The Fortress Island of Pampus and Muiderslot

Last Saturday we went to the fortress island of Pampus and to Muiderslot, a medieval castle. Both were part of the Hollandse Waterlinie. It was a very nice daytrip. We had excellent weather and we had some great sightseeing. From Muiderslot there was a ferry to the fortress island. It took about 20 minutes from the castle to the island. Although short it was a nice ride on the ferry. We saw lots of sailing ships and also some old style (sailing)boats.

On the fortress island we had a guided tour of about 75 minutes. It was an interesting tour. I was lucky I took both of my digital camera's because one of them broke down. Otherwise there would have been a chance I wouldn't had pictures here to share with you.

After the tour we ate our lunch and waited for the ferry to take us back to the castle. At the castle we also took a guided tour and after the tour there were two other routes around other parts of the castle that you could walk individually. We also did and after that we checked the (herb)gardens next to the castle. Near the gardens there was also a falconer showing some gorgeous birds of prey. He had an American buzzard and an eagle owl with him. They were gorgeous birds and the falconer was a passionate storyteller with a good sense of humour. I listened with great interest for more than one hour and watched these magnificent birds.

After that the castle closed and we went for dinner and then back home. It was a day well spend. Here are some of the pics I shot last Saturday. I think they don't need much explanation. Most of them speak for themselves.

The rest of the pics you can check here.

Not so much to share

I didn't made much pictures lately, so there is not so much to share. And during the weekends I was quite busy. My brother and his family are visiting from Israel. Last weekend they visited our place and stayed until Monday. But I have some pictures left from the weekend before.

Noriko and I visited some other fortress. We went to Fort Nieuwersluis, also part of the Hollandse Waterlinie. After the guided tour we took a walk to the nice village Loenen aan de Vecht and to the town Loenen which Loenen aan de Vecht belongs to.

The tour was interesting. Because of the bright sushine during the tour most of the outside pictures didn't came out that well. The white balance was disturbed and even with different settings it was hard to make good pictures outside. The third picture might give you a bit of an idea of the fortress. The first two pictures were wallpaintings probably made by soldiers, but that's not 100% sure.

The other three pictures were taken during our walk through Loenen aan de Vecht and Loenen.

First anniversary

Today it's exactly one year ago that I started this photoweblog. No reasons for celebrations, but one year ago I didn't knew if I would manage to publish pictures on a regular basis. I'm now a little over 300 pictures further and I still like doing it, so I guess I will continue.

Anyway here are some pics from last Saturday when Noriko and I went to Fort Rijnauwen, just a few kilometres outside our hometown Utrecht and part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, a military line of defence that was build in the second half of the 19th century. For more information about the fortress that we visited and the "Waterlinie" you can check the added links.

The fortresses of the "Waterlinie" are not used anymore. Some of them are now nature resorts. Fort Rijnauwen is also a nature resort nowadays and give shelter to some endangered rare plants and animals, like kingfishers, birds of prey like buzzards, grasssnakes, deer, bats etc....

You could only enter fortress and the surrounded area with a guided tour, which took two and a half hour. That might seem long but it was a nice and interesting tour, history wise, but nature wise it was also beautiful. We both enjoyed it a lot.

Here are some of the pics.

The view from one of the canon loopholes