Because of the rising water levels in the North, the dike authorities had switched on the old steam engine dike pumps in Lemmer. More than 90 years old, this steam engine is capable of pumping two Olympic swimming pools per minute. I decided to go take a look, but I was not the only one: hundreds of visitors showed up, and one hour queue to enter the building. I am allergic to queues so I left. Made a picture of a tree in my garden.
Today was demonstration day. It started as a demonstration by bus- and tramdrivers against government cost cutting plans.
But then Occupy showed up as well. And people from the Palestine Committee. A PVV-guy with a solo-demonstration, and someone with a bike and a message. All very relaxed and unorganized.
[Disable Flash Gallery]Oświęcim is very different from Sobibor. Whereas Sobibor is just a monument with a small info center, Oświęcim (Auschwitz) has been transformed into a multi-media machine with over a million visitors per year. It is called a museum, but there is very little factual information in this museum, and the guide (a three-hour tour!) keeps repeating the stereotypes of the bad Germans and the poor Jews. Many pictures of mothers with small children, but no mention of the Wannsee-conference. Let’s keep it simple.
If you are 12 you don’t care, you can play with your plastic raincoat.
One sign points to i-tourist, 50 m.
I thought i-tourists stay home.
This is the Museumplein in the center of Amsterdam, 15th May 2011, and we were celebrating the Dutch football championship title for Ajax. No less than 100.000 visitors on a 200 by 120 meters plot, that is four per square meter. All incited, singing, shouting, many drunk, police helicopters overhead. It is a disaster waiting to happen. I was right in the middle with my son and it felt very uncomfortable.
The mayor gave a speech and I guess that, while speeching and overlooking this insane boiling sea of people, he decided that he would not do it again. The city of Amsterdam has now decided to stop these mass events.
Underground bike parking in Almere. We have free guarded parkings, all over the city center, and as a result usually I take my bike when I go there. I like the cable stuff mounted to the ceiling.
