Other Lands

Bologna la grassa

2011-06-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Bologna is the place of birth of some famous Italians like Giorgio Morandi, P.P. Pasolini and Lucio Dalla to name just a few of them. It has the first university of Europe (1088). The italian nickname for the city is "Bologna la grassa" (the fat), which refers to their rich kitchen. It's got about 40 kms of arched sidewalks which protect the people from the rain and sun. It's a gem of a town with tons of monuments and museums to see and the university and it's students lends the town a lively atmosphere with a rich cultural life. Some students' contribution to this cultural life will be discussed later.

Arched sidewalks, using them for cycling seems to be widely accepted

In our hometown Amsterdam cycling on sidewalks can cause outcries of anger, the Bolognesi seem cool about that. They also not seem to mind the nervous, ugly paint pissing called grafitti too much, because in large parts of town walles and pillars are covered in this depressing, talentless expressions. It's just everywhere and it seems local government gave up on fighting it.

The wonderful towers of Bologna would make a great drop off point for grafitti vandals

We have no illusions that there will be a permanent sollution for this problem (though the city council of Singapore might have some helpful suggestions, but we in the West are to 'progressive' to implement these). In the excavations of Pompei one can see that Italians were at it more than 2000 years ago. There'll always be a percentage of the population that feels tempted, maybe even forced to share its 'thoughts' with the rest of us. To some it must be gratifying to scribble 'Strike!' on a wall and feel onseself part of a larger being, the big revolutionairy, anti-bourgeois capitalist, anti-daddy and mummy counterculture. It adds instant moral and political correctness.

Of the city's 40 kms of archways, many are blemished by paint spraying vandals

In Modena, a city some 50 kms up North, there is no university and thus not many students. Their city centre is almost 'tag-free', so it is safe to say there is a relation between a having a large student population and vandalism like grafitti. Recent research points out that the brain does not reach the stage of full develeopment untill the owner is well in his twenties. Before that, it's subject to radical black-white ideas. Add to this most students' fondness for all kinds of substance abuse and there you have your incentives for spraying shit on walls.

Consorts of the statue of Poseidon

It would be bad enough if grafitti was only found in ugly suburban areas, on viaducts and underpasses, but this riff raff seems to take pleasure to spray their undigested ideas on the surface of objects that were built hundreds of years ago by people who did possess a talent. This injustice makes any sane person sick with rage and dream of counter measures that would make even the mayor of Singapore blush.

But let us forget these idiots and have a peak at the things of beauty one can find in Bologna.

This is one examples of the many wonderful items one can see in the Museum for Medieval Art

Students at class, not all of them evenly captivated

More students and scholars

Many sights in Bologna are for free. The Town Hall contains many great architectural feats, fresco's and statues. One can see them at leisure, sometimes coming across families who escort their loved ones to the wedding ceremony.

Matrimonio all'italiana

Wedding party

Wasn't she the girl from "Four funerals and a wedding?"

Maybe in a future post we can elaborate on the notion that having visible tattoos, like grafitti, is like shouting loud in public transport. Right now we'll try to finish on a more or less positive note, dear friends of the blog.

Or positive, peculiar anyhow. On saturday afternoon we went into S. Pietro cathedral where there was a mass in progress. The church was quite full, there were many priests and choirboys on the altar involved the rites, there was a nuns choir singing, the air laden with the scent of incense. People came and went, one person even brought his poodle but no one seemed to care. There were even people going into confession booths. I can't remember having ever seen a catholic church in full swing like this.

Nuns returning after performing in S. Pietro cathedral

Belle suore

Yes, people, how about that? It's like Teheran in a way, right? One of them gave me a medaillon of pope Pius XII. If memory serves me well, this pope dindn't came through the war specklessly and my Italian is a bit rusty so we couldn't discuss this matter, nor could I ask if she had a medaillon of my favorite pope, Alexander VI Borgia.

Spring in the valleys of noise

2011-04-03T04:47:00.000-07:00

Spring is alovely season we like to enjoy as often as possible, preferably in as many locations as possible. Yesterday we took a walk in the surroundings of the village of Asperen, near the river Linge. Asperen is a pretty little town, with a beautiful medieval church and stately houses. It reminds me of the town of my youth hero Swiebertje. Possibly very boring, but a nice break from my beloved but perrenially dirty and chaotic Amsterdam

Polder scene below Linge dike

Though winter was pleasant enough, it's great to be able to walk without a coat on, smell the land that has been broken open by ploughs and covered in manure. The trees are full of blossom and hum with the sound of the many bees seeing to it that we'll have cherries and apples in a couple of months.

Blossom and bees, root of all live

How well folks live in these parts, plenty of space and fresh air, contact with nature and it's quiet. Many people like us go there to flee the masses in the city for a couple of hours. They go there for walking, fishing, hiking, rowing or cycling. You can watch birds or simply picknick and nap and forget about the daily ratrace a bit.

The river Linge is contained by pretty meandering dikes

One hears the sounds of many birds, some nice and beautiful, others less so. Especially geese seem to be in a constant state of hysterical agitation in this season of mating and breeding. After a while one becomes aware of a droning sound coming near. This sound is not organic but mechanical and with a pang of dissapointent one is reminded that motor riders seem to enjoy riding along river dikes as much as all other natural environments. Yesterday we mostly saw pairs, but they are scouts, reconnoitring the territory. Soon they will be back in throngs like wild rats.

Heralds of a noisy summer

Since a couple of decades, motor riding has seen a staggering rise in popularity. Marketing techniques have succesfullly appealed to a broad class of people. Not only guys in midlife crises saw a way out of the drag of their lives of an office clerk or a sales rep in the persona of the lone, leather clad, individualist biker. People from all age groups and both sexes enjoy biking, which wouldn't be a problem at all, if they would have stick to the individualist part of the image. But most people prefer to flock in herds and that's why it's not unusual to encounter many groups of up to 100 motorcycles celebrating their individualism en masse, waving a banner of engine sound as long as kilomtres through the landscape.

The animals who inspired the motorized herds

Though I like the sound of -an individual- Harley Davidson pan head every now and then, I think many will agree that stumbling across large groups of bikers in the last beautiful and relatively empty and quiet spots of our small country, is just wrong. Of all the ways of enjoying leisure time in a natural environment, theirs is spoiling it for all others because of their horrible noise. Which doens't mean the Baskadiyarlar team approves of jet ski's.

That's why I think there should be laws banning motor groups bigger than 2 from the last spots in our country where people seek some peace and quiet. Maybe there could a exception for one sunday afternoon in the month, but the present situation should definitely change. I invite all readers to think about a solution to this problem. Maybe electric bikes, om which the riders can hear the roar of a Harley on their headphones. I'm sure the Chinese can come up with such a thing in no time. They have their noise, be it privately to themselves, the others have less noise for better enjoyment. Everybody happy!

A frog swingers club in full swing

Those bikers miss out on a lot of details, spring has such funny scenes, about procreation, life and death, some pretty horny.

Frog contemplating the fruits of his tireless shagging

The Baskadiyar-team wishes to state that none of the portrayed animals were killed by motorcycles.

Spring on the beach

2011-03-27T05:05:00.000-07:00

For the second weekend in a row our country was blessed with an extremely sunny crisp sunday. IJmuiden is just the place to savour the sensation of that first spring morning on the beach after a long cold winter. To the characteristic backdrops of the steam belching steelworks, there's an interesting walk on the south pier. There're fishermen,birdwatchers, ships and slow waves gently breaking on the concrete cubes.

The beach at IJmuiden is ready for the new season

Discarded therapy book

People take in some rays of spring sun and shed their winter depression. There's no better medicine than sun, and former sufferers from depression burn their twelve step program-books on the beach.

Point of return

Belgium-Mechelen

2011-01-17T12:23:00.000-08:00

The regular visitors of this blog know that the Baska Diyarlar-team have a tender spot for Flanders. Whenever we feel stressed or bored or both and we have some time and money on our hands, we flee South of the border, down Belgium way. Not even 200 kms south, there's another world with of Gothic melancholic cathedrals and flamboyant Baroque churches, tons of nice cafes and restaurants and gentle people who'll cook you rabit stew based upon their famous local beer.

St. Rombouts cathedral, Mechelen

Many would argue that these are clichees, which is fine but there's often a lot of truth in clichees, still one is welcome to continue arguing in the comment section. Here are some impressions of a winter weekend in the city of Mechelen/Malines, between Brussels and Antwerp. It's a cosy little town with lots of Medieval buildings and buidlings from later periods lining many beautiful squares. Not all of them are in a perfect state of conservation which adds to the atmosphere. Some of the seedier streets around the old brewery 'Het Anker' look like the way the will have looked in the 19th Century, and it's easy to dream away to those times during an early sunday's morning walk when there're not many folks around to disturb one's ramblings.

Saturday morning 11 am; excellent time for some oysters and Chablis!

The Belgians have a hard time being one people, differences between francophone Wallons and the dutch speaking Flemish population are on the increase over the last couple of years and there's a lot of talk about a seperation. At the moment of writing more than 200 days have passed since the last elections but still there's no new government because no coalition that is up to the problems seems to be possible. Still the people live well. Restaurants and cafe's are packed.

Queuing up for saturday's roast chicken at the market in Mechelen

People shop and meet on the squares and markets, eager to show their bargains and chat with friends and neighbours.

Street scene in Mechelen

On sunday the city council treated the citizens to free food, drinks and all kinds of acts on the main square. Luckily weather was fine and peace descended upon the crowd warmed by the mild sun, free beer and gin and merry atmosphere.

Drinks are on the mayor today.

City centre streets

During your walks in Mechelen there's a pleasing and/or sight almost around every corner.

The 'Koraal huis'

Though sometimes one comes across something disturbing, something that might just stick in your mind in a hidden spot, waiting to pop up during a sleepless night or some other difficult moment.

Children's entertainer waiting for business

But let's stop making sense and marvel at some wonderful sights we saw in Mechelen/Malines.

Did Eddy Wally die and reincarnate or is it Elvis?

Even in Flanders, some things better remain hidden

Adam and Eve have every reason to be sad

God, Jesus, Mary, all the saints and angels are quite lonely in the many cathedrals, churches and chapels of Flanders. A century ago they would all be packed but now there aren't many who attract enough of a herd to celebrate a mass on sundays. The scandals caused by child molesting priests and attempts to cover this up didn't do much to revive the faith, on the contrary, more people turned away from the Catholic Church. If you are a sentimentalist like one of the members of the Baskadiyarlar-team, it's a bit sad to see many of these buildings slowly perish because decent maintenance seems to be too expensive for many. Walking through these huge buildings that once housed throngs of faithful are now quite empty, only once a week in a corner of the mighty st. Rombouts there's a 'oecumenic service'.

Was it like this when the old Roman cults perished and their followers turned christian, rendering all the temples and the statues of the old gods pointless objects, whose symbolisms were understood by increasingly dwindling numbers of faithful? How many people still readily understand who is Saint-Anna and the two small children in her arms? Who's the litlle fella on the shoulder of st. Christopher and all these other saints who used to provide so much meaning and sollace to so many but are quite unknow today?

Anyway, the unpopularity has an upside, you're almost always one of the few visiting these wonderful places.

Onze Lieve Vrouwe van Hanswijk

In the basilique Onze Lieve Vrouw van Hanswijk used to attract hosts of people who came to seek her assistence to cure their sick or dissabled family members. Mary used to be very busy lady until about the first quarter of the 20 th Century. The walls of this church are covered in marble votif plaques thanking the blessed virgin for her help.

Just a few of the 1000-s of votif plaques in OLV of Hanswijk

Cupola of OLV of Hanswijk, a piece of the heavens cut out and dressed up in baroque fashion

Another sign that the Flemish are no longer held back by religious modesty and boldly
name their streets after sexual preferences.

We suspect that one of the best known flemish writers, Herman Brusselmans is a regular visitor of the Befferstraat, given the fact he will never miss a chance to publicly declare himself the "Befkoning van Vlaanderen" ( Flanders' king of cunnilingus).

Check back for more soon.

France-Le Tour de la Grande Guerre part deux

2010-09-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

5 Aout. Quatrième étape: Verdun - Ste. Menehoulde

Leaving Verdun that morning I was passed by cyclists twice my age left and right. My knees and ankles were still fairly sore but was glad I could cycle at all though I was sorry I hadn't be able to see the sights. Maybe reader may be able to tell me if they still have these horrific postcards on sale? I remember one with a soldier blown into a tree top and one of a chap with half his face shot off though he's still alive. Is there still a demand for that kind of products in this day and age? I don't have the ones I bought back in the seventies anymore.

Very deep, symbolic picture of an unlucky owl

The 45 kms went to quite unimposing scenery and I wasn't motivated to pursue any sideroads, I wanted to be in the destination and rest. Luckily I was there at noon and found a lovely room in 'Le cheval rouge' and slept for a couple of hours.

Later that afternoon I took a tour in the surroundings and saw some remnants from the battles in Argonne, the most notable was the 'Kaisertunnel' in the woods North-East of ste. Menehould.

Gun pits close to the Kaisertunnel Verdun- Sainte-Ménehould (45 kms)

The woods on both sides of these hill crestst in Argonne were totally wasted in 1918, now they are the loveliest sites to cycle and trek, with interesting birdlife. It takes lots of reading, a good guide and plenty of imagination to get something like an impression of the actual state of affairs in less fortunate days.

In what was later called 'the Kaiser's tunnel', there's the possibility to go on a tour with local guides, who speak excellent French.

Part of the tunnel complex under these Argonne hills

During the the first stage of the war, like elsewhere, things grinded into a stalemate and the dugouts became increasingly extensive. The Germans even started to dig into the mountain which amounted to a complex of tunnels linking a hospital kitchen, sleeping facilities, ammo dumps, command rooms and a place where men wounded beyond any chance of recovery were left to die, the 'Sterbezimmer'.

The Sterbezimmer of the Kaiser Tunnel's complex

While the war raged over their heads, deep down the men like true 'Nibelungen' dug out an underground empire. Unlike the original Nibelheim, little gold was dug and processed here.
On the way back back to ste. Menehoulde, one passes the tomb of the Garibaldi brotheres, indeed sons of Giuseppe, who volunteered and died in this region during the early stage of the war.

Monument to the brothers Garibaldi

France-Le Tour de la Grande Guerre

2010-08-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Somewhere late in the seventies by chance I ended up close to Verdun during the last stretch of a family holiday in France. We camped next to a history teacher who informed my father about all the things to be seen there and for a couple of days we saw a great deal of them, boring mother and my sisters to tears. Dad and I were intrigued by the grotesque 'Ossuaire' , the 'Tranchee du Gloire' and the other monuments to- and remnants of the fierce fighting that went on there during the foul year of our Lord 1917. I've been interested in almost anything concerning the history of the Western Front of the Great War ever since.

It's mostly a series of stories of failed strategics ending in massive loss of lives. Military staff had a particularly hard time grasping the shifted realities of modern warfare. This resulted in a series of ill faithed attempts to break through the stalemates that existed since the German Schlieffenplan failed. This attempt to quickly take the North of France, taking Paris from the West, thus outflanking the French armies and bringing swift victorie. The French however just managed to bring the Germans to a halt along lines that wouldn't significantly change during most of the four years the war would last. In a zone stretching 40-50 kms wide leading from Nieuwport at the Belgian North Sea shore to Switzerland the parties engaged held eachothers in a deadlock for most of the time, which is not the recipe of a great story. Most of the time the opposing armies would be sheltering in their system of trenches, dodging the occasional shelling and small arms fire, which was gruelling and often deadly but preferable to the several attempts at a breakthrough, by High Command refered to as the Big Push, ususally ending in a 'dud show' as the participants would call the massacres at Loos, the Somme and Passchendaele to name but a few.

The day-to-day accounts of the procedings in 'the line', of living under highly challenging circumstances of mud, foul weather, shelling, gas, fear of death, loss of friends, following orders no matter how arbitrary and so on somehow produced subject matter for a couple of the most interesting books I've ever read. Henri Barbusse's 'le Feu', Ernst Jünger's 'Stahlgewittern', Robert Graves' 'Goodbye to all that', Siegfried Sassoon's 'Memoirs of a foxhunting man' and Edmunds Blunden's 'Undertones of War', are the authors probably best known, but there are many others give compelling accounts of all facets of the war that never fail to blow the readers mind. Or this readers mind, you can be the judge of that.

As I wrote I was in Verdun when I was barely 15 and ten years ago I spent a couple of days cycling in the surroundings of Ypres, seeing most of the sites in the infamous Ypres Salient which is rougly at the other end of the front. In the summer of 2010 I found myself with some time and a bicycle on my hands and it seemd like a nice project to cycle all the line, from Switzerland to the North Sea. I wanted to see some of the places where the afore mentioned writers had been posted and had significant experiences and wrote about. I thought that cycling the line, instead of motoring it, would give me a better idea of the size of it. It's not the same as marching, which the armies mostly did to travel back in the day, but the next best thing I guess. I used a hybrid bike carrying about 15 kgs of baggage, which is nowhere as bad as the packs the soldiers would use to carry on their backs but in any case I was at least hauling weight over these french hills and mountains and experience some burden. Hardcore aficionados of the Great War should bear in mind that this blog is first and foremost a travel blog and this entry is as much about the joys of cycling as an account of my visits of some sites along the Western Front. You won't find any comparisons between the Minenwerfer and its Allied counterparts here.

I planned to trave South-North and start at the Swiss border and have the Vosges mountains over with on the first day. That's why I took a train to Mulhouse, just north of Basel (Sw) on saturday the 31st of July 2010. From there I started the next day. The purist might add here that Mulhouse was already within German territory when the war began and no trench nor significant battle was ever there. To this purists I'd like to give kudo's, but on the other hand, one has to be practical and deal with limitations in time and money. That's why I started in Mulhouse, Alsace, on the 1st of August.

1 Aout. Première étape: Mulhouse (alt. 235 m)- St-Die-des-Vosges (107 kms) via Col du Bonhomme (alt.949 m)

A sweeter landscape to cycle in like the bit of Alsace between Mulhouse and Colmar is hardly imaginable, esspecially on a sunny sunday morning with the village churchbells calling the faithfull to church. Under such lush circumstances it's an easy and lovely ride to Colmar, a wonderful German medieval town with lots of wonderful sights unrelated to the war. It would be unwise to pass this town by without having given its sites a proper look see, for instance the works of the 15th Century painter Martin Schongauer.

I couldn't spend that much time there because I had no idea how much time it would take me to cross the Vosges. I'm a heavy set, middle aged geezer with no talent for climbing at all so I was a bit worried if I could succesfully pass that 700 meters of elevation without much training.

It was by no means a walk in the park but still quite do-able if one is used to cycle regularly. There's hardly any really steep, hairpin-infested roads, it's mostly long, steadily rising slopes that do tend to get a bit steeper once one gets closer to the top. Some 6 kilometres before the col there's the village of Bonhomme, which provides an excellent excuse to take a break and some soda's after which one can cover the remaining distance rested.

Col du Bonhomme, plaquette in honour of General Bataille c.s. who fell there on 8-9-1914

On top of that col I saw the first battlefield monument, one of the few offensive french actions of the first weeks of the war. From there, it's mostly all downhill in the directions of st. Die, which is most welcome after the ascent. Should you have more appetite for climbing, there is a side road leading to a series of mountain crestst that played an important part in the initial phase of the war. I couldn't be bothered, in the light of the whole war they were mere bagatelles as the French would put it, the climb up there would have been a bit too much for me. So I made it to st. Die, a city that tries really hard but isn't succeeding.

2 Aout. Deuxième étape. St-Die-des-Vosges - Pont-a-Mousson via Nancy (128 kms)

After I had explained the splatter of red wine stains on the curtain to my hotellier (something to do with the presence of a bottle of wine and the absence of a corkscrew, you do the maths), I stepped on my bike with a clear consience but under a rainy sky. The first bit to Raon l' Etape went along quite small 'routes departementales' and villages.

A challenging thought: Holland is not a 'middle sized, important guide country' but a hamlet in the hills

After Raon, I was reminded that routes departementales may also be a bit broader but a lot busier, with loads of trucks rushing by, which can be a bit unsettling in the rain. Along the road one can see memorials to the 2nd WW, like signs marking 'la voide du Liberte', the route used by the Americans to oust the Germans in 1944-45.

Interesting idea to keep the European ideal awake; giant duracel rabbit on a roundabout near Raon l'Etape.

Between Luneville and Nancy there's plenty of safe and quite roads through farm lands. Nancy possesses some unexpected architectural gems dating back to the 18 th Century when this capital of Lorraine was enlightendly ruled by the the deposed Polish king Stanislas. The locals call the monumental palaces and squares their own Versailles.

Place Stanislas, Nancy, Lorraine.

Nancy is a nice provincial town that suffered some damage by long distance shelling during the war but has no realted landmarks to speak of. It does has a couple of industrial zones along it's river and canals. North of town there's a couple of hours of marvellous cycling on flat roads all along the river Moselle to Pont-a-Mousson, the first town of this tour seriously afflicted by the war.

3 Aout. Troisième étape. Pont-a-Mousson - Verdun via Croix de Carmes, Thiaucourt-Regnieville, st. Benoit en Woevre, Woel, Hannonville, Fresnes, l' Epargnes, Ronvaux and Eix (90 kms).

The salient was a result of a failed German attempt to outflank Verdun during the first month of the war. They did succeed in taking saint Mihiel which they held for almost the duration of the war, untill the Americans started their offensive in 1918. Most monuments and cemeteries are dedicated to the 'doughboys', as the US soldiers were known.

I started this day early, leaving the D-roads for small roads in the wods and fields, along monuments, trenches, craters and bunkers. My guide was that of the Holts, which is very extensive and thourough but pretty soon it's clear it's impossible to see everything unless one would a couple of months. The guide is made for motorists so a cyclist should make a selection and adapt the routes which I started doing right away.

Barbed wire and old trenches at dawn, in the woods around la Croix des Carmes

It was after all not my intention to see ALL places of importances along the frontline. That would be a difficulty in itself, because static though the line may have been, minor changes were made and even bigger changes in 1918 so I decided to aim at what would amount to 'an ideal line' between those different lines, to describe it with a cyclist term.

German bunker in the st. Mihiel Salient

It's perfectly possible to read enough about the area to form an idea what was going on there and still be able to enjoy the surroundings. For a Dutch person it's amazing to see all these fields and woods without running into too many people. France is blessed with a lot of open space which adds to the holdiday experience. Many times I came across deer, owls and other interesting wild birds. As a matter of fact, esspecially in the less visited parts of the line in the South East, one comes across what are now the most pastoral pieces of France. Bigger contrasts between what one sees around one and the hellish landscapes on the pictures in guide books are hardly imaginable.

Doughboy and poilu monument in Thiaucourt in the st. Mihiel salient

Some would call 'pastoral' 'dead', because not many people live in these rural parts of France and admittedly, many of these small villages show few signs of life. Most of the shutters are closed even on advanced hours of the day and it's not uncommon to pass several villages in a row without seeing a living soul in the street. In the dutch guidebook 'Velden van weleer' by Chris and Keesje Brands, the authors suggest that this lack of liveliness in the villages all along the former Western Front is due to the atrocities and destruction they witnessed. The villages are ashamed and dare not really live again. Which is a crackpot theory. Death and destruction never kept Berlin and other sites of atrocities from rising from the ashes. In my humble opinion, there's just not enough work in these places and young people leave their agricultural home towns and go live in the cities, like everywhere else in the world. Most of the villages don't have any stores an cafe's anymore. The slightly bigger ones have an Aldi or Lidl supermarket, you have to look really hard to find a nice shop or watering place in most towns, which is dissapointing to say the least. The upside of this is that the prices of real estate in rural France are quite affordable...

Last remaining shop in a small village in Woëvre, in the st. Mihiel salient.

In the North-Western corner of the Salient there's the village of l'Eparges which sits at the base of a 1400 m long and 380 m high ridge of hill which practically overlook the whole of the Woëvre plain and was therefor the object of bitter fighting during the war. The Germans possessed the strategically attractive high grounds which compelled the Allies to struggle up these hills, or tunnel and mine them, as happened in the Argonne woods, the hills of the Chemin des dames, the Somme and other places along the Western front.

Monument to the French 12th Rgt. upon the Eparges crest.

Even on a beautiful August day one can have the whole crest to oneself, maybe there was a footbal match I was unaware of. l'Eparges is an interesting place with one of the three 'Kronprinz Bunker' I saw along the line. It was also the site where Ernst Jünger saw one of his first battles. It looks lovely but the woods had dissapeared completely after the war and it took some time before they came up with a type of fir that flourished on these battered hillsides.

Somehow the word had got out there about my cycling tour, but apparently there weren't enough living people left to cheer me, or they were still too ashamed about the atrocities mentioned earlier by Keesje Brands

After an hour or so browsing the sites of l'Eparges I continued my tour in the direction of Verdun. After two days of cycling fairly easily I thought I could see some of the sites there, before pressing on to ste. Menehould, having learned that there weren't any affordable hotel rooms in Verdun anymore. However, I must have been looking the other way when I got knocked over the head by the proverbial Man with the Hammer. Just some 10 kms before Verdun I started feeling completely drained of energy with pain in the knees and achilles heel to top this up. There was no way I could go rummaging the sites of Verdun, situated on a plain out of town some 500 m higer than the town itself. I needed to quit cycling pronto and head to a hotel, rien a faire.

Belgium-Ghent

2010-05-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

As most of our regular visitors know we have a soft spot for our Belgium neighbours and we love to spend some time there whenever possible. Mostly for all kind of cliche reasons, so we won't go into that very much.

Ghent under construction

This time we spend a couple of days in the East-Flanders city of Ghent, which is a gem, be it a gem very much under construction. Most of the inner city has been ripped open which is a bit messy but it has it advantages. There were no motorized vehicles, for one, and it wasn't all that busy.

St. Niklaas Cathedral at night, temporarily amidst sand, rocks and heavy machinery

Ghent has a lovely medieval centre with cathedrals, a Belfort, a river front and miles of wonderful streets to wonder. Which is done best before 8 a.m., when most people are still in bed. The streets are completely empty then, which is great for photography.

Curve in the Leye river on an early spring morning

Ghent being a university city, there are many students everywhere. Incredible for people from Amsterdam, where housing is scarse and expensive, many of the Ghent students live in old stately homes in and close to the centre.

Wonderful Virgin over a side entrance to the st. Baafs cathedral

Belgium used to be a very catholic country, which is not entirely the case any longer. It will be interesting to see what will happen to all these wonderfull churches and so on will be empty. Recent scandals about child abuse by catholic clergy men won't prompt a revival of faith, we suspect.

Speaking about religion, fatwa, anyone...?

Not only religion is on the decline in Flanders. Friends of the blog know how much the BD-team adore those old authentic, seedy flemish cafe's. Unfortunaly, many city-Flemish have dropped their faith and have become post-modern, cosmopolitic wankers like the most of the rest of us Westerners. And we like to lounge in hip bars where we can order our sushi, Yak-burgers and have acquired other pathetic habits we consider sophisticated, which is highly detrimental to this old institution.

Another piece of Belgian cultural heritage going to the dogs

But let's not step into that nostaglia trap. There's still a lot of nice little cafe's left in this country. People are friendly and so are their dogs.

Hello Max!

Giro d'Amsterdam

2010-05-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Friends of the blog know know we are not always very enthousiastic about our hometown Amsterdam. In short it's riddled by incompetence within the city government which is demonstrated by a 50 m wide trench that splits the city centre in which there's building activity for a subway line. That should have been riding 3 years ago, but the works are not even half finished and it's bleeding the city financially.

One acceptable reason for not being able to use the tram is a cycling race

That is why many people thought it a bad idea the city should spend € 5 million on having the honour of being the starting place of the annual Giro d 'Italia, the second biggest cycling stage races in the world, starting here. After seeing the opening race of today, a 'contre le montre' of 8.4 km through the city, we feel this once we have to take side with our government and be merry for having this wonderful phenomenon cheering up our gloomy streets. This parade of flashy colours and Italian panache prooved to be just what the city needed to be cheered up.

Member of the Rabo-team

One stretch of the race was just around our corner and it's wonderful to walk just 250 m from your front door and reach the 2nd biggest race of the season. The atmosphere was relaxed and the crowd was quite cheerful. Probably also thankful for the fact that just a week after queensday there was another great excuse to mass up and drink in the streets.

Cycling is nice, but you need a drink with it...

The weather was grey and gloomy and the city is in a mess because of the garbage collectors are on strike for a week already. This proved to be a good contrast for the hurricane of speed and colour that is the Giro.

Surely those hats will inspire an Ikea lamp designer

One of the 198 coureurs

All cyclist were applauded by the public, some of the cylists like Basso and Vinokourov were hailed with the cry "EPO, EPO!". Professional cycling has been found ou to be a highly 'drug driven' sport over the last years. They came to the right place to stock up on dope this time...

Drugged up to the eyeballs or strictly yoghurt and muesli?

Rabo cyclist

One's go to compliment the Rabo Bank with their sponsoring program. Most banks these days are decried for their greed and irresponsible behaviour. But when people see the Rabo logo to the background of the colour orange, crowds go wild with enthousiasm.

"Is it Queensday today or is this the Gay Pride?"

Dedication and perseverance

Another glorious passage of a Rabo runner

The Baskadiyarlar team acknowledges the sportsmanship of the marathon runner, but the marathon is very dull compared to the spectacle we witnessed today. We'd like to see a stage of a great race in Amsterdam every year.

Koninginnedag in Amsterdam

2010-04-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

If it's true what some say and we live on after dying as angels, flying where ever we choose, Alfred Heineken must have hovered over the city of Amsterdam today, watching down with great satisfaction. What he saw was streets thronged with people most of which were carrying the trademark green cans of beer that carry his name.

Green and orange and a bit of sun is all we need to let our hair down and party

The baskadiyarlar-team prefers wine, but on a warm day, a glass of cold Grolsch pilsner is wonderful, Heineken is pretty lousy, especially when drunk warm, which is almost standard on a day like this.

Orange men, far less serious than the ones one sees marching in Belfast but just as noisy

We don't care for crowds much, and we're a bit scared of half drunk crowds, but in order to give our regular visitors from Trk, Mountain View and Wiesbaden a chance to see what is 'Koninginnedag' or Queensday in Amsterdam, we ventured out on this 30th of April 2010 to check out what is going on.

Reveller wearing a flag of Amsterdam

In brief: Queen Beatrix of Orange took over the throne from her mother on 30th of April 1980, a day remembered because of intense rioting by squatters and anarchists. This was clearly not a good start but during the following decade evolved Queensday from a fairly modest party, into a free street market, where everybody is free to take the old junk from the attic and sell it in the street. Over the years, the amount of food and drink stands increased along with venues where there are concerts and and other forms of loud music. Soon this hotbed of anti-monarchist rebellion became the capital of orange lovers from all over the country. Here we should not see this orange-crowd as monarchists per se, but as people who like to dress up funnily and party, like a carnival. Now, on a sunny day like today, several hundreds of thousands pour into Amsterdam drawn by free concerts, the free market, beer and snacks.

Visitors browsing the merchandise at a typical free market stand

We made a long stroll along several canals and through the Jordaan-district. Around 2 pm already many people seemed quite pissed, and so looked many parts of the city. By that time, most of the vending activity has ceased, and the stuff wasn't sold is just left in the street. On top of that there's cans, plastic plates and other junk, bottles and tons of other refuse. One should bear in mind that the night before Queensday is already a big party, and also that the garbage men are on strike, so you might be able to picture the mess we are in now and will be in for some time to come. The rats will have some field days this coming week.

Where it comes from and where it ends, in one picture

The architectonical gem which is the centre of Amsterdam is turned into one big fun fair, very commercial, noisy and dirty. Don't get us wrong, the huge crowd, it's alcohol and drug intake considering, the spirit was still nice enough, but it's just so messy and it pains us to see so many people just dropping their mess where ever they find themselves, pissing and puking where ever they fancy. They seem to spend a lot of money on their clothing, tattoos and piercings, but they don't seem to care much about the way our city looks.

On Koninginnedag, anyone can dress up and be a queen!

Amsterdam is looking for a new mayor. Mr. Cohen left this office vacant and aspires to be PM of Holland. It would be nice if it could be a person who dares to tune down this annual glorified Golden Showers in the streets. Back to the traditional games of koekhappen and versierde fietsen-parade. Talking about cycling, we have the start of the Giro d'Italia coming up! Hope all the mess will be cleared up before the start of that wonderful race.

Orange in the vegetal and animal world usually means 'poison, do not touch!'

The wonderful Zwanenkoor

The Jordaan used to be a working class district until a couple of decades ago. It's now home to yuppies mostly, but some of the culture of the indigenous remain, which is a love of opera and singing. The Zwanenkoor (swan choir) perfomed beautifully today.

The two vocal honcho's of the Zwanenkoor

Thronged street in the lovely Jordaan, Westerkerk in the background

A quiet moment on the Prinsengracht on Queensday

Over the last decade we saw the birth of a new upper class. Anyone who considers himself to be somebody, makes sure he or she has a place on board of a boat cruising the canals. On that boat there's a dj with a loud sound system s and plenty of friends really boozed and doped up, dancing and singing, expressing to the the commoners walking that they are so very common.

This city being Amsterdam, tons of weed are smoked. One guy can take no more.

Nice orchestra off duty

Paris-Pere Lachaise

2010-03-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

Row of neo-gothic grave chapels, style of choice in the latter half of the 19th Century

Paris being a city of millions, it has as many stories to tell and each grave, chapel and statue on Pere Lachaise tells one. However, some stories stick out more than others. We won't go into that of the rather over-rated J. Morrison, (whose presence at P. Lachaise unfortunately attracts huge crowds of ill-mannered folks, but luckily for us, only when the weather is nice). Instead, we would like to direct your attention to the grave monument of the journalist Victor Noir who died in 1870. It's nice enough, though, to stroll about the cemetery and see all these monuments, great and small, intimate and and loud and observe how fortune fares after death. Tons of bronze, marble and other costly materials have been shaped by the best artists and artisans into ostentative memorials to people who were hugely rich and famous back in the day but all but forgotten today. Hic transit gloria mundi, dear guests of the blog, so memento mori...

Is she keeping the residents in or the intruders out?

Pere Lachaise was started in 1804 because a new burial ground was needed and new ideas about health hazards of cemeteries directed it out of the then city limits. It was placed so far from city centre that in the start it attracted few funerals, so the management thought of a shrewd marketing trick to lure in new punters. They brought in famous, but yet very dead people like Abelard and Heloise, Moliere and Lafontaine, which attracted other celebrities and the post-mortal celebrity groupy crowd alike. Today about 300.000 people lie buried there.

One of those really great guys who brought the world really great guns

It's almost impossible to overestimate the liveliness of the history of Paris during the 19th Century. Revolutions, restorations, wars, Haussmann reconstructing the whole city, social strive, technological and artistic innovations all had a huge impact on the city and its dwellers. Some of the major players in that history found their resting place on P. Lachaise, in or under monuments that they themselves or their folks saw as sufficiently becoming, in accordance with their state during life.

Statue of the journalist Victor Noir

There are many monuments who stand out from the run of the mill, neo-gothic chapel (which the Baskadiyarlar-team LOVE, don't get us wrong) and one of them is that of the journalist Victor Noir. Son of a humble artisan, jew-converted-to-catholic father, he became journalist for a Republican newspaper during the rule of Napoleon the 3rd. The editor of his newspaper got into conflict with the cousin of Napoleon, Pierre, and to make a long story short, Pierre Bonaparte shot Victor Noir. The pen might be mightier than the sword, it's not mightier than the six gun. Noir came to a rendeze vous with Bonaparte packing a piece himself, but he was supprised by the latter, and was killed. This was cause for huge indignation in Republican circles, which got worse after Pierre Bonaparte was acquitted by the court of law. Victor Noir was buried first at Neuilly cemetery but later transfered to Pere Lachaise, where he got this statue made by the sculptor Jules Dalou.

Victor Noir, who carried left and wore heels

Soon after the shooting of Noir, war with Prussia broke out which in the end brought the demise of the House of Bonaparte and lots of other things to worry about that obscured the death of a journalist. Not many people nowadays will know who was Victor Noir, and since Verdi didn't put the story into an opera, it couldn't have been all that important, right? For one, no lady was mentioned in this story. But the guy must have made an impression on ladies that lasts until today, because a remarkable cult formed around his grave.

Myth has it that placing a flower in the top hat after kissing the statue on the lips and rubbing its genital area will enhance fertility, bring a joyful sex life, or, in other versions, a husband within half a year. As a result of the legend, those particular parts of the green bronze statue are rather worn.

Grave monument for Oscar Wild

Oscar Wilde might have been open to a monument like the one built for Noir, with the eternal genital rubbing part and fertility cult, but look what the poor bastard got: some sorry assed, faux Neo-Babylonian piece of trash covered in lipstick. How ironic to reward the man who gave humanity such witty plays, novels and poetry with something this atrocious. He suffered a great deal during his last years, why must these pilgrims continue to disrespect him after death?

Real estate like this in any good Parisian arrondissement is quite unaffordable now.

Eugene Delacroix, painter of the 'Raft of the Medusa'

Jewish grave chapel

P. Lachaise is one of those few places in the world where one can find catholics and protestants, Chinese and Vietnamese, Jews and Arabs peacefully co-existing .

Cheap marble tenderness

Who they were, has been erased by time and rain but the intention remains.

Wasn't that door was closed when I looked at it a minute ago!?

Vastelaovand in Mestreech!!!

2010-02-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

The carnival officially starts when the Mooswief swings from a pole on the Vrijthof

Friends of this blog will remember our entry called 'Bloasmuziek' dating back to last spring. You will have noted that the members of the BD-team have a soft spot of the southernmost Dutch city called Maasstricht. We think it's a beautiful town with a gentle and often elegant population and we were very pleased that we were invited to share the fun of the annual carnival, which is considered by connaisseurs to be the best carnival in Holland. We suspect they might be right.

Carnival parade in the old centre of Maasstricht

Carnival is celebrated foremost in the southern, traditionally catholic provinces of Holland and it's said that people from the north don't know how to do that. There is truth in that, though it's also a fact that some southerners do not care for it. The BD-team member found it a hoot for a night and an afternoon, but cannot imagine to carry on for three days. Because that's how long it takes.

The carnival starts when al large doll called 't Mooswief' is hoisted from a pole on the famous Vrijhof square after sunday mass. From then on, the city is ruled by Prince Carnaval and his Council of 11, a mock government. During carnival things are turned upside down, ranks and class are of no value and mocked by the revelers.

'Clergy'

bust of 'saint Gerd', the mayor of Maasstricht of Maastricht who recently saw himself constrained to step down from office, because his real estate acquisistion methods were considered to be 'unsound'. People still love him there, though...

This is not not the cast of an old fashioned staging of die Walkure, but
members of 'de Bataoave' carnivalsclub enjoying the sunday parade

Example of a 'zaate hermenieke'

People are organised in parish- neighbourhood or street clubs, who spent many hour to prepare for the three days of merry making preceding the 40 days lent period. Much time and money is spent on the costume and make up. Many people play and instrument and together they form the so called 'zaate hermeniekes' (shitfaced fanfares). Taking part is more important than playing in tune.

Much time and money is spent on the 'pekske' and make up, but there are exceptions

It's quite easy to spot the Northerners. Here we see two, given away by their uninspired attire, faulty make up and overall un-festive attitude.

Revelers on sunday afternoon

For three days, funnily clad people roam the streets, from one square to the other, from one pub to the next, until on ash wednesday the priest shuts the thing down and everybody goes home with a cross of ash on their foreheads.

Members of a samba drum band

It hardly gets more colourful than this

The Lord knows what he's supposed to be, but it looks very funny

That reminds me, I have to do that tax stuff before the end of next month...

And today we leave you with an image of some high ranking members of the 'Bataoviere'. One doesnt' get any closer to aristocracy in Messtreech in carnival time.

Bloasmuziek op ene Sondagmorge

2009-06-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

This week, Amsterdam was in the news for a rather peculiar reason: a museum was opened on the scheduled date and also the budget had been respected. This makes the Hermitage Amsterdam a rare exception to the rule that big projects in Amsterdam generally take twice or three times more time to finish as originally planned and also the costs are way higher.

A building site of the Noord-Zuidlijn, one of Amsterdam's doomed projects,
unconfortably close to the house of the members of the Baskadiyarlar-team

At this moment, two famous museums, have been closed for over 5 or 8 years, one tends to forget. It's a familiar sight to see small groups of Japanese stumbling around the rubble near the Stedelijk Museum, not knowing it's closed for repairs since, yes, since when? The Rijks museum was built in the 1880's in about 5 years. It was closed in 2003 for reconstruction, which would last also 5 years. But delays keep piling up on one another and it's now scheduled to re-open in 2013. But there's hardly anybody who still believes that this will actually happen. Amsterdam is getting more messy everyday, it's a wonder people still come to visit what is rapidly becoming a dirty, arrogant, incompetent money pit.

That is why this week we escaped the noise and the filth of the capital to the southernmost city of Holland, Maastricht. Much smaller than Amsterdam, the capital of the province of Limburg has a lot to offer to the visitor and inhabitants. We'd like to show and discuss a couple of them.

A striking feature of Maastricht is its extensive collection of sculpture in its parks and streets. There's clearly a passion for that kind of art. We'd like to dedicate some space to one of them: the statue of d'Artagnan, one of the famous Three Musketeers. During the Franco-Dutch War he commanded the siege of Maastricht and was shot through the throat while storming a gate in 1673.

The statue of d'Artagnan, close to fortifications of the city of Maastricht, made by the same artist who gave the world Rembrands Nightwatch in 3D

It's kind of grand of a city to honour a slain enemy with a huge statue, you've got to give them that. One of Maastrichts most famous sons is the violonist Andre Rieu. One wonders how big his statue will be when he eventually gets one. Most probably it will be as big as the ones erected for Stalin and Lenin when they were still hot during the heydays of the USSR.

Maastricht can be leisurely seen in about a day or two. It's got lots of nice streets and alleys, parks, watermills, churches and chapels. It's history dates back to prehistoric times. It's been inhabited ever since the Kelts. The name is derived from the latin Mosa Traiectum, which means a shallow place in the river Meuse. Monuments from practically all ages are present or still to be seen in one of it's museums.

'Lang grachtje', a cosy little street next to remnants of the 13th century city wall

The province of Limburg is home to many dialects. Some are quite unintelligible to people from out of the province. Some towns have dialects that are not even understood by inhabitants of the next town. The dialect of Maastrict is said to be influenced by french.

An alley reminiscent to the south of France

Visitors stand in awe when confronted with the mystic beauty inside St. Mary, Star of the Seas, one of the oldest churches in Maastricht

Members of various religious orders are still a common sight in this traditionally catholic city

The people of Maastricht are a closely knit community. Many of them are members of parochian or neighbourhood fanfares, bands and choirs that perform during festivals like the famous Carnival, or, Vastelaovond.

Mayor Gerd Leers announcing a performance at the town most principal square, het Vrijthof

Members of the all-male Beeker Liedertafel choir singing

They may look like undertakers, but they're quite a cheerful lot!

On sunday mornings one can hear churchbells ringing everywhere, meaning masses are about to start or just ending. After religious duties, many Mestreechtenaoren put on their uniform and pursue another passion: brassmusic on sunday mornings

Two hangers on of the fanfare st.Servatius on their way to meeting with the other members

Two more flock to the meeting point

Is there anything nicer than the sound of rolling drums of a marching band nearing, the noise getting louder as the distance decreases? The members of the Baskadiyarlar team sometimes can't help getting goose pimples just hearing those drums and we get really happy when we can see the band, marching in neat files, brass shining in the light of the sun.

And on they march, st. Servatius guarding everyone congregating is his name

Sunday mornings in Limburg are not complete without the sweet sounds of a marching band

Should you want to see more pictures of the fanfare, click here.

The naked cyclists of Amsterdam meet the Bierfiets

2009-06-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

The nude cycle tour in the Amsterdam Vondelpark

The inhabitants of Amsterdam are accustomed to weird phenomena. They hardly even frown when confronted by yet another antic from religious sects or youth culture. Whether it's tolerance or plain indifference, anything pretty much goes in our jolly town.

However, on saturday the 6th, there was something to be seen that did raise a few eyebrows here and there. Some members of the World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) organized a nude cycle tour through town in order to raise awareness about pollution and accidents caused by cars. The nudity is supposed to accentuate the vulnerability of cyclists and other non-car road users. Right.

Only few members of the public knew about those motives. They saw a some naked old hippies on bikes. Good fun though! Something to tel the folks back home.

Het Fietscafe poses a temporary bottleneck

In the park, the group of about 50 cyclists were briefly halted by another cycle-related spectacle, het Fietscafe, also known as de Bierfiets (the Beerbike). The last couple of years, there has been complaints about how Amsterdam is increasingly getting unattractive for people looking for a good time. I don't know if this machine is an argument pro or contra this opinion. It depends on how one appreciates the spectacle of 10-15 people making their way on an elevated and moving bar through the Amsterdam streets, singing and shouting the songs of Andre Hazes and his heirs.

The vulnerable meet the loaded

Apparently there are already some 40 beerbikes available in Amsterdam. Recently there have been a couple of accidents with them, causing several wounded. The firm that rents these vehicles claim that the drivers always remain sober. It's clear that many of the guests don't.

After fraternising the tour continues

Final destination: Vondel's statue

The end of the tour luckily coincided with the departure of the sun. The nudists dressed up and spread out among the clothed. Maybe not everybody got their message of vulnerability, though one cannot help but thinking about the effects of rough leather saddles on tender buttocks...

Some stretching after the efforts

Many people claim that islamisation is a real threat for Holland. Given the popularity of the beer bike and the the enthusiastic reactions to the nude ride, the jihadi's have a tough job ahead of them in Amsterdam. Their best hope might be that someday they will be paraded through the city on a tea bike accompanied by our mayor, Job Cohen, on their way to the first muslim gay wedding ceremony presided over by Tarek Ramadan. Only in Amsterdam...

Summer of Love: 41st Reunion

Berlin, capital of Germany

2009-01-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

Liebe Freunde von das Blog, herzlich wilkommen in dieses neues Jahr!

The German flag flying from the Reichstag building.

No-one truly interested in history should miss Berlin where the busy last century left its marks on almost every corner of the street. I have been postponing a visit for the last 20 odd years because I kept feeling sour for never having been there when the city was still divided into East and West. I Back then I didn't really care so much but in time I saw myself grow longing back to those bad old bi-polar days that smelled of brown coal, Trabants and Sauerkraut. I would have loved to peep over the wall across the "Todesstreifen", with the vopo's peeping back at me from the other side. I would have enjoyed the procedures concerning the crossing of the border and wander about in that funny environment, the DDR with it's empty shops and streets. After the unification a lot of money went into the City, which filled already most of the empty space around the Wall, the wall from which only few meters are still standing, together with one or two watch towers. But it's a bustling City, with plenty to see and do and with wonderful people living there.
View from the the top of the Dome down the Reichstagbuilding

The dome is a wonderful place full of interesting shapes and views.

Not too much of the old Wall is still standing around, unless you have the time to travel to a fairly out of the centre place, which we hadn't.

So we only have some pieces which have been painted on both sides, which was impossible back in before '89.
Before you get bored by the usual shots of the usual landmarks, here's one,
in chocolate.

This Schokolade Meister also cast the Reichstag, the Titanic and a huge Christmas angel in chocolate.

Almost as sweet as chocolate are the series of socialist frescoes painted on the former Reichs Luftfahrtministerium.
Isn't this good, clean fun?
Farmers, scientists completely agreeing on issues.

It was a serious building, a fact a couple of frescoes cannot hide.

Belgium-Antwerpen

2008-11-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

De Grote Markt

De Groenplaats, de Grote Markt, de Cogels-Oseistraat, het zijn de bekende toeristische trekpleisters van Antwerpen. Ze zijn zeker niet te versmaden, al zijn er zaken die ons ook boeien, op een andere manier.

Een typisch vlaams cafe op d'n hoek.

Misschien gelukkig voor de Antwerpenaren, neemt het aantal leuke, trendy gelikte restaurantjes elk jaar toe en ongeveer recht evenredig neemt het aantal cafe's af waarvan de leden van het Baska Diyarlar-team van houden. Dat cafe bevindt zich op een tochtige straathoek. Het is bij voorkeur gesloten, de vitrages zijn gesloten en sinds 1978 niet meer gewassen. Aan de muur hangen aanprijzingen van snacks die niet meer worden geserveerd en het personeel, meestal bestaande uit een persoon is nors en spreekt een taal die onbegrijpelijk is voor noorderlingen.

Maar van wie gewonnen, en met wat?

Al snel begint men zich in zo'n cafe slecht op z'n gemak te voelen, elk begin van conversatie stokt snel en zodra het maar even kan gaat men voort, naar het volgende cafe.

Zonder titel.

Er zal misschien al een wandeltocht bestaan die voert langs dit soort tenten, anders zou die er moeten komen, voor een bepaald soort dagen en bijbehorende gemoedstoestand.

En zo zouden we nog lang kunnen doorgaan, maar niet hier en niet nu.

Kapel in de Begijnhof.

Op de een of andere manier is God opgehouden met de Antwerpenaren gunsten te betonen, of ze vragen Hem er geen meer. Er zijn in ieder geval al lange tijd geen nieuwe votieven opgehangen.

Ook de Maria-verering lijkt in het slop te zitten, terwijl de Heilige Petrus zich heeft teruggetrokken in een tot appartement omgebouwd begijnengebouw.

Een volgende keer meer over de bezienswaardigheden van deze mooie stad.

Lijiang

2008-10-06T02:25:00.001-07:00

Black Dragon Pool - also calls Jade Spring Park
Old Townd of Lijiang
Women of Naxi ethnic minority Wish lights

City of the madresahs - Qom and Naghsh-e Jahan - Esfahan

2008-09-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

The Shah Square in Esfahan is one of the biggest city squares in the world and an outstanding example of Iranian and Islamic architecture. It has been designated by Unesco as a World Heritage Site. The city also has a wide variety of historic monuments ranging from the Sassanid to the Safavid dynasties. Shah Square Ali Gapu

Bazaar in Shah Square There are cafe's under the bridges where you can drink tea and smoke hubble-bubble.Meltem and me.

There are wonderful bridges on Zayandeh river.

Qom is considered to be a holy city in Shia Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatima , sister of Imam Reza, (789–816 A.D.). The city is the largest center for Shi'a scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage.

Shanghai

2008-09-24T23:55:00.001-07:00

Pudong Area Shanghai is very colorful and crowded at nights.

Peter is very popular in China

Around the Bund. Pudong Area.

East Nanjing Road. You can see them every morning while they dance.

China-minorities

2008-09-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

Modernization and globalisation eat away at distinct chinese features and replace them with what we see everywhere else already. However, peculiar and unique things can still be found.

A slowly disappearing minority is people in blue Mao suits and caps. The dress of choice of the early years after the revolution up to the 70's is being replaced by whatever H & M, Gap and Zara is having all other people in the world wear.

Except for these people, who still wear their ancient tribal suits, in Dali, Yunnan province. They also are unable to operate a radio!

Each night, members of the different tribes around Yuanyang, Yunnan province, assemble on the town square to perform their ancient tribal dances.

Audience at the square in Yuanyang.

Jolly tribal women on their way to a performance on a Li Jiang square.

Capitalism also rooted in the tribes of Southern China.

But if you know the right tactics, you can still get nice things at a decent price.

Tribalish couple at the weekly sunday market in Menghung.

Wonderful headgear in Menghung.

Female tribal dance troupe checking eachother's gear before the show starts.

Car Free Sunday in Amsterdam

2008-09-23T03:39:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday in Amsterdam and 20 other cities in the Netherlands were kept car-free Sunday. This phenomenon namely started with the oil boycott against Holland in 1973-74. For 10 years "car-free Sunday" have been organised by environment organisations. That day also a parade was orginised which 200 economical vehicles took part.

There was an art market, there was music and dancing for every taste and there was discussions between local politicians.

Albert Cuyp Market

My Lovely City - Istanbul - Taksim

2008-09-21T04:18:00.000-07:00

I've spent 2 weeks in my lovely city. I have a lot of Istanbul pictures but all of them are dia positive. So these are the first digital pictures I've taken in Istanbul. Words are not enough to describe such an amazing city and the pictures are not enough to reflect the facts about it.

Ferries and the gulls behind are among the most picturesque views in Istanbul.

"Istiklal Street" is the heart of the city. You can find any kind of attractions here. Everybody feels good and comfy here, even dogs.

Street performers

Flower Market is a good option for drinking a cold beer in day time. During the night you can taste "raki" with a lot of delicious tapas as well.

There are always some exhibitions. This was ''Miro'' exhibition in the Pera Museum.

And our little tram works during the day along Istiklal street.

If you feel tired' you can drink turkish coffee in one of the street cafes or you can meet with the friends and have a great night in Taksim.

Markets

2008-09-17T02:38:00.001-07:00

Markets are the most colorful places in China. All markets have their own characteristic way of presentation.
Xi'an Antique Market

Menghun Weekend Market

Dali Daily Market

Beeldje, gekocht in Chengdu

Exercise outdoors

2008-09-01T11:34:00.001-07:00

A typical chinese scene; a person practising Tai Chi in a space near the Giant Buddha of Leshian. All over the country, scenes like these can be observed, often with large collectives participating. Not only Tai Chi, but all kinds of physical exercise can be witnessed in streets and parks every day.Every morning at eight 'o clock the complete staff of this Chengdu hospital does some collective stretching to the sounds of a merry tune. One of the members of the Baskadiyarlar-team is a teacher who has secret fantasies of mass exercise on the school yard... What a nice start of the day this could be.

Many participants carefully hide their enthusiasm about this public display.

Collective exercise in Yuanyang at 7 AM
.
On the same square in Yuangyuan, each night several ethnic ensembles perform their dances.

This wonderful dancing master and his troupe can be found on a corner of East Nanjing road in Shanghai each morning. All you need is red shoes and you're in.

Shanghai dancer.

Kunming dancer.

Free stylin' near the Temple of Heaven.

Every morning these people gather to play and sing national hymns in the gates to the Temple of Heaven.

Another regular phenomenon that seems to prefarably takes place outside. Restaurant staff receiving criticism and peptalk outside the restaurant.

China-Under Construction

2008-08-29T11:19:00.001-07:00

One cannot help but admire the zeal of the Chinese people, they never seem to stop working.

People in Emei Shan working overtime to make the place look acceptable just a couple days before the Olympic torch is being passed through their village.

A Shanghai construction worker.

Did any of our dearly beloved readers ever had that dream the whole world is supposed to have had? We of the Baskadiyarlar team didn't and we have started to really wonder what the hell it is. Could anyone please tell us?

A paint job in Cheng Du

Bringing it to the market

Xi 'An cable guy

Fresh tea for the lads.

China-remarkable people

2008-08-24T01:23:00.000-07:00

Given the huge size of the population, it's no suprise that a substantial number of them looks nice in pictures. We managed to squeeze in a couple of them.

Menghung market lady

Chengdu lady

Kunming lovers

Xi'An couple

Flower people

Kunming dreamer

Lijiang dreamer

Shades seller

On her way to the set of Startrek

Shanghai girl

Kunming

Princesses with chaperonne

Children in a calligraphy school in Leshian

Tourists in Leshian

Counting money in Yanhuang

"A poser, moi?"

China-Chinese tourism

2008-08-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

The Forbidden City is the major tourist attraction of all chinese.

Temple of Heaven, Beijing. The man in the orange shirt stands on what is perceived to be the centre of the world.

Tourism seems to be on the rise in China. If you want to visit a famous tourist destination, make sure you be there when it opens, unless you want to share your experience with thousands and thousands of other people...

One doesn't just walk into a station, buy a ticket and be on your way. Especially during major chinese holidays, it's best to stay clear of stations and airports. Booking ahead is essential.

A scene impossible to resist.

Be prepared for enthusiastic strangers asking you to pose with them for a picture. We of Baskadiyarlar are proud to be in many PC's and mobile phones all over China.

Tienamen Square.

Monkey contemplates the tourists on Emei Shan in Szechuan province.

Girls posing on a funny blue something in Shanghai.

Girl posing in front of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Games in the streets

2008-08-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

When reading about China and their thriving economy, being the World's factory and all, it's easy to assume that everybody must be very busy producing our shoes, jeans, flatscreens and what have you. To us it came as a suprise how much time is being lazy assed away at all kinds of games, in public.

China-Uniforms

2008-08-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

Just before landing in Beijing, a video was shown on the plane. In that video passengers were reminded what kind of materials were not allowed to bring into the country. The officials in that clip looked stern and efficient and on top of that, they used a sniffer dog that appeared to geared to sniff out cheese. He was hopping from trunk to suitcase, happily indicating the one with the cheese. I was carrying at least a pound of the stuff and I didn't feel like paying the considerable fine, so I got rid of our cheese before customs. Which were not even there at 5.30 AM. I was reminded of my exagerrated obedience many times by my cheese adoring companion.
I guess I'm easily impressed by uniforms, and there's many of them about all over the country, as you may have picked up from the news...

Friendly bloke at the Summer Palace.

Sometimes up to 6 traffic wardens regulate affairs at big crossroads. The gentlemen above in the blue shirts are higher ranking than the ones in green shirts, who are often embarrassingly ignored by everyone.

Traffic warden setting up camp along a Xi 'An road.

Another Xi'An traffic warden.

And another one.

These two fellows guard the consulate of Iran in Shanghai.

No funny stuff at the terracotta warrior's place, or else...

Guards at an Olympic event.

You may think this is in a small town in the Provence. Close enough, it's the French Concession in Shanghai.

Three graces at the Summer Palace.

This chap smelled the cheese smell off our dutch bones even after a cheeseless month.

"O.k. pack it up and leave, nothing to see around here!"

China-chinglish

2008-08-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

In her travel story Mr. Ma's Tigers, Martha Gellhorn includes many translational gems of the same Mr. Ma, who travelled with her in China as her interpreter. Describing one of the atrocities commited during the Sino-Japanese War, he concludes: "Since village girls are very particular about their virginity, they resisted furiously. But they were nuded and very seriously raped".

Travelling through China, one comes across odd, funny, sometimes mysterious messages in English. Many of those seem to result from too much trust in the various translation programs that exist on the internet. I'm sure those fluent in Chinese are able to understand what and where went wrong when the following items were put on this charming Shanghai restaurant menu.

Keeping the baby. Why not, it's highly affordable. But the father's gotta go, judging from the item on the next page.

At least the guy's not simply wasted, but deliciously roasted and offered at a decent price. On another page there was "affection beef". A true family restaurant.

Pot does many things. Or does it?

Civilized village. Does that mean that you cannot roast your husband or do pig's intestines?

China- Beijing hutongs

2008-08-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

The bulk of the Beijing houses used to consist of the "siheyuans" (houses with a court yard in the middle, housing whole families), which are (were) situated along the so called hutongs, (alleys). As of the middle and late eighties, those traditional, cosy houses have increasingly been replaced by modern buildings. Many hutongs were and are cramped, damp, cold and noisy, while many of them still lack private, modern bathrooms, forcing the dwellers to use common utilities. Common bathrooms in China can be pretty disastrous, though most chinese seem to overlook these horrors.

Alas, government seems to have little patience with people who do not like to leave their hutongs, and there are many stories about people being intimidated out of their houses and businesses. If one sees with what kind of Corbusier-style nightmares the hutong dwellings are being replaced with, one might start to doubt about the sanity of the whole project. But is humanly proportioned architecture still feasable in Chinese cities, considering their huge population (growth)? It might be a privilge of citizens of stagnating backwaters like Holland to endlessly protest new and ambitious building projects.However, there seems to be a rising sense of the need to preserve the monuments like the hutongs. There are still quite some patches of them around in Beijing. But Chinese don't seem to share the western respect of truly old artefacts. As a matter of fact, they seem to prefer a sort of Disneyfiyed copy of the old original. Close to the Tieanmen Square, a "brand new hutong" district arose smack in the middle of the remains of an old hutong district, with still may original parts around, though most of them hidden behind walls.

Among the last remaining dwellings old people seem to prevail.

Melon plants in a hutong

Terracotta Army

2008-08-18T05:33:00.000-07:00

In the end of your tour, you can have a wonderful picture like this with the fake army members. :)

Terracotta askerlerine gitmek icin Xi'an tren istasyonundan 306 no'lu halk otobusune binmek gerekiyor.Oldukca konforlu. 1 saat sonra giris kapisina variyorsunuz.

Alanda 3 buyuk bolum (cukur) var. Once kucukleri(2 ve 3 no'lu cukur), sonra buyuk bolumu gormek ilk etkiyi arttiriyor sanirim. M.O 210 tarihli ordu ve atlar Cin'in Ilk Hukumdari Qin Shi Huang Di'ye ait.Varligi 1974 'te Xi'an yakinlarindaki ciftliklerde su yolu acmaya calisan ciftciler tarafindan kesfedilmis. Ordu neredeyse 8000 askerden olusuyor. Boylari ve kiyafetleri ordudaki gorevlerine gore degisen askerleden herbiri baska bir ifadeye ve yuz hattina sahip.Inanilmaz.

Ordunun amaci oldukten sonra Hukumdara yardimci olmak. Bu yuzden Hukumdar ile birlikte gomuluyorlar. Ordu ile ilgili bir efsane ordunun gercek oldugunu ve kralla diri diri gomuldugunu soyluyor. Bana biraz abartili geldi sahsen.
Gezi sonunda taklit askerlerle yukaridaki gibi kostumler giyip fotograf cektirebilirsiniz. Ustelik bunlari duvarda elektronik olarak yayinliyorlar.

China-Opera, music, dance and theatre

2008-08-14T03:55:00.000-07:00

What is called "Chinese Opera" is generally a kind of vaudeville show, with singing, dancing, martial arts, comedy, scenes from classical chinese opera's and acrobatics.

Sichuan Opera and Face Changing

Chengdu - Pekin Opera

Lijiang - Naxi Orchestra

Performance at the Summer Palace

Shangai Theatre

Beijing Laoshe Tea House

For seeing more pictures please click here.

China-Animals in China

2008-07-30T07:57:00.000-07:00

Who are you?

Animals might pose a dodgy subject when related to China. Animals are adored in this country. People seem devoted to their dogs, who are pampered and granted many liberties. But there's also a different class of dogs, who end up on the menu's in restaurants.

Dogs in the luggage compartment of a sleeper bus. Quo vadis? Will they be on the menu or the life long pet of somebody real nice?

That last fact is a bit hard to swallow for the Western throat. Speaking about swallowing; recently a restaurant was opened that solely serves animals penises. Another dish that may not go down well in many tourists are snakes and other kind of reptiles.

This woman said she was an apprenctice-snake charmer. She was about to end her trainee period with an act with a boa constrictor. She was confident that she could handle this fierce animal.

At first the snake seemed to cooperate, but it became soon clear that it was inpenetrable by the woman's charms.

After this scene, things got really messy. We of Baskadiyarlar are not the kind of reporters that keep standing by reporting while other people are in mortal danger. We prefer participating and helping out. The woman was saved and that night we ate boa constrictor. Which doens't taste at all like chicken.

Cockfight near Jinghong

Good cocks are highly respected. The bad ones end up in the restaurant.

Hardly any part of chicken goes to waste in China. We love chicken, but one of the Baskadiyarlar-team members still has problems to appreciate it when it comes served with the head and one claw sticking out the bowl of soup.

In many rural parts the water buffalo is still widely used for agricultural purposes.

Usually, theuy are occupied with plowing paddies, here I saw herds of them loafing around a rubber plantation grazing and cruising.

By far the cutest member of the Chinese animal kingdom is the giant panda. It is hard to think of an animal that arouses more feelings of tenderness. However, most pandas alive are living in one of the breeding centre's like this one in Chengdu. These centres breed the animals with increasing succes, but it is unlikely that those creatures will ever live as independent bears. These one year old cubs play as if they have been trained 3 years to behave so endearingly clumsy. Unwittingly they resemble professional performers in bear suits. As bears, they have a credibility problem because they also resemble loafers on welfare.
Who wouldn't want to squeeze and cuddle such a huggable creature? The same question must have gone through the head of the people in charge of the breeding centre, and the answer is ofcourse; thousands! It's doubtful however, if this encounter resembles the fantasies of all those hapless romantics who fork out 40 euros. They are led to a mature animal sitting on a bench. The tourist are given are given plastic gloves and is asked to stand behind the animal and strike a pose for the picture. No hugging was attempted with the animal is constantly fed apples and ignores what goes on.

Crickets are both populars snacks as sought after for their cosy tsjirping.

This is mot the place for theorising, but could the masks and make up used in Chinese opera's be inspired by the wonderful colours of the faces of monkeys, like this one on Emei Shan?

We'd like to urge the readers of this blog to bring strong insect repellants when travelling to the south of China. Here you see the back of one of the members of the Baskadiyarlar-team after he just fell onto the bed one night without bothering to cover his body with a solid coating of Deet. Whe don't know the name of the bionic mosquitos who did this, but they mean business.

Mardin

2008-06-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

Mesopotamia Valley view - Mezopotamya Vadisi ayaklarinizin altinda
Zinciriye Madrasah - Zinciriye Medresesi

Aunt Nasra is the only person who makes curtains and table cloths with an old Syrian painting method. You should visit this lovely master for seeing her unique works which tell well known religious stories in a very naive way.

Nasra teyze Mardin'de Suryani baski teknigiyle perdeler, masa ortuleri yapan tek isim.
Dini hikayeleri naif bir yontemle ortulere aktaran bu guzel ustayi mutlaka ziyaret etmelisiniz.
Deyrul Zaferan monastery is one of the most important examples of Syriac Orthodox Church architecture. It aqcuired the name in the 15 th-century named as the growing of saffron became more widespread in the area. Here you can see original manuscripts written in ancient Aramaic language.

15 yy.dan sonra etrafinda yetisen safranlardan dolayi Deyrul Zafaran (Safran) adi ile anilan manastir , Suryani Kilisesinin en onemli orneklerinden biri. Burda Arami dilinde yazilmis dua kitaplarini da gorebilirsiniz.

Mardin general view - genel gorunum
In 2007 March I went to Mardin with my friend Duygu. It's small and very cosy .
The city has gained its importance by being the center of different religions and cultures, because of the historical past and geographical position and because of the people you see, who seem very gentle and friendly.

We stayed there for 4 days with a feeling like being at home or knowing everything about them already.

The city is like an open museum with traces of Sumerian, Babylonian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Persian, Byzantine, Selcuid and Ottoman influences. Mardin is also famous for its special silver ware, '' telkari''.

The first things that I remember are ; chatting with the salesman in the "Brons Makers Bazaar" while we drink 'mirra' (the bitter coffie of South Eastern Turkey) , being invited to an historical house and drinking tea , discovering the city while passing the tunnels which are called ''abbara'' and eating delicious local tapas in Cercis Murat House.

I hope I can return soon.

2007 Mart ayinda arkadasim Duygu ile Mardin`i ziyaret ettik. Hemen icinizi isitan minicik bir sehir Mardin. Farkli dinden ve kulturden insanlari bulusturmasi, kentin tarihi yapisi ve jeolojik konumu, rastladiginiz her insanin birbirinden daha guzel olmasi Mardin`i buyulu bir sehir haline getiriyor.

Sehre ayak bastigimiz ilk andan itibaren pesimizi birakmayan bir tanidiklik duygusu ve evde olma hissi ile 4 gunumuzu gecirdik Mardin`de.

M.O 4500' den itibaren yerlesim olan sehir, Sumer, Akad, Hitit, Asur, Pers, Bizans, Selcuklu, Artuklu ve Osmanli donemine ait izleri harmanlamis bir acik muze. Telkari adi verilen gumus isciligi ise Mardin`de en guzel orneklerini sunuyor.
Bakircilar carsisinda mirra icip esnafla sohbet etmek , sansli iseniz bir Artuklu evine davet edilip cay icmek , abbara adi verilen tunellerden gecerek sehri gezmek, Cercis Murat Konagindaki harika mezelerden tatmak aklima gelen ilk guzellikler.

Umarim en kisa zamanda tekrar yolum duser Mardin'e.

Highgate Cemetery

2008-05-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

when burial conditions in London became a problem in the early 19th Century, Parliament authorised the creation of seven private Cemeteries inner London. Highgate was opened in 1839 (the West Cemetery) and extended in 1854 (the East Cemetery) .

Highgate Cemetery is one of the best known 'garden cemeteries' of the Victorian era.

The most popular monument in the cemetery. Original burial place of Karl Marx.

19. yy baslarinda Londra'da mezarlik problemi yasaninca, hukumet 7 ozel mezarlik alani belirlemis. Bunlardan biri olan Highgate'in bati kanadi 1839'da, dogu kanadi ise 1854'te acilmis.

Bugun ufak bir ucret karsiligi ziyarete acik olan mezarlik, Viktoria donemini yansitan ve Karl Marx gibi unlu isimlerin de yattigi bir anit muze sanki.

Delft

2008-03-25T01:32:00.000-07:00

Tarihi 1075 yilina kadar uzanan kentin buyuk kismi 1645'te tophanedeki patlama ile yok olmus.
Kasabanin merkezi 17. yy'da yeniden insa edilmis ve o gunden bu yana neredeyse ayni hali korunmus.

Stedelijk Museum'da bir cok onemli tablonun yani sira 1584'te Willem van Oranje'nin katledildigi yerdeki kursun delikleri gorulebiliniyor.
Vleeshal, eski et pazari. Binanin on cephesindeki hayvan baslari binanin ne amacla kullanildigi hakkinda bilgi veriyor.

Nieuwe Kerk'in bulundugu meydanda cesitli etkinliklere katilmak mumkun. :)
1383-1510 yillari arasinda yapilmis kilisenin buyuk bolumu patlama ve yanginin ardindan yenilenmis. Yillar suren eklemeler 1872'de 100 m. yuksekligindeki kulenin eklenmesi ile sona ermis. Hollanda kraliyet ailesinin lahitleri kilisenin mezar odasinda bulunuyor. Ancak biz gittigimizde kilise kapali oldugu icin iceriyi gorme sansimiz olmadi.

Oude Kerk (Eski Kilise) 13. yy'dan kalma ancak ayni sekilde cok sayida ekleme yapilmis. Kilise'de unlu Delft'lilerin mezari bulunuyor.

Merkez istasyon ve etrafindaki bisiklet parki
Delft cafeleri, evleri, kilise ve muzeleriyle tum gununuzu keyifle gecireceginiz sirin bir kent.
Delft, mavi beyaz seramikleriyle de unlu. Sehirde seramik uretimini surduren De Fles'e rehber esliginde turlar duzenleniyor.

Capital of Marokko

2008-03-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

Rabat, Fas'in baskenti. Genis ve duzenli sokaklar boyunca yine Fransiz mimarisi ile karsilasiyorsunuz. Son 2 gunumuzu bu kentte gecirdik. Ancak hava yagmurlu ve firtinaliydi.
Kasbah'a girdigimizde romanlardaki gibi ''kulaklari sagir eden ruzgarin sesi'' ile yuruyuse devam ettik. Ancak deniz kiyisini gordugumuz alanda ruzgar muthis kuvvetli idi. Neyseki havaya ucmadan donmeyi basardik.

Rabatta uzunca bir carsi caddesi ve genis pazar alani var. Yine kentin eski kismi Medina'da. Burdaki saticilar diger sehirlerdekinin aksine hic pazarlik yapmiyorlar. Fiyatlar ise diger sehirlerden daha uygun.

Sehirde kucuk ama etkileyici bir Arkeoloji muzesi var, mutlaka gorulmeli.

Amsterdam

2008-03-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

St. Nicholas Kilisesi
17.yy evlerinden detay. Evde kimlerin yasadigini ve ne isle mesgul olduklarini anlatan tabletler.
Dam Kraliyet Sarayi
Damrak, sehrin en neseli ve kalabalik caddesi. Etraftaki kirmizi fener sokaklari, restaurantlar, barlar, turistik esya dukkanlari ve Central Station bu sokagi her daim dolu tutuyor.

Merkez Kutuphane (terasta kahve icmenin keyfine doyum olmuyor)

2007 Temmuzunda Amsterdam'a geldim. Nasil olsa hep elimin altinda diye bir turlu fotograflari yukleyemedim. Kismet buguneymis seklinde.

Bu guzel sevimli sehir, 17. yy'dan kalma evleri ve sehri sarmalayan kanallariyla bir cocuk masalini andiriyor. Sokaklarda yurumek, muzeleri gezmek, parkta oturup kahvemi yudumlamak, bisiklete atlayip Amsterdamse Bos'ta turlamak ve daha sayamayacagim bir yigin sey beni muthis mutlu ediyor. Iste sehirden goruntuler.

La Sagrada Familia

2008-03-04T03:02:00.000-08:00

I guess you either like Gaudi or you don't, there's not much room in between those two options. Ofcourse he created some quintessential landmarks that considerably contribute to the city scape of Barcelona, but spending too much time in and around them makes me kind of seasick. It's interesting to read about his method of designing and to see from what organic material he got his shapes, but what eventually evolved from all this, strikes me as nervous to the degree of hysteria, highly emotional manierism which always pleased the Spanish, but not at all to me.
Buildings like La Pedrera and casa Batllo never fail to remind me of the work of the Dutch artist Anton Pieck and the famous creation, the amusement park de Efteling.

His most in-ignorable structure is la Sagrada Familia, on which he started working in 1884 and which is still unfinished today. Ofcourse, the architect died before he could finish it, there was a war, crises and poverty, but even for the mediaeval peoples it took less time to finish a huge cathedrals, without all the technical advantages Gaudi had over them, and his succesors have to an even higher degree. When the Barcelonese want to espress that something is a story without an end, they say "it's like a sagrada familia".

Looking at the eastern facade of the structure, one might wish that Gaudi would have finished the whole thing before he died, because the sculptures of Josep Maria Subirachs seem to have been done in a sort of sinsiter Cubism style very much outdated already when completed in 1980. Apart from that, it is out of tune with the part Gaudi put down and furnished with sculptures and decorations all done in natural Montjuich stone, which have acquired the 'patinage' of time, making everythink look more attractive. On that other side a lot of concrete has been used, and of course those funny sculptures. But maybe I'm overlooking something here, and maybe there's somebody among you who can make me see the light.

La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi'nin en taninmis eserlerinden biri. Ama hala bitmemis durumda, 10 yil oncesinden hatirladigim kadariyla pek gelisme kaydedilmemis. Neden oldugunu anlamadik. Halk artik bitmeyen bi is olunca "Sagrada Familia'ya benzedi" diyormus.

Binayi gezerken The Alan Parsons Project'in Gaudi adli cd'sini de dinleminizi oneririm.

Basilica De La Merce - Basilica del Sants Just Pastor- Barri Gotic

2008-03-04T02:00:00.000-08:00

Voor wie van Gotiek houdt, valt er in Barcelona veel te genieten. Talloze kubieke meters lucht zijn omhuld met door hoge pilaren geschraagde, rijk bewerkte muren, gebrandschilderde ramen en plafonds. In de Barrio Gotic zijn er veel kleine, intieme parochiekerken waar men even afstand kan nemen van de hectiek van de stad en zijn funshoppende hordes en waar men een een kaarsje kan opsteken voor tante Jopie en haar dwarslesie.

Alleen in Spanje ziet u de madonna's die er zichtbaar echt helemaal kapot van zijn.

Veel religieuze gebouwen hebben ernstig geleden tijdens de Burgeroorlog.

"He Jordi, die hond van jou is weer aan de wandel".

Basilica de la Merce Barok tarzinda, 1765-1775 yillari arasinda yapilmis kucuk bir kilise.
Basilica Sants Just I Pastor, 14-15. yy 'da etraftaki diger Gotik binalarla beraber yapildigi tahmin ediliyor. Oldukca sade bir kilise, iceride klasik muzik caliniyor. Kilise kucuk bir avluya aciliyor, burada La Rambla'nin kalabaligindan uzaklasip sakince kahvenizi icebilirsiniz. Fotograftaki kopek de bu avluda sakince dolasmayi secenlerden.

En ustte gordugunuz ic mekan kilise goruntuleri Barri Gotic'deki ana Katedral Saint Eulalia'dan.
Katedralin disinda resterasyon oldugu icin fotografini cekemedik. Bu muazzam katedral'in yapimina 1298'de Aragon krali James II doneminde baslanmis ve 1448'e kadar yapimi devam etmis.

In Barcelona's Streets

2008-03-04T01:03:00.000-08:00

Palau de la Musica Catalana

La Rambla'dan salinarak denize dogru yururken sagda Plaza Reial bulunuyor, bu genis, palmiyelerle cevrili meydana gunun her saati gelip , bir seyler icip, etrafi segredebilirsiniz.

Plaza Reial, Daniel Molina tarafindan planlanip, insa edilmis. Merkat de La Boqueria etrafindaki evler de onun eseri. Sokak lambalari ise Antoni Gaudi'nin ilk calismalarindan.

La Rambla

2008-03-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

26 Subat aksami Barcelona'ya uctuk. Bu guzel sehir 10 yil onceki oldugu gibi beni tekrar buyuledi. Gorkemli binalar, genis caddeler, buyuk meydanlar, alabildigine genislik duygusu , tabii ki Gaudi ve La Rambla.

La Rambla bizim Istiklal caddesi gibi civil civil , neseli bir cadde. Sokak boyunca degisik performanslar gormek yuruyuse zevk katiyor. Caddenin bitiminde Marina'ya ulasiliyor. Buradan Barcelonata'ya gecip civari kesfetmek ve kumsal boyunca deniz havasi solumak oldukca keyifli.
Diger ucta Plaza Catalunya'da ise El Corte Ingles'in en ust katinda kahve icip sehri tepeden segretmek iyi bir alternatif.

Ilk gun cadde uzerindeki Palau De La Virreina'da Cinli fotografcilarin sergisini gezdik, sonraki aksam yine cadde uzerindeki Gran Teatre del Liceu'da Richard Strauss'un "Elektra" operasini izledik. 6 balkonlu bu buyuk salon oldukca goz kamastirici idi. Yalniz ust yazilar katalanca oldugu icin, opera oncesi bilgi edinmenizi tavsiye ederim.

Would you like to buy some fruit salad?

2008-03-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

Ispanyol erkekleri alis veriste. Dostlar alis veriste gorsun o halde.
Otelimiz Hostal La Palmira , bu marketin hemen arkasinda yani La Rambla'ya 1 dakika mesafede idi. Oldukca basit ama temiz odalari ve cok kibar sahipleri var. Az da olsa ispanyolca bilmeniz burda isinize yarayabilir.

Market piril piril, meyveler, sebzeler taze taze kokuyorlar. Eger tatil icin ev kiralarsaniz buradan alis veris boynunuzun borcu.

Ama biraz daha ucuz ve az turistik markete gideyim derseniz, Barcelonata'da Merkat Barcelonata'ya gideceksiniz. Biz buradan zeytin yagi, jamon ve turron aldik. Daha sonra zeytinyagi olayini abartip her gordugumuz yerden bi sise alarak yillik stogumuzu yaptik.

City of Gaudi

2008-03-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

Casa Mila 1905-1910 yillari arasinda Gaudi'nin yaptigi en iyi ve en tamamlanmis ornek olarak biliniyor. Kendisi bu harika yapi icin "koseler kaybolacak, yapi kendisini comertce, icerdigi uzaysal yuvarliklarla ortaya koyacak, gunes dort bir yana isleyecek ve cennetin bir yansimasi olacak .. ve benim sarayim isiktan daha parlak olacak " demis. Dedigini de yapmis.

Terasa ciktiginizda Gaudi'nin imgeleminden ve fantazi dunyasindan orneklerle karsilasiyorsunuz. Buradaki soyut bacalar bana uzayli askerleri cagristirdi.

Dorduncu katta ise 20 yy. baslarinda orda yasamis olan ailenin esyalari ve evdeki isik dolu genis odalar gorulebiliniyor.

Marrakesh

2008-02-17T07:31:00.000-08:00

Helaas worden de ezeltjes en masse ingeruild voor Mobylettes, die tot in de nauwste stegen doordringen en daar hun stank en herrie verspreiden. Al is het ook niet altijd even prettig om te zien hoe de ezeltjes worden behandeld. Vooruitgang heeft z'n prijs.

Op het Djema el Fna doen de slangen hun best om er een gezellig swingende boel van te maken.

Man's best friend.

Ook met schorpioenen kun je een leuke act voor het hele gezin maken. Helaas: no pictures please.

Na alle enge dieren en acrobatiek kan er worden gebarbecued.

Essaouira

2008-01-31T06:03:00.000-08:00

Essaouira is a beautiful port town. It was one of the ports from which the Moorish pirates attacked the European merchant fleets on their return from the East Indies. Nowadays it's a lively fishing port with a wonderful medina which is closed to cars, thus preserving the traditional atmosphere, which is lively enough without motorised traffic. Though hugely popular with tourists which come there in great numbers, daily activities of the inhabitants dictate the scenery. It is great to sit on a square in the sun ( even in the end of December 18-20 C) and watch the multitudes strolling by in their colourful diversitude.
Inside the medina there are many wonderful pensions and hotels. The ones called "dar" are centred around a cosy courtyard where one can sit next to the fountain with a cup of tea.

Casablanca

2008-01-16T06:31:00.001-08:00

Casablanca is a modern city with the wide streets and modern buildings. Old French buildings are still very impressive. Altough the main attraction is huge Hasan II Mosque,

strolling around the Old Medina is more appealing.

People generally talks in Arabic and French perfectly. In most of the shops they speak also English and sometimes Spanish. But you can communicate just with body language sometimes.

City of Temples and Angkor

2008-01-16T04:17:00.000-08:00

Gedurende de 10e tot en met de 13e Eeuw maakte Angkor Een periode van grote bloei door. Er werden vele paleizen en tempels gebouwd door de heersers die hun naam blijvend wilden vestigen door middel van het bouwen van de deze enorme projecten. Na een reeks desastreus verlopen oorlogen, wordt de stad in 1430 verlaten. Pas in 1860 werd het complex ontdekt door de franse ontdekkingsreiziger Henri Mouhot en in 1907 begonnen de fransen met restauratiewerkzaamheden, die tot op de dag van vandaag voortgaan. Waardoor inderdaad duizenden mensen van overal ter wereld hun tongen breken over de namen van de vorsten van vele honderden jaren geleden.

Als de touristen even weg zijn, is het mogelijk om even het "kuifje-gevoel" te ervaren.

Wat we hier zien is nog maar klein bier vergeleken met de plannen die de Rode Khmer had met de tempels van Angkor Vat... Gelukkig zijn ze niet lang genoeg aan de macht geweest om hun plannen te verwezenlijken.

Tapinaklar cenneti, 12. yy dunyanin en buyuk ibadet kompleksi olarak gecen buyulu bir yer.
Gezinin en etkileyici ve inanilmaz anlari Angkor' da gecirdigimiz saatlerdi. Anlatmak ise yaramayacagindan, herkese gidip gormesini tavsiye ediyorum.

A boat trip between Phnom Penh and Siem Riep

2007-11-25T04:12:00.000-08:00

It takes six hours to reach Siem Riep by speed boat. It.s possible to sit on the roof of the boat and read your book and get some ten.
These are the people who lives on the river or near the river.

Phnom Penh'den Siem Riep'e hizli botla gitmek 6 saat aliyor. Catida oturup, guneslenerek kitap okumak mumkun.
Yol boyunca nehir kenarindaki yasamlari izlemek ve yuzen evleri gormek de cabasi.

Killing Fields

2007-10-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

Though fellow marxist dictators Stalin and Mao killed more people in absolute numbers, Pol Pot takes the cake in when it comes to pushing the principles of communism to the outer limits and killing more people in relative numbers in the process.
Within weeks after taking control of Cambodia (or Democratic Kampuchea as it was called by the Khmer Rouge regime and their left wing fans in the West) in 1975, most of the city population was deported to the countryside. Cities were considered decadent by the KR and so were city dwellers, who were therafter subjected to slave labour in the countryside. Everybody was to wear the same black payama's. Absence of all mod cons like clocks, electric light, radio's, the abolishment of education and money supposedly would help to realise the ultimate communist utopia.
During the 4 years the KR were in charge, they murdered 2 million cambodians. Their victims were initially anybody remotely intellectual (wearing glasses, speaking a foreign language), most Vietnamese and members of other minorities, lateron the killing became more random, until the Vietnamese invasion brought this nightmare to a halt in 1979. Pol Pot and some 200.000 followers fled to Thailand. To this day, small pockets of Khmer Rouge still exist in remote places in the jungle.

Due to this sad history, two of the main attractions of Phnom Penh are the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide and the Choeung Ek Killing Fields just outside of the city limits.
Tuol Sleng used to be a school before The Khmer Rouge turned it into the infamous S-21 prison. Between 1975 and 1979 over a 17.000 were held in detention here, usually for a short period. After they were interrogated and photographed, most of them were taken to Choeung Ek and clubbed to death.

In the museum a documentary film about the life in those years is shown every morning at 10 o'clock. Survivors, both inmates and jailors relate about those horrible times. After that one can visit the complex, with or without a guide and wander through the class rooms clumsily turned into interrogation room and cells. Together with the exhibition of pictures of the inmates during the most awful moments of their life, it's a sadding experience.

Killing Fields like the one at Choeung Ek are found all over the country. It's rewarding to hire a guide. There's hardly any Cambodian around who doesn't have stories to tell about what happened to their family and country. Their experiences which will help you to see some more depth to this place, which is basically a series of holes in the ground filled with water and fragments of human remains. Most of the bones and skulls are collected and put in a huge, glass shrine on the site of the fields.

Peter

1975-1979 yillari arasinda Pol Pot rejimi sirasinda 2 milyon insanin katledildigi Kambocya, hala yaralarini tam sarabilmis degil. Halk oldukca fakir, turizm en onemli gelir kaynaklari. Karsilastigimiz herkesin mutlaka bir yakini katliamda oldurulmus. Hitler'den sonra dunyanin yasadigi en buyuk katliam Khmer Rouge tarafindan gerceklestirilmis. Pol Pot kendi irkindan okuma yazma bilen herkesi, gozluk takanlari bile acimadan yok eden mantiksal sinirlarin cok otesinde bir diktator.

Tuol Sleng'de her sabah saat 10'da o gunlere ait bir belgesel gosterimi var.
Burasi eskiden okul iken Pol Pot doneminde hucrelere ayirilarak, iskence odalari ve hapishane olarak kullanilmis.
Killing Fields, ulkenin her yerine dagilmis olan ceset tarlalarindan sadece biri. Burda olenlerin anisina bir mozale yapilmis. Bugun bile yururken yagmurla yuzeye cikan kemiklere rastlayabiliyorsunuz.

Ozden.

Cambodia- Phnom Penh

2007-10-20T03:25:00.000-07:00

When I first visited Phnom Penh in 1999, streets were dominated by cyclo's and mopeds, the few cars one saw were big 4X4 driven by merry youngsters of NGO's. Only the big avenues had tarmac and most streets were dirt roads that would turn into mud pools during the monsoon rains. Most apartment buildings were rundown to some degree and so were the temples and public buildings. Most tourist coming to Cambodia ony came for Angkor and didn't dare to see other sights in the country like Phnom Penh. The city had a certain reputation as a place where anything was possible and laws were few and open to negotiation. This was the city of the "happy pizza" (pizza with a seasoning of marijuana), the shooting ranges where one could fire anything from a Browning 9mm to the 50 calibre machine gun and if that was not completely satisfying, one could even fire an RPG at a cow. Prostitution was rife and so was unemployment. Most males seemed to be occupied in the cyclo business or some kind of hustling scheme related to prostitution or drugs. All this together made this city attract many sinister characters.
Today, most of these things still exist, but they no longer seem to be the 'major industries'. Most buildings have had a paint job and the streets are bustling with 'normal' commercial activities. The down side of this is that the amount of mopeds and cars spoil the former peace and quiet.
Peter.

Laos'tan sonra Phnom Pen bana oldukca kalabalik ve hareketli geldi. Ama o gunun aksamina dogru sehir hayatina tekrar adapte olmustum. Parkta ziplayan maymunlar, tapinakta calinan muzikler, carsi ve ara sokaklar hemen bizi icine cekiverdi.
Ayrica restaurant ve barlar gercekten ozledigimiz gibiydi. Uzun bi aradan sonra pizza yiyerek bu durumu degerlendirdik.

Ozden.