I went to look for some restfull place, for a change of mood.

Today was a nice, partially sunny day, and I went to one of my favorite places: Chateau La Hulpe

Times never stops. Since Man walks on this earth, he uses the nature's cycles to determine time.  trying not to get lost in the vastity and infinity of time. The moon is also used as a complement to count time.The origin of the Hollydays is mostly this and religion has a part in it too.

Now the winter is coming and it is time to prepare for the winter holidays: Sinterklaas is  the 5th december. Thanksgiving is already coming.Christmas is not far away.

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I like this view taken at 10 o'clock in the morning.

Many trees have already lost the leaves, some of the leaves have been able to take a beautiful color before leaving the branches of the trees.

The tree trees

More trees are towering over the old farm.

On the other side some trees are trying to reach for the sky, but they have to recognize their limit. It looks  like a ballet.

Magical place where the leaves become gold for a short time.

Magical place where Angels go sleep.

This are some images from Chateau La Hulpe, near Brussels, - Belgium,  the 21th november 2009.

Just trying to stop time for a short moment, at Xanga at least.

ROTTERDAM

Is a city on the water, and like Venice, or New York, or any other city on the world, which is built on water, Rotterdam has a special watery flavour. You look at the water and you want to go travelling; to where? doesn't matter, somewhere to look for gold, for money, for adventure, to America perhaps.

We went, with my daughter, for a boat trip around the port of Rotterdam, the biggest port of Europe.

In the second world war Rotterdam was bombed and completely destroyed  by a sudden bomb attack by the Germans.

Not much was left of Rotterdam, and that is why now Rotterdam had to build modern building, leaning buildings  like the Pisa tower ... or it is just a impression?

There are a lot of bridges and tunnels, you have to cross the Meuse channel and to do that there is either a bridge or a tunnel.

The new bridge is the "ERASMUS BRIDGE"  (Erasmus was a Rotterdamer, and will find a lot of things named after Erasmus.

The famous shipping  line "Holland - American Line " started his services in 1872, between Rotterdam and New york.

The old building is still there as hotel restaurant and it is called  "Hotel New York"

From far away.

To go there you can take a water taxi (You could swim but the water is cold)

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Or it will be like this? Th eRotterdam SS, famous cruise ship will be now a Hotel - restaurant and museum.

Better than the Titanic.  I was dreaming it was the beginning of the century and I was going to  America. Waw.

In third class of course.

THANKSGIVING DAY IS APPROACHING AND MY BIRTHDAY TOO.

Yesterday I went, together with my daughter and Speedy the dog, as captain of the boat, to visit the port of Rotterdam.

Rotterdam was flattened  in the first days of the WWII by Germans bombs, and that is the reason that no many old building can be seen.  I will post some of that later, now I go back to to the relationship of Rotterdam and thanksgiving day.

Many of you know that the Mayflower was the boat that brought the Pilgrim fathers to what is now become the US; but, perhaps, not many people know that one boat called the Speedwell tried to go together to the US, but never made it.

The speedwell was bought by religious English  methodist that ran away to Leyden - Netherland, to escape the intolerance of the English Anglican Church. They found out the even the Dutch  Calvinist were too soft in their faith, and decided to set off to the new world.

They sailed from the haven of Rotterdam (Delfshaven) that in the time belonged to Delft, a city not far away from Rotterdam.

They sailed to Southampton, in England, to start the voyage together with the Mayflower , a much bigger boat. They did start the voyage together, but the Speedwell didn't go far, they had to come back because the boat started leaking.

They tried once more, but again, they had to turn back.

The Speedwell didn't make it and was probably sold back in Holland.

One of the passenger trying to get to the new world was the ancestor of Barak Obama, Thomas Blossom. He reached the Us later, in the 1629.

I forgot to say that was a nice windy day