Wednesday 23 November 2011

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic...

 (Lee este post en español aquí)
Three months have gone by since the last time I wrote here on my blog. In the meantime, I have been travelling, working and enjoying the company of  friends and family and I cannot think of a better way to spend my days. 

This year I have been very lucky - I have been on short holidays three times: to beautiful Andalusia in Spain, to the Ardennes in neighbouring Belgium and to the Argo Saronic Islands in Greece. I fell in love with all of these places and I feel it would be a dream come true to go back to each one of them some time in the future.
In late August, my parents came all the way from Argentina to spend two months with me in The Netherlands.  It was the first time my father visited Holland, so we made sure that he got to see as much as possible and we also spent two weekends abroad in Germany and in Belgium. 

My parents during our visit at the Southern Sea Museum in the NL.

Finally, the time came to pay our annual visit to my home country, Argentina. Right when a quite unusually beautiful autumn was beginning to set in in Holland, the four of us -my parents, my husband and I-  flew together across half of Europe and over the Atlantic to land here in the southern hemisphere some 25 hours after leaving home. Here in the south Nature´s cycle is just beginning and trees are not losing their leaves but rather filling up. The usual brown and earthy colours that are so common in Córdoba, are slowly changing into green again and it is warm and sunny most of the time.


I usually feel sorry to miss the beauty of the autumn in The Netherlands, especially this year when it has been such an unusually fantastic season, judging by what I´ve seen in my friend Alison´s blog -A Flamingo in Utrecht- lately. Here are some of the shots she took around the city of Utrecht:

Autumn along the Oudegracht. ©Alison Netsel

Mist in a street in Utrecht. ©Alison Netsel.
 
Autumn Domtoren (Church bell tower) ©Alison Netsel
But the beauty of the spring in Argentina makes up for all that I am missing in the northern hemisphere. It is during this time of the year when the beautiful jacarandá, a typical tree of these lands, get covered in gorgeous purple flowers. I recently admired them in the photos my friend Diego -from the blog in Spanish, Contacto con lo Divino- took in Buenos Aires. Here are some of his pictures:

Jacaranda en Buenos Aires 006
Jacarandas in bloom in Buenos Aires. ©Diego Bianchi

Jacaranda en Buenos Aires 023
Beautiful light trhough the jacarandas. ©Diego Bianchi

Jacaranda Parte II
View of 9 de Julio Av. in Buenos Aires. ©Diego Bianchi

I still have three more weeks to enjoy my holiday here in Argentina, during which I hope to see more of my friends and family and enjoy visiting all the familiar places that mean so much to me ...

Hasta la próxima...!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Finally! So this is why we've been missing you.

I follow Alison's blog, too and NL is all gorgeous orange/brown now. But you've got it going, too, with those purple trees (hello!). I've never seen anything like it. They make the grand boulevard even more beautiful.

Looking forward to more from you soon, but no pressure! :) Enjoy your holiday-ing.

Unknown said...

@titabuds,
I love the purple trees! We have them here in Córdoba, too. But if you take a look at Diego´s blog, you´ll see the great combination of the jacarandás and the grand architecture of Buenos Aires... I love that city!
Thanks a lot for stopping by.
Cheers!

Rosie Chu said...

I love that tree - I´ve never seen anything like it before. Beautiful shots, by the way.
Cheers,
Rosie

Alison said...

Oh, those jacaranda trees are so beautiful! Now you've made me feel nostalgic for spring, just as I was embracing fall! :)

Anita said...

Enjoy your vacations and the warm weather. I really think that winter in the Northern hemisphere is an idiot thing.

Unknown said...

@Rosie,
The views of the city when those trees are in bloom are just incredible!

Unknown said...

@Alison,
Wanna change? ;)

Unknown said...

@Anita,
Thanks!!

Ana O'Reilly said...

Seeing the jacarandaes in full bloom is one of the joys of visiting Buenos Aires in November.

Unknown said...

@Ana,
Great that you are there to enjoy the view, then! :D

Katie said...

I'm so glad you're having such a wonderful visit with your family, Aledys. The photos in this post are wonderful! :)

Anonymous said...

I thought maybe you had moved:) Great that you're having a wonderful time visiting family and friends..enjoy every minute!

BLOGitse said...

Welcome back! :)
You're lucky to live in Holland - it's so dark here in Finland now. But. 31.12. we start getting more light, day by day...can't wait.
I'm sure you've had a great break, holiday.
Isn't it magical to feel free from blogging even if you miss blog friends and their stories. I noticed how easy it was to live without active blogging. It was relief to notice that I'm not too addicted!- even now I don't post as often as I used to, I need time for my real life! :)
Did you miss blogging or was it difficult to live without active blogging?

BLOGitse said...

ps.
Alison's photos are beautiful! I'll visit her blog right now! :)

Sylvia said...

What precious photos! As I live in Buenos Aires, I always look forward to Spring when the Jacarandas bloom. Gorgeous! I also love your pics of Utrecht. I've visited The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and many other European countries. Love them all! I'm especially fond of Spain, my son studied in Salamanca! I was brought up in Río Negro, Argentine Patagonia, but at the moment I'm living in Buenos Aires. Hope to retire one day in Bariloche, near my daughter's place. Waiting for all the ashes to blow away! That Chilean volcano has been a catastrophe for all that area of Argentina. So I've bookmarked you and I'm following you on Google as well as Networked Blogs. I like to know about visitors' impressions of my country! I'm a poet, so do please visit my blog, you'll see that I absolutely love Nature. You may comment in English. Bless you all!

Unknown said...

@Katie,
Thanks! It was fun... and like all good things, they come to an end :( I've been back in NL for a week now...

Unknown said...

@BLOGitse,
I do miss blogging and reading other blogs! But well, when you are having fun, it's not difficult to stay away from the PC, is it? :D

Unknown said...

@Sylvia,
Wonderful to have you stopping by to say "hi". I hope you can make your dream of retiring in Bariloche come true one day - it's a beautiful place! I have actually two friends who moved from Buenos Aires and are now living in the area. It's been the best decision of their lives!
I'll visit your blog soon.
Cheers!

Miss Footloose | Life in the Expat Lane said...

What a great time you are having with all your travels! I wouldn't mind at all being in Argentina now that it is spring. I remember the jacaranda trees in bloom when I lived in Kenya! They are so beautiful.

It has been gray and wet and rainy and dark here in Moldova the last week or so. I'm seeing the sun come out for the first time just now.

Have a wonderful time back home in Argentina with your family and friends!

Craciun Fericit (Merry Christmas) from Moldova!

Unknown said...

@Miss Footloose,
It's been a wonderful year getting to spend more time than usual with my family and travelling to many beautiful places..
Merry Christmas to you too!!

Mollers Down Under said...

I love your pictures, especially "View of 9 de Julio Av. in Buenos Aires". It reminds me of Pretoria in South Africa, nicknamed "The Jacaranda City", with its streets lined purple in October and November each year.