Queensday this year was quieter than previous years. Although we had reasonable weather, there were fewer people in town, or it seemed to be so at least. We still managed to have a good time. There was no traditional brunch over at Wim & Nick’s, so Jan, Thomas and I wandered around town for a bit, looking at the stuff on display on the freemarket. Not much interesting stuff, but I did manage to find a small coffee jug that my mother was looking for.

Afterwards we had a look on the Zeedijk, but the music was very loud, especially because it’s a fairly narrow street. So we went back to the Amstel, and took up our usual position in front of the Café Rouge (the former Monopole).

The pasta dinner on board Jonathan, after the music stopped outside, was – again – not as busy as other years, but we all enjoyed it.

The soldiers are busy building the stage for the Liberation Day concert (May 5). We’ll have the TV-crew here again, like other years. It looks to be nice weather (sunny and 20°C) over the weekend.

Some pictures.

This is a trailer for the opera Lucia di Lammermoor by De Nederlandse Opera

Whatever will they think of next?

^{(AP Photo/Albert Seghers)}

If you think Heineken is a cool brew, how about
Kwispelbier?

Apparently, we’re having the worst storm in years – windspeeds up to 11 Beaufort, with blasts up to 13 Bft. It’s enough to make a person seasick – just being home.
You can see some pictures here: www.nu.nl
At the moment (8:45 pm), it’s at its worst; it should quiten down as the evening goes into night.

Wishing you a very happy & healthy 2007!

Below: a banner, telling people to distrust voting by computer. With elections coming up soon, a very topical item…

Seems there is a new news site on the dutch net-scape: www.dutchnews.nl. Perfect to see how the upcoming elections will be going. I suppose it helps ex-pats living in the Netherlands to make some sense of the country they (have to) live in.

Tomorrow we’re leaving for a long-awaited holiday (vacation). Our first extended trip with the Eriba…

I’ll try to make some posts – see what access points we can find.

…the Fokker Friendship – the aircraft that is. Not the Friendship BnB, although that too has received much acclaim.

In a recent survey/contest to find the best dutch design ever, organised by the dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, the Fokker F27 (Friendship) was voted as the best dutch design.

Obviously I couldn’t agree more.

You can see an overview of the nominations on the design.nl website.

Article on the NRC website (dutch only).

About 2 months ago, I spent the night at the emergency room of the OLVG (local hospital) because of a gall stone colic. That was not an experience I’d care to repeat, so I avoided fatty foods, coffee, chocolate and eggs since that night. (All over Easter, too!)
Of course, I went to see my doctor, who referred me to the hospital. The diagnosis was, indeed, a stone in my gall bladder.
The only way to get the stone out, is to remove the gall bladder itself. Or so the current medical practice says, anyway. So I was put on the waiting list for an operation.

Fortunately, medical science has progressed and nowadays it’s possible to have the operation as an out patient: you turn up in the morning, they take your gall bladder out, you’re home before dinner.

And thankfully, that’s exactly what happened. Jan took me to the hospital this morning (actually we cycled there – it’s only five minutes) and I was in my operating gown by 7:30am. Not very fetching, by the way – unlike some gowns I’ve worn. But I digress.
By 8 o’clock I was in the operating theatre, by 8:10 I was out like a light.

I woke up in recovery at about 10:30am. With a little cup on my nightstand, which contained this. (Not the coins, they’re for comparison!) All in all a necessary operation, I’d say.

After a couple of hours, I was well enough to go home again. Jan and Wim came to pick me up, by car this time, and I was home by 4pm. So far I’ve not had any great pain or discomfort. I do have 4 cuts in my belly though. Something to show off on the beach this summer I guess.

So Queensday – which is celebrated tomorrow, Saturday April 29 due to some strict Christians not being allowed to have fun on a Sunday – will largely pass me by. I’ll be happy to take it easy at home. It’s going to be cold anyway. Although I’m up and about, I think I’ll have to take it easy for a while. On the upside, I can have a Oranje Tompouce tomorrow without having to worry about the fat-content….

Pictures are here:
.mac (please excuse me while I get to grips with iWeb and .Mac)