Another excellent New Year's Celebration

This year we celebrated the New Year by attending a party at the home of our friends, Pam and Dorsey. Their son Brian, son George and his parter Michael, were among the special guests visiting for the holidays.

Throughout the day, the pop, bang and burst of fireworks is heard everywhere, and at Midnight, the real insanity begins! Everywhere people have parties and set off their own supply of fireworks (with champagne glasses in-hand) and our party was no exception. I flipped of my fancy high-heels in favor of my Uggs and my winter coat and was brave (or foolish?) enough to get right in there.

It is dangerous (fireworks and the associated debris come from all angles), but in the end, we all had our fingers, toes and eyes - although early on Dorsey was injured by a falling stick - the stem of a large bottle rocket (about three feet long and nearly an inch thick) - on his head! A bit stunned, he wiped away the blood and got back to the business at-hand. What a trooper!

You can see from these video clips that it isn't for the faint of heart - it is loud and downright dangerous at moments (my 'girl throw' meant that on at least two occasions I managed to toss a bottle rocket into the hood of my coat - managing to singe the fake fur collar - and, although Brian says it wasn't me, I think I was the one who caused a hole to be burnt on the front of his sweater!) The fireworks continue at a high level of intensity from Midnight until at least 2 a.m., which is the hour designated by the city to stop - but crackling continues until the very wee hours. It is a unique experience, and one that everyone enjoys as evidenced by all the laughter you can hear in the film.

Enjoy!

A trip to Utrecht

In mid-January, I got up quite early (armed with my travel coffee mug - not something one sees here...marking me as an American) to take the bus into Den Haag to Central Station, and meet the girls for a day-trip to Utrecht. I made to the station early, so bought myself another coffee, and 16 of us boarded the train to Utrecht. Imagine being the one guy sitting amongst us (at rush hour the choices were limited) with all 16 of us gabbing at once!

Our first fun discovery about the city (shameful, I know) was that Central Station in Utrecht is inside a shopping mall :) First stop - Starbucks, of course! And then a short walk into the city's center.

We found our way to a restaurant where we'd pre-arranged to meet our tour guide, but not after first enjoying a warm drink (more coffee!) and a koekje (little cookie).

Our storytelling tour guide was charming and engaging - taking us through a tour through the narrow lanes and beautiful streets in the heart of the city. In some of his stories we played the roles of some of people he described - I was Pope Adrian VI :) I ended up dead (perhaps a suspicious death) pretty quickly after a short stint as Pope - but we all had a laugh.

The city gets its unique charm from the old city centre and its canals and canal-side cellars, old churches and of course the Dom Cathedral - over 600 years old and the highest medieval tower in the Netherlands, and is naturally the symbol of Utrecht.

Now, Nancy, I know that your favorite art supply store is called Utrecht - but I'm afraid I don't know why - perhaps the founders were from Utrecht.

We climbed the tower (on a cold and gray day, so the view wasn't really, well, viewable - but it was still incredible). In order to climb the tower, you must go with a guide, so he is the only other man you'll see in the pictures - young, and fit and thin from giving several tours a day climbing up and down the tower at a jogging pace (him, not us)! We climbed of all 465 steps in the (very narrow stairs of the) tower. It is VERY high (368 feet)- particularly when you consider that you have to climb the narrow, steep and wet stairs whilst circling in the same direction the entire way - and only three places to stop on the way. Climbing down was no picnic, either! But it was definitely worth doing. Thank goodness for my Wii Fit! One friend made it a challenge to climb as way to combat her fear of heights!

We returned to the restaurant for some lunch, a few of us lingered about the shopping streets of Utrecht, and eventually headed back home - worn out from the climb and the early morning start. I was just a great day with the ladies.

Christmas in Wales

This year we headed to Kidwelly, Wales for Christmas. On the day, it was just Alex and I and my in-laws as our niece and nephew and their parents were spending the day with their other grandparents. Although it isn't quite as exciting when the kids aren't part of the morning, it was a relaxing and festive day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Yes, a UK Christmas begins with Bucks Fizz (Mimosa to we Americans) and the imbibing continues throughout the day and evening...and begins again again on Boxing Day! :)

This year Alex had planned to do the Walrus Run (crazy people jumping into the sea) but it was so bitterly cold this year, and snowing, that the event was actually cancelled. But because we were keen to get Alex out there, we told a fib and said it was on for a bit later in the morning. Well, my mother-in-law is not good at telling tales, and he found us out before we left the house, but we all had a good laugh about it. Maybe next year, Alex!

Winter in Wassenaar

Well, I know I am way behind on updates - so this goes back to the end of 2010, when we were experiencing a real winter, similar to what I'm used to in New England. As you can see, bicycles are used in every kind of weather, but because a large accumulation isn't usual, there are no sanders or ploughs - one just has to wade through it all...very charming, actually. I miss New England - but I don't miss the snow shoveling....:)

Nancy, yes I'll send you copies of the little girl for your artistic use! ;)

I hope you enjoy this one.