And then there was the ½ Marathon

Take a sunny, 'crisp' Sunday, add around 31,000 sporty people with a determined look in their eyes,  mix in some expert  'event-organisers', place them all together in the big melting-pot called Amsterdam and you've got yourself a Marathon.

'They' went, I watched (and was well impressed). Aleide, Lillian, Sjors, Ron and Eric.

Lillian, Sjors and Eric waiting for Aleide

The crowds near the start were so dense, that it made me wonder how anyone could ever run with so many people crammed together. Turned out, it wasn't easy.

Sjors and Eric before 'take off'

Eric in crowd, at start

After the runners had gone, there was a lot of 'residue' left. Many people wear old jumpers, while waiting for the start-sign, which they then cast aside, once they start running. Sjors saw an opportunity in some clever advertising for 'his' sailing magazine 'Zilt' (see picture below).

What the flock left behind

I waved the flock goodbye, took their bags and found myself a good spot, next to the finish line, in the Amsterdam Olymic Stadium. Enjoying a cold but beautiful day and happily chatting to the people around me, whilst keeping an eye on the clock (I had been given an ETA schedule!!!).

My view

There was a constant stream of runners (also in fancy dress) coming in. I spotted Ron (because of signature black+red dotted handkerchief on head).

Ron just after finish

Two cows crossing

Then Sjors and Eric came in to be followed by Aleide and Lillian (who beat her PB by 6.36 min.!). Eric came back to show me his medal and let out a cry of victory. Not sure about the guy next to him though. I think he let out a cry of pain and nearly  threw up! (see picture below)

Hero!

Sjors on the look out for Lillian

Runners queueing after crossing the finish line

Afterwards, we all cycled to Ron and Anjet, who had invited us to their lovely home to celebrate with Champagne and 'lekkere hapjes' (tasty bites). Wonderful.

Pretty Produce

Requests have come in to show some more pictures of the latest jewelry. So here goes and here's to you Cal and Marlies.

(Clips) 'Cal's Bells'

Silver drop (1,5 cm.)+lilac pearl

(Pegs) 'MarBella's'

Silver,  pearl rosette+drop

Seed Pearl Bracelet

Silver clasp (1,5 cm.)

(Clips) 'Flor'

 Silver (2,2 cm.) + Pearl

Arti10 and restaurant De Dagvisser

Art by Hella Maas

My bank decided I must love art and sent me two free tickets to go and see the art fair Arti10 in The Hague. Fo more info. (also in English) 
click here.

We happily grabbed at the chance to go and decided to end the day at a fish restaurant in Scheveningen Harbour (for some, celebratory reason or other).

Arti10 was held in the old Fokker Airplane Terminal, consisted mostly out of modern art and we really enjoyed it. It reminded us of a smaller version of the 'Affordable Art Fair' in Amsterdam which we saw a year ago and are hoping to see again this year (click here).

Afterwards, we went to De Dagvisser or  'Fisher(man) of the day' for a relaxed meal. We'd been several times before, but this time there were less items on the menu (only 1 meat dish) and both of us thought that the food had improved.
We had not booked beforehand and were only able to get a table, because we went early. An hour later the place was full to the rim, which is always a good sign.

The waitress, kindly took a picture of us but she was also very busy,  hence the slightly shaky picture.

Celebration at beautiful location

Last Sunday, Eric and I went to a birthday party.
Birthday girl Wilna had invited her friends and entire family to join her and her husband for some food and drinks, at their beautiful 'home'.

This special family (mentioned above) played an important role in my life, when I was in Holland,  'studying' to become a goldsmith.
My own family lived in England at that time and Mary (who was at college with me) decided to take me under her wing, which meant that I spent many a weekend at her parents.
They took me in, became part of my life and it's always good to see them.

The party was a success.
Everything came together beautifully and, seemingly, without effort (How does she do that???).
From fine drinks, hmmmmm-cooked food and cakes to die for, to lovely company.
It was a warm, sunny evening and I decided to take some pictures of them and their amazing home (well...., more like a castle, really. With a tower and moat!).

birthday girl with cakes

gathering in the kitchen

A home with tower and moat

Fairy tale garden

Mini-Reunion at restaurant River Kwai

During our teens, my sister and I stayed at a boarding school/orphanage in The Hague.
There's no sad or sorry tale here. Fact is that our parents worked for Shell and there were no schools for us in the countries where they were sent to.

One can imagine, that being 'plonked' together in a huge house with a lot of (approx. 50) young teenagers can cause some weird and wonderful situations and every single one of us will have some tall stories to tell.
One of the good things that came out of this time, is that friendships were 'forged' which have turned out to be indestructible.

Having returned to Holland I decided to meet up with 3 of my 'Boarding shool buddies'
Some of us had not seen each other for almost 25 years and were a little nervous, but that didn't stop us wanting to catch up over a nice meal at restaurant River Kwai in Utrecht (which I strongly recommend to anyone who likes Thai food).

The evening turned out to be a huge success.
We may not have known exactly what had gone on in each other's lives, but our friendship, humor and way of talking to each other, felt like a warm, comfortable blanket.
It was as if we were the only ones in the restaurant. Stories were being re-told at the top of our voices, old photographs were looked at and loud laughter was flowing freely.

Boarding School Buddies

Animated story-telling

Hans + Alex with photo album

We met in Oman when we were 6

Very Tasty food and drink

As far as the Thai food restaurant's concerned, it was actually very good.
For Dutch info only, click here

The restaurant was chock-a-block.
There is a warm and welcoming atmosphere and it's at a fantastic location, on a canal, in Utrecht.
We had three different dishes: Crispy Fish with sweet & sour sauce, Red Beef Curry and a Thai Green Curry with chicken. As a side dish we had a yummy cucumber salad. All were excellent.

Before we went, we had read some reviews which mentioned that the service was slow and not very friendly.  I have to admit that the guys got a bit impatient having to ask for their Singha Lagers at least three times and we did have to order our food several times, before we got it but we were having too good a time to really notice or care.