Clancy Tucker's Blog

5 September 2020 - FAIRYTALE VILLAGE WITHOUT ROADS IN THE NETHERLANDS

FAIRYTALE VILLAGE

WITHOUT ROADS

IN THE NETHERLANDS

G'day folks,

You are going to love this place. Nicknamed “Venice of the Netherlands”, this small town is littered with hundreds of canals and century old houses.

The only difference between Venice and this quaint community is that you will not find a single gasoline engine here. There are no roads in Giethoorn, there isn’t a need for loud and disruptive cars. It is just a laid back community that travels on foot and when needed leisurely floats down the canal. This town is straight out of a fairy tale.

It is very quiet here in Giethoorn, the loudest noise heard is often a quacking duck or rustling bird, and all boats here are powered by electricity. You can drift down a side street, or rather just a smaller canal, to observe a resident casually strolling through the neighborhood.

You will float underneath several delicate wooden bridges as you observe the intricate thatched roofs of the old farm houses that make up the community. In earlier times, tiled roofs were a sign of wealth due to thatched roofs being cheaper. Today, the exact opposite is true.Due to the lack of roads, most homes not accessible by car so the post man delivers mail via boat.

When the canals freeze over in the winter, residents gracefully travel by ice skating in place of their dinghies.

This fairy tale like town is located in the province of Overijssel, positioned in the east of the Netherlands. There are more than 60 miles of canals to explore making the number one tourist attraction in Giethoorn boating.

The name Giethoorn means “the horns of goats”. The first inhabitants discovered hundreds of goat horns on the land which the community is now built on. The town was founded in 1230 by fugitives from the Mediterranean who subsequently stumbled upon vast quantities of peat moss in the ground.

Clancy's comment: Wow. What a peaceful place. Love it!

I'm ...

15 October 2020 - A COLLECTION OF ANIMAL EYES - UP CLOSE

A COLLECTION OF ANIMAL

EYES - UP CLOSE

G'day folks,

Few people get a chance to photograph animals such as hippos, hyenas, or crocodiles. Suren Manvelyan, however, has managed to get so close to them, he even captured insanely detailed close-ups of their eyes.

Some of these macro shots look like landscapes of distant yet-to-be-discovered planets while others remind some sort of a portal to another dimension. But they all prove that the eyes really are the windows to the soul; analyzing the images you can't help but experience profound sensations, as if you're uncovering deeply personal secrets.

Manvelyan captured animals pretty much everywhere he could find them, from his backyard to zoos, oceanariums, and so on. "Sometimes, people even contact me, asking to shoot the eyes of their pets."

Check out some of these amazing shots of a lama, crocodile, dogs, owls etc ...

Clancy's comment: Wow. These look like shots from outer space. Thank you for sharing, Suren.

I'm ...

16 October 2020 - ABANDONED SPA FOUND IN JAPAN

ABANDONED SPA

FOUND IN JAPAN

G'day folks,

No trip to Japan would be complete without a trip to a traditional Japanese bathhouse called an onsen. Japanese onsens conjure up images of relaxing in warm waters, sipping green tea against a backdrop of cherry blossom trees.

The alkaline-rich spa waters of this region are claimed to ease rheumatism. As a consequence of these medicinal properties, numerous onsens and hotels sprung up in the 1940s. For many years these hotels were filled to capacity, as over 3 million tourists flocked here every year. The business was booming!

These looming concrete tower blocks continued to be built. They eventually lined both sides of the river, destroying the previously picturesque natural beauty. In attempting to capitalize on the flocking tourists, these huge ugly buildings acted to drive them away. The final contributing factor to the demise of this and other hotels was a local financial collapse in the 1990s. The economic bubble had now, truly burst.

Now the hotel, like its counterparts, lies in ruins. The exterior is crumbling and choked with weeds. The large bathhouse pool in the basement is empty. The hotel rooms are damp and smell of mold, the floor beneath the tatami mats collapsing. Now, check out these amazing buildings ...