Now that’s what I call a sandcastle!
japra | Jul 13, 2009 | Comments 29
We spent the rainy weekend mostly indoors. It was probably for the best as we really needed to sit down and plan our upcoming holiday. We’re leaving on Friday! Nothing like waiting until the last minute ;-)
Anyway, I’ve got a bit of a back log of photos from here and there, so to continue with my catching up…
Scheveningen hosts an annual Sand Sculpture festival in the Spring. I definitely want to check this out next year. These stunning sandcastles were on the beach when we arrived in The Netherlands in early June. I wonder what the artists use to keep the sand set like that!
These next three photos were taken a couple of weeks ago near the Benninhof. Wow! And if you’re interested, I have some photos from last year’s exhibit here. You’ll see I was really impressed with it. I said “amazing” three times. LOL!
The detailing is really amazing (there’s that word again!). Whoever created these sculptures is very patient… and talented!
You can see that the sand sculptures are protected by a small fence. I am glad that people have respect for this art and don’t hurl things at the sculpture.
And on a side note, these long summer days have totally messed up our sleeping schedule! We are in a different time zone from London too (+1 GMT), so it doesn’t get dark here until 11pm. My blogging friend Lucy Lucia observed the same thing when she was in Paris recently. BTW, if you need a dose of France, be sure to visit her site. She has some lovely photos up, including pics of some very pretty food (you know I love that!). And while we’re on the subject of travel photos, my friend Emm in London has a series of posts on NYC that should quench anyone’s thirst for the Big Apple. Oh, and if you’re in the mood for a bit of a car trip, my witty bloggy friend Fantastic Forrest is on a family road trip from sea to shining sea. Her first vacation post is up here.
Now, off to find my hiking shoes and daypack, make sure my camera batteries are charged, and dig up our passports.
Filed Under: Blog • Destinations • Featured • Netherlands • Outdoors • What to Do
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
Quite amazing! The grey sand looks like they may be made out of cement, but I don’t think they woudl cheat here somehow.
Fun day for you folks even though is is archived history now.
Take care
Martin, the sand must be treated somehow because the art still stands, even after hard rain. Whatever they use, I’m glad because, as you say, it is archived history and we were able to enjoy it weeks after its creation.
Hope all is well in Bulgaria!
If someone could make a living out of doing this I’m sure my son would choose this as a career. So cool!
Julia, wouldn’t it be awesome if he could?!
Those sandcastles are amazing, all that work. Have a lovely vacation, can’t wait to see what pictures are in store for us.
I might need to work on my sandcastle making skills while I’m here, Christine ;-)
Wow!! Those are friggin’ awesome! There was a sandcastle competition in Carmel, CA when we lived there that was very cool, too. Not an art form I every mastered though.
Tricia, I was more of the fill-the-bucket-with-damp-sand-turn-over-and-voila kind of sand artist ;-) I’d love to see these guys in action. I wonder how long it takes to create something like this!
Yes, amazing is the word. Hard to imagine that they are done without cement but I’m sure they are. Sugar?
Have a great trip, but oh dear you’ve left me with a bunch of traveling blogs to tempt, haven’t you!?!?
Maureen, I realized after I published this post that I left you off the list! I will fix that in another post in the near future :-)
We’re taking our 5 grandchildren to the beach one day next week (weather permitting). I’ll post a photo on my blog of their sandcastles, though I don’t think it will be much like that fantastic one in your first picture!
What fun, Akelamalu! I never did make it to a sand beach in England. I am sure whatever your grandchildren make will be photo worthy :-) Can’t wait to see!
Yep – they’re amazing aren’t they? We had a similar exhibition here in Brighton for a couple of years running. Unfortunately it was before I had children so they never got to see it – they would have loved it though. They’re stunning and imagine being able to sculpt like that? Truly talented.
Maternal Tales, did they import sand at Brighton? I was only there very briefly once and I can only remember seeing rocks on the beach (lovely rocks, too!).
@Julia – not sure how much of a living can be made of it but some folks do try, learned that a few years back when the team next to us in the aia competition in Galveston brought in the Amazin’ Walter as a ringer:
http://www.amazinwalter.com/
Hi, Steve! Amazin’ Walter looks like quite a character! I’m sorry I missed seeing the competition in Galveston. Darn! is it a regular event?
its held the first weekend in June, each year, Kathy and Sally helped out a couple years ago collecting signatures in the public favorite voting . the castles do not approach the sophistication of those above, teams are limited to 5 hours build time, but there’s 70~80 of them. this year they also prohibited generator-run pumps, which resulted in not only smaller castles overall but also some interesting rube goldberg style attempts to get water from the gulf to the sites.
http://www.aiasandcastle.com/
whoops! part of that reply got eaten by the html translation, there was a parenthetical about us winning the public favorite that year due in no small part to the help from the grrlz from San Antonio
Well done! Do you have photos up somewhere? I’d love to see them.
Yikes, FIVE hours in the Texas sun?! Y’all must wear a lot of sun screen. I can’t believe I missed this–it sounds like such a fun event. I’d help carry water! And I’d bring drinks and snacks ;-)
I know what you mean about repeating superlatives! Amazing, fantastic, wonderful…I would just LOVE to see those sand sculptures! How long do they stay up?? Thanks for the photo compliments – I’m blushing! :)
Lucy Lucia, those compliments are well deserved.
Oh, thanks so much for the photos, because I know I have seen these sculptures in previous years but had completely forgotten where they were. When I saw the city name…bing! Is this amazing? I am always awed by the creation of intricate works which will not last long. Like, decorative cakes. Carved fruit. Ice sculptures. Sandcastles. Even amazing flower arrangements. The time and care that are put into these sand sculptures is a testament to our creative spirit!!
What an interesting observation, Chris! I like the way you think :-)
I just LOVE your adventures. For some reason, it’s an exciting idea to know I could walk around outside at midnight and not need a flashlight!
Do you miss the moon and stars?
Chris, I am really enjoying these long days. Probably because I know those 100 days of darkness are just around the corner. LOL!
Very nice pictures. Those artists are unbelievable. Hampton Beach in New Hampshire also hosts an annual sand sculpture contest and we had seen several there – nothing as big as the ones you saw, though, they were still spectacular.
American in Britain, well one more reason to visit NH (not that I needed another one–LOL!). I would love to watch the sand masters in action one day.
Uau…!