signs, signs

This sign is across the street from the 
Eddy Varekamp Gallery.  You can find reasonably
priced linocut and stencil prints at this
Amsterdam shop—a great gift or souvenir.

[To see more signs, go here.]

the chapel

Late-afternoon shadows fall across the
Agnietenkapel, at the University
of Amsterdam.  We came back to this
neighborhood after dark, to check
out the famous red light district, right
around the corner: an extreme example of the
difference between night and day!

[Linking back to Sunday Shadows
and inSPIREd Sunday.]

Weekend Reflections

Reflected in a window along the
Egelantiers Canal, in Amsterdam, the
steeple of the Westerkirk.  I can't
swear that the bells ring every 15 minutes
24/7, but I'm pretty sure that's
what woke me up at 3 AM.  Didn't really
mind; I love the church bells.

[To see more Weekend Reflections,
visit James's meme.]

keep it clean

I posted an image of a shop window the other day—
and if you had to guess where it was, your 
first guess probably wouldn't be "the Netherlands."
This Amsterdam sign is for local dog walkers,
however.  Pretty easy to tell what it says, even if
you don't speak a word of Dutch.

[Linking back to signs, signs.]

beep beep

Parking is an issue in the Jordaan neighborhood,
in Amsterdam—unless, of course, 
you happen to be driving one of these cute
cars, which fits on the sidewalk and
is barely bigger than a bike.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday
and Our World Tuesday.]

The Weekend in Black and White

This tattoo parlor is in Amsterdam.  So,
knowing that, is there anything
about it that strikes you as unusual?

[To see more b/w images, visit
Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

You'll notice that these card players are in
a coffee shop but are not drinking 
coffee.  That's because it's one of those
Amsterdam "coffee shops" where
you go to smoke hashish.  No, I didn't, but
I did get a little contact high walking
past and that was more than enough for me.

[To see more Weekend Reflections,
visit James's meme.]

laundromat?

There are signs like this on many of the
buildings in Amsterdam (often with
 no words and probably dating
back to a time when many people
couldn't read or write).
I'm having a hard time translating this,
and finally decided it could be the
name of the proprietors, who specialized
in . . . laundry?

[Linking back to signs, signs.]

ABC Wednesday—N is for "Netherlands"

And a pretty canal in the just-
quiet-enough district
of Jordaan, in Amsterdam.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

blue lantern

I was very struck by how clean Amsterdam
is and by how little graffiti there is.
The stoops are lined with flowering plants
 and there are lots of pretty decorative
elements—such as this blue lantern—everywhere.

[Linking back to Blue Monday at
Magical Mystery Teacher.]

inSPIREd Sunday

This is a small part of the Catholic church
of Franciscus Xaverius, in Amsterdam.
It was filled with people when
I just happened to step in at 5 on a Saturday.
Now I know they have a high mass,
sung in English, on Saturdays at 5:15—in case.

[To see more churches from
around the world, go here.]

Skywatch Friday

The ex took this (because he just has to have the window seat!) 
as we were about to come in for a landing at Amsterdam's 
Schipol airport—where it took 40 minutes to walk from one gate 
to the next and they are very serious about security (don't ask).
[You can see more Skywatch here.]