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Today kicks of the season for Major League Baseball. The A’s and Mariners are playing a short series in Japan before the rest of the teams begin early next week. I’m planning on watching games this summer in five stadiums I’ve never been to before so it should be a great year.
I did absolutely no research prior to arriving in Amsterdam last summer. So when I walked out of my hotel to find that I was staying in a district (Leidseplein) with this much nightlife activity I was a bit surprised. Without even participating in the possible debauchery the scene was a trip. Ten shots of Jägermeister for only 10 Euro? And I could get pancakes to go along with that? Or I could head next door to The Bulldog Palace Coffeeshop and order off an extensive menu of legal cannabis. Pot not your thing? Farther down this road you can have your choice of magic mushrooms. Actually you didn’t have to purchase or consume anything to get your head spinning. Just wondering what the mounted police could possibly do while on the back of a horse was enough to send your mind into space.
I found out later in the evening that the hotcakes at Pancake Corner come served with huge scoops of ice cream on top. Weird.
While on an Amsterdam canal cruise tour I took today’s top photo of some Dutch buildings. I think the tour guide was describing the details at the top of each building. The building on the right, by the way, is a “Coffeeshop.” I’m not sure if you can really buy coffee there or not. The main item on the menus in Amsterdam’s coffee shops is marijuana–all perfectly legal.
Anyway, back to the tops of these buildings…
At the top of Amsterdam’s houses you will notice hooks suspended near the top called hijsbalk. With the use of a rope and pulley the Dutch can hoist large, heavy items in and out of their homes rather than have to try and haul them up their steep, narrow staircases.
While scanning the buildings to find examples of this system I came across this one…
Ever taken a photo without flash at 1 a.m.? Usually the photos aren’t very successful unless you leave the shutter open for a long time. However, for this photo the shutter was open for just 1/2 second. The secret? I took it in early July in northern Sweden, a time of year and place in which things never get completely dark.
If you are ever zipping around in your boat on the Baltic Sea and need a place to rest for the evening, the Port of Gävle is a nice little place to moor your transportation.
My random wallpaper of the day, Immortal’s main man Abbath Doom Occulta, from last summer’s Getaway Rock Festival in Gavle, Sweden.
