Kijkduin

This evening by good chance friend Daan`s band was playing in cafe near my house. A summertime only old shack stuck on sand on North Sea beach near village on the sea between Schevenigen and Monster on the way to the Maas. Everyone in the bar from Kijkduin (the next village along) wearing fleeces and beenies, looking like old fishermen and drinking Heineken out of the bottle while their dogs ran around under the tables. We were in the minority of people without big dogs in the bar. Cosy bar was stuck on demountable right on the sand in the dunes facing out onto the North Sea where we watched the sun set and fishing trawlers and freighters chug by out on the horizon while the blues music played. Not a better atmosphere on the planet. Waited till music done then cycled in the half dark back on the bike paths through the dunes filled with flowering dune plants and the sea alongside on my left till I spun back into town near my place.

Port Scheveningen - Outer entry into the North Sea

God Appears to Kiri at a Cafe in Leiden

Snowy Road Haag-Leiden

A huge storm was predicted this day, so I was advised to leave work and head home from Leiden to Haag on my bicycle when it was still noon. In the end the snow was not so bad as you can see from these photos from the road near Wassenaar on my usual route home.

Ost Berlin Banzai!

It was a bummer I could not go back to Australia for a visit in Christmas. Luckily my friend Robert from East Berlin saved me with an invite. East Berliners are called Ossies (from German for East: Ost), so I felt right at home.
Some of the best people I have met for a good while, and also the most culturally close I have ever seen to the people in the old South Sydney area.
The people I stayed with were very proud of their area, but noticed it was losing its character to people moving in who had a habit of driving BMs, painting the outside of things lemon, and filling the inside of the apartments with ikea!
Remind any of my Sydney friends of anywhere???
Yes, they called them materialist yuppie wankers too! Used more words and sounded a bit more educated and erudite, but translated into Strine that is what they were saying. I felt right at home!
Reunification! I went to a party where of the 50 people there (all German except for me, and all around my age) there were only two born in the West. The concensus seemed to be that it was good the old East German government ended, just such a pity that East Germany then had to unite with West Germany!
Most importantly however, damn good party!
The police came at about 3am and asked Yenz whose birthday it was to turn the music down.
Polizai: "We can do this the easy way or the hard way"
Yenz: "Ok... lets do it the hard way then"

The highlight of the trip, however, was definately the "day of sausages" I ended up having by accident one day. Sausage for every meal that day, crowned with the glory of Berlin: Hagen`s blood sausages! Excellent!!!

By Gum - my Pennine Way walk last Summer

More environs - pretty ones this time

Continuing from the last enthralling installment.... these photoes are all taken from the sand dunes and woods which begin just across the canal from my street and continue away to the south-west along the North Sea. This is why I live in this place. I love this stuff!