Photoblog: Photo #17 - Spring in Amsterdam

Spring is late in Amsterdam, but it has not so much arrived as burst onto the scene:

April 28, 2013

Photoblog: Photo #16 - Edam

I was visiting Edam and Volendam with a friend barely days after this visit to Marken and yet I had somehow foolishly managed to convince myself that it was going to be a little warmer there. It was a frigid day that kept getting progressively colder. The streets were deserted as people, quite naturally, preferred warmth of their homes to outdoor photography. We abandoned our trip a lot sooner than we had originally intended but not before getting some pictures. Here is a shot of the same street from two different angles. I prefer the second one, but cannot quite let go of the first one.

April 22, 2013

A day in Turin

During our stay in Milan in January, we had taken a day trip to Turin. We found Turin a lot more vibrant and wondered why we hadn’t planned our trip the other way around (stay in Turin with a day trip to Milan). Some pictures:

We emerged from the Torino Porto Nuova railway station on to Via Roma - a road lined with glitzy fashion brand showrooms and hotels.

Around here, we came across a mall building that was either abandoned or under renovation.

Turin is full of historical buildings, palaces and cathedrals. During our walk through the city we must’ve walked past several of them but I still remember Palazzo Carignano because of it’s beautiful façade. It’s a façade that I’d struggle to draw on a piece of paper. I find it quite a feat that someone not only imagined it but brought it to life in three dimensions. The building now houses the Museum of the Risorgimento.

Another prominent and long street (road?) in Turin is the Via Po. I had to cross it twice to get this shot:

From Via Po we wandered off to Mole Antonelliana - a tall building that kept reminding me of Buddhist Pagodas of Indonesia. It houses the National Museum of Cinema. Once we were inside, it became evident to us that it would take us an entire day to see the museum alone. But since we had just a couple of hours to spare, we brought the tickets to the viewing gallery on the top floor. An elevator took us there after some 30 minutes of waiting in a queue for a view of Turin in the golden dusk sunlight that was every bit worth the wait.

We got back to Via Po and turned around to get back to the station with some minor detours to get the last photos in the fast fading light:

April 21, 2013

Photoblog: Photo #15 - along Singel

April 18, 2013

Photoblog: Photo #14 - along Herengracht

Today was the first proper day of Spring in Amsterdam. We had stepped out with just a light jacket on and were apprehensive about being ill prepared for the cold wind. But the day kept getting warmer and at some point in the evening the wife and I looked at each other in utter disbelief and stuffed our jackets into our backpacks. It has been months since we felt the warmth of the sun on our skins. I must admit it felt nice for the first twenty minutes, after which we kept walking along the rivers IJ or Amstel to allow the breeze to keep us cool.

Gratuitous picture from a month ago:

The trees here are still as bare as the one in this picture, but with the winters now firmly behind us, things will change within two weeks.

p.s. While sitting at Museumplein, the wife spotted an upcoming concert featuring Beethoven’s 9th in the Concertgebouw’s electronic display. The concert is a part of a series of concerts happening in Amsterdam before the King’s coronation. Needless to say, I’ll attend!

April 14, 2013

Photoblog: Photo #13 - Chromosomes

I was wandering in a street near the Milan Cathedral when I came across this building which was catching reflections from the windows of the building opposite it. The reflections looked like human chromosomes. As I took pictures, this man and his boy cycled past, as if to reaffirm the humanness’ of the reflections.

April 13, 2013