Castles Made of Sand

Look what has appeared on the beach in the last week…

Pretty amazing right?!

It took about 20 people at least a week to make and they had to use scaffolding and everything!  The group that made it are called the Sand Academy (Zandacademie).  They have workshops, internships and everything.  Maybe I should go.  Maybe it’s time for a change of career….

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8 May

I’ve just found out more about this. The castle is 8m high and 24m wide and took 300 tonnes of sand to make. It was made by professional sand artists Paul Hoggard and Remy Geerts. Have a look at their website www.sandsculpture.co.uk,, which explains how its done.  There’s some amazing photos of their other work on there too.

Tiptoe through the tulips

As N’s mum and step-dad are here visiting, we decided it’s a good excuse to do the touristy thing and visit the Keukenhof.

The bulb fields

Flowers!

The Keukenhof is basically a massive park that functions as an outdoor flower show for six weeks every year, allowing all the bulb producers in the Netherlands to show off their wares.  Apparently there are over 7 million flowers in the park, and, as we’d chosen Easter Saturday to visit, there were nearly that many visitors as well!

Still it was still a very pleasant way to spend the day, and we were very lucky with the weather.  There were some amazing flowers there, and to top it all off a windmill!  How very Dutch.  To complete the Holland experience we sampled herring, followed by waffles.  Yum!

You know it’s Easter in Holland when…

1) The crocuses start blooming:

2) There’s a giant bunny parked outside your house!

3) The Albert Heijn starts selling rabbit-shaped ham slices (there is something so wrong with that concept!)

Cultural Sunday in Utrecht

We’ve arranged to go to Utrecht for the day to see our friend Scott, who’s now studying there.  It turns out it is Cultural Sunday.  These are like local mini-festivals held once a month with free concerts, outdoor performances and other activities.  This month’s theme is the Literary Zoo.

We go to a free organ concert in the cathedral – Handel’s The Cuckoo and the Nightingale and then Messiaen’s Chant d’Oiseaux (Birdsong – click here if you fancy a listen using RealPlayer).  Hearing the Messiaen live is a real treat for me and as the transcribed birdsong starts echoing around the building I think I’m finally starting to “get it”   When I studied this ten years ago I never really understood the bird song works.  By the looks of the faces of the audience some of them weren’t quite expecting what they got!  No one is sure quite sure where the piece ends and so the applause is rather hesitant…

We sneak off for a cheeky beer as the lecture about Animals in the Koran begins.  Not because we’re not interested, but because Iranian writer Kader Abdolah will be giving the talk in Dutch…  What amazes me is that the cathedral is packed – it’s standing room only.  And there are all sorts of people there.  If they tried to hold something like this in the UK outside of London, Oxford or Cambridge about 10 people would turn up.

Later on, heading back to Scott’s, we encounter a troupe of people dressed as animals and a band being pulled along on a trailer.  There is also a waiter running around carrying a fish in a bowl.  Slightly odd.

Look, it's a canal!

Donnie Darko statue (aka The Thinker on the Rock!)

Dancing people who think they're animals

Scott and man with fish

Binnenhof Part II

The Ridderzaal (Knight's Hall) in the Binnenhof

We spend Saturday with cousin Jenny, who has been in the Hague on business.  We try to do the tourist thing – taking her round the interesting places – but it’s a bit hard when you don’t know yourself!  Still, we make our way to the Binnenhof and go into the courtyard for the first time.  It is pretty atmospheric in the authentic Dutch drizzle.

We head to the Mauritshuis next door.  The Mauritshuis is 17th century palace that now hosts the Royal Picture Gallery, which includes Rembrant’s Anatomy Lesson and, of course, Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring.  Although I’m no art expert I can see why Vermeer’s work is so famous (although I still don’t understand why there’s any need to buy a matchbox, soap or playing cards with her face on, as you can in the museum shop!).  The use of light is amazing and there is something extremely haunting about her face.  And a fact for trivia fans – apparently the pearl itself was painted with just two brushstrokes.

After all that culture, we settle down in a cafe with a nice glass of wine to recover and shelter from the rain…

Fountain outside the Knight's Hall

Under an arch

A New Home

Finally Mollusc relocation team have swung into action and we have a place to live for the next 6 months   Here’s a picture:

I saw a mouse...

Well OK — in fact, it’s a gorgeous flat out near the seaside at Scheveningen.  This, unfortunately, is a name that no foreigner has any hope of ever pronouncing correctly and so was, as Dutch people keep telling us, used to uncover German spies posing as locals during the war (even they couldn’t say ‘Sch’ properly!).

I’ve never lived anywhere quite like this before.  Everything is very smart – in a minimalist Ikea sort of way.  And there’s room to swing at least 6 cats in the living room! Well, at least until all our stuff arrives from the UK…

Some actual photos:

Living/dining room

The space-age dining room lights are, uhrm, interesting!

Oh my Goodness! There's even a giraffe in the spare room

View from the balcony (which gets the sun in the afternoon darlings!)

Goodbye Spew!

So tomorrow we leave the Spui (spew in N-speak).  Finally we can move out of the hotel and into our new flat!  Can’t wait

We’ve quite enjoyed our time here in the centre, but it’s time to move to the beach…  A few pictures in memory.

A new friend!

Perusing the news

Nieuwe Kerk at Night

Town Hall viewed from the hotel

First Week

View of the Binnenhof (old parliament buildings) from across the Hofvijver or Court Pond

So we’ve made it to Friday – the end of the week.  For me not the most exciting week ever!  We are still stuck in the hotel as Mollusc’s relocation team seem to want to do anything but relocate us.  I’ve tried to get out and explore the city but it keeps raining

N has completed his first week at work without doing anything as Mollusc’s computer system has been struck down by a major virus.  Apparently the receptionist greeted him on Monday with the words “You’ve chosen a great week to start!”  Too true…

The great achievements of the week are:

1)  Opening a Dutch bank account

2)  N getting a card to allow him into Mollusc HQ

3)  Buying tickets for two jazz gigs

4)  I have begun a comprehensive survey of all the cafes within walking distance of the hotel!

Noordeinde Palace gates - Queen Beatrix's office

View of Royal Stables from Paleistuin (Palace Garden)

Welkom in den Haag

We have arrived with no problems.  The hotel is on Spui in the centre of the Hague (or Spew as N calls it) and is very smart in an overly modern, minimalist kid of way.  The first thing N saw was the electronic sign on the Dr Anton Philipszaal advertising a concert by one of his jazz heroes.  He is now completely sold on the Hague!

Dinner was at the Babbelen (which I later find out is a play on the Dutch word for gossip/chatter).  Great atmosphere and pretty good service (people keep telling us the Dutch are awful at this).  Unfortunately the food doesn’t quite match

Packing Up

If only I really were a snail.  Then there would be no boxes of junk towering over me, no piles of ancient bills and bank statements to sort through, no clothes that I haven’t worn for five years but can’t bear to throw away because “they may come in useful”…  I could just think about getting myself to The Hague in one piece.  And don’t even get me started on N and his six guitars…

My poor gran's car has never had to carry so much!

N + champagne = a dangerous combination (especially for my mum's carpet!)