About me, Matthijs van Wageningen

Hello World !!!

Just a little bit about me; my name is Matthijs van Wageningen and I live in the Netherlands. That is a small country in Europe, next to Germany and Belgium. Here you see a picture of me standing in front of the coat of arms of my native town "Westzaan". That's just above the capital city Amsterdam, I'm sure everyone knows that place.

There are also two other places I like a lot, these are Dublin (Ireland) and Vienna (Austria). I worked and lived for over a year in Dublin, Ireland. Have to say I miss that place a lot. The Irish are very friendly and kind. In Dublin and also where I worked there are a lot of people from all over the world. I made a lot of friends there and still visit Ireland as much as I can. The country side is amazingly beautiful and some parts look like New Zealand (or the other way around), lots of green sites, small roads and very kind people. It's the country of Guinness (Irish beer), though I like "Smithwicks" better (a pity you can only find it in Ireland, as far as I know) and I love the Irish pubs. Not only because it's the place to meet other people but als because it's nicely decorated and there is no loud music. And if you are lucky, you will find musicians playing typical Irish music. Vienna is another story. I think this is the most beautiful city in Europe. I love the story about Sissi living in Vienna at the imperial palace "Schloß Schönbrunn". Lots of historical buildings and places can be found in Vienna. And, of course, there is the beautiful Danube (Donau). From the hills around Vienna you can have a great view on the city. And I do love to drink "Sturm" when I'm in Vienna. Sturm is made from fermenting grapes and is only available in early autumn (kind of young wine). I hope one day I will live in Vienna ... (who knows). I also like to practice my German language.

What else about me ??? I do like aviation and like to visit air shows. I used to visit air shows a lot but the last years it seems I have less time for that. I also like photography as you may have noticed. I used to make photos on film but the last years I mainly use my digital camera (just got a new Olympus C-770). It's just easier; you can take as many pictures as do fit on the memory card. And if you make any mistake you can just erase it and take the photo again. I also like cats, though I do not have any (just not good if you are never home). But my parents have and it's always a nice subject to take photos off. But in general I do like animals, though it's sometimes difficult to take photos of them (seems they never listen). On this web-site I mainly try to share my holiday photos (see photo album), photos of cats (see cat images) but also photos of airplanes and air shows (see aviation).

That's all about me ... for now ...

Cheers,
Matthijs