Groningen

Updated 28 June 2002
Updated 19 November 2001

Click on these stamp-sized images to see larger versions.
You can also see someone else's images of the city here.


1st: If you think this one looks a lot like Harvard Square, think again -- here the bicycles rule, not the cars! Anyway, this is the southern edge of the Grote Markt (Big Market) -- the big central marketplace of Groningen. There's a smaller one, the Vismarkt, nearby (see below).
2nd: This is the Martini Kerk/Toren (Martini Church/Tower) -- the central landmark of Groningen. I can hear the chimes pretty well from my apartment.
3rd: An overview of the Grote Markt. In the background is the Martini Toren. The market extends off to the right for another picture's width.
4th: On the north side of the Grote Markt sometimes lies a broodje stand. These broodjes are something like an open-faced Philly cheesesteak sandwich, with a variety of meats and veggie toppings available. Yum! (For on-the-go eating, people often stand up at these high tables.)
5th: the westernmost corner of the Grote Markt. You can see the ever-popular ice cream and stroopwafel stands. (Stroopwafels are like dense waffels with syrup inside -- you can buy them hot, or in a pack to take home and heat up later on your radiator.) In the background is an old merchants' building, het Goudkantoor. I lived just on the other side of it, on Guldenstraat (Guilder Street or Gilded Street).
6th: Martini Toren on Bommend Berend -- annual holiday celebrating the resistance of the city to a siege in the 16th-century laid by the Bishop of Munster.


Outdoor "terrasje" café life: the first hint of nice weather, and the crowds gather.


1st: This is the Vismarkt (Fish Market). The Martini Toren is far in the background on the left (my apartment was right around that corner to the left). In the foreground is a friet stand: french fries placed in a paper cone, topped with mayonnaise, and eaten while standing -- a national dish.
2nd: Janet demonstrates.
3rd: Janet checks out the sealife.
4th-9th: Various scenes from the marketplace.


1st-2nd: The droll plantseller of the Vismarkt.
3rd: This is not native wildlife.
4th: An evening band performance during KEI (student social orientation) week.
5th: The "A" Church.
6th: "Shopping" on the Herestraat. The local pasttime is to spend Saturday afternoons wandering up and down key city centre areas in massive crowds.
7th-8th: A mobile "draaiorgel" (player organ). Cute and quaint in passing, but pray that it doesn't park underneath your window.



The city as seen from 1500 feet up (annotated versions coming soon). If it looks crowded, that's because it is! For a shot from 715 kilometers up, check this out.
1st: From the southeast.
2nd: From the southwest, over the Stadpark.
3rd: Northern half of the city center.
4th-5th: Grote Markt and Martini Toren, during the zomerkermis (summer fair).
6th: Vismarkt and A-kerk.



1st: This is the Noorderhaven (Northern Harbor), which is part of the canal ringing the city center. The drawbridges are raised a few times a year to let these big ships enter and leave. Some of these boats serve as residences.
2nd:This is a nice courtyard behind the Martini Toren/Kerk.
3rd is a canal near the Zernikecomplex, adjoining the Begraafplaats Selwerderhof (cemetery).
4th: Here I am in the "Prinsenhof" garden.
5th is Janet helping me haul some chairs home on her bike.
6th is my favorite building in the city -- a water tower.
7th: Noorderkerk.
8th: Backyard growth.


1st-2nd are shots inside the Academiegebouw (main university building) taken during an astronomy Ph.D. defense (a formalized affair very different from an American defense -- there is no presentation of results, but rather questions are fielded from a panel of professionals and from the audience).
3rd-6th: Interesting facades around town.
7th-9th: Het Goudkantoor ("the Gold Office"), a tax office dating from 1635 (now a restaurant).
10th: Plaza in front of the Academiegebouw.

1st: Here I am with my new cycle! It has four speeds, hand-operated disc brakes, front and rear generator-powered lights, and of course a bell. Also, the leaves really are quite pretty here now (in late October), especially when the sun is out. No, I'm not chewing tobacco in this photo.
2nd: Here is my bike again, in the Noorder Plantsoen (Northern Public Garden).
3rd is an image of the park from two weeks earlier, when things were greener.
4th-5th show Janet in the park. This is also a hotspot for hard-core drug dealing.
6th-8th show more scenes from the park.
9th: Plastic flower garden set up during the Noorderzonfestival (11-day nationally-famous performing arts festival in the park).



1st-3rd: Here is the Noorder Plantsoen (and environs) on the first day of snow (18 Nov 1999).
4th-8th: The first substantial snowfall, in mid-December 1999.


1st-2nd: On the south side of town is the Stadspark, a very nice place for roaming around on bike or foot.
3rd-9th: One can also check out the critters that are penned up there in the Kinderboerderij (Children's Farm).
10th: Acquiring the horns of Billy Goat Gruff.



1st: A great place for brunch is het Pannenkoekschip (the Pancake Ship), floating in the canal on the east side of the city center. The pancakes are more like plate-sized crepes, and mixed into them are large quantities of meats, veggies, fruits, or whatever you want. Try it with slagroom (whipped cream).
2nd: The view from the Martini Toren.
3rd-5th: A full-arch rainbow, complete with second arch and inverted higher-order modes.
6th-8th: Scenes from the north edge of the city.


The appearance of spring: first come the crocusses, then the daffodils...


... and finally the tulips.


Various scenes around the city.


1st-6th: Some of the many old guesthouses (alms houses) in the city.
7th-9th: Old building on Oude Boteringstraat.
Public art on the Prinsesseweg.


1st: Here I am, at the window of my old apartment.
2nd-4th: Here I am on the balcony, overlooking Guldenstraat (Guilder or Gilded Street). Note the yellow bricks that make most dog turds hard to miss. I was directly above a clothing store (Miss Etam), flanked by another (Yezz) and a big bookstore (Scholtens Wristers Boekhandel).
5th: The view out my living room window.
6th: A view up Oude Boteringstraat at dusk. In the summertime, the sunset is in the north!
7th: Here is my back "garden". Sometimes when the wind is southerly, I could see the white smoke from the sugar beet factory billowing in the distance. The factory runs day and night for about three months a year, spreading a sweet burning smell throughout the city.
8th-10th: The weather finally got warm enough to have some outdoor dinners and BBQs (including a delicious Indonesian feast).



1st: Here I am with my new dining table, bought at a kringloopwinkel (recycling store). That's not a UFO outside the window, but holiday lighting strung up over the street.
2nd-4th: Martin, Xander, and me with the bakfiets, which is what I used to get the table home. This is a cool idea (only viable in very flat places!) Not shown is the pile of furniture we originally had on it, which was so high I couldn't see over it without standing up on the pedals.
5th-6th: Enrico, Xander, Darija, and I enjoy a fabulous Korean meal prepared by Janet.
7th-8th: Views out my window.


1st: Here is one entrance to my work building (Zernike Gebouw). If you look through the red-trimmed doors, you'll see the copy/ photo-shop where I get these photos developed (very convenient). In the foreground is one of the commonplace bikesheds, for sheltering bikes from the elements. This is the first row of dozens (lots of students in this "Science Park" area). Note the homogeneity of the cycle styles.
2nd: The Zernike Gebouw. The middle floor (called "1e etage" in Dutch) is where the Kapteyn Instituut is located. My office was behind the first two fully visible windows on the left.
3rd: The view from my office window. The background buildings are the physics/natural sciences complex. The artificial pond sometimes freezes over and permits skating.
4th-5th: WSN building: departments of mathematics, geography etc.
6th-7th:Zernike complex from the air. In the second shot, the complex is found on the middle right. Below that are some of the many towers built to house students cheaply when they ran out of space in the town itself (and there's still a housing shortage). In the foreground is the newest large housing development in this still-growing city. One can see how the institute is right on the edge of the provincial farm fields. At night one can often smell the manure.



1st-3rd: Here we see Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piets (Black Peters). Those scary Piets are everywhere -- if a child is bad, they put him in a bag and take him away to Spain to work for Sinterklaas (who is not to be confused with Kerstman -- the Christmas Man).
4th: The guests at a Sinterklaas party. Such parties involve an exchange of gifts and insulting poetry.


1st: Janet at 'T Zwarte Schaap (The Black Sheep). A traditional Dutch-style pub/restaurant, this eetcafe was a significant step above the usual in price and especially quality.
2nd: Baaa!
3rd: This kaaswinkel (Kaas vd Ley) is a veritable cheese warehouse (over 400 varieties).
4th-6th: At the Snooker & Pool Centrum. Snooker is not shown here, but involves a bigger table, smaller pockets, and different rules. Not for the faint of heart.
7th: Drinking & driving allowed here.
8th: Dinner at the Happietaria.


1st-5th: Ichthus gala.
6th-8th: The semiannual Kermis (fun-fair) on the Grote Markt and Vismarkt. The ferris wheel is called a "reuzenraad" (giant wheel). It all made quite a racket in my living room.

Return to main Nederland index