Our Enchanted Blue Forest

Every April, some of my bicycle photos feature a background of what appears to be a carpet ofblueflowers. Readers ask all the time what those flowers are and where I managed to find an entire field of them. Funny, until about 4 years ago I do not remember seeing many of these around myself. Then one spring - my first spring of cycling - I was riding around the neighbourhood and discovered a patch of them on a lawn. It caught my eye, because the shade of blue seemed unnaturally over-saturated. From a distance it looked like someone had spilled cerulean paint on the grass! Later I spotted another small patch of the same flowers in a nearby park, and again marveled at the effect. I meant to investigate further, but a week later the flowers were gone.I did not think of them again, until the following April, when they reappeared in much larger quantities. Now the lawn where I had spotted the first patch was covered with them completely. The ones in the park had spread over a wider area as well.






When I stopped to examine the flowers closely, I saw that individually they were not remarkable or even especially pretty. Scraggly tiny things with long, misshapen, sharply pointed petals. It was hard to find one photogenic enough to photograph on its own, and large enough to capture without a macro lens.






Their beauty came from growing in clusters. When they cover a patch of soil, all those tiny blooms merge into a quivering sea of blues and greens of incredible intensity. The larger the area they spread across, the more mesmerising and overwhelming their effect.






By the third year, they'd spread further still - spilling over to multiple lawns all over the neighbourhood, and transforming the small fenced-in park near my house. Finally I learned what the flowers are. Rather unromantically, they are called wood squills. Also known as Siberian squill, orScilla siberica - a "bulbous perennial in the family Asparagaceae." The flowers produce blue pollen, which may explain their misty, hazy quality when observed from afar. Easy to cultivate, they spread by seed and form large colonies in early spring that bloom quickly and disappear by the time the first growth of grass is ready to be mowed.






ApparentlyScilla sibericacolonies can become invasive, and it looks like our little park has been invaded! Even this year's cold, slow spring has not stopped the squills from covering the entire stretch of the woods in cerulean carpet, turning the park - a popular pedestrian shortcut for locals - into an enchanted blue forest. Walking through here is absolutely stunning. One of those sights that makes you breathe in deeply, squint at the sun, and just feel happy to be a part of this strange, beautiful world.

A tweaked German Breakfast and looking for Hansel and Gretel

Breakfast in Germany is more exciting than in the Netherlands, well at least from a variety and aesthetics point of view. You see I am a visual person and will always be. I made the decision not to take our breakfast at the hotel because I want to taste Berlin, smell the city and devour culture along the way.

We stayed at an allegedly typically Deutsch hotel in Mitte, Berlin—Grimm’s, from the Brothers Grimm fame. They are the author of many fairy tale stories we all grew up with such as Cinderalla, Snow White, Golden Goose, Rapunzel and many more. However, sad to say, the hotel did not live up to the fairy tale theme. Our room is supposed to be the ‘Hansel and Gretel’ room but there was no trace of the witch or of the 2 kids, just a poem written on the wall.

Where are you Hansel and Gretel? Are you hiding from the witch? Don’t worry please, I am not the bad witch, lol.

So on our first morning we walked to Alexanderplatz and before reaching the square we chanced upon this charming outdoor cafe terrace, ‘Cafe Kaffeestube Restaurant’ in Nikolaiviertel (Nikolai Quarter). I could not help it, the ambience looked so inviting so I announced to the Dutchman that we will have breakfast here. The cafe restaurant is located beside the Nikolai Church on a corner street facing the main thoroughfare but cosy enough to have a bit of privacy from the busy traffic.

I think we did our best to order the typically German breakfast but interestingly they tweaked it a bit and included a slice of Brie cheese with chives. Sometimes you just have to give in to the French, nicht wahr?

This pretty Deutsch breakfast is 4 stars out of 5.

This is much better than sitting in the breakfast area of the hotel.

Moi here in the hotel. They have nice bathrooms though. And the Hansel and Gretel poem in Deutsch on the wall, the only evidence I could find that this is indeed the Hansel and Gretel room.

Left Edge Route on the Ben

Helen, Harry and I headed back up Observatory Gully to find something nice to climb, with no particular plan. We kept going higher and higher in the hope of finding something mixed in good condition, until we found ourselves standing underneath Gardyloo Buttress. Funnily enough, there was a roof up that way I wanted to look at, but it had no ice on until the lip. So we opted for something more slabby and had a chilled ascent of Left Edge Route (VI,5). The ice was a bit unreliable, and protection pretty bad, so it was a good idea to keep the weight on the feet. Thankfully, once over the steepness there was solid ice and a cruise to the top. On the way down there was talk of rock climbing..

Hallo kwartfinale!

With the win against Slovakia this afternoon, the Netherlands’ Oranje Team are on to the Quarter Finals of the Football World Cup in South Africa!

I’ve become a football fan this season and the Dutchman just can’t believe it haha. He’s not really into football but he watches the important games like the European Championship and the World Cup for example. Other than that he doesn’t really care much and wouldn’t be caught dead wearing orange and flying the Dutch flag during a football match.

There will be more orange fever and orange madness coming soon in this country, and I know for sure the supermarkets will go crazy on their orange giveaways, as well as the advertisements on TV will just get worse.

I’m a fan of Dutch advertising and marketing, they really embrace the concept of guerilla marketing, with a touch of sarcasm. Can’t wait!
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Broad-winged Hawk

As we drove home from kayaking the other day we had the distinct pleasure of an encounter with this beautiful little Broad-winged Hawk. We were driving slowly down an old logging road when we came around a corner and this hawk, who had been sitting in the road, flew up into a tree. It's not that uncommon to run across these guys while driving the back roads of northern Minnesota, but usually they fly further into the trees and you can't see them. This one landed on a branch in a tree right next to the road and sat there for a minute or two before flying away. I was able to get several nice shots of it. It was definitely a nice little bonus to our day!

Pegasus

Another sculpture at the Brookgreen Gardens and this one has the honor of being the sculpture that took the longest to create. Nine years in fact. It is worth it. And I say that knowing I wouldn't have the dedication to last nine hours on the project.





And a nature shot from the same beautiful place:

Redwood Canyon

On one of my stops at the Kings Canyon Visitors Center (in the western side, near Grant Grove), I asked the Ranger on duty if he had any favorite day hikes. He suggested Redwood Canyon saying that there was a 2-mile dirt road down to the trailhead without providing any other details besides asking if I had a large RV (and I didn't think to ask either).

So, the next morning I ventured a few miles south to the turnoff to Redwood Canyon. Once beyond the turnoff and around the first curve, there is no turning back! The narrow, steep, winding dirt road was carved out of the side of the canyon. There were several places wide enough for two cars to pass by each other but most of the 2-mile road (using the term loosely) was wide enough for just one vehicle.

I crossed my fingers and said a little prayer that I would not meet any vehicles coming up while I was going down! The dust flew up behind the rear wheels quickly covering the back windshield so that nothing could be seen from the rear. After a 25-minute harrowing drive, I made it safely to the parking lot, which was nearly full (and all of the vehicles had dust covering their rear windows).

The trailhead was easy to find. Going by what the Ranger had told me I took the trail to the right which gradually went up the ridge, through groves of “young” sequoia trees.

I have no idea what kind of pine tree the large cone belongs to but the cone is about 14 inches long. The three small cones belong to the Giant Sequoia. The medium sized cone is about the size of a chicken egg. The largest trees in the world have the smallest cones! But within those cones are hidden several hundred seeds which are released during fires – they require the heat in order to open up. Pretty amazing.

Once on top of the ridge, it was an easy walk through open meadows and pretty vistas. That's Big Baldy across the valley.

Once on top of the ridge, it was an easy walk through open meadows and pretty vistas. That's Big Baldy across the valley.

The trail (a 7 mile loop) went down into the valley via a series of long, somewhat steep, switchbacks. It followed a river for a short distance then went uphill the last two miles to the parking lot. Portions of the hike were somewhat strenuous (especially the last two miles) but it was mostly a nice, easy, pleasant walk through the forest, which I enjoyed immensely. Even though there were a lot of people visiting the area and the parking lot was full, I saw only four people on the trail and that was on the final uphill trek.

Photographs taken June 19, ..

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Today we celebrated Nathan's 44th birthday. Rene and Mira invited us over for Happy Hour where we were treated to a nice party platter of food. They are on a campsite that overlooks the water, so this is their view.



We enjoyed hanging out with them. They shared their DVD's that they made of pictures that they took during their first trip in Alaska. They were incredible and inspired Austin to want to travel to Alaska next year.

They shared Nathan's second cake with us. We ate fajitas for dinner. We played pickleball. It was a great day.



I hope you had a great day, honey. You deserve it! Living the life in lovely Virginia!

Thug life and ice conditions!

I'm sure my skis have been feeling neglected due to all the ice climbing, so with miserable ice conditions I decided to treat them to some time on the snow.I spent the last week hanging out in the Terrain Parks at Seven SpringsWe went up for some sessions of body battering and severe pain infliction a.k.a. (Jibbing) For those not in the know jibbing is freestyle skiing (doing stunts) on man made obstacles like hand rails, boxes and many other items.Similar to what skateboarders do in thecitys, but on snow skis at ski resorts see the link.Fun Stuff!Skiing was cold and windy most days, but with the recentbuild of The Spot, it was worth cold digits.They'vebuilt the half pipe, jump line and set up two tiers of new rails. What can I say... They did a great job and things are sweet. Each day the weather was foul on one side of the mountain or other. So we got to spend a couple days eachsessioning The Alley and The Spot. Today with seriously sore legs and many other body parts, I decided it was time to take a break from the parks andcheckconditionsto see how the ice rebuild was going. I can happily report that the ice has rebonded to the walls in most places and is looking good for the weekend. Here are some photosof current conditons.

Haven Beach in Mathews VA

Dalia

Had to let everyone see the photo my sister sent to me. Thanks, Sis.

Kasteel Groeneveld: a hidden gem for walkers, hikers, bikers, et al

We had a rain check on our Friesland trip and since I was not in the mood to go all the way to Hattem for the Dikke Tine festival, I consulted my Dutch travel booklets; 2 of which I personally bought, 1 given to me by the Dutch sister. It’s been a while since we walked in the forest or in the plain fields, so I searched for a nice place nearby where a good combination of tea, a nature park and walking routes are abundant.

So half an hour later we arrived in Eemnes, a very pleasant village with horses grazing on the wide open fields and traditional horse carriages galloping the narrow cobbled streets lined with trees. We searched for the Tea House that was recommended on my travel booklet but helaas we couldn’t find it. I vaguely remember now but it did say that the place is not easy to find with a GPS as it is adequately hidden from the road, and with a grumbling Dutchman beside me, this surely is not a great combination. OK, as time was running out and we so desperately want our bums to get moving, we gave up looking for the Tea House, but I promised to go there another time.

With my Nokia Navigator GPS, we searched for alternative “attractions” in the area and one of the suggestions that came up was Kasteel Groeneveld which is just 3 kilometers away. Great, pronto, we will go there!


Kasteel Groeneveld was built in 1710 as a summer house. Amsterdammers who became rich by trading in Asia (Golden Age, colonial period, VOC, spices et al) bought land in Utrecht and in 't Gooi area to build their summer houses, away from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam.


The Ministy of Environment, Food and Agriculture now owns the whole estate. The castle is open to the public for a fee, exhibitions and many other types of events are held here too, there is a museum and a Grand Cafe in the basement.


Dutchman and I didn't know that Landgoed Groeneveld is part of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug until we saw this sign. I look very autum-ish here because its not really warm outside anymore. Goodbye summer!

I’ll have to say that I am so glad we went because Kasteel Groeneveld is a hiker’s paradise. Wow, the place is so tranquil and beautiful!

The nature and garden surroundings in the estate are well designed and very well maintained in French and English landscape styles. This is definitely one of the best estates in the country with walking and biking routes that I’ve been to so far. The visit was really worth it.

Most estates in the Netherlands are open to the public because a lot of them are castles that were sold to the government or to some type of not-for-profit organization while others are still manned by their landowners who have opened the estate partly to the public so they pay lower taxes. A good example of this is the mansions dotting along the Vecht River in Utrecht all the way to North Holland.

The castle grounds offer really nice walking paths.... under the trees with lakes on the sides and wide open spaces through the green fields.


Now this is a very countryside foto! There are actually cows at my back and you will see them if you check them at my Multipy foto album. The straight line of trees flanking on both sides of a walking path is so typically Dutch in design.


I asked Dutchman what's the purpose of those lone trees in the middle. He said its for the animals to sit under for shade when its too hot to bear. He added that there is always a purpose to most things. It can't be that someone just planted those trees because it would look nice. Alright, that's the utilitarian Dutch speaking in him.


If you ever come here, follow the Wijnenberg walking route and you'll come across this breathtaking view of the lake from the hill (there is a hill here!) and on top there are benches to sit and relax while listening to the breeze and the birds tweeting. When you exit at the back you will see a glorious expanse of land, so beautiful you'd want to stare at it for hours. The sun was setting and was against our direction so I couldn't really take a foto of the field (it's a glaring sheath of white on my camera) but did so on the corner that leads back to the castle.

More fotos can be found here: Kasteel Groeneveld - Utrecht, The Netherlands

The castle was built in 1710 by Marcus Mamochet as a summer house, away from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam. Through the years, the castle estate has had many private landlords until 1940 when the government took control. Currently, the Ministry of Environment, Food and Agriculture (LNV – Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit) owns the whole estate.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to visit the castle. It closes at 5PM, same as the Grand Café in the basement where visitors can have a cup of tea. We however took some fotos of the castle outside but it was late in the afternoon and the light coming against our direction is causing my camera to shy away.

Kasteel Groeneveld is located in Baarn, Utrecht near the A1 highway. Website is www dot kasteelgroeneveld dot nl.
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