Sailing in Bohuslän

First week of August 2009, I went sailing in the beautiful archipelago of Bohuslän on the Swedish West Coast. With me was my beloved Femke and friends Rut & Sander.

It rained the first three days, but then came sunshine and tropical heat. Unfortuantely, we had weak winds all week, but we still managed to do some sailing. And we met friends Lotta & Per and Morgan on the way.
Not to mention that we saw lots of seals, a few porpoises, a mink swimming between two islands, a rare Atlantic bird (I think it was a storm petrel) and a fish with its fin poking through the surface - I believe it to be a Sun Fish (mola mola).

You will find lots more photos here.

Hoge Veluwe and Kröller-Müller Museum

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of visiting the Hoge Veluwe National Park outside Arnhem. Here, you can borrow bikes and bike around in the huge park, enjoying something very rare in the Netherlands: untamed nature. And in the midst of the park, a reward awaits the ones who venture here, in form of the splendid Kröller-Müller Art Museum.

Reminding of the Louisiana Museum outside Copenhagen, the Kröller-Müller is big, beautiful and with a most extraordinary art collection. Highlights includes a vast collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings, second only to the one at the Van Gogh Museum.

But there are other splendid masterpieces, such as the pointillistic wonders of Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. Not to mention some funky Inuit sculptures from Canada and the floating sculpture by Marta Pan.

We had a wonderful time here, before biking back to the park entrance and heading home to Amsterdam via bus and train.

Today, we have celebrated Femke’s grandmother Yt’s 86^th birthday with a pancake party!

Tomorrow, I will go downtown to take photos of Amsterdam’s famous gay parade, which is a floating affair in the canals, then pack and take a train to Utrecht to stay over with friends. Then, on Sunday morning, we are all going to Sweden for a week of sailing on the West Coast :-)