A Week at a Time: Jan 22-28, 2011

This week started out pretty cloudy, but in the second half we were blessed with beautiful blue skies. The first picture depicts a sight I saw during our visit to The Hague. I thought this shot captured the uniqueness of Dutch bicycle culture perfectly: the disregard for the possibility of injury and the idea that for young and old, alike, bicycles are a main form of transportation. (The cyclist appeared to be a grandfather who was letting his grandson ride standing up on the bike behind him.)

Jan 22 - Dutch Bicycle Antics (The Hague)

On Sunday, Mr. Traveler and I decided we needed to get out of the house (despite the cold and cloudy weather), so we headed off to find coffee. I guess several other people had the same idea, because when we got to the coffee house, all the seats were taken. I took this somewhat uninspired and gloomy picture while we were out.

Jan 23 - Clouds and the Canal

Monday, the clouds persisted and by this time I was getting pretty tired of the gloomy weather. I thought a trip to the gym might make me feel better. On the way, this familiar building made me wonder whether the Dutch purposely incorporate color in their architecture to compensate for the gray skies.

Jan 24 - A Splash of Color in the Midst of Gray

Finally, on Tuesday, the clouds broke and we saw bright blue skies. This definitely improved my mood and energy level and I decided to check out some local shops and the Aboriginal art museum. Ironically, my picture for the day was taken inside of one of the shops. The picture should look familiar since it has already been featured in its unedited form  in a previous blog entry.

Jan 25 - Junk

Wednesday brought a mixture of sunny skies and clouds, but since I had another flat tire (embedded with glass), my only trip of the day was to drop off my bike at the shop. I saw this vehicle on the way back.

Jan 26 - Gatormobile

On Thursday, I decided to take advantage of the trip to pick up my bike, and rode it to the center of town to do a little shopping. I didn't buy much, but enjoyed checking out some different shops. I took this picture from the shopping area. By this point, I was definitely feeling lucky because it was sunny once again!

Jan 27 - Domtoren from the Oudegracht

Finally, on Friday, we once again had some blue skies, but I didn't make it out to take any pictures until the sun was setting. Mr. Traveler graciously volunteered to be the secondary subject in this last picture for the week.

Jan 28 - Roots