Sunday 2 January 2011

First day of the year ...

... with my feet in the IJssel*
(si prefieres leer este post en español, por favor sigue este enlace)
First sunset of 2011 by the Buitenwaarden Wijhe (Overijssel).

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had good fun celebrating New Year's Eve and that you welcomed 2011 in high spirts and good health!

After a lazy brunch on this first day of the year -and the decade-  we decided with my husband to take a short ride along the river IJssel and see what kind of images winter and nature would gift us with. We didn't have to go too far from Zwolle to find a delicious spot near the town of Wijhe.

In comparison to other rivers in the Netherlands, the IJssel is less accessible. Most of the towns and cities by the river have nice sandbeaches, but between one town and the next, it is quite difficult to get close to the water. That is why the Dutch Forestry Commission or Staatsbosbeheer in Dutch,has set up beautiful locations along the IJssel where you can get really close to the water and enjoy the view of the river and its habitat.

There are ten such spots of the Met je Voeten in de IJssel (which means, "with your feet in the IJssel") route and they can be indentified by cute signs like this one:

the "with your feet in the IJssel" sign marking one of the locations by the river in the Buitenwaarden Wijhe.
Riding out of Zwolle, we took the N337 and just 2 km north of the town of Wijhe, we found the parking place for the Buitenwaarden Wijhe, one of the locations set up by the Staatsbosbeheer.

Not knowing what to expect, I first got out of the car on my own, hoping to take a few shots and head back to the car as soon as possible. I first sighted the dijk (dyke):

People taking a New Year's stroll on the dyke at Buitenwaarden Wijhe.

Then of course, my eyes were drawn towards the sun and the water. The land between the summer and winter dykes get generally flooded at this time of the year and you get your feet definitely in the water if you wander off the marked foot- and cyclepaths:

With a bit of sun, Dutch skies turn into beautiful paintings.
I found an information board describing the habitat of De Buitenwaarden and discovered a mill in the distance. Could it get more Dutch than this? Educational and bucolic at the same time:
Flooded meadows by the IJssel, an informative board and a mill in the distance.
A mill in the far distance as seen from the dyke on De Buitenwaarden Wijhe.

I was truly mesmerised by the effect of the sunlight on the frozen water:

Abstract art for free on the IJssel river.
We then moved on a few kilometres down the N337 (the IJsseldijk) and stopped at another spot where it was possible to stroll closeby the water.
The whole area of the IJssel washwaters is one of the richest in bird life and we spotted hundreds of them!

A few amigos...


... and then two amigos:


We kept shooting away and enjoying the last moments of sunlight by the IJssel:


Finally, at around 16:35 of this, the 1st day of the year, and the decade, we took the last shot of this beautiful natural area by the IJssel river - it was time to head back home:

The sunset in a beautiful spot along the river IJssel, near Den Nul, province of Overijssel.

_______________________________________________
*translation of "met je voeten in de IJssel" - the name of the route along the IJssel river.

38 comments:

Estebanmarcequi said...

Hermoso tour nos regalaste ste hoy!!! Este río es muy atrayente, las fotos son verdaderas postales. muy lindas.

Gracias por permitirnos conocer cada día un pòquito más de Holanda!!!

Saludos.-

Alison said...

What a wonderful view! I love the special sign marking the spot to "dip your feet", although I think it might be a bit too chilly for that right now! ;) The "abstract" photo of the icy water is fantastic!

BLOGitse said...

What a beautiful walk you had.
We were lazy and just wathced movies the whole day! Yes, the whole day. :)
Today ready to move ourselves though.
It's been nice and QUIET here. No fireworks, nothing.
Most of the people went to Marrakech...
I try to shoot some ocean pics today.
Have a good second day of the year! :)

Aledys Ver said...

Good thing that it was quiet in Casa!
Have fun on this second day of the year! I'm looking foward to seeing your photos if you manage to go to the ocean!

Aledys Ver said...

The sign is really cute with the bird dipping its feet in the water, isn't it?
I took a dozen shots of the icy water and my husband another dozen! :D

Aledys Ver said...

Gracias chicos! Podés entrar al blog en español, eh? No te olvides en la próxima! jeje

Presepio No Canal said...

Such a beautiful walk, Aledys! Thank you for sharing!
Howt pretty photos you have taken ;-) You've got talent, my dear!! :-)
Netherlands is specially enchanting in this time of the year, don't you think? :-) like a fairytale place...

Beijinhos!

Aledys Ver said...

Thanks, Sandrinha!
Yes, there are plenty of beautiful landscapes around - it's easy to take nice photos here! :D
Thanks for your words and your comment!

buday said...

I WANT that roadsign on my wall, LOL. But where are the Three Amigos?
I'm amazed at how good (& decidedly un-blurry) your nightfall pictures are. Especially since I'm sure you don't lug around a tripod when you go on nice walks like this. :) Consider me jealous.

Aledys Ver said...

I actually have been arguing wih hubby bec. of that - I wanted to take a tripod so as to be able to take more photos later, but he didn't want to take it and said that as long as there was some light, it'd be fine. Go figure.
I couldn't get hold of the "three amigos", they either were too many or one "amigo" short :D

BLOGitse said...

Yes, got a couple of shots! :)
I'll post them later this week - tomorrow it's art again (my last post from Kiasma, Helsinki).
Have a great week ahead!

Aledys said...

You too!! :D

buday said...

I'm with your hubby on this one. You obviously didn't need that tripod, c'mon, when you can make frozen water look like mercury or some scene from Lord of the Rings.

Hey, I hadn't noticed your twitter gadget before. Ok! :)

Aledys Ver said...

Well, if I had had the thing, I would've taken more photos at dusk...
Yes, I have a Twitter account, but just to promote my blog :D I don't use it much. I do use my Facebook page all day, though... if you have one and want to add me, send me an email - you'll find the address in my profile page.

Invader_Stu said...

Happy New Year. Great looking photos.

Sonya said...

Oooh wow,such beautiful photos! Happy New Year :)

Aledys Ver said...

Thanks, Sonya!!

Aledys Ver said...

Happy New Year to you, too, Stu! Thanks!

Miss Footloose said...

I so (vicariously) enjoyed your trip! Although I visit my family in Friesland twice a year or so, I don't go on a lot of trips around the country when I am there. Having lived outside the country for ages, it is always nice to be reminded how beautiful the country is.

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar

Aledys Ver said...

Indeed, it is beautiful - all the year round!
Gelukkig Nieuwjaar jij ook!

Patricia Sgrignuoli said...

Aledys,
Excellents all the photos!!! But I can not believe the frozen water... so cold... but beautiful effect for the photos! It is a very pretty place and I like your "amigos"...

Happy new year!! Feliz Año Nuevo!!!

Aledys Ver said...

Frozen water is a common sight at this time of the year. Unfortunately, there is not enough of it to be able to run the Elfstedentocht, the skating race on natural ice...
Happy New Year to you, too!!

Melissa said...

Looks like a really nice, peaceful, nature filled New Years...wishing you the best for 2011!

Aledys said...

For you and the rest of the Willems, too - Happy 2011!! :D

GlocalGirl said...

What beautiful photos! Sounds like the perfect way to begin a New Year!

Cheers from Amsterdam!
www.GlocalGirl.com

Aledys said...

Thanks! Yes, it was great to take a long walk in nature, even if it was cold...

Tracyglenstein said...

It is nice all you tell us about the river, and the landscapes you got to see. It reminds me of my trip to Argentina, i rented one of those furnished apartments in buenos aires and visited every possible place in the city, it was fabulous!
Tracy

Tattytiara said...

What an interesting post. People are always referencing the Netherlands in one context or another, but you don't often get to see any unique images of the place. Glad I happened by your lovely blog!

Aledys Ver said...

What I am trying o do here, is to show how beautiful the NL is and also, that there's more to the NL than just Amsterdam - which is a beautiful city and has a character of its own, but exploring the NL is certainly worth the while.
Thanks for your visit!

Katie said...

Aledys, you have a real eye for photography! I'm just floored by the beauty of the Dutch countryside that you portray in your photos.

Allow me to throw out an unrelated question merely to satisfy my curiosity...how long did it take you to become fluent in Dutch? Did you take classes or did you learn through immersion?

Aledys Ver said...

Thanks, Katie!
As for your question: in the NL when you arrive as a non-EU resident, you are required to enter a special adaptation programme, which includes language training. In my case, I took up a full-time course that allowed me to take a Dutch as a Foreign Language test known as NT2-II, at an academic level. The course in itself took me about 10 months and I passed the exams in one go.
But being fluent and gaining confidence when speaking Dutch has been a long process with ups and downs, as you can imagine. Not very different from your experience when it comes to speaking Spanish, I suppose?

Japra said...

Oh what beautiful wintery photos, Aledys! It makes me feel oh so nostalgic about the Netherlands. Happy New Year to you and your husband :-)

Aledys Ver said...

But I'm sure you have very lovely landscapes there in the UK too... Happy New Year!

A Vagamundos said...

Happy New Year for you Aledys! Hope this year brings you a lot of promising things.
Besos

Aledys Ver said...

The same to you, guys! All the best for this year and your new place in the world.

Argimira. said...

Preciosas fotos Aledys !!!
Me alegro que disfrutaseis del paseo !!!

Besitos

Mimi

Aledys Ver said...

Gracias, Mimí!! Un beso para tí!

Katie said...

The special adaptation program sounds interesting. I'm almost positive we don't have anything like that for newly-arrived immigrants in the United States, but it certainly sounds as though it would help to make the transition more smooth for new residents.

With regard to fluency and confidence in speaking a foreign language, I absolutely agree that those are two things that only come with time and patience! :)