Sloten, in Friesland, is another of the eleven “cities” of the Elfstedentocht and the last one we visited on our day trip last June when we were in the Netherlands.

Canal at Sloten, with bridge:-

In the other direction is this bridge and a windmill:-

The windmill:-

The canal beyond the windmill:-

The Protestant Church, Sloten:-

Sloten’s Elfstedentocht fountain is a small pillar of containers of various sorts surmounted by two figures. It’s apparently called the ‘Peewit’:-

Hindeloopen is a town/village on the IJselmeer (formerly known as the Zuiderzee) in The Netherlands. It is one of the eleven “cities” of the Elfstedentocht.

IJselmeer from seadyke at Hindeloopen:-

A Hindeloopen Street to left of above:-

Going round to the right leads to the harbour and this Lifeboat House. KNRM is the Dutch eqivalent of the RNLI:-

Old lifeboat on slipway down to harbour:-

Moving on round the road is this canal bridge and bell tower:-

View along canal from bridge above:-

Bowling is a village two miles east of Dumbarton on the A 814 road. It’s probably best known as being the western end of the Forth and Clyde Canal.

Its War Memorial is a stone Celtic Cross on a rough-hewn stone plinth lying at the edge of a small park to the north of the A 814:-

The hotel we stayed at in Bradford-on-Avon was right beside the Kennet and Avon Canal:-

Canal lock at Bradford-on-Avon:-

In operation:-

This was once the lockkeeper’s house:-

We took a stroll along the canal and came upon a World War 2 pillbox:-

This small blue plaque on the pillbox states it was once part of a stop line which in case of invasion was intended to prevent German troops crossing the canal:-

The Mikhailovsky Castle, (known in English as St Michael’s Castle,) St Petersburg. The Tsar Paul I, Catherine the Great’s son, apparently didn’t like the Winter Palace so had this one built instead. It was built surrounded by water, for defensive purposes, to be entered only by drawbridges. Not that that did Paul much good. He was assassinated in the Palace 40 nights after moving in.

Note eagle finials on the gate posts of the Summer Gardens:-

Moyka River. St Michael’s Castle in background. Field of Mars to left. This looked more like a canal to me:-

Crossing the river you head to the Griboyedov Embankment and towards the Church on Spilled Blood. We noticed how ornate the lampposts were:-

The stunning and very Russian in style Church on the Spilled Blood and Griboyedov Canal:-

From the canal:-

From Griboyedov Embankment:-

Upper portion. It’s a pity the top was swathed in scaffolding:-

From across the canal:-

Building, St Isaac’s Square:-

One of St Petersburg’s many palaces:-

Part of another:-

Government building:-

Street scene. Notice the number on the traffic light. This is a countdown clock to when the signals will change. All the road crossings had them. The (animated) “green man” even speeded up his walk as the time ran down. These are brilliant ideas. They should bring them in here:-

Canal with “blue bridge” near St Isaac’s Square:-

It’s amazing what you can see on rooftops:-

The Waterpoort is the old entrance to Sneek town centre by canal. I suppose it functioned as a sort of mediaeval toll gate as well as the entrance to the town.

Canal with Waterpoort in distance:-

Bridge and Waterpoort behind:-

Waterpoort from canal basin:-

View from Waterpoort:-

Waterpoort clock from town side:-

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:-

As well as fine buildings Bruges is replete with water and is sometimes known as The Venice of the North. I’ve never been to Venice but Bruges is certainly lovely, whatever.

The church in the background here is Bruges Cathedral, The Church of Our Lady:-

This shows the bridge from which the previous photo was taken:-

And this the view from the bridge to the other side:-

View of same building left above from the opposite canal bank:-

And round the corner:-

Canal and bridge:-

Canal:-

Another bridge:-

To enter and leave Groningen Museum you have to cross a branch of the canal:-

View outside through window almost at water level:-

Ditto only the other side of the museum:-

Just to the left of the above:-