Imaging The Netherlands 023: Cheese for sale, AMSTERDAM (NH)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

023: Cheese for sale

It might be a cliche, but the Dutch love cheese. They eat a lot of their favorite Gouda, Edam, Leiden, Maasdam cheese, for example. And many people all around the world love eating Dutch cheese. In Brazil, Dutch cheese is very expensive. You might pay about 50 euros for a kilo of old cheese. You can imagine that Brazilians in Amsterdam will be amazed to see big wheels of cheese on a simple stand in a street in downtown Amsterdam. Such big wheels of more than ten kilos must be worth a fortune, and they are left there unprotected, in open air! Until recently, it was quite hard to find Dutch cheese in Brazilian supermarkets. But now, they even may offer big discounts on small chunks of delicious of Maasdam or Gouda cheese! You can also find cheese of the Gouda type that is produced in Argentina or even in Brazil.

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2010, 2017

Imaging Brazil 352: Bird at the National War Monument, RIO DE JANEIRO (RJ)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

352: Bird at Monument

When you want to go from the center of Rio de Janeiro to Copacabana Beach, it is probable that your journey will follow the long Aterro do Flamengo. At the beginning of this urban park that is flanked by wide avenues, you will find the Museu do Arte Moderna, and next to it the immense monument that commemorates the participation and losses of Brazil in the Second World War: the ‘Monumento aos Mortos da Segunda Guerra Mundial” or “Monumento as Pracinhas”.  The below grade mausoleum holds the remains of 468 soldiers of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force that died in action in Italy. Outside, there is the 31 meter high monumental portal, a granite statue representing the soldiers of the land, naval, and air forces, an abstract sculpture that represents the Brazilian Air Force, and a large mosaic that honors both the navy and merchant marine who died at sea. A long, shallow pool allows natural light in the mausoleum and regulates the temperature. At the moment of the picture, a sea gull rested on the margin of the pool.

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2012, 2017