My Tour Des Pays Bas

Beautiful east of NL
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

As I was spending fewer than 48 hours in the country, I decided to make the absolute most of my trip home this weekend. And I was quite impressed especially by how much one can fit into a single Saturday. By public transport mostly.

From the Amsterdam Transvaalbuurt, I went to Utrecht. Ran a few errands, got Martin Bril's Rokjesdag (he was a famous Dutch columnist who was intrigued by the phenomenon of the first day every year that so many women start wearing skirts - rokjes), ate a very Dutch sandwich and took a train to Apeldoorn. And then Voorst-Empe. Voorst-Empe is on the coolest trainline ever. A one track boemeltje between Apeldoorn and Zutphen. Cute as. Met the parents, drove to my nan who lives there, and had lunch. That was three provinces already. I took the boemeltje to Zutphen, where I changed trains to Arnhem. It's a good thing living in London changes your perception of distance. As long as I have a book on my, I find it totally normal these days to travel for almost an hour to go for dinner or meet a friend. Anyway. Arnhem. I had 1,5 hours spare before meeting a friend and driving to Den Haag with her. It was sunny and I was thirsty (day two of a three day mild hangover), so a drink and walk in Park Sonsbeek seemed the appropriate thing to do. Then Den Haag. Dinner with old work friends, in a lovely French-Asian restaurant in the Prinsenstraat. Fantastic food and a very decent sancerre. Quite late, I left province number five to head back to Amsterdam. Happy and tired.

London Fields

London lady
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

Just off London Fields is a small photo studio. I can't remember how I found out about it, but when I read about a one day camera workshop, I signed up. Friend Ilse decided to tag along, and so we found ourselves in Hackney on Saturday morning. It was an interesting mixture of people and experience. The course was good and structured, and provided me with quite a few tips and tricks

London Fields (that was partly cordoned off halfway through the day as a guy had been shot, and air ambulanced away) and Broadway Market are amongst the best places in London for people watching. I am not a great people photographer, so stuck to other themes. When the girl in the pic wasn't looking tho, I managed a quick shot. She's very Hackney, and I love the contrast with the older lady in the background. Need to go back on a shooting-free day to spend some more photo-time in London Fields.

Sunny days, but not for all

Canada Square is the home of HSBC, of Citibank, of several restaurants, a gym, a supermarket. It's buzzing during the week. And it does not buzz more than on a sunny Friday during lunch hour. Office staff read a book on the grass, eat their lunch at one of the tables scattered around the square, or sit on one of the benches, chatting away. Nothing says Friday more than office workers relaxing. It's the sign the weekend isn't far. And where better to relax than in the sun? So I bought some sushi and joined the crowd. So far so good. Happy feelings.

A stones throw away, a plaque is covered by flowers. When I walk up to see what it says, I notice the other people around it are crying, and comforting each other, and are not nosy office workers like myself. I quickly walk away, and look up the date on the net. Ten years ago today, when the HSBC building on 8 Canada Square was being constructed, a crane collapsed, killing three construction workers. The people I saw must have been relatives. Mourning the loss of their loved ones, by a stupid accident while the three men were at work. Their 21st of Mays will never be sunny again.

Glee

My Holland based friends may not have heard of it, but they will soon. In the US and the UK, you'd have had to lived under a rock not to have heard of Glee. It's not so much about the plot, which I find pretty boring. But the cast is brilliant. The remake of all sorts of songs from Madonna to Ice Baby make you smile or jump up and dance. The characters can be pretty interesting, with Sue Sylvester, the cheerleader coach, a top trending topic on Twitter on Glee days. It's revenge of the geeks and high school it-girls. Cliches all over the place, and they work. Try it, if you haven't done so already. It took me 2 or 3 episodes to get the hang of it, but I love it now.

Chili con carne

As it's pretty much November weatherwise, I decided to make a big bowl of chili con carne today. And it was the best I've ever had. Thanks to Jamie Oliver (basic recipe), mate JC (addition of chocolate) and myself (some changes to recipe). For six portions, here is what you need to do.

Chop two celery stalks, two bell peppers, two onions and two garlic cloves. Simmer in olive oil till soft. Add a tin of chick peas, a tin of kidney beans and two tins of tomatoes. Add 500 grams minced beef. Add a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of cumin (I used garam masala instead as I'd run out of cumin) and a teaspoon of chili powder. Add some fresh chili and chili flakes as well if you like a bit of a bite. And finally add a little balsamic vinegar, some bay leaves, and a square of dark chocolate. Just let it simmer for an hour at least and serve with rice (I used wholegrain basmati) and some yoghurt, a wedge of lime and some coreander. Nom nom nom.

I will have some more tomorrow, as it's supposed to be even better the next day. The rest found its way to the freezer.

Elections

Tomorrow is D-day. For Cam and Sam-Cam. For Gordon and Sarah. And ok, maybe a little for Clegg the Clogg and his Spanish missus. And I absolutely hate not being able to vote. I mean, I understand the rules and I understand why I can't vote. But I so have an opinion. I have immersed myself in the campaigns, the points of views. I have followed the debates on Twitter (sorry Gordo, Nick and Dave, European football wins when it comes to chosing the tv channel). It's been a hugely fascinating campaign. The weirdos at the BNP and UKIP who I have seen in tv-interviews (ok, maybe not too different from home with our blond bombshell...). The hype around the honorary Dutchman. The mud throwing between labour and tories. The short time span between official announcement and election dates, very different from the situation in the Netherlands. All the celebs who have spoken out their preferences (Michael Caine, shame on you). Tomorrow night I will be glued to the tele to watch the prelim results. And in a month and a bit I will get my chance. For the Dutch elections I have already sorted out my vote. For now, I will be a bystander in the country I call home.

Mozart

Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

As last weekend was already my fourth trip to Vienna to see my friend Mari, neither of us felt the need to do touristy stuff. Mari was keen to see a concert in the Musikverein, and so was I. I like classical concerts and to listen to Mozart in one of the world's most wellknown music halls seemed great. How wrong we were.

For a shocking €54 I managed to do the most touristy thing in Vienna so far. And that includes visiting the Christmas markets. At first, I was quite impressed. A lot of people had dressed up beautifully. There were women in saris, a woman in a gorgeous kimono, and a lot of heels and pretty LBDs. There was a grandfatherly old man in a suit and hat. It all seemed very smart. The hall is amazing, people were snapping for ages before the orchestra entered.

And when they entered, that was when M and I exchanged an 'oh my god' look. The whole lot of them were dressed in pastel coloured Mozart outfits . White wigs and all. They then proceeded to play a 'best of' set of Mozart's work. Occasionally accompanied by an opera singer in dirndl dress and a male singer in traditional costume. The old man with the hat was happily tapping away with his walking stick, while we tried not to laugh too audibly. Just when we thought things couldn't get any worse, the mail singer walked on stage with a caged bird on his back.

The orchestra and the singers were fine but man.....the both of us will remember this concert for very different reasons.

The pic to the left is of crap quality but gives an idea of the orchestra.