A canal near Damme, Belgium

Just as Bryan was responsible for my photo from yesterday, a goofy GPS in our car we rented in Holland may have been responsible for this photo.

We were headed to Bruges, Belgium and the route was fairly direct, but somehow we found ourselves down a small farm road in the middle of nowhere and had at some point veered off towards the north. The GPS was leading us down some winding road for no apparent reason. Perhaps our driver turned right when he should have gone straight, but regardless, we were pretty happy where we ended up.

As we crossed this bridge over one of the many canals in the region, we just had to pull over. The scene before us was breathtaking. Lining these canals (not just here, but most canals we saw) was an endless line of very, very tall trees all spaced evenly, and perfectly, apart.

The sheer scope of a project that required trees to all be planted at the same time, the same distance apart and then to be trimmed and maintained to look mostly uniform was mind-boggling.  Only in very rare spots did you find a tree missing to break up the continuity.

Not only this, but on each side of the canal, just on the other side of the first line of trees, were pathways, and then MORE trees lining those. I have a shot of one of these sidewalks as well that I’ll post at another time.

This shot was difficult to process for some reason. The sun was overhead and bright, the wind was strong and the sky kind of intense. I’d love to find this spot again someday around dusk or dawn and see what I could do again.

It was was a magnificent place…I could have sat on the railing of that bridge for hours and hours.

(More shots from Holland: My Holland Trip)