Amsterdam in January

I spent four days in Amsterdam this January. The trip was for work and I caught a bad cold there, but I managed to take a few quick pics. It's a great place and I gotta go back soon.

Boat houses:


Near the Central Station:


Old Church reflection:


Typical Amsterdam:


Reflection:


Fresh mint tea:


Amsteram at sunset:


After sunset:


The canals are now frozen, I am told! :)








West Church during the blue hour:


More photos here.

Snowy Kamnik

Snow at last! This winter had been exceptionally dry - with the exception of some heavy rain! But no snow... until yesterday. Only a few centimeters in Kamnik, but it was enough to blanket the town in soft whiteness, so in the afternoon, after work, I headed out for a quick spin around town to take a few shots.

First I went up the Šutna street...

... past the Church of Our Lady.


Love those roofs.


Then I climbed the Mali grad hill.


Mali grad chapel with the Stari grad hill in the background - the hill with great views that I climb often.


Kamnik was at my feet.


The Franciscan church with one of my favorite hiking hills in the distance - Kamniški vrh.


Mali grad courtyard and castle.


Mali grad chapel and castle.


A narrow Kamnik street.

Returning from the Mali grad hill I looked down the Šutna street toward the setting sun.

Then I climbed the Žale hill and took this photo from above the Kamnik train station looking toward Zaprice castle.


Zaprice castle up close.


The Franciscan church and monastery from the Žale hill.

Christmas decoration in Kamnik

Another late post: Christmas decoration in Kamnik. I had some errands to run on January 3 and took a few photos with my new toy: Canon Powershot S100. It was pure coincidence that I found myself on the main square right at the blue hour. :)










And here's a short movie in the so-called miniature mode taken at 5x speed:



Click here to view it in HD.

Christmas midnight mass on Velika planina

For those who have been waiting for this post: better late than never, they say. :)

After two years of really bad rainy weather for Christmas I was finally happy to hear a nice weather forecast for December 24, so I headed up the mountain in the evening to take photos of an extraordinary event that only takes places once a year - on the Christmas eve. The procession of people hiking to the Velika planina chapel with torches and flashlights is a sight you don't get to see very often, religious or not.















After everybody was gone, I climbed the ridge overlooking the valley and took a few photos of Kamnik, Mengeš and Ljubljana in the mist below.


An hour later the chapel was deserted again.

Views from Stari grad on a windy January afternoon

I climbed Stari grad above Kamnik yesterday after a long abstinence from any hiking. It felt so good! Due to the cold and windy weather my fingers almost froze off while I was taking photos at the top, but the views made up for it.

Is this winter?? Where is the snow? Come on, it's the middle of January. I want snow!


This is the view from the top towards the Kamnik Alps:


Kamnik:


You can sort of see my house from here. :)


My favorite "training" hill, Kamniški vrh, was glowing red in the late afternoon light:


Mt. Brana and Mt. Planjava, as well as the clouds, turned orange-pink as the sunset was approaching.


Then the sun was almost gone:


Mt. Triglav and the Julian Alps in the distance:


Stari grad castle ruins and the after sunset sky:


Even after running all the way down the steep trail back to Kamnik my fingers didn't thaw. I really need to bring my gloves next time. :)

Oh, and all these photos were taken with my new compact camera, Canon Powershot S100, fitted with a polarizing filter. Around 200 grams altogether, heh. It was strange to go on a hike with so little weight. :)