Sand castles

A small part of the 'skyline of the world'

Back in May, my parents asked me whether I wanted to come to the sand sculpture festival, that is held each year in a village not far from here. Of course! So, we set out to pick a date. Either I was at work, or my father was at work or one or the other or all of us had to go visit some medical person. Finally however, we agreed on a date. Late July.

The Colosseum in Rome with the Pyramid of Gizeh in the background

The day came and went and I hadn't seen a single grain of sand, as I had stayed indoors for much of the day. Temperatures of close to 40 degrees C are not fun if you want to go and visit things. The visit was put on hold. 

Wouldn't want to meet this fellow in a dark creek...

This week arrived and lo and behold: a free day for all of us! Let's do it. And we did. And hundreds of other people too: it was heaving! Despite the amount of people there though, it was great fun and we got to see skill that went far beyond my abilities to build a sand castle. People, places, animals. All beautifully crafted.

In the saloon

The theme was all around the world and it was really well done. The bigger part of the exhibition was inside, but even the parts that were outside, were still beautiful. We haven't had much rain this year, but the rain we have had was sometimes torrential, however, by the look of them, you wouldn't have known.

Angela Merkel, Putin and the Chinese leader?

We started off with the skyline of the world, showing famous buildings from several places. Then there was a fishy bit of which I didn't take that many photos. We continued outside, where it seemed the Chinese leader (or North Korean one) seemed to be waving at Donald Trump. 

Mont Saint Michel

There was a view of Jerusalem, there was a fish and chips shop, a cloth seller and my favourite: Mont Saint Michel in France. To make that from sand is just incredible. 

A close-up of Mont Saint Michel.
Here you can really see it's made of sand

On we went inside, where there were several lovely displays, but the biggest and best had to have been the animal one. A massive display showing anything from elephant and rhino to monkey and moth. 

Part of the massive animal display

The final part of the display was again inside and it was also a scavenger hunt of sorts. We had to join the event displayed to the list we had been given. Most of the events were Dutch and wouldn't have meant much to foreigners, but again: the skill!

Close your beaks and your eyes: goodnight!

The visit ended then and we finished it by having pancakes in a small village close by. Mmmmm

The assassination of President Kennedy