Mechelen

I was in Mechelen to see a concert at the Stadsschouwburg. Maybe not the most obvious place for me to attend a concert, but that is just the way it worked out. What I didn't know was that 1 November is a national holiday in Belgium and that meant that all the shops and museums and many of the restaurants were closed. It was a pretty grey day anyway, so it turned into a slightly depressing day, just wandering round the almost deserted centre of Mechelen.



The thing that did make it all worthwhile in the end was the concert. It was An Pierlé I had come to see, and I have seen her a few times before, or quite a few, but this was a slightly different concert again. After the tour built very much around the new album, "White Velvet" last year, she now played a mix of songs from that album, from earlier albums, and some new songs.

She wore a shiny white dress with lots of sparkles this time, very stylish and very An. The set-up on stage a little different than before, Peter not way in the back with a full set of drums but more to the front. And An had a proper grand piano. And there was a little more room for the cello again.



A few new songs I hadn't heard before, and some old ones I hadn't heard live before either, like "Tower", which is a great song. She also sang "Build a Better Life", and was accompanied by Peter on high chair and ergonomic sitting ball, a new style of percussion that worked well.

The theatre was quite posh, a real old-fashioned theatre, and the audience didn't seem like An's regular audience. The set was relatively quiet, maybe because of that. The hall wasn't very big, which did create an intimate atmosphere, and also made it a slightly different concert.



I spent a short while in the theatre in the afternoon too, when the band was rehearsing. An empty theatre, just the musicians and technicians, testing the light and the sound. A different atmosphere again. Nice to hear some of the songs in such a different setting altogether.

Teaching

Once or twice a year I teach a short course on Dutch urban planning legislation. Not the easiest of subjects generally. A lot of rules and regulations, and it seems to get more complicated every year. Today was my turn to teach again, and I had to present the basic principles in about three hours to a class of 14 people. The people taking part are all in some way involved in urban planning, some know a lot already, and some know next to nothing. Every time I teach this course it is different. Sometimes I have just four or five people and I get into detailed discussions on various specific aspects, that people have come across in the course of their work and about which they already know a lot.

Today I had a big group consisting mainly of people who are just starting out, and I spent most of the morning explaining the basics, several times. The questions kept coming from all over the place, and they were not always the kind of questions you might expect. By the end I was completely worn out.....

Sunday and Small Corners

Some Sundays you just don't get round to doing much of anything. You write some emails, you tidy up all the stuff that has been collecting in different places in your room over the week, you listen to the radio. Jeremy Hardy was comedy controller on BBC7 today, and he played the Hancock episode about Hancock and his companions being bored stiff on a Sunday afternoon. There is some great comedy around. I very much like Jeremy Hardy anyway, and I like his choice of comedy. And Hancock did make some great programs, not without the help of Galton and Simpson, of course. But I digress.

In the end I went for a long walk to the other side of town, to Diemen, because that was where I had to be this evening. The weather was lovely, slightly chilly autumn weather. Along the way I took pictures of houses I really like, details of statues. I would normally be on a bike covering this distance, but walking all the way you see so much more. A tiny park next to a bridge with a row of statues of children, details in the architecture of certain buildings, a tree growing almost into a house. This isn't the centre of town, the part usually visted by tourists, but just outside. A good place for experimenting with a new camera. There is some very nice variety in architecture, and often when I cycle here I look at these houses. Not bad at all.

Alan Coren

Long ago, in a previous life, I was a great fan of the News Quiz. I could listen to various episodes over and over again. This was the time of Richard Ingrams, Alan Coren and Ian Hislop. I loved the Way Alan Coren could just take off and tell one his wonderful stories. He had a great sense of humour, and I would laugh out loud regularly. I've rediscovered the programme, some new players, still a great many laughs, but no Alan Coren.

Last week Alan Coren died, and his News Quiz colleagues paid tribute to him this weekend. A lot of Coren stories could be heard again, and it made me realize just how funny he could be, and just how unique his way of telling a story was. He just seemed to be taking off without going anywhere in particular, but at the same time he always seemed to end up exactly where he wanted to be. And it still had me laugh out loud. So he will be missed by me too.

A Chill in the Air

Well, this morning it was time for gloves and a scarf again. They say temperatures went below zero last night. And the maximum for today should be about seven. So I guess we're heading for winter again...

Luka in Paradise

Well, I went to see Luka again, this time in Paradiso in Amsterdam. Known locally as the temple of pop. It was once a church, and that is still very obvious when you're inside. The stage set as always, guitars, flowers, Luka seated again. The first half of the concert he used the Spanish guitar, the second half it was Rudy's turn.

He played a lot of new songs, some written about a year ago, some written during his recent German tour. And he sang a lot of old favourites, some unexpectedly. The second song of the evening was one of my favourites, about the uprising in Tibet, called "As I Waved Goodbye". I first heard this song shortly after it was written, when I first saw Luka in concert in Utrecht. At the time he still had the sruti box for accompaniment, which made it special. Then came the version on the album "Between the Mountain and the Moon", and now the accompaniment is on the guitar. He played a lively version yesterday, which I liked very much. And a beautiful "City of Chicago", a hard subject to sing about but it just is such a beautiful song. And good to know that both Christy and Luka sing that one.

He played a lot of old favourites. I was happy to hear "Exploring the Blue", still one of the most beautiful songs he's written. Two surprises were "Chiara" and "The Fertile Rock". He mentioned not having done "The Fertile Rock" for a while, which I knew, so I was surprised to hear him play that one. And "Chiara" is an old favourite, for the name, for the story behind it, for the lyrics and the passion.

He also did the songs that will always make me happy, the ones that make it hard for you to stay in your seat. One is "You Couldn't Have Come at at Better Time", the other one "Perfect Groove". He ended this one the way he ended the concert earlier in the year in the Amstelkerk with "Wave Up to the Shore", no accompaniment and no amplification. A lovely way to end a concert in a, former, church.

For every favourite I heard there was one missing, but that is simply because there are so many songs that I love. I can understand why there was no "Delirious", I would have loved to hear "Black is the Colour". The elusive one for me is "Don't Be Afraid of the Light That Shines Within You", but that one I certainly didn't really expect. It was good to see him again.

The London Stage

Alex Jennings is appearing at the National Theatre at the moment, playing the lead in "Present Laughter", Garry Essendine. He is brilliant, of course. The play was written by Noel Coward and is a sophisticated comedy. The reviews are mixed, about the play, but the critics agree with my opinion of Alex's performance. His timing is perfect, he's very funny and great for the part. He worked very well with Sarah Woodward, playing Monica, his secretary. Her dry, understated comments worked very well.



I went to see hello to Alex after the performance, but my timing wasn't quite right. Falling down the stairs meant that Alex had hurt his foot and had to limp to his taxi. I didn't want to take up any of his time, but he came over to talk to me, and he was very nice.

Wilson in Cambridge

Edward Wilson was a student in Cambridge in the 1890s, he was at Gonville and Caius college. So when I went to Cambridge I had to go and see where he lived. The entrance to the college isn't as obvious as that to some of the others, and that says a little about the college. It seems a little smaller, and certainly more intimate... I liked the atmosphere in the courts very much, the intimacy and the trees and the flowers.

I knew Wilson had a room over the gate, I just couldn't remember which gate. or rather I didn't really know there was more than one. When I went to ask at the Porter's Lodge they couldn't really help me, but one of the porters said he would try to find out while I wandered round the college. I walked through the second gate to visit the chapel. That turned out to be small and intimate as well. Knowing about his strong faith I am convinced that Wilson must have spent much time here as well.



Walking back from the chapel I could see the porter coming towards me. He'd been checking his history of the college for Edward Wilson and had found his name, but not which room he'd been in. As I was on my way to the Scott Polar Research Institute I promised to check out where the rooms were. I did, and found the reference in Wilson's biography "Cheltenham in Antarctica".

Later in the afternoon I went back to the college to talk to the porter again, and as I walked into the porter's lodge he was very happy to tell me he'd found out exactly which rooms were Wilson's by talking to the man who wrote a book on the history of Caius, professor Christopher Brooke! We had come up with the same information! Wilson lived over the Gate of Virtue, right in the centre of the college, next to the Chapel.



Wilson made a drawing of the Gate from the other side:



Then the porter really surprised me by asking me if I wanted to have a look at the rooms.... He got on the phone to the present occupant, and she agreed to let me see the rooms. So I went up there, along a very old spiralling staircase, and was admitted to the rooms. There is an inscription over the fireplace, stating that Edward Wilson lived there from 1892 to 1895. The fellow who now lives there also let me climb up to the roof to enjoy the view from the top of the gate. A very lovely private balcony. I had only expected to be able to see the rooms from the outside, and to be given the chance to have a proper look at them was very special. I am very grateful to the friendly people at Gonville and Caius College.

I didn't have my camera with me, so I couldn't take a picture, but I did find this one of the room at the time when Wilson lived here:

Falling in Love

I sort of fell in love with Cambridge when I was there. It is a beautiful city, with a lot of different environments. The areas around the centre have their terraced houses, the centre has its shopping streets and colleges, and there are tourists and students everywhere.



One of the things that really struck me were the bicycles everywhere. Almost as many as we have here, but mainly of a different kind. More helmets, nowhere to place your bag. And they really are all over the place. Cyclists in Amsterdam may create chaos, it's a different kind of chaos in Cambridge. Here cyclists have their own lanes, and very few use pavements or footpaths, but that is different in Cambridge, bicycles are everywhere. At some point I felt the way some tourists must feel in Amsterdam, you feel like you're always in the way of a cyclist. And they come from the wrong side too...



It's the colleges that provide a kind of peace and quiet within the city. The green, wide open space at King's COllege, the intimacy at Gonville and Caius, the silence within Magdalen early in the morning. Most of the colleges have their own chapel, really good places for a little peace. I ended up attending evensong at the King's College Chapel, beautifully sung and very restful.



There are a lot of interesting small restaurants as well, and you don't end up going to all the usual places. Some are to a great extent aimed at tourists, but it doesn't really feel that way. Not a bad place for a vegetarian.



And then there is the range of museums. Art at the huge Fitzwilliam, fossils at the Sedgwick, Polar history at the Scott Polar Research Institute, and there were a lot more I simply didn't have time for. This is the kind of city where three days isn't really enough and you wish you had a lot more time to take things in. I guess I have a few reasons for going back.

Seabirds?

I was out on a boat to see the seabirds. I've had to revise the definition of seabirds though, as the ship was visited by a lot of tiny seabirds. I had one climbing up my trousers, and one landing on my wrist just as I had my arm close to my face to take a picture of other birds just a little further away. My telelens wasn't much use really for much of the time. Though I did get a few nice pictures. Of the Goldcrests...

Painters

The painters have invaded my house. They are painting the outside, the windows and the front door, but they have decided to try and do as much as they can from the inside. That might have something to do with the wind and the rain. The experienced painter, Philip, the one in charge generally works on the inside while his helpmate, a Scotsman called Brian, is stuck on the scaffolding outside for much of the time.

Brian is nice but not very experienced, and so far he has managed to break a window and to sand the inside of one of the windows instead of the outside, much to the annoyance of Philip, who ends up with a lot of extra work. Philip likes to chat. He talks about his travels, to Southeast Asia and to Mount Everest, and about social politics. He's very charming, and he knows it. He doesn't mind starting a little flirtation late in the afternoon, and he does it very well. It did make me smile.

Today they finished the windows, or as much as they could, the final layer. That meant the windows had to be open all day. I was at work in the living room, with the windows open, and 15 C outside. It definitely isn't summer anymore. Well, they're nearly finished now, so we'll be alright for another winter, and I'll have some peace and quiet again next week. And I'll have warm feet...

First Days of Autumn

It's autumn now. This morning I needed the light on my bike on again cycling into work for the first time. Soon I will be cycling to work and back in the dark again. I don't mind so much, I like this time of change, I like the feeling of just a little chill in the air, though I will miss the warmth and the sunshine. Then again, this wasn't exactly a very warm summer.

Chernobyl Reclaimed

I went to see a film called "Chernobyl Reclaimed", about the life around Chernobyl after the disaster. The animals have reclaimed the area immediately surrounding the Reactor. They are free to roam the area without humans to interfere with them so on the surface this must be a paradise for them. But all the animals living in the area are radio-active, the bears and the wolves, the feral cats, and the birds. The people filming had to wear protective clothing and they could stay in the area only for short periods at a time, these animals live there and get their food there. They move in and out of the area freely and they seem to be doing very well. It's a worrying thought though.

Bicycles in Amsterdam

An American visitor to Amsterdam spent about an hour a year ago taking pictures of Dutch cyclists, all in one spot in the very centre of Amsterdam. They make a nice illustration of traditional transportation in the city. And it's interesting for me to see all that through the eyes of someone not used to it all. But this is just the way it is...

Amsterdam Bicycles

The Crossing

Living here in the big city, where it is so grey and crowded at the moment, it is hard to imagine that I once crossed the Southern Ocean, sailing all the way from South America to South Africa. People wonder if it isn't boring, spending all that time out at sea with very few landings to break the monotony. Day after day looking
out over a vast ocean, stuck on a small ship with a small group of people.

It's not boring being out there. You always have the world outside the ship to keep an eye on for a start. Sailing from Antarctica via South Georgia to Tristan da Cunha means you get to move from one bird population to another. You start out with the Antarctic birds, the Black-browed Albatrosses, the Penguins, and then you move on to South Georgia, where you get more Wandering Albatrosses and the King Penguins. And then further out on to the ocean you get more kinds of Albatrosses, the Yellow-nosed and the Shy, and more kinds of Petrels and Shearwaters. The Great Shearwaters are such beautiful birds, and this is the only place where you will get to see the Spectacled Petrel. And the landscapes as well as the seascapes are stunning.

Getting closer to South Africa you get to see fewer birds, and you actually get to see some ships. Some are fishing boats that attract all the birds. One of the first big ships we passed got in touch with us on the radio, and it turned out a former Europa crew member was on board. I'd been wearing his waterproof gear for the previous seven weeks.

Travelling all this way also means very slowly travelling from one climate to another, just as you move slowly from one bird population to the next. You start out at the Antarctic Peninsula at the onset of autumn. There are storms, the first snow starts to fall and it is cold and wet. You can't do all the landings you might have wished to do, and you can get a little chilly at times, to put it mildly. Moving towards your first stop it only gets a little warmer. Or we were lucky, when we landed at Grytviken on South Georgia we actually got sunshine, and a lovely walk over to Maiviken. The rest of the trip is a very gradual move from the cold Antarctic to the very warm South Africa. When you plan the trip you think mainly of being on the ship and of being down south, so you have a lot of warm clothes with you. And then you end up in the heat of Africa, going on a short bird safari.

What also keeps you from getting bored is the world inside the ship. Guest and regular crew together build up a routine, that people will quite easily get used to. It's all pretty straightforward. There are the watches to keep you occupied, you can be at the helm, help with all the sailhandling, or take on duties in the galley. The list of jobs to do is endless. When the weather gets a little warmer there is a lot of maintenance work that can be done, fixing things, painting the ship. You get used to getting up in the middle of the night to be up on deck somewhere doing something important. In the dark you get to see the most beautiful skies, because it still is really dark out there. On clear nights you can see all of the Southern sky, you can get beautiful views of the Milky Way. You can also see all the luminescent life beside the ship that migrates up to the surface at night. Little lights above and below you.

Living with a small group of people for several weeks is a very special experience. You get to know people quite well and this is a society you have to be part of for the duration, there is no escape. You are stuck together for seven weeks. There are some people you get to like and you get to spend a lot of time with, and there are people you try not to get too close to if you can help it. And people may move from one category to the next between the start and the end of the trip. A lot happens during that period, and you could write a book just on all that. Reaching Capetown is something of a shock after all that, almost from one moment to the next you move from this tiny, secluded world into all the life and colour of a big city.

Travelling aboard a three mast bark can feel a little like travelling back in time. You cannot hurry, you depend to a great extent on the wind to take you where you want to go. When you are not on watch, when there are no birds, there is time to read. I read all of Dan Brown and all of Jane Austen during this trip, a great way to unwind.

So, if you ever get the chance, take it. The landscape on south Georgia is stunning, Antarctica is a unique place, and Tristan da Cunha is the remotest inhabited island in the world and and well worth a visit. And travelling on a ship is the kind of experience you don't get anywhere else.

Leo

In my company you get to talk to one of the directors once a year. It is a way for them to keep in touch with everyone and to find out what is happening to the people and to the company. I like the idea. The directors can be approached quite easily anyway, you don't have to make an appointment three weeks in advance, one of the
things I like about my company. But anyway.

This year the talks have been organised around star signs. For some reason I started out in the Cancer group, but now I'm back where I belong, with the Leos. I was born on the first day of Leo, but sometimes I get classed as Cancer and I am definitely Leo. So I had myself transferred back into my natural habitat.

Just to find out what kind of person I am I'd been sent a short description of "Leo in the workplace", written in 1968. It's a little dated, and obviously written for male Leos in the workplace. It still says that the boss has to put some flowers on the desks of us Leo girls once in a while to keep us happy, and to say something nice about our dress or our new haircut. The director is a wise man, and he turned up with a bottle of rosé to show his appreciation for these hard-working Leos.

The meeting itself was interesting. We were nearly all women and almost every one denied being the roaring type of lion. I am not necessarily the most audible always, but I have been known to roar from time to time. I thought it was quite funny that the director confirmed that immediately, he and I have had our little discussions over the years, but we have always managed to resolve them. It was a nice change of perspective again.

Bird Amusement Park

There is a Dutch documentary called "Amusement Park the Netherlands", which tells the story of how many Dutch people spend their free time. It is a fascinating film. It pays attention to a shopping centre in one of the polders, where the manager spends time in his room over the gate watching people leave the centre. He counts the number of plastic bags people carry to determine if they have bought enough. And then there is the man in another town, who is in charge of the Chocolate Festival, an event to promote the town. There is a wonderful moment when he has to keep a lot of children quiet who have been promised that they can eat a big chocolate bed in a furnishings shop. So many small dramas, so many different events for people to take part in, some completely alien to me. I loved watching this film, and yes I know it is a mirror...

About two weeks ago I was at the Dutch Bird Fair, where I have helped out at one of the stands for several years now. Anything to support the Save the Albatross Campaign. But this year I did look at it all slightly differently. The film maker could have shot part of his film here, and it would have fitted in very well. A lot of volunteers, people selling binoculars, art, and birding trips. Fun things to do for the children, lectures and excursions, lots of announcements over the PA system.

There are people I meet once a year, just at this festival, I meet up with people I've met on my travels in the Southern Ocean over the years, and I meet some new people every year. To me that is becoming the charm of the festival, and some other events like this one. And I like to observe, the people, the things that happen, the characters. It's good fun. So I guess I am well and truly Dutch after all.

For some pictures check the Bird Fair website:
Vogelfestival

The New Library - Part 2

I went back last week, to find out a little more about the place. The building is turning into quite a tourist attraction, you see a lot of people just wandering round, not there to borrow or return books, but to have lunch in the restaurant, or just to have a look at the building. The balcony on the seventh floor, at the café, provides one of the best views of the city that I know, and that is easily accessible.

One of the nice things about the place is that there are so many places where you can sit down and just read a book. I had some time to kill between appointments, and I found this huge blue chair waiting for me, where I could start reading the book I just borrowed. There are other corners, with different types and colours of chairs, places where you can lounge, old-fashioned writing tables, modern desks, and lots of workstations with internet access. And you get to sit amongst all those bookcases with lots of books and beautiful lights.

This is a place where you can spend a lot of time.

Working Out

I decided over the weekend that I should really do a little more than just go swimming three or four times a week, so on Monday I went to the gym again. And I went again yesterday. I really made an effort, and now I can feel it. There are a lot of muscles in your legs, and sometimes you can feel all of them individually. I think today I'll go swimming...

Brunost

I discovered today that a cheese shop near my office actually sells Norwegian brunost, or brown cheese! I had a brunost sandwich and just loved it, I enjoyed every bit. Brunost doesn't really look much like cheese, it really is brown. And it doesn't taste much like cheese either, it tastes a little like caramel. It's an acquired taste, when I first ate it, long ago, I didn't much like it. The man serving me at the shop looked rather shocked when I asked for it, he said I was the first customer who had ever asked for that type of cheese, and he almost tried to tell me not to do it. Maybe I should start a campaign to make brown cheese popular in the Netherlands.

Spreading Their Wings

The three young storks in the park really are spreading their wings now. I saw them today, but not in the park this time. I could see them circling high above the city from my office window. A beautiful sight. They have really grown up now.

Sunday in the Park with Ramses

This was my weekend for the park, I guess. Yesterday I spent all of my afternoon with the storks, today it was music time. One of Holland's musical greats was due to appear this afternoon with a new band called Alderliefste. The band sing mainly in French, which is what they did this afternoon too. The singer is called Gerard Alderliefste.



Towards the end of the performance the man almost everybody had been waiting for came up on stage: Ramses Shaffy. One of the country's best known singers since the sixties, responsible for writing and performing some of the songs everybody in this country can sing along to. He is no longer in the best of health, but he still performs once in a while, and you can still see and feel the charisma of the man. He's lived a more than full life, a man of great emotion, and beautiful to hear and see. He just sang a few songs, the song "Laat Me", which he recorded with Alderliefste, then he improvised a song for the day on the piano, and he sang "Zing, vecht, huil, bid, lach, werk en bewonder", which everybody sang along with. He ended with the "Shaffy Cantate", few words but great music. I am really happy to have seen him appear today, and I'm glad he seemed to enjoy it all so much. Most of the crowd were there to hear him, no one else really.










The afternoon had started nice and sunny, warm enough to walk down to the open air theatre in a summer skirt and a t-shirt, but just as Ramses started his final song the first drops of rain started to fall. Just after the concert finished the heavens opened and people were trying to find shelter as quickly as they could. Within about five minutes I was wet through, not just a little water seeping through, and a gradual process, and, no I didn't bring the rain gear.... I didn't really mind though, the concert was worth it, and I was happy walking all the way back home wet and cold, enjoying the moments.

I put the rest of my pictures up at: Picasa

And here someone was nice enough to take pictures of the downpour:Pixites at Flickr

Out of the Nest

The storks in my backyard have grown up and they're starting to discover the world. Their world for now is just the small enclosed meadow their nest is in. Mother keeps a watchful eye on her brood.



The youngsters seem to enjoy their untidy environment though,



because there you can find lots of unusual and interesting items:



And being on the ground means you finally get to flex your wings without almost knocking one of your siblings out of the nest.



And you can show off your beautiful, almost red legs and bill to all of the waiting photographers:



And you can stare back at all those people who have been staring at you over the past few weeks:



Just three little Storks, getting ready to leave:

Sometimes

it's the little things that can make you smile...

Last night I stood outside my front door watching the bats fly above the little square outside my house. And this morning, in the park, I walked across the grass in my sandals and got my feet wet. It felt really nice.

Jamboree 1995

Hearing on the news about Scouting and the Jamboree takes me back to this time 1995, when I was taking part in the Dutch World Jamboree. I had ended up there almost by accident because I had left Scouting several years before. I'd been asked to work at the site as one of a team of translators and interpreters. In the end it was quite a big team, and there wasn't always enough work to keep everyone occupied, so there was plenty of time to look round the site and take part in the event. This was lucky, in another way, because our team leader got ill during the event, and his replacement was a little busy elsewhere, but we were able to organise ourselves.

I remember it was a hot summer, and we had a sunny fortnight. As far as I can remember we had no rain at all, it was just very warm every day. Quite good, really, when you have 30,000 people camping together in a polder. The atmosphere was very good, and I remember leaving all my stuff in my tent every day and feeling quite safe. People seemed pretty happy, and I think a lot of young people made friends with people from all over the place. I remember talking to Scouts from Pakistan, a place that fascinated and still fascinates me.



The site was huge, a small city, and getting from one place to another could take quite a while. I hadn't been able to bring my bike, so I did a lot of walking, from our sub-camp to the office, to the press centre and to the various other sub-camps. There was a big restaurant for all the volunteers working on the site, and the food was generally good, though I didn't have much of an appetite for much of the Jamboree. That might have been the temperature.

Working, or being available for work, meant that you couldn't take part in all the events, but I did attend both the opening and the closing ceremonies. They had a slight Olympic feel to them, though they were a bit smaller. Well-organised and directed, lots of colour and a great sense of joy. Arriving a little late for the opening ceremony, we ended up just outside the arena waiting for the Queen and her husband to pass, and we got to see the Swedish king. It was all very colourful. I also attended a sailing parade, but for some reason I seem to remember little about it, except that a lot of things seemed to go wrong there. That can be reassuring sometimes.



For me it was fun being a translator and interpreter. We worked in a team, and translated the newsletter for staff working on site, instructions for various activities, and anything else we could get our hands on. This was the only time I ever worked as a proper interpreter, sitting in a little cubicle, wearing headphones, translating what was being said at the daily press conference. It was hard work, and took a lot of concentration, but I did enjoy it. I also enjoyed recording the message for visitors most days for the information number. I would sit in a little office, a little peace and quiet among the mayhem outside. For some reason I remember there being socks on the desk there, one of those ridiculous details.

In some ways it all seems very long ago, because, for example, I remember there hardly being any mobile phones. Some of the staff members carried their phones around, and I was surprised at finding myself in a toilet cubicle and hearing someone talking on the phone in the next cubicle. Nowadays that seems to be quite normal. And I saw on some of the pictures of the internet tent at this year's Jamboree, and that was a little less normal twelve years ago too. Apparently they had an internet tent then as well, but that I cannot remember. I remember queues at the pay phones that were there.

On a Boat

Today I was out on a boat. Birdwatching. Another interesting experience.

I have to get up at 3.30, and have a little trouble doing that. I haven't had much sleep much anyway, this is the mosquito season here. Then an hour in the car, getting to the boat. It is still dark, and this time of year it is strange to be up when it is dark. Usually it's light long before I get up in the morning, and it is only just dark when I go to bed.

Then on board a fishing vessel, the kind of ship that always takes fisherman to sea for a day out. Not my usual environment. It takes four hours to get to the area where you are most likely to see groups of seabirds. I've been taking my pills against seasickness, so I am suitably sleepy again, and when I go down to the little café I manage to go back to sleep in there and sleep throughout the trip. When I wake up we are almost at our destination so I get to enjoy the distribution of the chum, the fish waste that is distributed in the water to attract the birds. And that does attract the birds. It isn't a great treat for those of us who are not feeling too well at sea. I'm okay, but a younger boy looks pale and far from happy.



The company on these trips is usually interesting. The first thing I usually notice is how few women there are. Today we are a group of over 40 people, but there are only three women. And then there is the huge number of big lenses, just binoculars won't do anymore. Almost all the birders on board are photographers as well. Today we also have a radio reporter on board, who interviews people on board. He gets most of his work done in the morning, but has to do it all again in the afternoon because of some technical difficulties.

We get to see a lot of birds, mainly Black-backed Gulls. We also see Fulmars, Gannets, Skuas and Guillemots. People point out the various birds to each other, one man is counting. Soon we can probably see on the website what we have seen, or what we are supposed to have seen. I am not so sure I have actually seen everything.



We are lucky today, it is sunny, it is dry and there isn't a lot of wind, very much unlike the weather over the past few weeks. There is some swell, but not much really, and we can all enjoy the sunshine on deck. Faces turn red in the course of the afternoon. For once I actually remember my sunscreen so I think I'm alright for a change. On the way back I manage to fall asleep again, this time on the communal sleeping deck. I'm not the only one with eyes closed this time.

Some people go out to see to watch birds for weeks at a time. Strange people.

Happy Birthday!

Today Scouting celebrates its 100th birthday. There is a Jamboree in Chelmsford at the moment, so I guess that is where the biggest party is. This morning I heard a short interview on the radio about Scouting in general and about the Jamboree. I first joined the Brownies when I was 8 or 9, and loved it. I was a Girl Guide, a Ranger and a Leader by the time I was 15. From the moment I was a Brownie that is what I wanted to be. I ended up being a Leader for over 10 years, and enjoyed that very much. It was fun being involved with the children, watching them develop and seeing what they got out of all the activities. we organised so many different activities, and it was great to see the enthusiasm of the children.

In the interview this morning they talked about what Scouting gave you, and that is not a hard question for me to answer. The main thing I got, and still have, are friends. I was lucky enough to make several international trips, and I made friends on all of those. Not all the frienships have lasted, but some have, and that is something I value. I have friends in Norway, in Greece and in New Zealand, and over the years I've been in touch with girls from South Africa, Israel, Korea, the USA and France. I very much enjoyed the international side of the movement. I visited "Our Chalet" in Switzerland a couple of times, and enjoyed the company as much as the beautiful Swiss scenery.

I did enjoy the activities I took part in because they were so varied. Games, crafts, music, acting, camping, it was all there, and there always was a lot you could organise for yourself. I loved campfires, building them and tending them, and I loved singing. People who don't know anything about the movement can have this idea of a very old-fashioned, disciplined lot, camping in some forest in full uniform, saluting a flag, but that is not what it's about. When I look at the pictures taken at the jamboree over the past few days, and when I see the reports on television I just see a lot of young people being active and having a lot of fun. And I can see a lot of young people being very social, working together and wanting to learn from each other.

I left quite a few years ago now, but I came back for just a little while during the World Jamboree that took place in the Netherlands in 1995. My last major event, but definitely one of the highlights in more ways than one. But that is another story, and I'll get back to that one later....

Almost Gone

The Storks have made the news, they are quickly becoming major celebrities. The three young are flexing their wings and it looks like they will be gone soon. They now seem to have people around continually, keeping an eye on them. Tonight they made both the local and the regional news, both clips are available online:

The Amsterdam news on AT5
Noord Holland News

Cycling in Amsterdam

For reasons of home logistics I start work very early these days. Cycling into work this morning around seven was very nice. Just a little chill in the air, lovely and dry, and hardly anybody around. It's lovely and quiet in the park that early in the morning, just a few people running, I heard a thrush singing and I could see the young storks standing on the nest. I don't think they will be there anymore this time next week. I love the park this time of the morning. And it is good cycling along the canal too, because there is precious little traffic.

Cycling in Amsterdam is not something simple. The rules, written and unwritten, are complex, and I can understand that the innocent tourist isn't aware of all of them. The cycle lanes seem very obvious to us, they are red, and they do have white bicycles painted on them, but sometimes they look a little like pavements, and if you don't have them back home you might think that you are supposed to walk there. You are not. Just as you are not supposed to cycle on the pavement.

Probably not all tourists know that ordinary traffic rules don't necessarily apply to cyclists here. For instance, it is customary for Amsterdam cyclists to ignore red traffic lights and just continue. It is not customary for cyclists to indicate where they are going, where they intend to turn a corner. Cyclists are in many cases allowed to enter a one-way street from the other direction, and even if that is not allowed they will. This may be confusing. I guess the rule is that you take the shortest way. These are just little things, and it does help to know.

I guess the best rule to remember is that cyclists are not expected to stick to the official rules, tourists are. Tourists on bicycles are expected to stick to the the unwritten rules for Amsterdam cyclists. I guess it is simple, really.

Harry

Like a great many other people all over the world I spent much of last week with Harry. I wanted to find out what was going to happen to him, whether he would be able to deal with Whatshisname, and whether he would live to tell the tale, so to speak. I was happy with the ending, it worked out alright, and it all made sense. I'm glad I got to read all of the book before reading the end of the story somewhere else. I'm glad that Harry never was too good to be true, and I'm glad that there are more shades of grey even towards the end. Things are not necessarily what they seem to be. I'll miss him.

Charlotte

Last Sunday I went to an exhibition of the work of Charlotte Salomon. I've seen her self-portrait so often, I knew the name and the face but I never really knew the story. I never realised she wasn't just a painter, and I didn't know the part her art played in her life, and how important it was to her.

She was born in Germany in 1917 as a Jewish girl, and had to flee the country in 1938. She went to her grandparents in France. Her grandmother committed suicide when the war broke out, and then she was told about the suicide of other family members, including her mother. She dealt with this by withdrawing into herself and by creating a series of works of art entitled Life? or Theatre? The series consists of over 800 gouaches. In 1943 she was deported to Auschwitz with her husband, just a few months after their wedding. She was killed on 10 October 1944 while she is four months pregnant. Her husband was killed on January 1 1944.

The art works are unusual and moving, they tell her story and recreate the people that were important in her life. Some look like very sophisticated cartoons, drawn in great detail, others are very simple drawings or pieces of text, and together they tell the story. She was very open and honest in her work, especially considering the time she lived in. The works on show at the museum at the moment are ones that were not included in her own final selection, she painted many more gouaches than she included in her own story. Standing there looking at the pictures it is hard to imagine that they were painted in the course of just a few years by a woman in her early twenties.

Most of the gouaches are available online at the Jewish Historical Museums website: Salomon at the museum

Summer in the City

I always cycle into work, and that means cycling in the city centre. That poses different challenges every season. In winter you need to be careful when it's been freezing especially in the park and on all the bridges.

Then in the summer, it's the tourists. In most countries people are not used to cyclists, so it's hard to know all the written and unwritten rules. And when it comes to cycling there are a lot of both here in Amsterdam. It seems hard for people who don't live here to understand cycle lanes, and to understand the fact that canals are not pavements but roads. And you get the tourists who explore the city on their rented red or yellow bikes. Or as someone called them the other day, "the yellow danger".

My favourite cartoonist, Maaike Hartjes, draws simple characters, which in can convey a lot of emotion and which she uses to create very recognizable situations. I very much like her stories on her relationship, and relationships in general, and all the things that she experiences in her everyday life. She is a great observer and she has a wonderful sense of humour. And she is a cyclist in Amsterdam. She know what that is like in the summer, and yes, this could be me...



1. Another green light!
2. The wind in my back and it is a lovely day...
3. Watch out!
4. Next time I'm simply going to run them over!!!!

Nynke

Last night it was time for a different kind of music again, Nynke Laverman appeared at the Concertgebouw. A different venue, not some big smoky hall with people standing around talking and holding a beer in their hands, but a sophisticated hall with some 1200 people sitting down very nicely. Audience behaviour wasn't quite as bad, though I still ended up among peopl who insisted on talking even while Nynke was singing, and who were checking their phones every once in a while. I really don't get that. But no smoking, at least, and a very comfortable seat.

I've seen Nynke a few times before. I first saw her when she played "Sielesalt", Salt of the Soul, a few years ago. I'm not sure why I went then, I'd heard about this singer singing Portuguese fado's in Frysian so when I read she would be appearing in Amsterdam I decided to go. The lyrics were actually translations of poems by a poet I admire called Slauerhoff, a poet of the sea, the poet of longing, put to music by Custódio Castelo, originally for Cristina Branco. The songs were put together by Nynke to create a very moving fairy tale. After Sielesalt she made "Maisfrou", Latin American music telling another story, creating another atmosphere.

Last night she didn't play either piece, but she gave a concert, singing songs from both and some other songs. I guess this gave her more room to play and she seemed to be enjoying herself. It's a wonderful place to perform in, I guess, with a great atmosphere and great history. I once saw Ravi Shankar play there, and later Cristina Branco. Nynke seemed to feel at home here, and she gave a good and varied concert.

The Concertgebouw is a little unusual because some of the seats are up on the stage, and that is where I was. You look into the audience and see the performer from the back for some of the time. I quite enjoyed sitting there though, I liked the perspective.

Fell Off His Bike, Man

Yes, he can do it too....

The Best

What could possibly taste better than fresh strawberries, on a bread roll, eaten out in the Dunes on a Monday afternoon?

Edward A. Wilson

Tomorrow would have been Edward Wilson's 135th birthday. He died before he turned 40 though, and he celebrated his last birthday way down south on the Antarctic continent. He died out there, in March of the following year with his Polar companions Captain Scott and Birdie Bowers on his way back from the Pole.

I first found out about Edward Wilson when I found a very good copy of his "Birds of the Antarctic" at the Dutch Arctic weekend. I had never heard his name before, I just saw the words "Antarctic Birds" so I opened the book. I instantly fell in love with the man's drawings, they are beautifully simple and accurate. He was always after truth as well as beauty, and that shows in the drawings. I especially like all the little sketches that weren't really finished.

He was an unusual man too. He worked many hours, both in England and when he was in Antarctica, and sometimes he would work standing up, just to make sure he wouldn't fall asleep. He was dedicated in everything he did. He went with Apsley Cherry-Gerrard on the Worst Journey in the World, to try and find the missing link between reptiles and birds in the eggs of the Emperor Penguins.

He was a man of his time, and he shot many of the animals he loved, though he was also one of the first naturalist artists to draw from life, rather than stick to dead animals. He was one of the first to start the move for Penguin conservation at a time when penguins were still killed to provide fuel.



He was a religious man, and it was religion that shaped his life. He held his own church services in the Crow's Nest while on board the Terra Nova. He was uncle Bill on board ship, the one the men turned to if they needed someone to trust. He was open and cheerful, had a great sense of humour, but was at the same time a very private man.

I like the man, because he is a man of contradictions. He loved the natural world, but he killed birds for scientific reasons. He was a religious man, a man with a great sense of humour, and also a man with quite a temper at times. I like the fact that he has his flaws, he wasn't a saint, though I believe he was a good man. And I like the fact that we share a birthday.

Library

The city has built a new Public Library, a huge building, almost right next to the Central Station, on the Oosterdokseiland which is being developed. I borrowed some books on the 6 June at the old library, but had to return them to the new one. So I guess I helped move some of the inventory.

I went to the new library today, and it is big. You can see that from the outside, and you keep that feeling once you get inside. It is light and open, and there are 6 floors. It all looks fresh and new, there are many places where you can sit down to read, many computers to use, and a lot of books. I like places with a lot of books.

From the restaurant up on the 7th floor you get a great view of the city, I could even see my office from up there, and you can see as far out as the Zuidas and the Arena. The restaurant is a franchise, I guess, it's big and fairly luxurious. It's a good place for a restaurant, with such a view.

I feel a little nostalgic for the old library though. Not quite so big, a little old and worn, but on the Prinsengracht, to my mind much more in the centre of the city. And there was a small café where you could buy a good coffee for very little money and just sit and read a newspaper.

I found the new library a little overwhelming, and I only went to see a small part of it. I'll go and see a little more next time. Looking at the little plan I took there are a lot of intriguing places to explore. So, to be continued.