Day 6 - Reitdiephaven

This is Reitdiephaven, a Groningen neighborhood that was built in Scandinavian style. It was one of things I just had to see before we left the city, so it became our last stop. I just love the colors of the houses and it's brilliant how thy're built right by the water. Gorgeous! Oh how I wish they built things like this where I'm from. You'd think we would, but strangely we don't see many houses in this style where I am from - mostly it's modernistic stuff with huge windows in boring colors. Those towers in the end houses are really something. I sure would have loved to see what they're like on the inside. It must be wonderful to enjoy your morning coffee up there :).

/MrsHjort

Day 5 - Streets of Groningen

These are the last pictures I'm going to show you from Groningen's city center. Like I said, we only spent one day there so, we really only went up the church tower and strolled around in the city center. It wasn't the last shots I took of Groningen though - we did one more stop in the city - a neighborhood a bit further out - before we started driving towards our next stop, but I'll save that for tomorrow :). If you like architecture I think you'll enjoy the pictures. Today's pictures are also showing off the style of the houses. But tomorrow's shots will not be as traditional, or, well at least when it comes to Groningen.

With today's shots I tried to capture the city vibe. The Netherlands really do have a lot of bikes - a true stereotype, and a charming one. But then I totally get it. It's a flat country, ideal for bike riding. Healthy and enjoyable at the same time. If I lived there I would bike too. 

I really like the garlands they had hung in some of the streets. They brought even more charm to the city. I don't know if it's part of some sort of tradition or festivity (or both), but I sure would love it if my home town did something similar. I only wish the sun had been out to make things pop even more, but alas, you can't have everything :)

/MrsHjort

Day 4 - Bells and Clock Faces

We're still in Martinikerk. There are things to see inside you see. Like the bells, a short history video about the city and the church and a bell organ (is that the right word? It's the one that came to mind at). It was a nice surprise.

You're getting a bonus shot today. I think you can guess who this is, but for those that are not so familiar this is Mr, the apple of my eye and the inspiration for one of my BotS series' main characters. He's not as crazy in real life, though he sure likes to goof around. He doesn't like having his picture taken though, so getting to shoot him is rare. I'm working on getting him comfortable in front of the camera, but I can't really say anything because I'm the same way. I like being the one behind the camera :)

On a different note, I never stop being surprised of just how much difference the raw format makes. It's so cool how it can save pictures like the bottom one. It totally helps not having to worry about exposure as much as I used to.

/MrsHjort 

Day 3 - Grote Markt

I promised to show you the view from the Martinikerk yesterday, and this is my favorite picture from up the clock tower. It's of the square called Grote Markt. I really like the architecture. I have always adored the older styles and I love to look at the variants of the countries I visit. Did you know that the reason why many buildings are so narrow in the Netherlands is because of the tax system that was used? You see, they taxed the buildings depending on how wide they were on the side facing the street, so building narrower houses was more economic. It turned out quite charming too - I they they're beautiful! Especially that tiny red facade in the middle :).

/MrsHjort

Day 2 - Martinikerk

Yesterday I was surprised to learn that a fellow Daggerian is from Groningen! I wish I had known before going. It would have been so lovely to meet her. We went there on a whim - booked a hotel the day before, packed our bags and went for it. I have always wanted to see the Netherlands and Groningen caught our eye - it's a city that is roughly the same size as my home town (not too big and not too small - the Goldilocks Zone of cities haha), it has pretty canals and those narrow buildings that are so typical of the country, and it also turned out it had really great places to eat.

Food is something we've really come to appreciate throughout our travels. Nowadays we travel as much for the food as for the sights. Sampling the local cuisine is a must, and Trip Adviser is a great way to find nice places. We arrived late in the evening (Hamburg... the traffic jam there added a couple of hours to our drive) and had the great fortune to find a nice place to eat just around the corner of our hotel. We tried to get a table at the top ranked restaurant at first - "De Betere Tijden" but it was full so we booked it for the next day instead. It turned out to be a great move! The food there was worthy of a trip in itself and it (and the prospect of getting to meet my photographer friend of course) easily makes me want to go back to the Groningen. We only stayed one day there after all, and since we were quite tired from our long drive the day before, we didn't have the time or energy to see much of Groningen.

One of the things we did do was to visit this beautiful church - Martinikerk - the oldest one in the city (completed in 1482). Well, we didn't actually visit the church per se; we went up the clock tower. It's almost a hundred meters high and you can climb all the way up to the clock face. I remember those narrow, winding and quite steep stairs with a dash or horror and a splash of pride. Horror, because I felt like I was going to fall down them and die if I lost my footing (yes, I know, I'm a bit of a sissy), and proud because I made it all the way up to the top (I'm chronically ill, so that was quite an accomplishment for me). The view from the top was beautiful! But I'll show you that tomorrow.

/MrsHjort

Day 1 - Groningen

So, It's time for a 30 day challenge again! And yey! There is going to be quite the crowd this time! So if you're following me from Facebook or twitter, I highly recommend you go and check out the other player's pictures at Daggerbay. It's going to be so much fun to see what everybody comes up with each day and it's going to be lovely chatting with you all. I look forward to a great month filled with gorgeous inspiring pictures :).

Due to health related issues, I'm going to be kind to myself and do a post-ed only challenge this month. It will maximize my chances of actually making it, and besides, I wen't on a trip this summer, shot something like a thousand pictures and I really want to get to editing them. So, I'm going to show you all the "before and after" each day, and since there are so many pictures, there might be more than one of them some days.

Mr and I took the car for quite a road trip this summer and this is the starting point of my challenge as well as the first stop on our trip - Groningen in the Netherlands. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow :).

/MrsHjort