Discover Friesland

Bridge over the Murk at Gytsjerk

2011-04-12T13:32:00.001+02:00

Gytsjerk, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

This is also known as the tegeltjesbrug. It's the last bridge before Leeuwarden on the 11 city skating race. This view is not often taken, but it's a gem imo :))

Sunset at Gytsjerk

2011-04-12T13:30:00.003+02:00

IMAG0434, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Daffodils in Gytsjerk

2011-04-12T13:30:00.001+02:00

Daffodils in Gytsjerk, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

De kerk van Gytsjerk

2011-04-12T13:27:00.005+02:00

De kerk van Gytsjerk, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

De kerk van Gytsjerk (zonsondergang)

2011-04-12T13:27:00.003+02:00

De kerk van Gytsjerk (zonsondergang), originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Gytsjerkerhoek

2011-04-12T13:27:00.001+02:00

Gytsjerkerhoek, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Snakkerburen

2011-04-04T00:38:00.005+02:00

Snakkerburen, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Miedum

2011-04-04T00:38:00.003+02:00

IMGP0016, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Miedum

2011-04-04T00:38:00.001+02:00

Miedum, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

It Set at the Gytsjerkerhoek

2010-11-07T21:35:00.001+01:00

A selection of 4 photos taken at various times in the last few years at the same spot. I just love these photo's :)

Ryptsjerk

2010-10-17T21:55:00.001+02:00

Ryptsjerk, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Ryptsjerk, it's a village you will unlightly ever drive through. I would say it has no shops, but it has an italian wine and delicatessen called 'Vinoteca 'il Casale', 'De vertakking' which does garden rennovation and landscaping, country fairs and has a lifestyle shop... and then there is Florahoek, a fabulous garden center and Froukje State, a restaurant with a Michelin star! Does Ryptsjerk have a supermarket? A population of more than an 1000? No!

But it is imo a great place for going for a walk over the country lanes. Ryptsjerk is to be honest one of my fave villages in North east Fryslan.

A stork on a lamppost

2010-08-06T23:50:00.001+02:00

A stork on a lamppost, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Dusk in Gytsjerkerhoek I

2010-04-18T00:28:00.001+02:00

Dusk in Gytsjerkerhoek I, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Dusk in Gytsjerkerhoek III

2010-04-17T16:38:00.001+02:00

Dusk in Gytsjerkerhoek III, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

We were kind of promised a spectacular sunset here yesterday. The reason is there has been a massive volcanic explosion in Iceland. It is the reason that most airports in Northern Europe are closed for a few days. Anyway the sunset wasn't that amazing, but I still got quite a few good photo's including this one :)

Flokhernepaed bij Mûnein

2010-04-10T23:24:00.001+02:00

Flokhernepaed bij Munein, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Partly covered by Google streetview using the Google street view bike :) This is part of what it missed. Mûnein (known as Molenend in dutch) is a 'buurtschap' or locality near the villages of Gytjerk and Oentsjerk

It's really busy on saturday night at the chinese restaurant in Gytsjerk

2010-04-10T22:09:00.001+02:00

Ouderwets druk op zaterdagavond bij de Chinees in Gytsjerk :), originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Not an amazing photo... but what makes me laugh is how busy it is here on saturday night! The place was packed!

Lekkum langs de ee

2010-04-09T23:03:00.001+02:00

Lekkum langs de ee, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Snakkerbuorren langs de ee

2010-04-09T22:46:00.001+02:00

Snakkerbuorren langs de ee, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

I love Snakkerbuorren. I cycle though it twice a day to and from work. Slight detour, but seriously worth it. Really nice friendly people and the place is very cute! Certainly would not hate to live there :)

4 deer in a field in Miedum

2010-04-09T09:47:00.001+02:00

IMGP0257, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

There were 6-7 in total! never seen that many at once. Crap photo... but they were very far away

Old English -v- Fresian (very funny)

2010-03-26T15:13:00.001+01:00

Sunrise

2010-03-12T22:26:00.001+01:00

Sunrise, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Halfway between Lekkum and Meidum :) This spot has treated me to more than one good photo!

I love early mornings here.. even in the winter :)

2010-03-12T22:18:00.000+01:00

Station Leeuwarden

2009-12-28T09:51:00.001+01:00

Station Leeuwarden, originally uploaded by The Wolf.

Probably the best photo I've seen of Leeuwarden in the december 2009 snow :)

Are the geese back for the winter?

2009-10-17T22:13:00.001+02:00

DSC02125.JPG, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

I've heard some geese here again a few days ago, but I haven't seen them yet. Now I know for sure the summer is over. They stay the whole winter. Actually they just sleep here. Every morning they go towards the wadden sea to feed and return just after dark. Then in march every year they go back north.

Misty morning

2009-10-15T09:48:00.001+02:00

DSC09886, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

We are very lucky here in Friesland at the moment :) We are having a spell of dry and cold weather here. Some mornings it's misty. A great way to start the day.

Photowalk Harlingen- the route

2009-08-25T12:49:00.001+02:00

View Flickr photowalk harlingen in a larger map

I went up to Harlingen to check out the route we will be taking for the photowalk in Harlingen. It should be busy as there is the visserijdagen taking place. That means there should be a goot atmosphere and plenty of chances to stop somewhere for a bite to eat and/ or a beer. We meet at 2pm (14u) at the train station in Harlingen. hope to see you there.

Photo Walk in Harlingen Saturday, August 29, 2009

2009-07-23T22:22:00.003+02:00

To celebrate the 50th of fish festival in Harlingen and also to enjoy the atmosphere we are holding a photowalk on Saturday, August 29. We come together for 2pm (14h) at Station Harlingen (Harlingen Port Station is closed). Then we walk a route around the city, we deal with the occasional beer and we 'when ever' back to the station. More details will follow soon :) Sign up at Flickr, or UPCOMING or FACEBOOK

For more then 2000 years

2009-03-15T10:24:00.001+01:00

For more then 2000 years, originally uploaded by Christiaan Triebert.

Christiaan Triebert was one of the people who was on our last photowalk in Leeuwarden. He has just posted this amazing photo taken in the last few weeks. It was taken at Potmarge/ Huizumer dorp In leeuwarden.

Nationaal Park Drents-Friese

2009-02-02T18:42:00.001+01:00

, originally uploaded by gwendolen.

I have been in touch via Twitter and Flickr with a really good photographer from Groningen called Gwendolen Tee. I really like her photo's but today she kind of blew me a way with this one. It was taken in Friesland and it's an area which I don't visit that often near the border with the next province Drenthe. The National Park Drents-Friese Wold [dutch wikipedia article translated into english with Google translate] is a unique area with sand, grasses, snakes, and a very rich flora and fauna. You can hike or mountain bike around special routes.

Dad-On-Wheels

2009-01-11T11:55:00.001+01:00

Dad-On-Wheels, originally uploaded by Milonga.

Ok this photo was not taken in Friesland... but it really made me laugh. A dad on the ice on a segway towing his son along on a sleigh.

Wow! It's the 3rd weekend being able to skate!

2009-01-10T23:22:00.001+01:00

DSC07534, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Friesland is being treated to ice at the moment and quite a lot of days with sunshine. In fact last month (December 2008) had twice the average sun hours. That does people a lot of good. It's the third weekend being able to skate. We expect it won't last until next weekend. But we've been lucky with such a long spell.

If we are very lucky we might get another cold spell before the end of next month and an 11 city skating tour. They are very rare these days, but that does not stop people from hoping :)

'De Rie' in Gytsjerk/ Giekerk

2009-01-02T21:23:00.004+01:00

'De Rie' in Gytsjerk/ Giekerk, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

I got a chance to get out and shoot some photos of the skaters today. fresians love skating and go into a sort of 'cloud 9' when it gets cold. Add sunny days and long shadows. It's beautiful. This photo was taken about 60 to 90 minutes before sundown which explains the colours. We are not expecting an 11 city skate race just yet, but now that the waters are really cold, if we get another good cold spell we could get lucky.

Nearly there - the ice rink

2008-12-28T21:04:00.001+01:00

Nearly there - the ice rink, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

The ice rink in Gytsjerk/ Giekerk is frozen over. Just another day or three and it will be thick enough to skate on.

First ice from doncrowley on Vimeo.

It's cold here and the folks here are expecting to be able to skate by the end of the week. These kids are on small irrigation canals without skates testing how the ice is

Froukje state

2008-12-28T13:47:00.001+01:00

froukje state, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

This restaurant, Froukje State, (kind of in the middle of no where ) has just received a Michelin star in November 2008. You can eat there for about 100-150euro p.p. I think it's really cool that we have a place like this near here.

Hoping for ice this year :)

2008-11-29T12:32:00.001+01:00

Ice skating in Friesland with mill, originally uploaded by Paul van Eijden Photography.

This is a photo I found on Flickr which was taken in Rypstjerk (Rijperkerk). Seemingly taken last year, I only remember there being one or two days when people could skate. Fabulous photo from Paul van Eijden.

Flickr fotowalk Leeuwarden

2008-11-20T22:30:00.002+01:00

Flickr fotowalk Leeuwarden, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Thursday November 27, 2008 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Meetup at 6pm and we leave for the walk around Leeuwarden shortly after that. We expect to be back before 8pm
Paddy O'Ryan Irish Pub
Goveneursplein 37
Leeuwarden, Friesland

Om 18u-20u. We komen bij elkaar om 18u en vertrekken kort daarna! Een van de laatste koop avonden voor sinterklaas :) Heel veel sfeer en 'nachtfotografie'. Voor degenen die daarna zin in hebben kunnen we de kroeg induiken.

Meetup bij de ierse pub op de goveneurs plein. Dus zetten in je agenda :)

Meer info: Liwadder groep op Flickr.

Thursday evening 27 November 18:00h-20.00h I want to catch the atmosphere of the last real Saint Nick late night shopping. So yeah, night photography and atmosphere.

View Larger Map

Twitter meetup in Leeuwarden

2008-10-03T23:34:00.001+02:00

Twitterborrel Leeuwarden, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Just had a cool meetup in Leeuwarden with a group of people who also use twitter. It's the third meet up I've organized and it went great imo. Met some new people and got to meet some I hadn't seen for a while :) I have a wee write up over at my other blog The BFF

Full moon

2008-09-18T21:33:00.002+02:00

It's getting dark early here already. 9pm is dark here, and last night it was cold. Just 3°C! I was in Leeuwarden and cycled home after dark when I saw this beautiful full moon, and the moonlight on the fields.

I have a point and shoot camera, but I put this through photoshop. No color changes. Just increasing the tone, using LAB mode and pasting the result on top of the original, I put the opacity at about 20% in soft light mode.

Leeuwarden Flickr photowalk

2008-09-12T12:32:00.002+02:00

DSC06945, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

This is the irish pub Goveneurs Plein in Leeuwarden. The weather wasn't great... and this photo was taken the next day :) But I met lots of people including Sint Smeding, Tessa, Hidde de Vries, Stephen Hay, Robin Papa, Arjan Eising... Sure more could have turned up, but the weather spoilt it a bit. Still I really enjoyed it.

And we are doing it again. Thursday evening 27 November 18:00h-20.00h I want to catch the atmosphere of the last real Saint Nick late night shopping. So yeah, night photography and atmosphere. After that I want to do a Photowalk in Harlingen, which is a gorgeous town... we'll need daylight for it though... that's later.

Don't forget to stick Thursday evening 27 November 18:00h-20.00h in your calander :)

Flickr Photowalk in Leewarden (sept 2008)

2008-08-19T20:06:00.005+02:00

DSC02094.JPG, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Flickr if you don't know it, is a great place to store your photos. I've been using it for about 3 years. A group of us are organizing a Photowalk in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands for Sunday, September 7th, 2008 at 2pm.

What is a photowalk? We meet up, wander around town taking photos, chating and when we are finished we might grab a beer as well.

I'm so happy this is going to happen. If you want to join us you are more than welcome. Drop a note at the Liwadders group or just turn up :)

Grotere kaart weergeven

Street Crime

2008-05-22T15:26:00.001+02:00

heftig, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Op www.waldnet.nl zag ik onder misdaad op straat 3 vermiste katten. Ik kan er niet meer tegen. Ik ga verhuizen naar een veiliger oord.

This made me laugh. Our local news website has a section 'street crime'. All it includes is 3 missing cats :D

Bosch - the lost wadden island may have been found!

2008-03-27T20:41:00.001+01:00

SunsetBW, originally uploaded by Niels Denekamp.

I have covered the lost Wadden island of Bosch here before, but Expatica an english language site covering dutch news is reporting that some remnants of the island may have been found off the east coast of Schiermonnikoog. Read more:

Traces of sunken island found off Schiermonnikoog
Earlier post here: Bosch - the lost wadden island
Bosch (dutch lang. wikipedia page put through Google translate)

Fierljeppen in Gytsjerk

2008-03-15T13:06:00.001+01:00

Found this on Google, It was filmed near where we live. This is very popular here.

Friesian clogs

2008-02-13T22:28:00.002+01:00

wooden shoes & newspaper inlay, originally uploaded by kokjebalder.

Another photo not by me. I love clogs but the Friesian ones are quite different to the traditional dutch ones. Friesian ones alway have a leather strap on the inside. There are a lot of really awful looking ones on sale by the way, so have a good look around.

Strijklicht

2008-02-13T22:12:00.001+01:00

Strijklicht, originally uploaded by sindala.

This photo was not taken by me. It is a classic Friesian photo though, landscape, light and colour.

Apple flaps and New Year celebrations

2007-12-31T17:54:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year. In the Netherlands people make their own oliebollen and appleflappen. It is fried in sun flower oil, it is flour with raisens. The apple flas are coated in cinnamon and fried. Everything is then sprinkeled in suger. The photos here show how apple flaps are made. These ones taste amazing, much better than thee stuff you get in shops.

Tonight everyone sets of fireworks.

biscuit and bread!

2007-12-30T20:12:00.001+01:00

biscuit and bread!, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Pretty crazy idea really, but the dutch love this. They put speculaas biscuits into a white bread roll and eat it! Speculaas is similar to cinnamon but not the same. The spice comes from Indonesia as far as I know.

Now, does this prove I've integrated ;)

Comet Holmes

2007-12-29T20:18:00.001+01:00

Comet Holmes 11/20, originally uploaded by paranoidroid.

I've seen about 4-5 comets in my life. It really is just a hugh piece of ice just flying about... but I alway get excited when they are around. This shot of Comet Holmes was taken in San Fransisco. It's good here in Friesland but not this good. Holmes has been around since late November and it is still visable.

Last year comet McNaught was around. While visible to the naked eye it was not that spectacular. By late january though, those in the southern hemisphere were in for a real treat.

Bosch - the lost wadden island

2007-12-29T17:23:00.001+01:00

endless horizon, endless sky, originally uploaded by jejoenjeM.

I have not visited all the wadden islands yet, but for now Schiermonnikoog is my favorite. This photo taken by Jeroen Minderman was taken there. But this post is about the island Bosch which was destroyed by storms. In 1570 there was a major storm known as the 'All Saints storm (Allerheiligen vloed)'. That hit all these islands hard and probably destroyed some of Bosch . But is was in the early 18th century that that Bosch completely disappeared around the same time that West Vlieland (Westeyende) on Vlieland became uninhabitable. Seemingly because the wadden islands creep to the east, the most easterly point of Schiermonnikoog is actually on top of Bosch. There is little chance anything of the island will be found as the sea flows here really move stuff around. A group under the name Sunken history (Verdronken gescheidenis) has started some research. There was quite a good post in dutch up on Wikipedia a year or two ago about Bosch. But Wikipedia is censoring itself (a total pain in the neck guys!) and the article has since been taken down. Anyway I have a few links about Bosch. Some are in dutch, but you might be able to run the pages through the excellent bablefish or Google translate. Anyway here are the links if you are interested:

Winter Scenes (photo I)

2007-12-22T15:04:00.001+01:00

DSC05476.JPG, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Winter Scenes (photo II)

2007-12-22T15:03:00.001+01:00

DSC05475.JPG, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Frost

2007-12-22T14:59:00.001+01:00

DSC05478.JPG, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

winter scenes (video)

2007-12-22T14:57:00.000+01:00

Ice coated trees Gytserk from doncrowley on Vimeo.

Ameland

2007-11-04T16:45:00.001+01:00

Off the friesian cost you'll find the wadden islands. From south to north they are Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog. On Flickr I found this great photo by 'Ameland1732', who I would like to thank for giving me permission to us this photo. Most people here have their favorite island. They are great places to retreat to if you want 'get away from it all', though during the school holidays they might be too popular for peace and quiet.

Blogged with Flock

Gytsjerkerhoek

2007-09-16T23:39:00.001+02:00

DSC04719, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

About a month ago I shot a series of photos in the evening. The sun was shining but a small storm was under way. The light, contrast and sky were really something. I had already posted one photo. But today this photo started becoming popular on Flickr where I store all my photos, which is why I decided to post it here.

Childrens Survival party

2007-09-08T15:25:00.000+02:00

Kinder Survival/ Children's Survival Party from doncrowley and Vimeo.

Is this an advertorial. No honestly it is is not. But we booked Jan van Dijk in for our children's party. I had video taped it. The party was so good I'm sticking it up and if it is for you get in touch with Jan.

It was a children's survival party. All the kids come home tired and dirty. But every single kid loved it. The next day they were still talking about it. Jan is in Ternaard, but he does parties in lots of different places in the province. We had our party in Rypsjerk.

Highly recommended.

Alle kinderen komen vies, blij en moe thuis. Wat zullen ze lekker slapen. Maar wat vinden ze het gaaf. Wij hebben damdijk.nl ingehuurd voor onze kinder feest. Het was het beste feest ooit.

Ringing Church Owls

2007-08-30T00:28:00.000+02:00

Ringing Church Owls from doncrowley and Vimeo.

We went out with the 'bird watch (vogelwacht)' yesterday to ring church owl chicks. We had a great time, being able to see them so close. Yves was able to hold them and teh people we were with were so friendly and helpful.

Gytsjerkerhoek

2007-08-19T21:18:00.000+02:00

A very short video pan shot of Gytsjerkerhoek

Gytsjerkerhoek from doncrowley and Vimeo.

There is a hole in the house

2007-08-19T21:12:00.001+02:00

DSC04675, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Take a good look at the bottom and first floor af these appartments in the middle of the photo. Did someone try to cut or blow there way in or out? I have no idea what was going on here. But it looked really weird. Have a look at google maps to see where they are. This photo was taken from the 'Rengerspad'. The squarish roofs are the buildings in question.
Location
N 53.209798
E 5.793808

The wielen lakes

2007-08-19T20:59:00.001+02:00

DSC04699, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

This picture was taken just as the lakes inhabitants was getting ready to settle down for the night.

Gietsjerkerhoek

2007-08-19T20:57:00.001+02:00

DSC04711, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

With the sun still shining and storm clouds on their way the light was just amazing over Gietsjerkerhoek

The pink "us mem" II

2007-08-14T21:03:00.000+02:00

The pink "us mem"

2007-08-14T20:55:00.001+02:00

DSC04679, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

This is the result of a student prank. A statue painted pink. But "Us mem" the cow is a symbol of Friesland. It was painted pink out of protest at the increasing homo hatred in the country.

The Netherlands has always been a very tolerant country for homo's with Amsterdam being often considered one of the most homo friendly cities in the world. But a section of one of the immigrant groups in Amsterdam who are traditionally 'repulsed' by homosexuality have taken to violence.

Lets just say that the police don't seem to be in charge of the situation yet. But that most people here are expecting them to sort the situation out.

What the students here in Leeuwarden did today was to highlight the current situation.

4.30am - bird call

2007-08-12T23:54:00.000+02:00

4.30am Bird call from doncrowley and Vimeo.

Between Gytsjerk and Oensjerk

2007-08-12T23:48:00.000+02:00

Between Gytsjerk and Oensjerk from doncrowley and Vimeo.

The church in Wyns

2007-08-08T23:51:00.001+02:00

DSC04651, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

According to Peter Karstkarels 419xFrisland book (in dutch, and a really great book, my favorite in fact), Wyns has a population of 188 and 90 houses. Part of the tower dates to 1300 AD. If you are driving past it could be worth a quick stop. I thought it was nice. It has a restaurant, a playground and a small ship building business

Want to know where Wyns is? Google maps will show you where!

Wyns

2007-08-08T23:40:00.001+02:00

DSC04649, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

You can park your boat beside the restaurant and get a bite to eat before heading on to Leeuwarden or Dokkum, You can see the restaurant De Winze in this photo. I have not eaten there, but it looks like a good place to eat.

The ferry at Wyns

2007-08-08T23:32:00.001+02:00

DSC04640, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Wyns, a tiny village on the river Ee between Leeuwarden and Dokkum. It has a restaurant De Winze, but no shops. Cute village though.

Discover Friesland on Google Maps

2007-03-25T00:15:00.000+01:00

georss.jpg, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

This is the map itself. I have taken the feed from this blog and piped it through ws.geonames.org/rssToGeoRSS. With the total url which you copy and paste into the search bar of googlemaps.com you get the results.

What happens here is.
- I have posts which mention various locations in Friesland
- The GeoRSS parses the names out of the feed, Googlemaps then finds the locations. It is very cool and it has a 60-70% success rate. One entry ends up on New York, but I mentioned the New York Times on that Post. Another entry ends up in South Africa, I have not figured that one out yet .

So thanks again to Eirepreneur for his post pointing out the possibilities

The bleeting of the lambs

2007-03-24T22:32:00.001+01:00

The bleeting of the lambs, originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Spring has arrived. The first lambs are born. We were away for a week. In that week all the starlings and geese left. Lapwings and Curlews arrived. Also bumblebees, butterflies (yellow variety), Trees are budding, especially the willows and there are lots of daffodils about.

Lunar Eclipse 03-03-2007

2007-03-04T00:43:00.001+01:00

Lunar Eclipse 03-03-2007, originally uploaded by rhys400D.

We were lucky here tonight. We had clear skies for the lunar eclipse. The neighbouring province of Groningen was not so lucky. In Friesland the nights are dark, so if astronomy is your thing then Friesland is a good place to be.

My own camera is not up to scratch for this type of photography. But at Flickr there are already loads of photos of tonights eclipse online which was less than an hour ago. This shot was taken in England by rhys400D. But it is just like we saw it here. I haven't seen such a good eclipse as this in ages

Friesland in the New York Times

2007-03-03T15:08:00.000+01:00

Friesland made it onto the New York times this week. The article in question starts with a historic photo of the 1917 race passing through Sneek. Further down there is a photo of the blue tiled bridge (which you can also see here). Unfortunately it the article was about global warming. The experts reckon we will be lucky to have an 11 cities skating tour once every 25 years, the way things are going.

Last year spring came a month late, and by the looks of things it looks like it has come a month early this year (thus a two month difference with last year). I saw lapwings in the last week or so but I have heard that butterflies have been spotted already as well. That is terrible because we can get frost here until the middle of May.

Miedum

2007-02-25T19:03:00.000+01:00

Miedum has a leaning tower as well. But you can only really see it in the winter.

The Lapwings are back

2007-02-23T17:53:00.000+01:00

I saw two pairs of lapwings (Kieviet in dutch) today in a field. That was very early. While it is not even March yet, the weather this year is very different from last year. Last year was very cold, while we have only had one tiny cold spel this year. The village ice rink still hasn't frozen over. Last year was cold but there was no 11 city skating event. But the trees showed no buds or leaves until late in April.

Starlings the sequel

2007-02-05T07:49:00.000+01:00

This is a video I shot at the weekend.

Starlings on Vimeo

New look and feel

2007-02-03T17:15:00.000+01:00

I had fixed up my other blog two weeks ago. I waited a while to make sure I like it, so I am rolling out this design here as well but in a kind of fresian colours. One main advantage with this design is that I can put larger photos.

Starlings - the movie

2007-02-03T16:46:00.000+01:00

Ok this is my first ever video post anywhere. I was flicking a coin between Vimeo and YouTube. Vimeo was easier to sign into and there are claims that they have a better service.

Anyway this video is about 40 seconds long. I saw thousands of starlings (spreeuwen in dutch). It was just before sundown. It was shot in Lekkum, just outside Leeuwarden. The birds themselves where in Tytsjerk, which is a few kilometer further up. I love this kind of thing.

Stacks of starlings on Vimeo

Snakkerbuorren

2006-12-28T17:54:00.000+01:00

A signpost with fingers. They don't make 'em like that anymore now do they? Location: corner Lekkumerweg and Bouwedijk Google maps heading towards Sakkerbuorren.

Skating

2006-12-10T09:53:00.000+01:00

Skating is very popular in Friesland (I hope you notice the understatement here). In Heerenveen (googlemaps link) there is one of the best skate stadiums in the world and watching it all on TV can be very exciting. But if you would try to get tickets in the 10,000 plus seater stadium, you will come away very disappointed, unless you know someone who knows someone. The dutch skating union (KNSB) only sell 750 tickets a day. The rest are for sponsors! and skateclubs.

A protest group has been formed so that more cards will be available. I support them. They have set up a dutch language website for their cause over at http://www.volgendjaarwelkaartjes.tk/

Refugees and gravestones

2006-11-12T11:58:00.000+01:00

Over at the Telegaaf (dutch language) there is an article about the cemetery in Sint Annnaparochie (link is to google maps). Refugees who die are buried here because the costs are so low. But they don't get a headstone. Former history teacher Frits Slicht heard about this from a radio program and got in contact with the Memento Gedenksteen Sichting (a foundation specializing in gravestones for special circumstances). Seven Artists made works which are being exhibited in Utrecht. On November 28th 2006 they will be placed at the graves in Saint Annaparochie.

Birds

2006-11-11T14:59:00.000+01:00

Over at Low Weblog (dutch language) You will find this fabulous desktop photo of starlings/ Spreeuwen (wikipedia link - english). If you like birds, you could do worse than having to live in Friesland. Every morning we can hear geese either flying over our house or hear them in the fields down the road from where we live. There are literally hundreds grazing there. We also have droves of starlings flying around. Appearing in trees for about half an hour with an enormous amount of noise, only suddenly to disappear again and the quiet returns

The ice rink has been flooded for the winter

2006-11-04T19:38:00.000+01:00

ice-rink.jpg, originally uploaded by Don Crowley.

In Friesland, if your village has a Hema shop, then it is better than the rest. Not that I mind. Our village doesn't have one yet ;-) but...

Every self respecting village in Friesland has it's own skating rink. It is now november and even though the cold has not set in (we have had the first night frost though), they are all flooded. When the cold sets in it will be packed here with people from gytsjerk and some of the surrounding villages. If the global warming does not act up too much I should have photos of this in January or February 2007.

File under: skating | friesland

The last bridge to Leeuwarden

2006-10-16T21:39:00.000+02:00

Last Bridge to Leeuwarden, originally uploaded by Don Crowley.

On the 11 city skate tour this is the last bridge before the finish at Leeuwarden. This photo was taken at 7.30am. In the background you can see diggers clearing the waters for the winter. Location (Google Maps): Where the Canterlandseweg crosses the canal.

This photo was taken facing Bartlehiem. Behind me was Leeuwarden.

Friesland on Wikipedia

2006-08-27T00:44:00.000+02:00

A very good place to find out more about Friesland is on wikipedia (of course).

Bartlehiem

2006-08-27T00:33:00.000+02:00

DSC01146.JPG
Originally uploaded by dccrowley.

This is Bartlehiem... allegedly. It says it is, but I've heard that it is actually on the otherside of the canal in Ferwerderadiel while this photo was taken in Tytsjerksteradiel (these are both counties of the province Friesland). This photo was taken at the Vlier a campsite (looks nice) and a place to have coffee and apple tart (which they claim is world famous - sigh! But which is very good anyway). This is a great place in the summer to stop your boat if you are on the Dokkumer Ee canal or just passing by car. There is alot of traffic on the canal in summer but it was really enjoyable.

I give up giving up

2006-08-27T00:26:00.000+02:00

Damn! I just cannot let this blog die. Right! So I have four blogs. I will update here when I get the chance. I'll be doing Bartlehiem soon, as i was up there last weekend… or was it the weekend before. Ok I' either going senile or I'm ridiculously busy. Take your pick.

Last Post

2006-08-18T21:53:00.000+02:00

Yes, This will probably be my last post here. I am so busy and I have three other blogs to run as well. Friesland is a great place to live and the people are very friendly. I have no regrets about moving up here. In fact I will be starting a fresian language course in a few months as well.

I have a set of fresian photos over at flickr which I am still adding to. Thanks for dropping by.

Grou

2006-08-02T22:57:00.000+02:00

Train station, Grou.
Originally uploaded by don.

I had completely forgotten about this photo. I had taken it in October last year (2005). We were staying at a campsite there for a long weekend with the kids. This was a wet monday or tuesday morning on my way into work in Leeuwarden. We have bought a house since then. I love it up here. A few thoughts though. The difference between town and city life, especially here in Friesland. It's my first time living in a village but I love it. I'm going to take a course in fresian in the autumn. Also living in a village. It is so unbelievably dark at night... fabulous. Yes the pace of life is much easier going. The cycle to and from work everyday is great (in the summer at least), there is so much wildlife to see. I know I'm a hopeless city dweller.

Grou is a very old town (with city rights). It is nice to see, the people are friendly and in the summer if you like water sports it's basically the place to be.

Storks and Herons

2006-07-01T22:55:00.000+02:00

stork-and-heron
Originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Near Gytsjerk (Giekerk) their are quite a few Storks nesting here. I've never seen them anywhere else. There is also a heron a bit further back.

Lekkum

2006-07-01T22:54:00.000+02:00

lekkum-1 Originally uploaded by dccrowley.

The cycle path along the Dokkumer Ee from Lekkum to Snakkerbouren (just to the north of Leeuwarden).

Snakkerbouren

2006-07-01T22:53:00.000+02:00

snakkerbouren-1
Originally uploaded by dccrowley.

Snakkerbouren is an extremely cute looking village. I don't think it has any shops. People are friendly but after 10 minutes you probably won't have a reason for still being there. It is part of Leeuwarden. I think it's abit of a pity how many villages are part of Leeuwarden. I can't imagine it helping their village life at all.

Tietjerkstradiel, Frisland

2006-06-06T00:33:00.000+02:00

Tietjerkstradiel, Frisland
Originally uploaded by Don.

Over at Flickr I have more Friesian photos. I was living in Leeuwarden for seven months. I've now moved out to a village 10k towards Dokkum. It is great. Quiet, friendly, everyone speaks friesian... and dutch. At night it is pitch black. It really is beautiful here and there is so much wildlife.

End of the hibernation

2006-04-27T22:44:00.000+02:00

I hope!! Don't expect a storm of posts here yet. But we are moving up to Friesland in the next week and I have high speed internet since today.

3 little birds

2006-04-27T22:39:00.000+02:00

3-little-birds Click on photo for larger version.
Originally uploaded by Don.

We are just at the point where we will be moving up to Friesland to live. We can't wait. I've been living out of a suitcase for the last 7 months. My children only see me 3 days a week. Now we can live together again. We have a blackbirds nest in our garden and today these 3 worm lovers where born.

City Kid

2006-02-02T15:59:00.000+01:00

No photos still, but a story about a city kid (moi). This happened last November. It was dark. I was on a mountain bike with a suitcase on the handlebars looking for ‘camping’ in Grou. It was too dark to see the sign from the cycle path so I kept on cycling until I ran out of cycling path. And then I did something stupid. I kept cycling, on towards Warten in pitch darkness, with only ditch on both sides of the road. The sudden appearance of driving rain didn't help either (er! – I may have used a few expletives in fact).

After more than 10 minutes I copped myself on and turned back and within half an hour found the camping. I was now soaked to the skin so I changed, huddled up to the gas fire for a few minutes and then made my way up to the restaurant for a coffee and a whiskey (to get the juices really flowing again). That was my baptism of fire for life in the countryside. I mean there were at least two motorists who thought I should cycle to the nearest psychiatrist. It being November we did not get loads of sun, but we did not get wet either for the rest of the weekend which was a big relief. And we really enjoyed ourselves.

Fresian winter landscape

2006-01-01T15:05:00.000+01:00

Fresian winter landscape
Originally uploaded by Don.

Unfortunately I was sick this week so this photo was taken from a train (not that I would have had time otherwise). But the landscape is really cool when white. That should provide lots of photo opportunities in the future.

At flickr though they have public photos of Friesland by others. [1] [2] in particular are very good winter scenes, taken by Aldo van Zeeland.

First snow falls

2006-01-01T15:02:00.000+01:00

First snow falls
Originally uploaded by Don.

We had our first snow in Frisland this week. Two days where a challange on the bike, because of the ice under the snow. I usually hate the stuff, in fact I think it's a pity we don't hibernate. The locals here though love the stuff and it's contagious.

Lots of open wireless points in Leeuwarden

2005-12-09T12:02:00.000+01:00

Which is very nice if the owners don't mind. Wireless Points: Leeuwarden20040827.gif (GIF Image, 3000x3000 pixels)

There is also a Wireless Leeuwarden site. It's a good start. But much still needs to be done. I also see that Meditterane Cafe De Salon is a major sponsor. Very cool and I've eaten there once (wine, calamari, italian mozzarella-tomato-pesto roll and expresso) and it was really very good.

This week

2005-12-08T21:52:00.000+01:00

I suppose we are out of hibernation for the moment. I have nothing new to add for this week, but coming soon another book review. This time I will be reviewing the Capitool guide of Friesland and pointing out a number of maps of Friesland you can buy.

Also you might not know but I'm a walking encyclopedia of useless information. I am collecting tidbits on Friesland which I will be publishing here.

Tags: Friesland | Tidbits

Franeker

2005-12-03T00:03:00.000+01:00

Franeker
Originally uploaded by Don.

This is one of the squares in Franeker, a town in Friesland.

Tags: Franeker | Friesland | The Netherlands | Holland