Wednesday 25 July 2012

Ever onwards!

Packing again -- off to Italy tomorrow. Phoned a friend in Italy last night to make sure I can still speak Italian, after weeks of English, Greek and Dutch. It was OK -- still there, the musical waves.
Have been having a lot of bother with my internet connection (wifi and my Apple Mac bad bed-fellows!) but seems to be OK again... (fingers crossed. I love that expression...)
Back to the packing now, and the final errands.
More soon I hope.

Tuesday 17 July 2012

oh sooo green...

Yes, I just thought I'd mention in passing that it is very green throughout the Netherlands, thanks to the wonderful incessant rain...
And it makes such pretty dimples in the canals...
And of course, it encourages the Dutch to cook their special dish: pea soup (created with pig's trotter, and excellent for damp chill days...)

Looking forward to Italy next week...

That's Jonah having a wet experience. Church near Amalfi.

Friday 13 July 2012

the rain it raineth...

Yes, every day... (Shakespeare coined the phrase)
Happily, there are sunny spells -- so we took Yara for a stroll in her pushchair (I have a feeling that word is no longer used and has been superseded by "baby buggy"...).
She admired all she saw -- dogs running with their ears flapping, people on bicycles, old folk walking slowly supporting themselves on a zimmer-frame, gardens full of roses and cornflowers and poppies (much else too) -- and of course the supermarket with its endless rows of breakfast cereals, teas and toothpaste...
Here is a picture of Yara... She's very good at yoga...

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Way down south in Maastricht...

This is an old Roman city (a castrum, camp or settlement, on the river Maas) still retaining a charming medieval centre. I am staying across the river in a newer part. Very pleasant and quite rural. Close to the Belgian border -- cars stream nearby back and forth into the neighbouring land... In search of Belgian beer?
Two and a half hours by train from Amsterdam, the landscape becoming ever greener and slightly hilly as we clatter southwards.
Pictures soon, or consult images on google!
The weather is very changeable -- huge drenching rain storms and then an opklaring (no need to trandlate that!) and now a bright blue sky.

Monday 2 July 2012

Back in Amsterdam

Ah cool, after the stinging heat of midday on the Greek island of Evia!
Flew back from Athens to a sunny welcome and much greenery. And the weather here in Holland has been delightful these past few days; good forecast for this week (yes, it's July already!).

Still quite a shock to be transported from a Greek island to the humming heart of the Netherlands... And Dutch is such a bumpy language! But I enjoy being back, seeing friends, sleeping in a bed where you can really stretch out without hitting the boat's side...
But no more rocking, no more wind in the sails or water lapping, klots klots againts the boat's bows.
Think I have grown quite fond of the nautical life, after all. But maybe that's only becasue I am now on land... 

So that's me on Stroemhella in Halkide (or Chalkida, or Chalkis) -- most pleasant port on the west coast of the island Evia. How distant it already seems...
David sails on with my cousin Steve (two piratical engineers, very happy on the boat) heading ultimately for Istanbul...
I am here in summertime Amsterdam.
That's me in the back yard some time ago -- don't need to wear such warm gear at the moment!