Just a quick update, and I have worked out how to get photos of from my Blackberry onto here without installing any of the software (my work laptop won’t let me…).

We had a nice long weekend over here, thanks to a Bank Holiday Monday. I went to Cambridge on Saturday (figured I’d check it out given that I’m meant to be moving there soon) – and fell in love with the city. It’s so quirky and friendly, and in an odd way, it reminds me of Middelburg where I spent my undergraduate years. I started off the day begging for 30p, because the park and ride machine only took exact change. Testament to the niceness of the local crowd, I only had to ask one person. I got on one of the typical punt boats (amusing) and wandered around randomly, thoroughly enjoying myself. I don’t mind it one bit that I’ll be living here soon!

It’s good to be home. Look, here’s a corner of our vegetable patch!

It’s good to be home, if only so little future cucumbers like this little one and his flower sisters…

…don’t get a chance to grow to the behemoth size of this courgette (zucchini). (Sunglasses added to give you a sense of the size of this thing, while also adding an unmistakable Mediterranean sense of style.)

While it is probably inedible by now, it is the perfect murder weapon. You could clobber someone with it, and by the time the police come ’round, it’d be roasting in the oven with an Italian mince & vegetables filling.

This photo was taken in the Llança marina on a less-than-stellarly-sunny day (Catalunya, Spain). We’d gone for a drive in the mountains you can see in the background cause the weather forecast didn’t look too good. In the end, we could hardly complain, and the drive was lovely. I didn’t even get car sick! (I don’t normally get motion sickness, but if there’s anything that’ll do it it’s winding coastal roads.)

I am told that the red boat on the left is what the traditional fisherman’s boats look like. There are hardly any left, as Llança no longer is the small fishing town it once was. It’s still a lovely place though, pebble beach and all, so I thought I’d take a photo.

The only thing that I really categorically dislike about the place is that it’s got a cafetaria that doesn’t sell chips. This, I feel, more or less defeats the purpose.

PS. Yay for “Alt Gr” + “,” = “ç”. Makes typing Llança so much a lot easier!

Hi! I’m back!

I went on a wildly varied, defying-all-plans kind of holiday. We meant to go to Austria, but the weather diverted us to France, and then later to Spain!

It was active at times (20km of canooing on what turned out to be a Dordogne river almost entirely devoid of noticeable current, climbing up to the highest peak in the region, hiking to nearby picturesque towns, swimming in a 97m long pool and the Mediterranean, walking around Europe’s biggest fort), and very relaxing (reading, beach bumming, taking photos, drinking lethal Malibu cokes). I feel so recharged, the week and a half in Spain especially made me feel great (and finally got that tan going!).

Here are two very different photos to keep you occupied while I unpack and repack for my imminent flight to England (it’s that time again on Thursday!)!

This is the first photo I took, a misty morning looking away from our campsite in Laon, France. I loved how the mist added this extra dimention of depth to the scenery. Even though we were packing up to head further south, I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera from the car, stumbling down a slope and getting up close to these yellow flowers to take this shot. As you can see, the weather wasn’t stellar. In this next photo however…

This was taken on the day I had intended to visit the Salvador Dalí museum in Figueres, Spain. Unfortunately, when I got there early on a Tuesday morning, the line went all the way down the road, in the 30+ degrees sun, and I just couldn’t be bothered. So I texted my parents to ask if they were nearby still, and if so, could I please hop back in the car? We ended up visiting the largest fort in Europe, conveniently located nearby. The scale of it was astounding, and I have more photos to illustrate it, but for now, this is the view from the steep road leading up to the fort. This is looking away from the city to the mountains, the babies leading up to the Pyrenees (still plenty big, which I can attest to, cause I hiked up the top of one of them). This scenery just makes me sing on the inside, and I fully plan on heading back next year. It’s one of the few places on earth where I feel completely at home. Also, note how I completely defied the rule of thirds yet created a decent picture! I feel like such a rebel.

I hope everyone else has had a magical summer too!

PS. As always, click on the photos to be taken to the Flickr page where a larger version is available.

Hello! I fly to England in about 9 hours. The packing is done, and I thought I’d just rearrange my room and incorporate a piece of furniture my sister forwarded to me today for kicks as well… Yeah. Rather tired! I think it’s time for a shower, and then a nap-like night of sleep, since I’m getting up at 3:30am. By the time I get to work in the UK, work won’t even be open for business yet.

I think now is the time to develop a coffee habit.

Next couple of weeks: England then holiday! Awesome!

My sister is currently wearing neon orange earrings, neon orange bracelets, a neon orange necklace and, I kid you not, a neon orange wig. (The mean thing is she manages to somehow look good in this getup.)

Sister: “I suppose I should go running down the street like this, wearing a Dutch flag to match.”

Me: “And only a Dutch flag!”

Sister: “Which other flag should I be wearing?”

I love her innocence.

“Don’t read that, it’s yesterday’s news!” the coffee shop employee says to me. He looks like a seasoned, weathered surfer that’s confused about how exactly he ended up in Nottingham, miles and miles away from the ocean. I look at the newspaper, but it spells out in the top right corner that This Is Today’s News. “I know it says Monday,” Surfer Dude says before I can say anything, “But they knew about it when they printed it yesterday!”

I ask if he could perhaps get me today’s news, by any chance. His colleague chips in, “Don’t mind him, he thinks he’s Doctor Who, thinks he can get it for you.” (Doctor Who counts time travelling as one of his many talents.) “What, he has Kylie Minogue stashed in the back?” (I believe she played a cameo role once, although I am not entirely up to speed with the Doctor Who Universe.) The colleague cracks up and says, “Ahhh, he wishes. By God, he wishes.”

I love sitting in coffee shops.

My friend Isabelle and I went out last night. Now, I have been out in Nottingham before, so I realised that with a hemline a few inches above the knee, I was grossly overdressed, but what’s a girl with only carry-on luggage to do? Not to mention that the shamelessness with which British girls go out in nearly nothing never ceases to amaze me. Personally, I’d feel a little awkward if I knew my arse was barely covered by my “skirt” meanwhile being at a serious risk of catching a “chest” cold.

Now, all that is baffling enough as is, but what’s more surprising is how forward the guys are over here! Talk to any one of them for more than five minutes and they go in for the kill. At least one of them was polite enough to ask:

“Can I kiss you?”

“Ehm… no.”

Not to be deterred, the guy leans in anyway. I suppose “loud music” is as good an excuse as any to get up close and personal.

“No no no.”

Guy halts, utterly surprised: “Why not?”

“Cause I said so and cause I’ve known you all of two minutes.”

After thinking about that for a few seconds, he replies: “I suppose that’s fair enough.”

Hee.

Hello! I’m currently in Nottingham where it is not quite as warm as it is in the Netherlands. This has been compensated for by the glowing, heartwarming victory of the Netherlands against Brazil in the football World Cup yesterday. Yay! I’ll be honest, I didn’t see that one coming. I saw the Brazilian goal at ten minutes and decided to head back into town with the lovely Isabelle (my Dutch friend in Nottingham who I’m staying with). I didn’t think we’d come back from that, the frustration and anger in the Dutch team was caught on camera so vividly that I thought they’d lost their heads and motivation right then and there. Thankfully, I know nothing about football and was duely proven wrong. Yay!

Nottingham hasn’t changed much as far as I can tell. What’s more surprising is that it still feels like home. I know my way around, and in the sunlight, it’s almost pretty. It’s comforting to know this place hasn’t changed much over two years – it makes me feel that it will always be here, my Nottingham, and that I can come back to it at my leisure.

I’m jetting off back to the UK on Friday, just in time not to see my parents when they return from their holiday (this is nothing personal, just rubbish timing). They are coming home from Italy, and I think they’ll find the weather is no different here. It’s summer!

The other day, I went for a drive with my Babysit Kid and his family to take photos using the light of the setting sun. We were in their convertible car, which is a handy tool for photographers as it allows you to jump out before the car is truly come to a halt. It’s amazing to me to see this kid whose diapers I used to change think about composition, lighting, colours, effects (”Dad, can you go from naught to whatever really quickly so there’s clouds of sand in the air? I think it’ll look pretty.”) I’m going to miss him once I’m in England semi-permanently, but we’ve come up with a plan to have him visit sometime.

Tomorrow I fly back to Nottingham, where a friend of mine is currently finishing her Master’s thesis. That fact alone means I feel for her and I think she could probably do with a bit of distraction! I look forward to being back in Nottingham, especially since it looks almost pretty in the sunlight. I wonder how much has changed, and how much is the exact same. I’ve heard my favourite coffee shop has gone out of business. But I bet Waterstone’s is still heaven on earth for a booklover!

I can’t wait, although the packing has me quite stressed out. I’m not sure why, since I plan on chucking a few skirts and T-Shirts into a small carry-on suitcase and letting fate take care of the rest. Nottingham has shops. In fact, I know exactly where they are! Anything I forget I can buy there easy enough. Here’s to a mini holiday!