Tivoli Hotel, Oudenbosch

This used to be a boy's dormintory, part of St. Louis Boarding School ... I think. The hotel used to be in a tiny building closer to the train station. The boarding school had been closed for years and some people thought of selling it to some building contractor. The Tivoli group decided to step in. After about a year of renovations, this is how it looks now. Actually, the buildings on the left and right are private apartments and not part of the hotel at all. On the spot where I stood to take the shot, there used to be a building that housed first the ABN-AMRO bank, followed by the Rabobank (not Rob-a-bank), and then it was empty for close to a year. They finally demolished it and made the middle area into the 'plaza' that you see here.

Feet on the ground. Most of the apartments are still empty because of the recession; they are actually very expensive, anyway, so the chances that they will be bought in the near future are quite slim. We 'know' someone at the town hall was on very friendly terms with the building contractor and gave him the necessary permits. As for the Tivoli ... we decided that we weren't going to patronize the place. What I am thankful for is that I didn't have to drive all the way somewhere else to get a shot. I had thought of Breda, and now I'm glad that didn't push through because it's raining now.

THANK YOU ALL for your congratulatory greetings on my 200th blip yesterday! Getting slightly lost in a large city does have its advantages occasionally.