Amsterdam in Color

 

Week 2 is in the books as they say and it was Amsterdam in Color! The weather was…well…kinda horrible.  Unseasonably warm but not without very grey skies and an abundance of wind! So much wind, in fact, it made it hard to take pictures this week! Camera blur from being blown over by wind is not attractive.

So here we go from a few cloud breaks, semi wind protected canals, and a lovely Christmas morning in the park being grateful for “wildlife.”

I had a few errands to run over near Museumplein so I had a little photo fun on one of our sunnier days.

Festive candles from Riviera Maison to bring a little Christmas cheer to the apartment

Buskers entertaining the crowds on the green

Shaping up with my camera

On Christmas eve I did a little shopping on De 9 Straatjes, enjoying the views along the canals, and after sunset caught some of the holiday lights at the flagship De Bijenkorf department store on Dam Square.

I love a good out of focus sparkle

That is some festive Amsterdam in color! I was quite excited to find that one of my most favorite places in Amsterdam the Beginjhof, and also location of the English Reformed Church, had a Christmas Eve service in English. Score for the non-Dutch speaker! It was quite magical to have Christmas Eve in this special location with the moon glowing brightly above us as we all waited anxiously to enter.

iPhone photos don’t do it justice! But, it was dark and very crowded and my mind wasn’t on taking the perfect photo. 🙂

Christmas Day! Quiet and relaxing with some morning sun that I took full advantage of and headed over to Oosterpark for some time with nature and some exercise.  I mean, I haven’t been moving much…have I?

The park is full of interesting birds and art. I loved these faces on the bridge I crossed to enter the park. The red and green made for fun Christmas Amsterdam in color. Once across the bridge I was immediately greeted by these true Christmas morning movers doing their Tai Chi. Inspiring! They weren’t moving very fast, but they seemed to be faster than me on this lazy morning.

Moving on to birds aplenty! This park is full of them!  I’m not a bird fan most days, but today was different. It felt like a beautiful stocking full of God’s creatures.

WHAT IS THIS??? Amazing!  Beautiful! Mysterious! I LOVE the colors and the dramatic eye shading.

Oh heron! How I love you!! I spent a very long time hanging out here and slowly getting closer and closer. All the while talking and promising I would not do any harm. I love the way the coloring turned out. The blues and browns and textures.  And, those feathers! DIVINE!  Thank you my friend!

Oosterpark has quite a few sculptures. I loved the way the arms were seemingly open to receive. I felt very similar on this Christmas day far from home, but yet not…

As I was leaving the park, one of the trees gave me “the eye”…yep….

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and I made some art with new pastels I bought at Van Beek art supply store in the Jordaan. I picked red, gold, white and turquoise and this is what happened.

If you turn if vertical it rather looks like a blue heron, no? Art! Amsterdam in Color!!

Boxing Day was another windy day here in Amsterdam. I ventured over to the Jordaan to see if I could get some good boat shots and canal house reflections. Both hard to do in windy weather. Reflections were impossible. Boats were a little easier.

You know how I love my boat abstracts! Color…shape…water…texture…What’s not to LOVE?? Amsterdam in color of boats.

After walking the canals and playing boat paparazzi I stopped for some hot chocolate. Enjoyed on the roof deck of a house boat.

You now…just another afternoon in Amsterdam.

Before the sun started to set, there were a few other fun sightings around the Jordaan.

Bike and Doodle wall

OK…hairless cats (multiple) in a window…and they have their own social media presence and live cat cam. I don’t follow them…I’m pretty sure he wanted to eat me alive…The stuff nightmares are made of! I’m sorry…but those EYES!  AAAAHHHH!!!!

I always love finding a hidden “alley”, especially when they are THIS colorful!

The iconic bike chain and lock never looked so pretty

This guy! LOVE!! Pretty sure he’s scared of the hairless cat too!

Oh Amsterdam, your canals win my heart

My first sunset color! Finally, Amsterdam in color at sunset!

And somewhere in there I made it to the Noordermrkt…

Helloooooo beautiful!!

OK…that’s it!  Week 2.  A little light, a little Amsterdam in color, a little creature feature. Time for me to shut down and get ready for Week 3! The forecast calls for sun and that means I’m DAYTRIPPING! Can’t wait to show you my destinations on next week’s blog!  Until then, we’ll have our #LoveLettersToAmsterdam fun!

Color on!

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