Unplanned Italy

As I run all the photographic memories of this beautiful and history rich country through my head, I am tempted to leave you with nothing more than these images. Of course, I was lucky enough in that I had the best guide, and seeing the city by scooter. Apart from all the ice cream and espressos that we consumed, another one of our guilty pleasures was going around on the scooter and letting the fresh breeze from the ride cool us off. Every single street of the city has a story to tell, and I struggled to put my camera down (even taking a few sneaky shots whilst on the back of the scooter)

From Rome we took a bus to Siena  where we stayed for three days and ate like kings. It was here that I got the first few glimpses of all the rolling hills of the Tuscan region and the ever so beautiful Piazza del Campo. We road tripped to the coastal town of Santo Stefano, and swam in clear blue sea's on Giglio Island. Not a single part of our trip was planned, and  in true adventurous style much of our accommodation along the coast entailed last minute camping with all of a tent and mattress.

As we literally ate away our 'budget' and the camping got the better of us, we headed to the mountain regions of Mount Amiata and his hometown of Abbadia San Salvatore. We were treated to true Italian home cooked meals, and exploring more of what Tuscany had to offer. Most of the time I had my head stuck out of the window and my mouth wide open in awe. The entire region, and I mean absolutely all of it, is like a beautiful painting.

Borneo-Sporenburg

Now that my 'stint' in Holland is very close to its due date, there was still one last thing in Amsterdam I had my heart on seeing. Before I had left South Africa, I was reading 'False Flat: Why Dutch Design is so Good’. A good chunk of one of the books chapter was dedicated to Borneo-Sporenburg, a new take on traditional Dutch canal housing designed by West8 Architects. I had set aside some time in my day to see it, and actually had some trouble locating the dock itself. Turns out, I was pretty much in front of it, I just had to lower my expectations in reality from the perfectly cropped images I had seen in the design books and blogs.

‘Two peninsulas in the eastern part of the Amsterdam docks, were to be exploited for water-related activities, as well as2500 low-rise dwelling units, with a density of 100 units per hectare. For anew interpretation of the traditional Dutch canal house, West 8 suggested new types of three-storey, ground-accessed houses deviating from the usual terraced house in being strongly oriented to the private realm by incorporating patio sand roof gardens. By repeating this type in a great variety of dwelling modes and with maximum architectural variation, an animated street elevation emerges with a focus on the individual. At a larger scale, a delicately balanced relationship exists between the repetition of the individual dwellings, the roof scape and the great scale of the docks. Three immense sculptural blocks take their place as landmarks in the vast expanse of houses.’-West8 Architects

 

An eager beaver and beach burn

 After all the rain we had been experiencing the past couple of days (seriously, three days non stop), I leapt at the opportunity to visit the beach on seeing the weather report read anything other than rain.

 

The train from Bergen op Zoom to Vlissingen is about a hour away, and a leisurely stroll to the beach town's boulevard from the station. There was a nice cool breeze blowing,  cooling the day of. This however concealed the fact that it was actually sweltering hot, and as I lay on the beach ( thinking I'm getting a sweet tan), I was in fact being scorched.

 

However,my body's reddened (or lobster like)  appearance didn't last very long. Overnight I managed to become tanned once again after a whole year of missing out on summer and it's safe to say I am no longer a pasty European.

 

Brief non bullshit friendships

Nataliia and I met in a somewhat unconventional manner, although in this day and age I suppose it is all the more normal.

 

I had recently relocated to a new town, of Bergen op Zoom in The Netherlands, and because I got Thursdays  from work off, was wanting to meet up with a local for a bike ride, or perhaps a coffee in one of the cafe's. I had sent out a few simple messages on couchsurfing and awaited responses, but not thinking much of it.

 

I received an email via the website the next day from, none other than Nataliia, who is originally from the Ukraine, and was at the time living with her Dutch boyfriend in the town. She, however, was not one of the recipients I had sent a message to, but had sent talmost the same message to me, wanting to meet for a coffee, or a chat. There was something about the situation that gave me a good feeling about this, and so we met up the following Thursday. We continued to meet up every week, at the same cafe' and had grown close in the matter of a few weeks.

 

She has since then moved away from Bergen op Zoom, and is currently living her dream of seeing Paris and travelling the rest of Europe. Although our friendship was short lived by her departure, whenever a Thursday approaches, I think of her fondly...

Berlin, you son of a bitch

I mean this term in the absolute best possible way, that Berlin, you may just be the best place I have been to. There is something about this place that just does something to you. Of course the people I met and the things I did may influence this considerably, but the entirety of my time in this city consisted of a no bullshit Berlin.

No more words can really describe this place, so I will keep the rest for myself, sorry folks...

kreuzberg canal // wohnzimmer café // bauhaus archive museum // mauer park beauty in the spring// glory whole  kaffeehäuschen // lovers at a protest in front of brandenburg gate  // mauer park childishness in the spring // deep chill at adalbertbrücke // jewish museum // lichtpark // selfie time at the bauhaus archive museum // kaffee pause // portraits at  my good friends café journale

ANTWERP TAKE TWO

I managed to fit in a sneaky bike ride to Antwerp from my new town of Bergen op Zoom this past weekend. It's a mere 38 km by bike and went by somewhat quickly (it takes about 2 hours along the bike paths) . The bike ride on my journey back was a different story though. Biking against wind is not an ideal condition in my eyes and I suppose you could say I am still recovering from the trip. Regardless, I feel quite chuffed at the few photos I managed to take of Antwerp in full swing of spring

SPRING IN MY STEP

There's nothing better than seeing all the blossoms bloom in the springtime, especially after my first European winter (which in actual fact wasn't even as cold as it usually is) . Its all quite strange experiencing the spring season in March and April when back in South Africa, it usually comes around  in September. Regardless, there isn't a sunny day that passes where I don't have my camera in hand, ready to photograph all the beautiful flowers blossoming ,being sold or being sat amongst. I also haven't yet had the chance to see the tulips at Keukenhof, so this is my version...