There’s something satisfying about a town which has water in or near its centre. It nearly always brightens the place up.

Sneek (it’s pronounced snake) is a town in Friesland, in the north of The Netherlands.

Like a lot of towns in Flanders and most in The Netherlands, Sneek is built around canals. This one was right beside the road leading into the town from the motorway. The town centre is just off to the right.

We parked by the side of this (different) canal:-

That was after having crossed this bridge to get to the canalside:-

And this canal is in the middle of a shopping street. Notice the “Christmas Light” style hangings over the canal:-

Along with more standard light fittings these also appeared over the “normal” streets:-

The design is in the shape of the Waterpoort, a prominent feature of Sneek’s townscape which I’ll post about later.

This is another beautiful, leafy canal in Sneek:-

A bit further along the same canal was this striking modern theatre:-

Thanks to Duncan for this one.

A short history with photographs of British Woolworth’s shop fronts, whose heyday was of course in the Art Deco 1930s.

As Duncan says, an old Woolies is almost instantly recognisable.

On the way up to Orkney in June (posts, passim) we had time to stop off in Wick, Sutherland.

It has some Art Deco buildings! (Well, styling anyway.)

Bank of Scotland:-

Detail:-

Minor deco style in De Vita’s:-

Another Bank. The TSB:-

A more modern building. It looked as if it was unfinished inside:-

Wick’s Wetherspoon’s is more traditional in construction:-

Wetherspoon’s usually names its pubs after a local person of repute. This plaque on a wall round the corner told of Bain’s accomplishments:-

The final stop on our cruise trip last year was the fishing village of Honfleur in Normandy, France; across the River Seine from Le Havre.

This is a panorama from the ship’s berth on the River Seine.

At the extreme right above is one of those modern buildings we seemed to encounter at nearly every port. View from dock:-

View from town side of tower:-

Honfleur itself is a delightful village in the old style. Panorama of harbour from the direction of the River Seine:-

Honfleur harbour from the town:-

Harbour buildings:-

There isn’t much Art Deco in the centre of Bruges, of course, but in the approach to Smedenpoort we saw this. Good rounded balconies and column, porthole windows:-

And that building to the left has an interesting feature – a gold figure of a seated man:-

This one was a bit nearer to Smedenpoort. Rounded balcony, pillar, rule of three in windows, projecting canopy:-

This doorway was striking:-

I photographed this pair on the way back to the car. Note canopy over central bay on the one to the left:-

It had a good doorway too:-

And that greyer one had strong banding and a projection from its roofline. Pity its eyes have been “poked out”:-

For our trip to Belgium and the Netherlands we took the ferry from Hull across to Zeebrugge.

At Hull we got onto the ship, examined the cabin, no room to have a cat never mind swing one, then went up on deck.

Hull was surprisingly green but with some industry too.

Over the dockside rooftops I spotted what I thought might be a football ground with what appeared to be the word KCom on a stand. Was it the KCom stadium, the home of Hull City AFC (and Hull FC, one of the city’s two big Rugby League clubs) I wondered? But it looked too small.

It turns out that it was KCom I had spotted but it was KCom Craven Park, the home of the other Rugby League club, Hull Kingston Rovers.

In this zoom shot the end S of “Rovers” can be seen on the far stand’s seats.

Some modern architecture in Hull:-

The Wine Box, Porto, on the northern road approaches to Dom Luís I Bridge has Art Deco styling:-

Another tall Deco building. Note cartouche below roofline:,-

This one’s yellow paintwork emphasises the strong horizontals:-

Terrace of Deco:-

Zoom to lower down the terrace:-

Hotel Vincci, Porto, is a modern Deco style hotel by the banks of the River Douro. Helitours landing pad is in the foreground.

More of Hotel Vincci fron River Douro- plus heritage tram to left:-

Close-up. I like the clock:-

There’s a different view of the hotel here.

On the way in to Ferrol from the ship we passed an area known as Arsenal Militar. A mannequin recalled Spain’s military past. Here’s a photo with some beardy bloke beside it:-

Ferrol seems to be laid out in a grid pattern though the streets are not wide. This was at siesta time when the streets emptied:-

A square in Ferrol:-

The building to the left of the square in the photo above has an odd mixture of architectural styles. See the glass gable-end:-

It was also hard by what may be a memorial to Spain’s colonial wars (if I can trust my reading of the Spanish inscription.) It was in the middle of a busy road so I didn’t linger long:-

You know you’re not in Calvinist Scotland any more when you come across a statue like this in an otherwise perfectly normal street. (Hooded penitents are apparently a big part of Holy Week celebrations in Ferrol.):-

The first thing that strikes you as you look from a ship in dock at Avilés, Asturias, Spain, is the stunning set of Modernist buildings below which collectively make up the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre or Centro Niemeyer.

Stitch of two photos:-

View looking back from the walkway to the town, Reflections in the Ria de Avilés:-

Closer View showing stylised flower sculpture:-

Dome and Auditorium (curved building):-

Auditorium with “stick” horse:-

Stairway and vents:-

Tower:-

Dome, SS Black Watch in background:-

“Stick” horse detail:-

Stylised flowers, Avilés in background:-

Dome and Tower:-

Flowers and Avilés:-

Low rise building. (It’s multi-purpose. It seemed to house the restaurant/café):-

Auditorium reverse angle:-

Auditorium and tower:-

Edited to add: Actually on closer inspection that “stick” horse may be a “stick” woman.