February 2002 Archives
Normally when we visit Holland, time seems to fly. That is why we decided to go on Thursday evening. The other reason was the wedding of Ton & Mirjam on Friday.
Due to a little delay we arrived in Harmelen at 1:00 at night. Of course we had to spend some time chatting with my parents, so we went to bed quite late.
I planned to arrange some things and go shopping on Friday morning, but as usual it was impossible to get out of bed early enough. Somehow every visit to Holland feels like a holiday, and the first days of holidays I usually spent resting (=sleeping). Anyway, by the time we got up, we had to run through the shower, quickly grab a sandwich and hop into the car to arrive on time in the townhall. The ceremony was funny and entertaining and I know it�s a clich� but the bride looked pretty.
In the afternoon we had some minutes left for shopping (dropjes, tijgernootjes, ...). The rest of the time we spent reading on the sofa. First of all because the weather wasn�t so good, but also because at home we haven't got a sofa.
The party at night was also really 'gezellig'. I had a chance to have a chat with a lot of people, and was able to hear the latest gossip. I was so occpied with talking to all those people that sometimes I forgot that MJ doesn't understand any of it. (Sorry for that, next time I will take care of you a little bit more...).
On the same evening, Pere had arrived home, so Saturday we showed him Amsterdam and Utrecht. We found out that a Dutch guide is of no use at all in Amsterdam, because on the streets you'll find more Spanish tourists that citizens of Amsterdam and the people in the souvenir shops speak better Spanish that I do. We also found out why groups of Brittish boys only visit the red light district when they are completely drunk: the girls look like truck drivers.
In the evening we went to Stairway to heaven to drink some beers.
On Sunday, we went back home again. Even though we had one day more, time seemed to fly. Next time, with easter, we'll try to stay even longer!
First of all for all the people who have asked me the last weeks: Yes, they do celebrate carnival over here! Of course a little bit different than in Holland, but they definitely DO celebrate carnival.
This weekend Roberto, our Italian friend, was visiting us. He choose a nice weekend to do so, as stated above. He finished his exams on Friday, had a party at night and went directly over to Lleida. So when he arrived on Saturday afternoon, we first offered him a hot shower. After arranging his stuff, we hurried back to the city center to see the carnival parade. I guess it was at that moment that Jong Nederland received the yearly prize of honour (and with yearly I mean that JN is receiving it every year) for their wagon. Here the parade starts when the sun sets, and I have to admit that the wagons look really good with al these lights. There were about 30 wagons, mostly crowded with children. Popular themes were indians, the north pole, and vikings.
After the tour (at was already 21:00 hours) we took Roberto to an Italian restaurant. I know that it is quite a guess to serve pasta to an Italian, but this restaurant is really good. Nine is a little bit early to eat, but on these kind of days you have to be early, or you�ll end up waiting a long time outside the restuarant.
After the meal, we went to River café, which is close to the place where the party in the evening would take place. The main party started at eleven thirty, but at midnight the hall wasn't even half full. The band was playing really good, but Metallica and AC/DC are not the kind of music I expect on a carnival party. Around one thirty more people started entering the place, waiting eagerly for the main act: Dr. Calypso. Dr. Calypso is catalunya's most famous ska band, and guarantees a lot of pleasure.
The next day we didn't do a lot, as usual on Sundays. We helped Roberto pack his stuff, as he was moving on to the mountains of Vall d'Aran for his first skiing experience.
One of the nicest features of having your own web site is playing 'detective'.
Every day the web server produces a huge amount of data; every single page you request and every single picture on that page is recorded in the log files. I use these log files to see who visted me, when did I receive those visitors, what kind of computers do they use, which pages are the most popular, ... But the most intersting is to know HOW they got onto my site. Especially the visiters which entered from a search engine are interesting, because they were looking for some information.
This week I noticed something strange in my logs: I received a lot of visitors who were looking for information about Astor Piazolla. I started thinking, because until I wrote this article, there is absolutely no mention about Astor Piazolla on this site. I have to admit that I like Astor Piazolla and his New Tango a lot; I even have some of his work on CD. Aaaah, that's it! On my former web site, I maintained a list of all CD's I own. That list must still be in de databases of those web sites. But visitors of my old web site are automatically forwarded to the new one.
That only leaves the question why suddenly people start searching for Astor Piazolla. All the Dutch readers already know the answer, but I had absolutely no idea. Until I talked with my parents. Of course they told me about the big event in Holland: the wedding of Willem-Alexander and Maxima. And my mother told me that she liked the moment when Maxima showed some tears when they played Argentin music. And this piece of music (Adios Nonino by Astor Piazolla) is now nr. 1 in the Dutch hit charts. So thanks to the royal wedding I received a lot of hits.
Case closed.
[Update 2004.01.21]: Removed broken link
For the first time since I moved from Holland I have added pictures to my site. Today I finally took the time to dig up my old scanner (yes BJ, the one I bought from you) and connect it to my laptop. You will find some pictures from the place I am living and from a visit to Barcelona in September last year.
Oops, already a week without any notice! Yes, it's abot time that I write something new on my site. So I diceded to write about the princess. Not the one of this weekend, but the one which I really missed last weekend.
As you might remember I made a small trip to Holland last weekend (exactly 24 hours and 10 minutes). O Saturday evening we went to the reception of the prince, organised by CV de Kwakbollen. And the most important question on that evening is not who will be the new Dagobert (if you know the solution to 1+1, you're always able to figure out who he is), but how his princess will look. And if you know that Dago doesn't have any girlfriend or wife, the first question is WHO he chose to be on his side.
The tension was really high when Dago finally appeared. Of course we faked our surprise to see him (I 'never' could have guessed it could be him...), but immediately everybody started looking around, searching for the princess.
But no... to our disappointment, this Dago has chosen to celebrate carnival alone.
Alaaf for prince Remi XXVI!
