Sports junkie

Between the Six Nations and cricket world cup, little is happening in my life. This time of the year I am generally anti social due to the ruggers, but throw in a cricket world cup as well and I am a true hermit until 7pm on weekends. Last weekend was a rugby free weekend, so I went to the Dam to catch up with friends. But that's about it as far as day time socialising goes.

The weekend of 12 March will be reasonably sociable, as my rugby mad friend Mary will be visiting. And thanks to a rugby playing colleague, I got allocated two tickets to the Wales-Ireland game. Mary and I will spend about 8 hours travelling for less than 2 hours rugby. But hey ho. It will be my best chance to watch this great sport at the Millenium Stadium.

From 3 April onwards, my own sociable self will reappear. Until then: sports it is!

A week in the Algarve

Albufeira beach
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

When we booked it back in October, all we hoped for was that the Algarve in this time of year would be sunny. Temperature wouldn't matter, just sun on our skins please. And that's what we got. A week of sun and never more clouds than the ones in the pic. Friend Ilse and I have a very healthy looking tan, and stocked up on vitamin D.

Our little Fiat Punto took us from west to east, and even into Andalucia for a few hours. The Algarve is beautiful this time of year. Citrus fruits everywhere and some blooming trees already. And, big plus, hardly any tourists. Ok, we spotted about 4 under the age of 40, but the senior Dutch, Germans and Poms seemed to have mostly stuck to golf resorts. I imagine the Algarve in July/August must be hell.

There was a drawback to this peace and quiet tho.... Few restaurants were opened. And we both like our food. I'd made a shortlist based on Tripadvisor but the top two were closed, as were many others. Which led us to some interesting experiences:

There was a place we referred to as Nicola (which seemed to be similar to referring to an Amsterdam bar as Heineken), where we ate twice. In the tourist heart of the city, but incredibly friendly, and properly home made food. On the first night, the owner apologised it had taken so long, as they hadn't pre-prepared anything because of low volumes. Little did we carre, the chicken peri peri had been delicious, the service homey, and the port good.

The next day we went to a place where even the Brazilian waiter spoke some Dutch ('portje van de huis?'). We were tired and hungry so had decided not to look further. Dickhead slimey Dutch waiter clearly didn't like us any more after I concluded, passive-agressive mastered to perfection, that his sauces weren't home made (Ilse asked for an ingredient to be left out, which couldn't be done). His response that 'we can't do that in a busy restaurant like this' made me burst out laughing.

The place where we went the last night was cute and frequented by locals. Nice owner, menu not in Dutch, good food. And Grolsch beer. Or hold on, the Grolsch bottle didn't contain beer. The four locals next to us drank something like homemade grappa from it and offered us some too. With a dried fig. I love grappa, but hell, this was strong. Ilse didn't finish it, and the owner happily polished hers off. A gezellig experience.

One resto we were very keen to visit, was open thank god. Henrique Leis, in Almancil. As we both wanted to drink, we opted for a bus and taxi combo. Good decision, as we gave the sommelier carte blanche for our wine flight and he sure as hell did his job! A seven course tasting menu with three glasses of different Portuguese wines was amazing. Scallops, crayfish, quail, steak, a never ending food heaven. What a joy.

And now after a week of monkfish and seafood cataplane, chicken piri piri, vino verde and grilled sardines, it's back to healthy homecooked meals in London. With my new cookbook (Ottolenghi's Plenty) as inspiration!

Hotel Saskia

Hotel Saskia will relocate in five months and a week. And those last five months and a week are going to be busy! This week alone three friends booked their fligths to London. Then there are a few placeholders, and some visits that were booked last year. So between my trips (Algarve, Guernsey and US) and these visits, free weekends are becoming scarce. Although I do really need my me-time, I am thrilled to have all these visitors. A whole weekend with friends gives such an extra dimension compared to dinner dates or running sessions used to meet up at home. It's proper quality time. I may leave my friends for an hour or so to exercise, but other than that, it's a lot of time spent in each others company. Chatting, eating, drinking, sightseeing. It's simple as that. When I am back in the Dam this summer, we won't have to pick up where we left it, as we never left it. It's good.

2010

Amsterdam canal in winter
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

I yelled at the tele, fists clenched, and shed a tear when Sven Kramer missed Gold due to a miscommunication with his coach. I felt even more sorry for Kemkers than I did for Kramer. For the WC final I bought an excruciatingly expensive ticket to the Dam. In complete silence I watched the last few minutes in Cafe Tapmarin. It took some time before my colleagues stopped commenting on De Jong's talent for karate. And the Ashes? Don't get me started.... Not a great year for sports, 2010.

Hours were spent on twitter and news websites, trying to keep up to date with the world of politics. British elections, followed by Dutch elections (and don't forget the Australian). A slightly trolleyed Simon Schama on the BBC, a massive applause for Femke Halsema on politiek24.nl. An unusual coalition cabinet here, an unusual minority cabinet in Holland. The Christian Democrats and UK Labour congresses I watched on Twitter and the BBC streaming, both from my bed in Langkawi, Malaysia. Fascinated by the changes in the political landscapes.

Alexander (Lee) McQueens death shocked me. So young, so talented. Mulisch' death came as less of a surprise, especially after an overeager Dutch ceefax journo released the news way before it was meant to be shared with the world. Hanses Dijkstal and Van Mierlo, Miep Gies, Jan Blokker, Leslie Nielsen. The world lost a lot of special people.

And then there were Wikileaks, the miners, The Engagement, the iPad. Things that dominated the news for part of 2010. And of course the ash cloud of the vulcano with the name I cannot pronounce. The fecker was responsible for me not seeing my bro for a whole year, as we were supposed to meet in Holland that week and only he made it. Haiti, Aung San Suu Kyi, bad and good news throughout the year.

When my LinkedIn travel stat told me I'd visited nine countries this year, I figured it must be a mistake. But it wasn't. I made about 17 trips in 2010, only 3 of which were for work. The joys of living in Britain, tickets are relatively cheap and choice is plenty. I visited friends in Vienna, Melbourne, Singapore and Barcelona. Made several trips to the Dam and discovered Malaysia.

Also, 2010 was the year I decided to return back to Holland in 2011, for at least 2 years. The picture at the top of this piece is to remind myself that Amsterdam isn't so bad. That said, it's been a difficult choice. If work weren't a factor, I'd stay here but as things are...the best job for me in the near future will be in the Dam.

And finally, I turned into a bit of a shopaholic this year. I buy less but better stuff and spend hours online scavenging for it on sites such as mywardrobe.com, netaporter.com and theoutnet.com. All of a sudden my wardrobe contains Vivienne Westwood, Nicole Farhi, Missoni, Jil Sander and Marc Jacobs. The northener in me makes sure to buy these things in the sale, but still...I have definitely been Londified.

But the most important? 2010 was another year without deaths and illnesses, with the exception of one of my bosses. He has leukemia and is constantly in my mind. It's a blessing to not have lost anyone dear, to be healthy and know that the people that matter most are too. And that made 2010 a great year. No trips or handbags could ever compensate for that.

Winter wonderland

Wandsworth Common
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

It was snowing so hard I didn't fancy leaving the house. Not owning a winter hat type thing didn't help either. But as my friend Zoe had booked us a table at Chez Bruce, I decided to brave it, looking slightly ridiculous in nice clothes and a Cricket Australia sun hat to cover my hair. But I needn't have worried. It may have been cold and slippery, but man, was it great to be outside! Massive snowmen in Clapham Common, a white and quiet Wandsworth Common, everything looked ever so pretty.

And Chez Bruce? Fantastic. We both ordered pork belly as our main, with some veg and the best caramelised onion I've ever had. The cheese board for desert nearly killed me (it's hours later and I am still full), but it was delicious. What a perfect way to spend a cold December Saturday arvo.

Naughty

The other day, one of the directors at work called me naughty, and my friend Viv nice. It made me giggle, but only later I realised how appropriate that comment is with regards to my new perfume. It's Vivienne Westwood's Naughty Alice. I bought it in York last month, as a birthday pressie either from my folks or from myself (jury still out). Today I wore it (to go with my Vivienne Westwood pumps and t-shirt). It's sexy and musky and floral all in one. Ylang ylang, violets and black roses. The packaging caught my eye in the shop, and the smell is equally beautiful. When they threw in a free bottle of body lotion, I was sold.

Edinburgh

4pm shot
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

The Brits don't deal with snow very well. And that is an understatement. Fair enough, at some point there was so much of it that I can understand things went a bit pearshaped but seriously....even on day 1 the train network was a complete mess. It took colleagues over 4 hours to commute home. Madness. I was lucky though. Tubes were pretty much running as normal, and when I showed up at the airport for my flight to Edinburgh on Friday, it was one of the few flights taking off from City airport. Without tea and coffee mind you, as the water supplies had frozen. Arctic circumstances in east London. I also managed to fly home as planned on Sunday, only for the snow to shut down Scotland again a few hours later.

So. Edinburgh. What a pretty city, especially in the snow. It was great to see my friend Lyndsay again, whom I hadn't seen since our farewell party in the Dam 2,5 years ago. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much time has passed, you just pick things up again. The snow did mean however, that I could only move slowly and had wet feet all the time. Wellies had pretty much sold out in the entire city. Other than that, it was a great trip. I wandered around for hours, stayed in Saturday evening and watched Strictly and read a book in my comfy B&B room. I like these weekends. It is not just about discovering new places, but the me-time is ever so nice. I could never be a hermit full time, but man, am I good at it occasionally!