pluytermusic.com – News – Blog Blog about Music, travel, video and photography

Backtracking to May.

I had the fortune again this year to co-chair the session “Materials for Personal/Home Care & Cosmetics” at the 20th TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo in Anaheim, California on May 13-16, 2018.

The session speakers were again excellent and our organizing team did a terrific job.  We had good questions and were able to make good connections between speakers and attendees.

It was wonderful to meet many friends and meeting new friends.  In 2019, I will co-chair again.

I also took the opportunity to present a poster about my new company Pluyter Consulting, LLC.  There were many interested visitors and I was able to make good connections to go forward with.

Have a look at the program:  https://www.techconnectworld.com/World2018/sym/Materials_Personal_Home_Care_Cosmetics.html

The weather was perfect, of course, and I could not ignore the views and so I took many photos:

Here are some of the views:

First, a panorama of the buildings:

A many other views:

Next, I visited the UK to meet with a customer.  Fortunately, I had the chance to explore wonderful city of Cambridge on the way.

I had been there before during a conference in 2000.  Love the city and the college.  Back in 2000, the weather was dreary and the digital camera was only 1.5 megapixel.  As such, I had to capture the town again with sunshine and more camera resolution.

I took very many photos and here are some view to illustrate the city’s beauty.

First, Emmanuel College:

Second, the gorgeous King’s College:

Third, Trinity College, with the beautiful hallways that continue through the Bridge of Sighs. This bridge crossing a little canal where you can take a gondola.  A perfect place.

Next, I did spend quite some time in the city of Leiden.  I have family there but also had to meet with customers.  Since it was late Spring, the weather was perfect.  Not too hot and not too cold.  Also, when the weather is good lots of people are out on the town and enjoying a drink and food at little restaurants on the canals.  It may look more like the canals of Amsterdam but this is a lot more relaxed.  Less people, busy traffic, and more space to really sit outside and enjoy the sun.  A perfect city to enjoy what Holland is all about.

Here are some photos I took of the canals and the views:

Also, I love visiting the Fort of the town.  One of the days was perfect weather for photography.  Here are some images:

and two more photos:

I stayed much time with family in the small city of Etten-Leur.  It is a small town close to Breda.  Nice part is the cute small center of town with its nice stores and restaurants.  Great sit on the market place and enjoying coffee in the morning and a beer in the (later) afternoon.  Also, the famous painter Van Gogh lived for a short time in the city and there is a museum in the house he loved in.

Very nice are the beautiful landscape of the province of West-Brabant.  Many meadows with alternating little forests and undeveloped areas covered with heather.  The rivers and their birds and fish are beautiful.  The weather was perfect and so I went for almost half-day walks for many of the days.  I would stop here and there at a little restaurant for a coffee.  One of them was next to a windmill and that is so relaxing.

Here are some photos of the views of the landscape:

It is time to do some further back tracking.  Back in June I left for a visit to Holland and the UK for work and visiting family.  I visited family in the cities Breda, Etten-Leur and Leiden.  Furthermore visiting a couple of customers in Holland and in Cambridge in the UK.

The travel was smooth in June.  Not too busy yet and the weather was nice and warm but not too hot yet (ut was a very hot summer all over te place).  Also, I had just started my own consulting company and that made trip special as I was visiting my first customers.

Let me start with Breda.  Of course, I roamed through the historic downtown of Breda with its beautiful cathedral.  Here are some of the photos.

The first 7 are of the inside of the church.  The beautiful ceilings and paintings on the wall and the mausoleum of Count Engelbert II.  The second last photo are of a cute little pump at a little courtyard of a place where the nuns live.  The last photo is of the castle of Breda, home of our military academy.