Brussels at dawn. History and architecture wake up and say hello to the Sun.
The colours that populate the lens makes the eye squint. Three quarters in delight. And the balance at how little the lens can capture.
So I click a picture and switch off the equipment. Switching on the eyes and becoming present to the splendour of the morning.
#Brussels #sunrise #EU #Europe #travel #traveldiaries #nature #history #architecture #sunrise #
What gives character to a city beyond its buildings is what happens on its pavements.
It is always a sight to SEE conversation. HEAR exchanges of glances and smell Coffee. OK, beer in this case.
Imagine a character rich pavement complemented by a colourful history as a backdrop.
Just jaw dropping awesome.
A cafe with the St.Michael and St.Gudula cathedral as a backdrop in the heart of #Brussels .
Whatay setting.
#Travel #Traveldiaries #Belgium #Brussels #europe #city #character #history #cafe #coffee #beer #EU
The city is called Bruges. It is a photographers delight. Soothes a wandering soul so used to random concrete edifices masquerading as architecture by telling a story that there after all is a different way to live life.
It has everything that makes it complete.Canals. Churches. Buildings that reeks history and a surfeit of trees and horse drawn carriages!
It is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North. This is a must visit place.
To complement it all, in the evening as we were leaving the Sun emerged. Soaking the buildings up with a rich tapestry that is rare.
#Bruges #Belgium #Travel #traveldiaries #EU #Europe #photography #beauty #History #Horses #architecture #friends
A travesty?
No. Something stronger than that. Quick, am searching for a simple word that conveys with consummate ease. Could you help ne?
A word to hold the following thought string : “to travel all the way to a place and not indulge in what the place offers’. I have been thinking of it for a while.
Then comes this Belgian chocolate. The awesome friends we are with in Belgium, indulge my little miss with.
After tasting it, taking in a portion of it and rolling my eyes in sweet joy, I found the word.
SIN.
#chocolate #Belgianchocolate #sin #Belgium #food #culture #tradition #Europe #daughterdiaries #daughter #sweettooth #chocoholic #travel #traveldiaries
There are many parts of a culture that you become instantly present to when you notice how apart from your own they are.. One such is the culture of cycling that is so present in Amsterdam and other parts of the Europe. It’s obvious that a combination of different things that has come together to make it possible : a tradition. A mindset. Investments. Laws. Infrastructure. Etc et!
I haven’t been more taken as when I get to see babies clinging on to their seats, securely strapped and safely saddled. With love, care and a bit of a frenzy that their mom’s legs kick up as they pedal away.
Completely oblivious to this stranger standing in awe.
#Cycling #bikes #biking #daughterdiaries #culture #Brussels #amsterdamcity #Amsterdam #EU #Mothers #Children #cycle #Health #Travel #traveldiaries
It’s called the ‘Grand Place’, sitting pretty at the heart of Brussels. There is abundance of history to it, and its seen its share of bombs, bruising and resurrection!
Tonight, it glitters with ease as tourists click their selfies and wield powerful lenses to capture it’s majestic arc. This has been a place of trade. Now it is of the ‘touristy’ trade!
Of course, it has some awesome credentials to it. Like it being a UNESCO Heritage site and being voted as the ‘best square in Europe’ in 2010 beating Red Square of Moscow and Place Stanislaus, Nancy, France.
There us something to it. It exudes an air of quite charm. An air that seems to be happy with the way it is and let’s you be the way you are. That is a precious beauty in our time
#GrandPlace #Brussels #Travel #traveldiaries #Europe #Belgium #EU #History #art #architecture #culture #war #square #market
It’s a city that has history. Several centuries of it. A large port and a swarming population that is full of energy and style.
Yet, all that the train station has is a set of straight lines and a random invitation thrown to a play with light and shadow.
Say hello to Rotterdam.
#Rotterdam #Europe #EU #Train #Holland #Travel #traveldiaries
There is a certain order to things in Europe. If there is one way for something to be, then there was no other way for it to be.
There is a reasonable predictability to the immediate future. The roads are at right angles. People stop to give way.
Cyclists pedal in seeming unison staying in tracks allotted to them. Canals seem to hold still to give picture perfect photograph on the most amateur photographers camera.
Everything seems to have a place and falls exactly in that place. Even the trees seem to shed it’s leaves with an arty rhythm.
#Amsterdam #Amsterdamcity #EU #Europe #order #culture #autumn #nature #travel #traveldiaries
Sadness envelopes me, in #amsterdam when I let another pristine setting pass without capturing it on camera.
That’s what happens when every nook and other corner proffers a sight to behold. One more opportunity to stand stare and linger longer. In an empty yet full sort of a way! In a simple yet rich weave.
And of course, nooks and corners are everywhere!
#Amsterdam #amsterdamcity #Travel #traveldiaries #Nature #beauty #Europe #EU
A train station in #Amsterdam. It has white poles that stay white. Tracks that are devoid of grime.
There was quote a crowd but that somehow didn’t fret into a frenzied chaos when the train arrived. And trains. Ah, trains that arrived on time.
Speaking of time, time stands still. Stiff still, amidst the rolling cyclists and remarkable people!
It is a city that beckons you again. Every time you know it’s time to discover another city
#Travel #Amsterdam #Amsterdamcity #train #metro #culture #traveldiaries