dresden

 It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything here.. I blame it on work and bad weather for photography. These are some photos from Dresden, part of my vacation in Germany this past summer. Some big changes coming my way.. my time here in the Netherlands is finally coming to an end it seems. My internship is almost up and after that it looks like I’ll be heading back to Canada and see where things take me from there! I’m both excited and really anxious about the move. I’m really used to life here now so I think it will be a bit strange being back home at first but there are definitely some things I’ve missed since I’ve been living here. Anyways, I want to try to make the most of my last few months here so I will try to take as many photos as possible. Hope to share more soon.

venice II

 I finally got my photos from Venice developed from back in October. A few professors of mine organized a workshop at the Biennale so a group of about 40 students went to Venice for 6 days, and I was lucky enough to be able to join. It was amazing to be back in Venice and I was able to see and experience a lot of things that I missed out on last time. We were also pretty lucky that we were there a week or so before it flooded pretty seriously, although that would have been cool to see. Will post more photos soon! Hope everyone is having a great holiday!

afternoon light

 A few photos taken one afternoon in Vancouver. It’s getting pretty chilly here in NL, we’ve had a bit of snow on and off the past few days. Nothing sticking around yet though. Hope December is treating you well!

landschaftspark duisburg-nord

After our overnight stay in Brussels we packed up and headed to Köln. Although I didn’t get to see too much of the city, I really liked what I did see and we happened to find a pretty cool art festival/party going on in one of the neighbourhoods close by our hotel. The next day we headed to Duisburg to check out the Landschaftspark there. It was established in 1991 as a way to reuse the coal and steel production plant that had been abandoned there in the mid-1980s. The park was probably one of the coolest places I’ve ever visited. Even though it was pretty rainy we climbed all the way to the top of one of the biggest structures there and got an amazing view of the surrounding area. And the best part was we  discovered a huge climbing area and even a slide [last photo], which ended up being the funnest part of our trip.

More photos soon, I’m waiting on a roll from Berlin to be developed. Hope the summer is treating you well!

a day in brussels

 Well, it’s been forever since I’ve posted anything on here.. so much has been going on since I last posted. I guess most importantly, I had my graduation presentation on July 2nd and I ended up doing quite well. It’s still pretty overwhelming for me to think that I’m done with my master’s degree now. And I was lucky enough to have my family come from Canada which made it even better. After a few much needed days of relaxing we headed to Germany, where I’ve spent most of the last two weeks. It was a great vacation and gave me the opportunity to take a much needed computer break. I have a lot of pictures to share [eventually] but for now here are some pictures from the road trip I took at the beginning of June in Brussels. We happened to stumble upon a Bordeaux wine tasting festival which was pretty much the perfect way to end the afternoon.

Happy summer!

la défense

 We had only planned on making a quick stop at La Défense to check out the Grande Arche [another amazing Parisian building] but a super kind older gentleman started up a conversation with us and we spent a good 20 minutes talking, mainly him sharing interesting facts and information about the area.. along with things we had to see since we’re both architecture students. There was actually a lot more to see there than we expected, including this beautiful church [photo 3].

I’ve been away for a while because of my P4 presentation and then my subsequent need to take an extended computer break. Well, the good news is my P4 went really well, which means I will be graduating and the beginning of July! Crazy to think about.. but I still have quite a bit to do before the final presentation.

The weather here is finally getting to where it should be.. I think this week calls for a few picnics at the lake.

pompidou

 Even though I’d been to Paris a few times before, I’d never been to the Centre Pompidou so I was really glad I finally go the chance to go this time. Quite an interesting building, huh? One of my professors kept suggesting it as a reference so it was nice to be able to see it in person. Plus the exhibits inside were pretty great too. Anyways, I’m signing off for the next while.. crunch time at school, only 9 days left until the big presentation.

le louvre

The Louvre was spectacular as always. Despite having visited it several times before, I always enjoy coming back. Although it does seem every time I visit the museum it’s busier than ever. We saw a lot of the ‘must sees’ but it was a pretty short visit in the end since we had a lot on our list for that day. The last picture is kind of blurry but I liked the effect of it better than it’s non-blurry counterpart.. sums up the atmosphere outside the Louvre more fittingly.. ordered yet slightly chaotic.

Hoping it will warm up a bit here over the weekend.. I’ve been longing to have a picnic outside but it’s hard to tell if the weather will hold out long enough these days. I had put my winter coat away but I found myself wearing it a few times in the last week.. come on spring! More photos soon

bonjour

Our trip to Paris was great, although a little short. We decided taking the train was the best option since you can get it direct from Rotterdam which is definitely more convenient and relaxing than flying [for me at least]. Although we were only there Wednesday-Saturday early afternoon we managed to see and do a lot.. including finding reasonably-priced and good quality sushi. Japanese food is pretty much my favourite and here in the Netherlands it’s usually super overpriced and underwhelming  [compared to what I'm used to in Vancouver at least], so I’m always super excited to have sushi when I travel. More photos to come.. these are just a few street shots taken on the first afternoon there. Couldn’t have asked for better weather!

copenhagen

 When we visited Sweden a couple weeks ago, Leah and I flew via Copenhagen since it was the closest main airport to where we were staying. Also with Copenhagen being only a 40 minute train ride from Lund, it made sense to make a couple of visits. These photos were take on the first visit where we basically spent time browsing thrift stores and wandering around the city centre.. the second trip was architecture focused. I was able to meet up with my friend Alex from Vancouver [photo 7] and we spent the afternoon together. All I have to say is Danes and Swedes are some of the most stylish people around! I really wish I had more money to shop there…

Photos from the Swedish side of the trip soon!

[PS - sorry for the bad quality in some of these photos, had to scan them myself because the photo shop made a mistake with my order]