Updated Photo Sets

Hello all!

We have recently updated a few photo sets with pictures we have either found or recently taken. The updated sets are listed below along with a description of the added photos.

1. Radboud Walk-Around

To this set Farrell has added pictures from a spring walk we had around campus. It covers a slightly different area of campus, including some pictures from the top floor of the Erasmus building (the tallest in Nijmegen), and shows the crocus in bloom.

2. Happenings of the Flat

In keeping with the spring motif, this set includes some pictures from the spring redecorating I gave the flat, as well as a few portraits of each of us. There are even a few random photos that I took, other than the ones of Farrell. (See if you can guess which!)

3. Nijmegen with Visitors

This nice, little set has been updated with a few more pictures we uncovered from when our friends visited from the U.S.

Feel free to take a peek! Enjoy!

Until next time,

Jessica

CouchSurfing in Cologne

Hello everyone!

I am glad to report that our trip to Cologne turned out great! The city was beautiful and we had an excellent host, which made our very first CouchSurfing experience very enjoyable. For those of you who have never heard of CouchSurfing, it is an online community of travelers who are interested in making new friends by hosting and visiting other community members. So, rather than staying in a hostel, this allows you a chance to stay with a local resident who is interested and excited to talk to you about their city and (if you are lucky like we were) show you around as well. It is a really great experience that I strongly recommend. And, don't worry, it really is safe: there is a verification system and you can view feedback and reviews from people that have hosted or been hosted by that individual.

As for the city itself, as the fourth largest city in Germany, Cologne has a lot to offer. Sometimes referred to as "Italy's northernmost city," Cologne is historically Catholic with beautiful cathedrals, a fun, relaxed atmosphere, and, of course, their famous Kölsch (or Koelsch) beer. What's more, Cologne has a lot of museums and on-going archaeological projects, which makes since given that Cologne is such an old city, nevertheless we were surprised by what we found. We walked along the Rhine, tagged along with a Danish tour group we bumped into, and explored all over the city. Take a look at the photos and see for yourself!

Until next time,

Jessica and Farrell

Mentor Group Picnic in the Park

Hello again!

When we first arrived, the International Office at Radboud University assigned each exchange student to a mentor group for the two weeks of orientation. But, as usually happens, friendships are made and it is no longer just a "mentor group," but the usual and anticipated meeting of friends. However, this afternoon picnic in Kronenburgerpark had a few unexpected surprises. Take a look at our afternoon spent relaxing, people watching, and listening to an impromptu performance from an interesting acquaintance with a borrowed hat and guitar. [photo set here]

Until next time,

Jessica

Amsterdam III: Farrell's Belated Birthday Trip

Greetings all!

Farrell's birthday was back in April and, as mentioned in the "Fast Forward" post, we took another trip to Amsterdam. We walked around our favorite parts of the city (along the canals) and explored Vondelpark, but we spent the majority of the day visiting the Stedelijk Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Unfortunately, neither of these museums allowed photography, so we do not have quite as many photos as usual. Nonetheless, feel free to take a tour of the sites on the way from the Central Station to the museum and back again. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Jessica

Saturday Travels Part II: Haarlem

Hello there!

We have finished sorting and Farrell has now finished labeling our pictures from Haarlem, Saturday's second trip following our visit to the Keukenhof Gardens, the largest flower gardens in the world. Described by locals as "a village in a city," Haarlem is a beautiful city filled with gorgeous old buildings, canals, looming cathedrals, windmills, and a rich history to accompany it all. Needless to say we had a great time, so we encourage you to take a look for yourself! Begin viewing the complete photo set here and see what it is like to walk the streets of Haarlem!

Until next time,

Jessica and Farrell

The Keukenhof Gardens

Hello there,

As mentioned in the last post, we took a trip to the famous Keukenhof Gardens, the largest flower garden in the world. Certainly, the gardens did not disappoint. Take a tour of "the Gardens of Europe," by looking at the finished photo set. Posted only two days after, consider this a belated Mother's Day post. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Jessica and Farrell

The Groninger in Groningen

Greetings!

We have been doing some traveling the past two days: Friday we went to Groningen, followed by a trip to the famous Keukenhof Gardens and Haarlem. Both days were a lot of fun, but very tiring, involving several solid hours of traveling each day. Take a look at the first set of pictures from our recent travels, here. This set focuses on our first day of traveling in Groningen, which began with a visit to the Groninger Museum (of art) and a walk all around this city, the capital of the province of Groningen. Look for pictures from Keukenhof and Haarlem in the coming days.

Note: I spent most of today sorting, describing, researching and tagging this photo-set and the two yet-to-be-launched sets of Keukenhof and Haarlem. However, as it takes quite a bit of time to write researched and externally linked descriptions for all of my photos, I haven't quite finished with this set. If you want to go ahead and take a look, go for it - I will post again when I've finished adding descriptions, tags and geotags to this set, for everyone else who wants the fully connected experience. 

Until next time,

Jessica and Farrell

Manchester Recap!

Hello again,

As you can see, we (Farrell) are making some progress in sorting these photos. These are from our very long day of travelling from Amsterdam to Manchester by train, plane, bus, and foot. Described by George Orwell as the 'belly and guts of the Nation," Manchester is in many ways exactly what you would expect from an industrial dinosaur -- dirty, gritty, bleak -- but, despite first impressions, Manchester boasts a lively music scene, a well-reputed university, and some really well-done museums. But don't take us at our words, have a look for yourself!

Find the Manchester photo set here, or start viewing a slideshow here.

Until Next Time,

Jessica and Farrell

New Photos: Amsterdam II

Hello everyone!

Here is the next set of our holiday series, this time from Amsterdam. This short day trip took us all through the city, from our hostel at one end to the Anne Frank Museum at the other. Take a look and let us know if you have any questions!

As far as Nijmegen, everything is going pretty well, but we are still in the midst of exams, so there is not too much to say. Fortunately it will all be over January 31, or possibly sooner if I finish my essays early...of course, that might be hoping for too much. Regardless, we should be able to get back to a more routine posting schedule within the next few weeks or so.

You can find the set of photos here, or start viewing a slideshow here.

Until Next Time,

Jessica and Farrell

New Photos: The Hague

Since I finished my last exam Wednesday, my workload has been more reasonable. As a result, I have had time to get a set of pictures sorted, uploaded and described. I will be going through my photos chronologically, starting with this one in Den Haag, followed by Amsterdam, Manchester England, Edinburgh Scotland, St. Andrews Scotland, and Dublin Ireland. Check back regularly over the next week or two for more more photo sets!

You can find the my newest set of photos here, or start viewing a slideshow here.

Farrell

Fun in the Snow

Jessica, Dad and I walked to a local park in Nijmegen, which was wonderfully transformed by the snow. We saw zebra walking in the snow, found a football (soccer) stadium, watched hundreds of kids and kids-at-heart sled and make snowmen, had snowball fights, helped move stuck cars, and met a cross-country skier.

Fortunately, I brought my DSLR and both my long and walk-around lenses, so all of the above were photographed.

Find the set here or the slideshow here.

Farrell

Christmas Morning Photos

I think the title says it all in this case. I have uploaded photos of Dad, Jessica and I opening the presents Dad brought with him from the US. We each have also been given gifts from others that either have already been opened or are of a kind that is not opened, as in ripped out of wrapping paper A Christmas Story style. Those are not pictured here.

Find the set here, or the slideshow here.

Farrell

Dortmund Hostel Photos

Hey all!

Just a quick post to link anyone interested to a photo tour of the hostel we stayed at in Dortmund, while visiting the Christmas Market. I took these to share on hostel review sites, in an effort to contribute to the online community.

Find the set here, or view a slideshow here.

Farrell

Weihnachtsmarkt Photos!

Dad, Jessica and I made our second trip together, this time to Dortmund, Germany to visit one of the many famous German Weihnachtsmarkts, or Christmas Markets! Many German towns, really all of them of a reasonable size, host a Christmas Market during December each year. Our European friends have been excited about visiting them for months, and hearing them talking about the Weihnachtsmarkts so positively, we decided to visit one as well.

Well, it was everything they had hyped it up to be and more!

I did quite a bit of reading about camera care in very cold temperatures, and brought my DSLR along this time. That turned out to be a very good decision, as just about everything at the market was worth a photo, and many of those photos turned out quite nicely.

Find my largest set of photos so far here, or start viewing them as a slideshow here.

Farrell

Univeristy Photo's Up

Jessica and I went on a walk, in between light rain showers, to explore some parts of Radboud's campus we had not yet visited properly. I had gotten a quick glimpse of a fragment of a massive concrete tower-like structure through a window in the Huygensgebouw (HG) building during a Prolog programing lab, and, thinking of the centrality of the bell tower on NCSU's campus, I thought it deserved looking in to. It turned out to be noteworthy and cool, but by a different metric. It was a physically prominent marker for a very cool area of campus, including the super-modern HG building, an underground very strong magnet lab, and some really cool green space designs. Here is an excerpt from a Radboud sub-domain webpage on the magnetic lab:

"The High Field Magnet Laboratory (HFML) is a European research facility used for research on materials in very high magnetic fields. This striking building is in fact a large factory that is needed to achieve a continuous field of 33 Tesla or a pulsed field of 60 Tesla in a small research cell. There are only two other comparable laboratories in the entire world.

The main users, research scientists of the Institute for Molecules and Materials, concentrate on the measurement of quantum effects, magnetic manipulation of molecules and on optical and far infra-red spectroscopy. The state of weightlessness that occurs in magnetic fields is comparable to those in space and provides excellent conditions for growing pure (protein) crystals." - Radboud

Anyway, check out the decent sized photo set of Radboud University, including beautiful green spaces and cool building designs among a spattering of other interesting things. Click here for a large image sideshow with descriptions visible, or here for the set main-page.

Farrell

Edit: You may have noticed that the blog currently has a poll question up. Voting in this poll is only open for 2 more days, so please, if you would like to share your input, which helps us improve the blog, do so while you have a chance!

Two Small Photo Sets Up

Some of you may have already stumbled on these pre-published by exploring my Flicker account. They have been online for a while as I added pictures to them, waiting for them to be substantial enough to publish. Unlike all of my other sets, I will continue adding pictures to these in the future, as I take more photos best categorized by one of them.

The first set consists of pictures of general happenings from around our flat. Find a large version of the first picture in the set here (recommended) or the set main-page.

The second set is called 'The Biking Dutch,' and is populated with, you guessed it, pictures of Dutch people biking. I have seen so many cool things on bikes here, but have so far only documented a tiny fraction of them. Again, this will be an ongoing project. Recommended viewing starts here, set main-page here.

Farrell

The Graphics of Our Travels

A Baby Cucumber
Originally uploaded by Farrell

Check it out, our Flickr account is up, running and connected. I've uploaded 90-something of the better pictures from my learning sessions in Greensboro. I'm so impressed with my camera and lenses, could not be more satisfied with them. Despite my inexperience and shooting in full manual mode, I think some of these are fairly sweet. I think this link will show you my latest set, I'll edit ASAP otherwise, comment if you have trouble.

Sign-off as yet undetermined,
Farrell