June 26, 2016 Field Trip

I have a friend and colleague, Junko Takahashi, who works at Christian Academy in Japan.  She also attends Tokyo Union church.  A few times a year, we make arrangements to go on a field trip after church.  We usually go to some special place that gives a feel of Japanese culture.  Way back in June, we went on such a field trip to a part by a small river.  Following are the pictures I took that day.

Paying respects at the shrine.

Looking down

Entrance to temple area

Bamboo

Tokyo

That is Junko Takahashi with the hat.

It is a beautiful place, calming and quiet.  I am amazed that in Tokyo, a place where millions of people live, there are places such as this park, where one can go to and feel like you're out in the country.  The Japanese know how to create peaceful parks and gardens amid busyness.  

Last days in The Netherlands

The last days in The Netherlands were spent visiting Amsterdam.  

This video is of an ensemble playing by the Rijksmuseum and the draaiorgel.

Rijksmuseum

Rijksmuseum

Delft Blauw

Model of Dashima

One of the Halls, this was where Van Gogh's works were.

Breakfast!   

De Ouwe Kerk 

Dam Square facing the Koninklijk Paleis

National Memorial to the Dutch soldiers and those involved in the Resistance in WW2

De Nieuwe Kerk

A Draaiorgel

Bloemenmarkt in Amsterdam

Starbucks in Schiphol

Starbucks in Hong Kong International Airport

Hong Kong

I am incredibly blessed to have been able to take this trip.  Many thanks to many who were a part of making this a great trip!  

Volendam to Amsterdam

It was a fun evening in Volendam, experiencing the Dutch fishing village on the sea.  

This was taken from my hotel room.

The next morning, brought gray skies and a 30 minute ferry ride to Markem.

Joel and Julie fighting the wind and the rain on the way to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse.

Much of the day it was raining, sometime driving rain with wind.  It was not terribly enjoyable, but it was memorable.  

Stopped along the way to say hi to the cows.

It took us along a dyke and we finally stopped in Durgerdammerdijk for some time to eat (croquettes for me!) and drink some hot coffee.   

We were able make it to our hotel, but it was a pretty wet ride, sometimes the wind drove the rain and sometimes it was just raining really hard.  I was glad to see our hotel.

Made it to the hotel, a little wet. :) 

Our hotel had art on the walls as you can see from the background in the above picture and the walls in the entry.

The final day was a wet, rainy day, but still was a great way to see the country.  Each day I felt blessed that I was able to do this trip with Joel and Julie.