Caliban - Opinion and Righteous Anger

Sarah's folks have been staying here for a few days, visiting us and a few attractions, such as Keukenhof. We also went to Alkmaar one day, walked down a couple of streets, had lunch and came home again. It wasn't much of an experience.

Koninginnedag went off well. In spite of poor weather predictions, it stayed dry, although it was chilly at times when the sun wasn't shining. Sarah's parents were amazed by what they witnessed and appeared to enjoy themselves.

The vrijmarkt in the Vondelpark was really gezellig. Amazingly, that's pretty much the first Koninginnedag that I've done more than glance at what was happening in the park.

It was particularly lovely to start Koninginnedag just a couple of minutes' walk from the park. Since it was a public holiday, people had made full use of the parking exemption, rendering our street chockablock with vehicles. People had even parked on the pavement.

In the park, things were in full swing. Only children are allowed to engage in commercial activities, so there is a great atmosphere in the park, with lots of little girls and boys dancing, manning home-made fairground attractions and selling their old toys. That'll be our little family in years to come.

We made our way through the park, experiencing difficulty as we tried not to lose each other. We passed over the Leidseplein and headed down the Prinsengracht towards the Jordaan, ultimately aiming for the Brouwersgracht, but it was not to be. It was simply too busy and the human traffic eventually ground to a halt, so we turned back via the Jordaan's many side streets.

Refreshments were needed before we could go any further, so we stopped for a drink on the Spuistraat. There, we met up with Bas and Kylie, who had flown over from England the day before and were experiencing their first Koninginnedag in Amsterdam.

We made the mistake of trying to walk down the Leidsestraat to head south and ended up getting wedged between the masses of unmoving people. It certainly wouldn't have done to have a claustrophobic disposition, I can tell you.

Once we had made it past the Leidseplein, it was a pleasant walk back home through the Vondelpark. Bas, Kylie and I went out for dinner at a local Indonesian restaurant that evening.

So, that was Koninginnedag.

What else has been going on?

Well, we've finally ordered our family silver. There's a twelve week delivery time, so I'm just going to forget about what I'm going to have to pay for our 144 piece set when it arrives.

Also on order are a couple of Maxalto armchairs, which will complement the couch we've ordered for the sitting room. We're still searching for a glass coffee table for that room.

On the Amstelveenseweg, just around the corner from us, we found a shop with a lovely wall panel for hanging coats and hats. Since we didn't even have a coat stand in our foyer, we purchased this, which Gerard came around on Monday and hung up for us. Now we finally have somewhere to hang our hat, so to speak.

Sticking with the house, the painter was here yesterday to paint over the window frames of the new burglar-resistant panes of glass we had fitted at the back of the house. It's looking nice out there again now.

We also entertained our lower-numbered neighbours for the first time earlier this week, in spite of the lack of seating until our new stuff arrives. It went off very well, thanks in no small part to Sarah's signature chocolate dessert. Mother and daughter inevitably flapped and clashed about exactly how much preparation is necessitated by such a momentous occasion (lots vs. hardly any), but all was well on the night.

Sarah's folks took the train to Rouen yesterday for a few days in Normandy. They'll be back again Monday evening.

Soon after they depart in mid-May, Geoff and Jason, my old Google friends, will be turning up for SANE 2006. Geoff's the only guy I know who will have been to SANE twice with Google footing the bill. Nice one, Geoff!

As soon as those guys leave, Sarah, Eloïse and I will be leaving for our next foreign trip, which will almost certainly be to Czechia and Slovakia. We really need to do some reading in preparation.

The weather really couldn't be better at the moment. The sun is blazing and it's 23°C outside. The house is heating up and I can tell it's going to be a difficult place to keep cool in summer. The garden is in bloom and the weeping willows in the Vondelpark have regained their foliage in just a few weeks.

Oh, and it looks like we have a mouse problem. We haven't seen one yet, but the tell-tale signs are there. Sigh.