The Shell Gallery

Tuesday 3 January

2012-01-03T15:47:00.000+01:00

A stormy day in the north of this country, with force 10 winds being reported on Vlieland - where I was only a week ago. Gusts are nearing 70 mph. Storm damage is apparently being reported elsewhere in the north of the country. Here, 70 miles from the sea, gusts are at galeforce, 40 mph. Although it was raining this morning, it is now dry. The stormforce winds in Scotland have wreaked havoc, with lorries and buses blown over, most major rail and road bridges closed, roofs ripped off buildings and severe disruption on transport generally. The airport terminals at Glasgow and Edinburgh are damaged, so I hope I can pass through there on my way back to Stornoway tomorrow, Wednesday.

I am putting the Shell Gallery back under wraps until my return to Holland at some stage during 2012. Atlantic Lines will become my main blog again as of this coming Thursday, January 5th. I'll keep Facebook contacts updated on my journey through tomorrow.

Monday 2 January

2012-01-02T17:21:00.000+01:00

Although the day started cloudy, the sun came out in the afternoon and it was quite bright and sunny. As I type this, the sun has set 40 minutes ago and darkness has fallen. Nonetheless, even those 15 minutes make a noticeable difference already. Went out for a 7 mile walk with my dad round the woods and heathlands to the east and north of here, starting at 1.30pm and returning at the stroke of 4pm. It's easy to clock up the miles round here - but beware of the steep inclines.

Emma Pyramid viewpoint

The Heathlands

Moraine landscape at the Posbank

Avenue of trees at the Zypenberg

Pond outside Velp

Sunday 1 January 2012

2012-01-01T23:51:00.000+01:00

New Year's Day was a wet and mild affair in Holland, with the mercury as high as 14C / 57F in places. That's all I have to say about the weather. Fireworks tend to be a major news item on New Year's Day, with the usual litany of damaged eyes, limbs and other body parts. No major disturbances, unlike previous years: the police had done their homework and were prepared, not just engaging against trouble makers but also with the populace on the streets in advance.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012.

Saturday 31 December

2012-01-01T15:33:00.000+01:00

On New Year's Eve, we have a family birthday. So, off we went on the train (again). To that end, we took the local bus to Arnhem, then the fast train to Utrecht (40 miles to the west) and then a stopping service to a halt near Hilversum. And reversed the process in the evening. On New Year's Eve, trains stop running in Holland at 8pm, meaning you must be at your destination well before then. Which we managed.

Arnhem Station (completely refurbished)

Passing through

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Friday 30 December

2012-01-01T15:30:00.000+01:00

It was with considerable reluctance that we left our comfortable abode in the dunes and headed for the ferry this morning. The sun was shining, although it was still feeling cold in the wind. The MV Vlieland headed off at 11.45 and quietly carried us back to the bustle of the mainland. We walked to the town centre of Harlingen to catch the train at 2.06pm, and three hours later we jumped off at our familiar stop just outside Arnhem. It was just after 5pm and it was dark. And that was our trip to Vlieland.

It is 50 years ago this year that my father first went to Vlieland.

The Snik

Leaving Vlieland

On board the ferry

Harlingen

Here's our train

Thursday 29 December

2012-01-01T15:21:00.000+01:00

View Vlieland 29-12-2011 in a larger map

If anything, the weather today was worse than yesterday. We ventured out on the bicycles, but were battling the force 7 winds head-on along the main road through the island. The midday high tide had flooded the meadows along the road, giving the migrant geese an unexpected swim. We turned inland half-way to Lange Paal and decided to turn back. Just as well - as we came back to the Snik it was pouring. Cyclists coming the other way looked thoroughly miserable. After lunch, the clouds broke and the weather settled down to showers. We headed out once more, this time for the walk around the Northeast Corner. The tide was still high, and we only had about 30 to 50 feet of beach to walk on. Upon passing the NE Corner, we came across three seals with young pups - one of them only 3 days old, we were later told. It was impossible to reach the harbour breakwater, as the sea had fully flooded the beach there. So, we cut inland along the marina and into the forest behind. Had an amble through the village, and popped into the church where we had a chance guided tour. The church, which goes back to the 13th century, was constructed using flotsam and jetsam, thrown up on the tide. A lot of it came from shipwrecks. Until 1736, Vlieland had two villages. West Vlieland was swamped by the sea, and its heraldic crest ominously depicts a barren tree. Oost Vlieland [East] remains a vibrant community of 1100 souls. Their number is swollen by 8000 tourists at any one time during the summer. We returned to the bungalow via the lighthouse, which sits on top of a 150 feet dune, overlooking the village.

Flooding along the main road

Narrow beach

Windsurfers

Seal with pup

The sea is boss!

Forest trail

Heraldic crests

Town Hall and Church

In the church

Lighthouse from up close

Tower Pond

Wednesday 28 December

2012-01-01T15:08:00.000+01:00

View Vlieland 28-12-2011 in a larger map

Strong winds today, force 6 to 7 on the Beaufort scale. This made it feel very cold, and there was also occasional rain. Not a very pleasant day, but it was not so bad as to keep us indoors. After a quick foray into the village for shopping, we set out on foot across the island. First off along the shell-paved cycle-track towards Lange Paal, an old marker about 2 miles southwest of the village. This is now home to a back-to-basics campsite. Having come to Vlieland for 46 years, this was the first time I have seen the campsite completely empty. We then followed the marked walking trail through the forests and dunes to the Nieuwe Kooi, a mile further on. A Kooi (coy) is a place where wild ducks were once lured by half-tame ducks, and then caught for slaughter. No, not nice, but that's the way people used to eat. After a lunch by the old Kooi pond, we head for the beach at Dam [breakwater] 20, to return north and the bungalow. As we were blown north, we came across a seal pup. It was lying on its back, apparently quite content. Its mother was probably out fishing in the sea nearby. Warnings have been posted not to approach the seals, as they have vicious teeth. Upon return to the Bayhouse restaurant (which sits on the beach) we had a cuppa to warm up. We then wound our way through the forest and past the Tower Pond back to the bungalow.

I realise that I am bombarding you with a list of (half-translated) names of a place most of you will never have heard off. The map above probably doesn't help much, but I hope the pics compensate. The dreich weather doesn't do them much justice.

Near Lange Paal

At Nieuwe Kooi

Pad 20

Crossing to the beach

Seal pup

Along the beach

Beach restaurant

Lighthouse

Tuesday 27 December

2012-01-01T14:53:00.000+01:00

At 10 o'clock, we left by train for the northern port of Harlingen. This is a 3-hour journey, requiring three changes of trains on the way. However, this is a smooth process, and at 1pm, we duly alighted at Harlingen's new Haven [Harbour] station. It is only a hop and a step to the terminal from where the ferries to Vlieland (our destination) and the neighbouring island of Terschelling depart. The terminal was packed with people destined for Vlieland this afternoon. As the ferry wasn't due off until 2.15, we nipped into the restaurant - where the waitresses had to perform acrobatics over a doglead. This was stretched across a passage way between tables, as the attached canine was playing games with a much smaller specimen at another table. We went on board the MV Vlieland as one of the first passengers. Just as well, as the boat was packed to the gunwhales. It was a misty afternoon, and we quietly cruised in amongst the shallows past the old island of Griend to Vlieland. Things always get a bit lively in the Stortemelk, the channel between Vlieland and Terschelling. This is exposed to the North Sea, for about 10 to 15 minutes, we catch the swell. As we swing round the North East Corner (of Vlieland), seals can be seen lying on the beach. As we later learn, these were flushed off their usual place, the sandbar of Richel, in a recent storm. The seals are presently having their cubs. We got off the ferry at 3.45 and went to the Tourist Office to collect the keys for the holiday bungalow, named Snik. A Snik is a type of sailing ship from years gone by. The bungalow comprises of two houses, and my father and I have the larger section for ourselves. Upon entry, the clock showed 5.30pm - showing that it had not been put back following the clock-change in late October. In other words, it had been unoccupied since. The sun was setting and by 5pm it was dark. After a quick meal, we made it an early night.

Harlingen

Approaching Vlieland

Inside the Snik

Boxing Day 2011

2011-12-26T23:07:00.000+01:00

A grey and overcast day, rather a contrast to the severe gales that continue to lash the Western Isles of Scotland. Very mild, with the mercury at 11C / 52F this afternoon. I spent most of the afternoon and evening visiting relatives in a town 7 miles away, during which we had a good chance to catch up. Apart from at my mother's funeral in 2008, I basically hadn't really seen them for yonks. I had not even been in their house, where they had been living since 1987. Don't get me wrong: I have kept in touch, but just not face-to-face. Have done a lot of catching up in that respect over the past 11 days or so.

Just a wee note to say I am not posting on here until New Year's Eve, as I'm off internet until Saturday. I'm away on a journey to one of the Dutch northern isles - I'll be posting a number of back-dated entries to catch up with pics and the like.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T16:47:00.000+01:00

Darkness has fallen on Christmas Day. The past 24 hours has seen me in church twice, first with the Watchnight Service last night at 9.30pm, and this morning again, at 10 am. I participated as a chorister with the church choir - they're always short of tenor singers. The parson made a direct and stinging reference to the recently emerged scandal surrounding the abuse of children in the Catholic Church in Holland, although she did not referred to the Catholic church by name. The implication was clear though. The Pope has not referred to the issue at all - to my knowledge.

Queen Beatrix, in her annual address to the nation, called on all Dutch people to bear in mind the environment and the limited resources of our planet. She also expressed her opinion that material wealth should not be such an overriding consideration in our lives. A noble aspiration, but not entirely realistic.

This afternoon, we went for a walk of just over two miles round the immediate area. It is quite mild at the moment, with the mercury at 10C / 50F. It is even milder in the Western Isles, at 12C, but with a howling gale, with winds of between 65 and 85 mph.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T17:32:00.000+01:00

The sun went down an hour ago, and only a little light remains in the west. Today was bright and sunny, although not very warm. Went out for a walk to the Heathlands, to the north of here, and the chill wasn't noticeable until we left the forest behind and climbed the old moraine to the Watch Tower. This stands 350 feet above sealevel in an exposed location. The total distance covered was 10.00 km, just over 6¼ miles - measured by GPS. I have found my GPS not very reliable over the past week or so, sometimes going off track by as much as 200 metres (700 feet). It kept the trail beautifully today, but it tends to go wonky in amongst trees.

Later this evening, my father and I will join the church choir for the Watch Night service in the church, which starts at 9.30pm. I refer to the Christmas Eve service by its Scottish name, well, having lived there for seven years now, it does tend to rub off.

I have added the first picture in the below compilation to the sidebar of this blog - the Watch Tower being an integral part of the Shell Gallery remit.

Friday 23 December

2011-12-23T20:34:00.000+01:00

Like yesterday, a wet day, but it did clear up a bit later in the afternoon. Went out for a walk in the woods, 3½ miles to the viewpoint at the Emma Pyramid. This was a work creation project in the late 19th century. However, in recent years, the trees around it have grown so tall that you can't see anything from the top of the original hillock. When I was small, you had a view all the way into Germany (about 15 miles away) from the top. Now you need to climb a 40 ft tower to see that far. I don't have a head for heights, unfortunately.

Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers has reached the International Space Station on board a Russian Soyuz space-craft. The Soyuz has docked successfully on to ISS, and Kuipers, preceded by his commander and one other cosmonaut, has drifted on board. He was shown on Dutch TV this evening, communicating with his family. His young daughter sang a song for him, which left his fellow astronauts a tad bemused, I think.

View from the Emma Pyramid (into the forest)

Commemorative stone for young men summarily executed by the Nazis in December 1944.

Picture post

2011-12-23T17:35:00.000+01:00

This austere exterior belies the rather more genteel interior of the village church here.

This is the Christmas tree, as pictured last night.

This Jugendstil fireplace can be found in an adjacent part of the church buildings.

A few more notes on yesterday

2011-12-22T11:13:00.000+01:00

December 21st 2011 also saw the launch of a Dutch astronaut, Andrew Kuipers, into space on board a Russian Soyuz rocket, bound for the International Space Station. Kuipers, a medical doctor, is scheduled to spend nearly 6 months on board ISS, conducting 57 scientific experiments during that time. The hours leading up to launch revealed some interesting rituals, some of which date back 50 years to the launch of Yuri Gagarin as first man into space in 1961. These include signing the door of the hotel room with his signature, urinating against the right rear tyre of the bus that takes the cosmonauts to the rocket and not watching the rocket being wheeled out to the launch pad as that brings bad luck. At 13.16 GMT, the rocket blasted off into the night sky of Baykonur (Kazachstan) and within 10 minutes had reached cruising speed of 17,500 mph at an altitude of 220 km (128 miles). The ISS orbits the earth at an altitude of about 250 miles (400 km).

Rather less salubrious was the crazy incident during a football match in Amsterdam. A drunk hooligan ran onto the pitch and tried to tackle the goalkeeper of one of the teams. The goalie instead floored the hooligan and kicked him twice, before stewards intervened. The hooligan was arrested, but the match was abandoned. The goalkeeper was red-carded for violent conduct. The Dutch FA (KNVB) will decide on the eventual outcome of the match and the red card.

23 years ago yesterday, flight PanAm 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, leading to the loss of more than 200 passengers and crew, as well as 11 innocent townspeople in Lockerbie, a small town 30 miles north of Carlisle. One man was convicted for the atrocity, but he was repatriated to Libya in 2009. Although Abdulbaset al-Megrahi was not expected to live for more than 3 months, he is reportedly still alive. His paymaster, Muammer Gaddafi, was killed last October.

Wednesday 21 December

2011-12-21T17:39:00.000+01:00

The shortest day of the year has come in suitably December-like: misty and grey. Not feeling really cold, but there was some light drizzle at times. Went for a walk in the Castle Country Park, and I'm posting a handful of pictures. Previous readers of this blog will be familiar with the images.

More images here

Tuesday 20 December

2011-12-20T17:19:00.000+01:00

Last weekend, the museum at the Deelen Airforce Base, a couple of miles north of Arnhem, was about to open when its staff noticed that the model of a F-104 Starfighter outside the museum had gone missing. A note on the pedestal where it used to stand said "Fly away. See you next year". The BBC referred to the incident as jet-napping and a spokesman for VLB Deelen Museum expressed the hope that the 1:2 scale model would be returned in the New Year - with a full tank. I took the picture below on 22 June last year.

And I came across this ludicrous site, which offers chunks of Glencoe for sale, from a square foot upwards. You can call yourself Laird or Lady of Glencoe, except that there will be dozens of different Lairds and Ladies. Which, according to those in the know, is impossible.

Today, I awoke to snow on the ground, which quickly melted into a mushy mess. I'm still not feeling all that great today, so have taken it easy.

Monday 19 December

2011-12-20T10:23:00.000+01:00

Went out for a walk in the afternoon, to view the new bridge across the A12 motorway, a mile outside the village. Don't want to bother you too much with the details of what happened in the evening, other than to say that something I had eaten did not agree with me. Feeling a bit better now, the next morning, thanks.

A tale of two leaders

2011-12-19T12:32:00.000+01:00

This morning, it was announced that the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had died of a heart attack, aged 69. It was strange that I should have mentioned him in yesterday's blogpost, when I referred to the death of the Czech former president, Vaclav Havel. The contrast between the two men could not have been greater.

Havel, a writer by trader, had worked tirelessly to drive communism from his native Czecho-Slovakia. An aim that was finally realised in 1989. The people on the streets in Prague that year, demonstrating to be liberated from the yoke of communism, jingled their keys in the air. The same happened yesterday, when the Czechs gave voice to their sorrow. Genuine sorrow, for Havel gave them back the freedom they lost in 1939. First to the Nazis, in 1945 to Stalin's communists. An uprising in 1968 was brutally suppressed by Soviet tanks. Czecho-Slovakia split amicably in 1993, with the Czech Republic in the west and Slovakia in the east.

North Korea has remained on Stalinist footing since the Korean war in the 1950s. After Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, Kim Jong Il took over and maintained the regime of brutal suppression of dissent and focus on armaments. The people of North Korea have suffered greatly, as food production came second to arms. The North Korean regime is a nuclear power, and has tested ballistic missiles. Kim Jong Il died on board a train. His death triggered mass outpourings of grief - I should rephrase that. His death prompted the regime to orchestrate mass outpourings of grief, along the lines of "Weep or I'll shoot". Watching the crowd surge forward to the statue of Kim Il Sung, cry their eyes out - and then stop all at once. The successor is Kim Jong-un, a man in his late twenties. A period of great uncertainty looms, rendered even more dangerous by North Korea's nuclear arsenal.

This seems to be the year that the world gets rid of many of its dictators. Unfortunately, I do not believe that Kim Jong-il's death will end the dictatorship in North Korea.

Sunday 18 December

2011-12-18T22:24:00.001+01:00

A cold day, which started with bright sunshine. However, showers appeared in the afternoon and those became increasingly wintry. Although the earlier brightness would have been tempting for a walk, the later rain and snow put paid to any such intentions. The forecast is for much milder conditions later in the week, as per usual in the run-up to Christmas.

The Philippines are cleaning up after tropical storm Washi lashed the southern island of Mindanao with very heavy rainfall. These washed away entire towns and cities, and left hundreds dead and many more missing. The Philippines are in typhoon alley, but even storms with lower winds tend to cause massive devastation on account of rainfall. The typhoon season is drawing to a close, but could rumble on until its resumption next spring.

I was saddened to hear of the death of the first post-communist president of Czecho-Slovakia, later of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel. His Charta 77 movement lay the foundations for the later democratic state, once the communist dictatorship had been overthrown. This in turn prompted similar uprisings in neighbouring countries, finally causing the downfall of the communist system in eastern Europe. Only China has a communist state, although it has embraced capitalism - only North Korea remains as an anachronistic true communist state in this world. Although I wonder whether Marx or Lenin really envisaged such a state-sized prison as North Korea is.

Saturday 17 December

2011-12-18T13:19:00.000+01:00

Today, my father and I went to a family get together at Hardenberg, 70 miles northeast of here. The occasion was the 40th birthday of a cousin. The party was very well attended, with about 100 people in the hall. We were treated to coffee and cake, a drink or two and finally a meal. Part of Dutch cuisine consists of mashing together vegetables and potatoes, served with fried bacon or sausage. Stodgy but wholesome and healthy. We took the train, which took us two hours. Weather was iffy, with showers encroaching from the west and rain upon our return south. Return home was at 11pm, after a walk from the nearest railway station.

As a rule, I do not post pictures of people on here for reasons of privacy. Instead, I'll feature some landscape and railway shots I took on the journey to Hardenberg.

Hardenberg Station

Electricity pylons at Zwolle

Between Deventer and Zwolle

St Walburgs Church at Zutphen

Our train pulling into Velp Station

I'm afraid you'll have to scan the map below for the other places mentioned in this piece; Velp is near Arnhem, at the bottom of the map.

View Larger Map

Friday 16 December

2011-12-16T16:33:00.000+01:00

Overcast and cold in eastern Holland, and with an inch of snow on the ground at daybreak (8.45 am). The snow turned to drizzle and that continued all day. France and Spain were lashed by stormforce winds on the southern flank of the causative depression.

A major news item in Holland, which even made it to the frontpage of the BBC News, is the revelation that there was evidence of systematic child abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Holland for decades. Even though concerns were raised within the Church, nobody took action, from the top of the hierarchy down. The Dutch RC Church has expressed profound regret. A former cardinal gave the ominous phrase: Wir haben es nicht gewusst. This line in German (meaning: We never knew about this) was commonly used after the Second World War when many Germans claimed to have been ignorant of the mass murder of Jews and other so-called non-Aryans in the death camps. In recent times, a similar abuse scandal rocked the RC Church in Ireland.

Thursday 15 December

2011-12-16T12:33:00.000+01:00

I left Stornoway by plane at 8.30 this morning (that was the schedule, the plane was about 15 minutes late) and arrived into Glasgow at 9.30 without major problems. The snow-capped Scottish mountains peeped through the clouds and the fog was lifting from Glasgow when the plane touched down. An hour later, a large plane (capable of carrying 200 passengers) departed Glasgow for London Heathrow, and it had so much tailwind that it arrived over London 20 minutes early. It was held in a holding pattern for those 20 minutes, giving me the same inspiring view of the town of Luton (Bedfordshire) four times over. I was able to go straight through to departures for my connecting flight to Amsterdam. I had brought some sandwiches from the Tesco in Stornoway, saving me the overpriced sarnies from WH Smith at Terminal 5, and I had plenty of time to eat them. The Amsterdam flight was 40 minutes late leaving Heathrow. We landed at Amsterdam at sunset, 4.30pm, in pouring rain. Between actually disembarking the plane and jumping on a train at the railwaystation in the airport was only 20 minutes. At 5.05pm, the direct service to Arnhem rolled out of the tunnel and into the stretch of line which sits between the opposing carriageway of the A10 Amsterdam Circular motorway. Whilst I scooted east at 90 mph, traffic was at a crawl in the early evening rush. Reached Arnhem, 75 miles away, in 80 minutes and only had to wait a short while for the number 21 bus to my father's town. I close this post with a few images shot from the plane's windows on the flight to London. I try to get a window seat on a plane anytime to alleviate the grinding boredom of airtravel.

Shell Gallery unwrapped

2011-12-15T14:40:00.003+01:00

This post will be published just as my plane lands at Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam. As posted on Atlantic Lines this morning, I am going to spend Xmas and New Year with my father, doing the rounds of family etcetera. My dad and I will also head for the Wadden Isles for a few days after Christmas.

I am resuming blogging tomorrow, Friday, on this blog.

Wednesday 29 June

2011-06-29T15:55:00.002+02:00

After yesterday's excitement, the weather started grey and breezy and a lot cooler than the last few days. It was only 16C / 60F this afternoon, when I went to the village cemetery to visit my mother's grave. As we came back, the skies slowly started to break.

This is a young blackbird, which crashed down into those leaves and started to scurry round in them to look for food. Nothing there. He was quite gormless, and didn't know what he was doing. He did know he was scared of me, being about fifteen times his size and made off - clumsily flying through the bushes.

In the early hours of this morning, armed robbers blew down a wall of a money handling centre in Amsterdam and made off with an amount of cash. As the police arrived, they were met with a hail of bullets. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. The robbers hijacked a car and sped south down the A2 motorway at speeds of up to 150 mph. Between Utrecht and Den Bosch, their vehicle crashed and burned into flames. The culprits hijacked another vehicle and continued their high speed flight. At Eindhoven, 50 miles south of Utrecht, they once more threatened the cops with their automatic fire-arms, upon which the police decided to abandon the chase. The robbers got away, their whereabouts currently unknown.

Although all Dutch police are routinely armed, extremely violent robberies of this sort are fortunately virtually unheard of in this country. Automatic fire-arms are strictly licensed and not commonly or easily available.

Tomorrow, I am returning to Stornoway by air, and once more, my travelplans look set to be thrown into disarray. The public sector trades union PCS is mounting a strike, involving customs staff at immigration points, such as the London airports through which I am passing tomorrow morning. I'll have to wait and see how it all goes.

The Shell Gallery will once again be going under wraps, until my next visit to Holland later in the year.

Tuesday 28 June - picture post

2011-06-29T15:46:00.003+02:00

Images from the Amsterdam Water Filtration Dunes [Amsterdamse Waterleiding Duinen], southwest of the city of Haarlem, about 18 miles from the Dutch capital.

Enough foxes.

Here is the heron that couldn't cope with the heat (32C / 90F)

Some other creatures:

Woodpecker

Deer

A canal

Tuesday 28 June

2011-06-29T12:28:00.002+02:00

Well, that was quite a day. I owe you the photos, which I shall put up in a separate entry. I went to visit my sister, who lives a few miles from Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam. The forecast had been for a thundery breakdown of the hot weather. As a result, Dutch Railways (NS) announced they would be running according to a reduced timetable after midday, and passengers should expect disruption. We reached our destination amidst some drips of rain, but nothing major. In fact, after lunch, the sun came out. The mercury quickly ratcheted back up to 32C / 90F as we went for a walk in an area of dunes west of Haarlem. These are used to filter water for use in the general drinking water supply. It is also a nature reserve, and we saw deer, foxes and herons. One heron was so taken by the heat that it just stood there on the path, panting and gasping for breath. The deer too were sheltering under trees. Foxes too had a spot of bother with the heat, but one family of adult foxes came within touching distance.

Upon returning to my sister's house, the cloud came across the sky and a thunderstorm came crashing by. It downed the mercury quite efficiently, so that it had become pleasant, about 20C / 68F. As we joined our train east, the thunder was moving slowly east, lighting up the sky in the distance with the lightning. Things started to go wrong as early as Amsterdam Zuid station, only a few miles from the airport. The connecting train to Utrecht was 10-15 minutes late, meaning we'd lose our onward connection to Arnhem. On arrival at Utrecht, at 9.30pm, we found out that major parts of the Dutch rail network had been knocked out by lightning strikes. There was to be no direct train to Arnhem, a distance of 40 miles, and we were advised to divert to Amersfoort and Deventer, then head south towards Arnhem. Well, with a few more delays along the way, we got ourselves to Deventer, 50 miles east of Utrecht, at a quarter past midnight. I walked up to an NS employee and asked if there was going to be a connection calling at Velp station, which is closest to my dad's house. He immediately rang up and arranged for the fast train to Arnhem to stop at Velp, and at another stop as well.

I have to say, it is a national pastime to knock NS at times of adverse weather, and some times they really have gone belly-up in the worst possible fashion. But on this occasion, I cannot fault them one bit. We were advised a day ahead of any potential problems, and of the adjusted timetable and potential for problems. Moreover, staff went out of their way to help, so I'll be writing a letter of compliment to the railways.

In Glacier Country

2011-06-27T21:53:00.001+02:00

I have started posting on the In Glacier Country blog, about my recent trip to Switzerland. Hope you enjoy

Evening notes 27 June

2011-06-27T20:43:00.001+02:00

A hot day in Holland, with the mercury reaching 90F in the south and east of the country. Even as I type this at 8.40pm, we're still on 30C (86F), with the sun going down in about 80 minutes' time. The workmen have been digging up the street all day, and repairing broken drains. This part of the village was built more than 50 years ago, and things tend to give up the ghost in that time.

I should add that my village hosts a baronial castle, although the last baron passed away in 1962. Anyone who worked at the castle felt a tad above the plebs who did not, and everybody felt a tad above anyone who dared to come in from outside. I'm talking about the 1950s/60s. However, things have changed since a large influx of people in the 1960s and 70s; and the advent of the daily commute has certainly worked its levelling powers. The only thing that this place prides itself on is the fact that it houses the largest numbers of millionaires in any Dutch municipalities.

Monday 27 June

2011-06-27T08:15:00.001+02:00

Good morning all and it's going to be a hot day in eastern Holland. It will get up to 35C here (95F) with no cloud and having to wait until tomorrow evening before a thundery breakdown puts the mercury back where it belongs: at around 20C. I am awake early as the workmen, digging up the road, are already at work. It is Monday morning, meaning that shops in town have a late opening today. So, I'm going on the bus into Arnhem at 11 for some shopping. Bearing in mind the temps on offer today, that'll be a scorcher. Anyway, will stop moaning now and get going. Have a good one.

Return

2011-06-26T21:26:00.000+02:00

It is Sunday evening, and a whole 24 hours have passed since I returned, with my dad, from holiday in Switzerland. Had a great time with, mostly good weather and at times quite warm. Did some great walks and ran into my feriously bad physical condition. However, after a while, I managed to get into my stride and proper pace for ascents. The scenery is breathtaking and the mountain environment downright scary at times. However, it was good to be back in a place I last visited 26 years ago. Over the next few days, I shall endeavour to put up a separate blog about my trip to the Alps. It is called In Glacier Country. At present, it is only blank and I have not worked on it at all. I hope to have it complete over the next week or so.

Away

2011-06-11T09:07:00.021+02:00

When this post goes up, I should be on a train, heading south towards Switzerland. I shall be near the Rhone Valley for a fortnight, and not have access to the Internet. Although I passed through the area in 1998, on a train between Geneva and Milan, I haven't visited the small Alpine resort north of Brig since 1985.

I shall close this post with some old photographs of the area, and look forward to updating this blog upon my return, from 26 June onwards.

Feel free to email, but you'll get an away message. Neither will I update Facebook or Twitter.

Friday 10 June

2011-06-10T13:44:00.010+02:00

Quite an early post today. The weather is wet this afternoon, so no outside foray today. As I'm off on a two week holiday in Switzerland tomorrow, I'm making preparations for that. (That's what I needed the Factor 50 for) Tomorrow morning, I shall be publishing a scheduled post with more information. Keep well, and I'll return to posting in 16 days' time.

Thursday 9 June

2011-06-09T22:47:00.000+02:00

A day of sunshine and cumulus clouds bubbling up. There appears to have been a few loose showers about, but not in my vicinity. Did a bit of reading out before lunch, but the sun was very warm. Mercury made it to 18C. Today's 6 mile walk took us into the Heathlands as far as the Watchtower. Previous readers will recognise these landmarks (names given in translation). Although my father's house stands 130 feet above sealevel, the watchtower is at 350 feet. However, when you see the pictures, it actually stands on quite a level plain. The watchtower is maintained as a piece of industrial heritage. Planes took over its use as a firewatch from 1960 onwards. It was restored in 1992.

Goslings of Egyptian Geese

The Watchtower

Another area of sandblow

The Heathlands

My old school

89 years ago this month

2011-06-08T20:48:00.000+02:00

Few people know that on 24 June 1922, the German Foreign Minister, Walther Rathenau, was assassinated in Berlin. As he was driven along a street in the city, another motorcar pulled alongside. One occupant stood up, shouldered a machinegun and fired five rounds into Rathenau, followed by a grenade. The minister died a few minutes later. His murderers made off towards Rostock on the Baltic Sea, but had to abandon their plans to escape across the water on account of bad weather. They cycled south, threatened a ferryman with firearms to take them across the River Elbe, and made their way halfway to Munich. Police traced them to a castle, where one was shot and the other committed suicide.

Who were the murderers? They were opposed to Rathenau's ideas of democracy, and keeping Germany together in the wake of the crippling Treaty of Versailles. This had laid the full blame for WW1 on Germany, an assertion that is at best unfair. Rathenau had wanted to stick to Versailles, whilst renegotiating its terms. This course of action made him the enemy of the far right in Germany, which wanted to shred Versailles. If Rathenau had survived is one of the great 'ifs' of history. What if Corporal Adolf Hitler had been asphyxiated by a mustard gas attack in WW1? What if Winston Churchill had been killed by a New York taxicab? What if?

The graves of the culprits of the Rathenau murder are still a shrine to Germany's far right to date. It's not pretty, but the reality of Europe today, and confirmation that the future is a function of the past, with the present as an operator.

I'm endebted to Dutch broadcaster VPRO for airing a documentary on this matter tonight.

No museum

2011-06-08T20:38:00.000+02:00

Over the past six years, plans have been afoot to established a Museum of National History in the Netherlands. The idea was good. Its implementation was so excruciatingly and humiliatingly imcompetent that there will now not be such a museum in Holland. It all started with a good idea in 2005, but the Ministry for Culture decided to turn it into a competition. Which city will host such a museum? Amsterdam, The Hague or Arnhem? Well, the latter city, only 3 miles from my location, got the award, much to the chagrin of the other two places. However, the location in Arnhem, the carpark of the Open Air Museum, turned into a moneypit. Even a novel location, on the banks of the River Rhine, turned out to be a non-starter. And today, the plug was pulled on the whole project.

I have not been following Dutch politics closely for more than a decade, but the previous government took the biscuit for sheer incompetence. This was another demonstration of that, and I know one thing, having involved myself in history over the past 6 years: this would never have happened in Scotland, which is much more aware of its history. However, that is a bit too harsh on my fellow countrymen - see my next post.

Wednesday 8 June

2011-06-08T17:15:00.015+02:00

The day commenced overcast, but as the overnight rain moved away northeast into Germany and Denmark, the sun came out and the mercury crept up to about 18C / 64F. After catching up on things Internet before lunch, we headed out for a 5-mile jaunt afterwards. For new readers to this blog, I am currently in a relatively hilly area, which rises to all of 370 feet above sealevel. So, off we went through the forests to the Emma Pyramid, a local viewpoint. The only problem is that it is surrounded by trees, which have grown quite tall and are currently in full leaf. So you can't see a thing from the viewpoint! Anyway, went off back towards the Heathlands and followed the cycletrack that leads towards the Koningsweg, only to turn off halfway down and return home via the village cemetery and the Castle.

One of the village ponds

In the woods

Emma Pyramid viewpoint

Sandblow

Heathlands

Orangerie by the Castle

New Blogger format

2011-06-08T12:17:00.000+02:00

Just want to air a gripe about the new Blogger format that I found on my blogs on Monday. The Dashboard has been turned upside down, with my list of blogs squashed into the left sidebar, and the remainder of the page taken over by the blogs I follow. Well, I don't really use Blogger for following blogs, I use Google Reader for that. And as many of you know, I keep a large number of blogs (more than 50), and keep several of them updated on a regular basis. My switch between Atlantic Lines and the Shell Gallery is a case in point. However, I have kept my feedback to Blogger constructive, and advised them to give users an option to switch between their own blogs and other people's blogs in full screen. Whether they'll do anything with that is another matter; I'm probably an exception in this instance.

Tuesday 7 June

2011-06-08T12:14:00.000+02:00

A bit of an overcast day, and not particularly warm - by Dutch standards. However, as the afternoon progressed, the sun came out and the mercury made it up to 20C / 68F, which I would expect here in June. After lunch, I went on a walk through the nearby forests with my dad. It stretched for 5½ miles and took 2 hours. There were not many other walkers about. We started off by going to a roadbridge across the nearby A12 motorway (Utrecht - Arnhem - Germany). The motorway will be widened to three lanes each direction over the next 3 years, meaning the roadbridges that cross the A12 will have to be replaced with longer spans. The bridge in the Schelmseweg (Velp - Oosterbeek) is one of those. After a spot of sightseeing around the works, we headed into the woods.

I am closing this post with a selection of pictures. Those of you who have read this blog in the past will be familiar with the scenery. It is a sharp contrast to my imagery from the Hebrides.

The church (AD 1758)

Egyptian goose with goslings

Forest track

Recycling in progress

On the motorway bridge

In the garden

Monday 6 June

2011-06-07T21:05:00.031+02:00

Left Stornoway at 7.30 on Monday morning to catch the 8.30 plane to Glasgow. This left in good time and touched down in Glasgow at 9.30. The sun was trying to come through, but did not quite succeed. Had to wait for the 1.25pm flight down to London Gatwick. It was not busy at the airport, and it was a tad boring there. I was called forward to have my passport rechecked.

Once on board the plane, a baggage handler came to my seat to tell me that my bag had actually made it onto the flight. Thanks very much, that was a great relief to hear. Using the GPS, I was able to note that the plane took off as it was going down the runway at 135 mph. Once up in the air, speed increased until we were cruising along at up to 495 mph at an altitude of 35,000 feet. I could see the Ayrshire coastline stretching down to Stranraer, as well as the southern coast of Galloway and the Isle of Man in the distance. Northern England was also more or less clear, but once past Liverpool it was cloud all the way.

We landed at Gatwick at 2.45pm, on schedule. Cue a very long wait. I cannot properly focus on a book when I'm sitting at an airport. My flight was due off at 6.45pm, but I had had a text from the travel agent's to say it was delayed by more than an hour - something already known at midday! Droves of people passed through the departure lounge, heading for their holidays in the sun around the Med. I had something to eat by about 6pm. Looked at the Internet for about 15 minutes, but towards 7pm I stood by the departures board until flight 8119 to Amsterdam was called to gate 53. Well, got to gate 53, but then it was suddenly changed to 54. Even as we were called forward to embark, the stewardess was still talking about gate 53. Until somebody mentioned something. We took off at 8pm, into more cloud.

Moving the clock forward an hour, we landed at Amsterdam just after 10pm. Luggage materialised at 10.20, and I was able to get to my train on time. It left at 10.44, and with a change at Utrecht, I got into Arnhem at midnight. From there, a taxi took me home.

Opening once more

2011-06-06T20:00:00.019+02:00

If my journey has gone according to schedule, this post will be published just as my plane touches down in Amsterdam, Holland. Since May 2008, I have kept this blog for my sojourns with my dad in eastern Holland. This time round, there will be a two-week interruption in updates in the middle of my stay, as I am joining my father for a trip down to Switzerland. I have bought a new paper notepad for writing things down (the old-fashioned way), although I shall probably bring the laptop to process walking routes off the GPS, and to copy pictures onto the harddisk drive.

It has been five months since my last visit, and winter has made way for summer.

Picture post - 4 January

2011-01-04T21:57:00.000+01:00

That's all I saw of the solar eclipse. Nothing.

Hello, Puss [the blotch beside its left eye is due to a fleck on the camera lens]

The Shell Gallery is now back under wraps.

Tuesday 4 January

2011-01-04T13:55:00.000+01:00

Missed this morning's solar eclipse due to cloud. Elsewhere in Holland, some people were lucky to see some of it. The eclipse commenced at sunrise, with the sun partially obscured by the moon as it rose just after 8.45 am. It ceased at around midday - after which clouds broke and it became fairly clear. Such rotten luck.

Went into the next town for a spot of shopping, but had to walk on the cycle paths because the pavements were extremely slippery. We had another frost and some light snow in the night, making conditions treacherous.

I am now going to prepare for my return to Stornoway, which will take place tomorrow. It will mean a very early start, and will take about 14 hours door to door. This is mainly due to some lengthy waits at intermediate airports, but I prefer long waits to the stress of tight connections.

Apart from a later picture post, the Shell Gallery will now go back under wraps until my next visit to Holland. I shall resume blogging on Atlantic Lines on Thursday 6 January, but will post (by mobile) on Facebook as I proceed on tomorrow's journey.

Monday 3 January

2011-01-03T18:03:00.000+01:00

Winter will be on the way out in Holland by the end of the week, with a forecast daytime max of 9C / 48F. That should neatly clear the snow and ice, but I'll be back in Scotland before then. For the moment, the nighttime lows remain below freezing, which means that the snow that had thawed into slush turns neatly back into ice. Another problem is that the hard snow cover makes it difficult for wild animals to feed; I found evidence on a forest walk today that wild boar had been at work, looking for food underneath the 2 inches of ice. As you will be aware, I am in a hilly area, and on trying to descend from one of the hills beside the village, I found this to be well-nigh impossible. I nearly had to divert into the garden of the old Schoolmaster's House to get off the hill.

Wild boars' handywork

Fungi on tree

Arnhemse Allee (the road from Arnhem)

Kapellenberg [hill]

Contrails, converging on distant London.

Sunday 2 January

2011-01-02T16:57:00.000+01:00

The first Sunday of the New Year, and the start of the first full week of 2011. It's not a bad day here in eastern Holland, as the low mid-winter sun streamed in for part of the afternoon. There was this rogue shower about an hour, but it's now some twenty minutes after sunset and it's still quite bright. Temperatures were a tad higher today than yesterday; we peaked at 3C / 37F after an overnight low of -1C left everything nice and icy. Everything that had thawed out yesterday duly reverted to a sheet of ice. It being a Sunday, everybody was out for a walk, taking care not to slip on the icy surfaces.

Familiar images for those who read this blog regularly.

Saturday 1 January

2011-01-01T22:15:00.000+01:00

First of all, Happy New Year!
The amount of fireworks let off after midnight seems to have been somewhat less than in previous years. In this village at any rate, the noise subsided after only 40 minutes or so. Unfortunately, the use of fireworks has claimed two young lives overnight. Two teenage boys died of their injuries after a bomb, made of illegal fireworks, exploded near them. Elsewhere, a number of people were injured, and many others were arrested for public order offences. In other words, a typical New Year's night in Holland.

In the afternoon of New Year's Day, my father and I walked to the River IJssel, which is about 3 miles away, beyond the town of Velp. The thaw had cleared most of the snow from the roads, but the pavements, although slushy, were still bad. The waterlevels in the river have fallen by about 2 metres over the past few days. I'll close with some images of the walk.

Friday 31 December

2010-12-31T13:52:00.000+01:00

And the year is rolling to a close. 2011 is beginning to march across the world, with the South Sea Islands and New Zealand already there, and the east coast of Australia set to join within about 10 minutes of this post being put up. The year 2010 is ending on an extremely slippery note, after freezing rain covered the eastern half of Holland this morning. The city of Arnhem was brought to a complete standstill - the problem is that it is a very hilly place, and many of the steeper streets are paved with bricks or cobbles. The city bus service was suspended for a while, and several motorways and regional highways were closed to traffic. Even the highways agency's vehicles slid off the carriageway in places. Several accidents were reported from this area, but none serious. That contrasts to the two fatal accidents which occurred yesterday afternoon in the province of Groningen, 120 miles north of here. The freezing rain had been so light that the rainfall rada had not picked it up, and once on the ground, it is virtually invisible.

I was due to have gone to a family birthday in the west of the country with my father, but he is down with a cold, which he prefers to keep to himself. The cancellation of the local bus service also put paid to the trip. I went into Velp to post a letter; all the letterboxes are sealed up round here to prevent them being vandalised with fireworks. Over the next 12 hours, this country will let off €65 million worth of (legal) fireworks, which equates to about €4 per person. I am not wasting money on fireworks, but some people spend up to €1,500. The walk into the next town took me double the normal amount of time, as the pavements were extremely slippery. Everybody was hurrying round the shops, and buying the obligatory oliebollen
.
This image dates back 3 years, when I made them myself.

If I have anything else to blog about I will post again, otherwise I'd like to wish y'all a very
HAPPY NEW YEAR
and all the best for 2011

School's out

2010-12-30T16:51:00.000+01:00

I'm going to take you on amble round the village, which I did undertake this afternoon around 4pm. It leads past two of the three schools which I attended as a child. One of those schools is no longer in existence; it was a temporary structure, long since removed to make way for housing. I went on the walk to picture the hoarfrost (-3C this afternoon) and fog. The fog had dissipated when I ventured out, but the rime was still in place. Enjoy.

Heading home

New school, built in 1973, now due for replacement

Still think Holland is flat?!

Misty skies

And you were wondering about school #3?

Thursday 30 December

2010-12-30T14:29:00.000+01:00

Keeping a quiet day, as it is slightly foggy and definitely frosty. Last night, the mercury dipped to a chilly -9C, and as I type, we're still below zero. The fog is not helping, even though there was a sunny interlude around lunchtime. Tomorrow will be a busy day, as it's a family birthday elsewhere in the country, and of course New Year's Eve, which always gets rather late. It is customary in Holland to let off fireworks around midnight, and people will be spending €65m (about £60m) nationwide on bangers and what not. Some individuals spend well in excess of €1,000, all of which will go up in smoke in a matter of seconds. The main concern is of course safety. There will be a number of missing eyes, limbs and potentially even lives once dawn breaks on January 1st, 2011.

Wednesday 29 December - Theatre

2010-12-30T14:22:00.000+01:00

Went to Arnhem this evening to attend a performance of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles in the local theatre. It was a version where a group of friends decided to reenact the story. The start of the performance was very dramatic: the auditorium was plunged in darkness, a flash of bright light, accompanied by an ear-splitting peal of thunder on the sound system. I was unfamiliar with the story (yep, I'm really into my Sherlock Holmes, not), but found the side-story slightly distracting. Otherwise, once they did get into the nitty-gritty of it, it was quite good. The play lasted for just over 2 hours, leaving us time to catch a bus to the Geitenkamp area of Arnhem, from where we walked home for the last 2 miles.

Wednesday 29 December - picture post

2010-12-30T14:14:00.001+01:00

Picture post

This is a public highway. It's obviously closed to all traffic.

The Watch Tower

Take a break under the tree

Snow drift curvatures

Polar landscape

Snowy forest

Wednesday 29 December

2010-12-29T16:25:00.000+01:00

The snow has by no means gone, as the mercury continues to hover around zero. It has certainly thinned out quite a bit, particularly in open and exposed locations. In the middle of the forest, you can still come across thick wads of the white stuff on conifer trees. Went for a walk this afternoon to the Heathlands, which presented a polar landscape. Tufts of heather stuck out above the snow, but otherwise it was a very bleak landscape. Made even more so by the mist, caused by the evaporation of the snow. The sun was shining fairly brightly, until a bank of cloud moved up from the west. A thaw is on its way in, however slowly. Tonight, we may see the mercury dip to close to -10C, but after that, we're on the up. Probably to the seasonal norm for eastern Holland, +4C / 39F. The roads in the hillier parts of the district are still closed, and gratefully used by those on skies or sleds.

I shall have a picture post and one additional blogpost later today or tomorrow morning, as I am attending a theatre performance in Arnhem tonight. The bus will provide the necessary transport.

Tuesday 28 December

2010-12-28T16:32:00.000+01:00

Kept a quiet day today, as my cold is taking its time to go away. Walked to the shops, which are about 20 minutes walking away for a few bits and pieces. I normally ride there on the bicycle, but away from the main roads, the residential streets are in an appalling condition. So, I walk. The pavements [sidewalks] are no better than the minor roads, I should add. The snow is melting only slowly, as the mercury is hovering around freezing. I am hearing tales of woe about people whose properties are flooded when their frozen pipes thaw. The motorways in many parts of Holland also require emergency repairs, to prevent major potholes from forming. Wish they would do the same in the UK - when I return to Stornoway on January 5th, I fully expect to find the town's roads full of potholes.

I've just finished reading a very interesting book, The Great Lone Land, by W. F. Butler. Lieutenant Butler traversed the west of Canada in 1871 on a commission from the British government. He had to investigate conditions in the Saskatchewan Valley and beyond with regards to natives, trade and lawlessness. He did the journey in autumn and winter, with temperatures going down well below zero in Fahrenheit.
The only minor niggle was that the Echo Library (who supplied the copy) did not weed out all the OCR errors (I have advised them of that). What happens is that they scan the pages of the original text, then download the resulting digital file into a text file. And it tends to be full of errors. I know all about it, as I am applying the same process to the Napier Commission, whose report I have been going through in the past couple of months (see the posts on my blogs Atlantic Lines and Pentland Road).

Polizei! Ausweis!

2010-12-27T22:36:00.000+01:00

That was the greeting from a German policeman on the train to Cologne last Thursday. It means "Police! Identification!". Although I was born well after the Second World War (when Holland was occupied by Nazi Germany), the expression did heark back to the dark days of the early 40s. In this case, the burly PC flashed his policeman's badge in my face, upon which I had to comply with his request for my passport. The guy could at least speak Dutch, as I was too flabbergasted to muster my rusty German for an appropriate reply (no, don't even think of it). He demanded to know whether I lived in the UK (my passport is marked as having been issued in London) and what I was going to do in Cologne. He shone in light in my rucksack, which only contained a folder for my travel documents, so he quickly realised that I was just an innocent tourist, out for a daytrip. A fellow passenger, travelling to Leipzig, intimated that sometimes passengers would be taken off the train in instances like this. In retrospect, I realise that "undesirable elements" can use the ICE trains to smuggle themselves into a country. Formally, there is an open border between Holland and Germany, but checks are being carried out nonetheless.

Monday 27 December

2010-12-27T17:03:00.000+01:00

Sniffles subsiding gradually, thank you, just as well, as I'm running out of paper hankies. I nonetheless went for a short stroll in the woods. The snow is beginning to melt slowly, although we have another cold blast heading our way until the end of the week. Overnight lows -12C by Thursday, brrr. The stroll in the woods led along some incredibly slippery roads, I nearly needed ice skates there.

Tonight, there will be a news review on Dutch television, to showcase what cannot really be called the highlights of 2010. It is usually a litany of disasters, mishaps and what not.

The old school

Anyone lost their bonnet?

Slide down the slope, through the fence and on to the duckpond. Oh, the ice is rather thin there...

The Arnhemse Allee (which leads into the city of Arnhem) - an Allee is a treelined avenue.

Boxing Day 2010

2010-12-27T13:09:00.000+01:00

Full of sniffles, I nonetheless headed west with my father today, to visit my sister and her family in a town some 20 miles east of Amsterdam. The train took us there in good order, although I cannot imagine that the ICE passengers alighting at Utrecht were very pleased at their 90 minute delay. And being taken there on an old NS [Dutch Railways] rattletrap. My sister was waiting at her local station and took us to her house. She had a new addition to the family, a young dog. Not a small one by any description: he is a St Bernhard cross. The animal is only 8 months old, and still requires training. We had scones, jam and cream, followed by a session of what is called here "gourmetten" [Google Translated, beware]. Difficult to translate - you have a set of small (handsized) pans, which sit on a hot plate. You fry small chunks of meat or fish and serve it with various garnishes. We returned east by train, and reached home at 10.45pm.

My sister's family cat 7 feet up - he wanted to go there himself

Waiting for the bus along the Schelmseweg [Scoundrel's Road]

Christmas Day 2010

2010-12-27T12:47:00.000+01:00

Went to the Christmas morning service in the local church, once more as temporary member of the church choir. It is customary in the church here to have a few moments of quiet contemplation - well, it was far from quiet. Just beforehand, a group of small children had rejoined the congregation after they had been to their own Christmas "service", if you like. And, small children being what they are, they had to obviously tell mum and dad what they had been up to. It was quite funny really.

The day was quite sunny (but not warm). My father served Xmas dinner around 1.30pm (turkey, stewed pears and potatoes), after which we went for an amble in the Castle Country Park to walk it off. It was still very snowy, and the ponds were mostly covered in ice. Nobody was skating, an indication that the ice was not thick enough. At the end of the walk, we visited my uncle and then returned home for the evening. Sunset here is at 4.30pm, which was the time we got back. Watched a bit of telly in the evening, including a film about a young lad in wartime Holland - the film is called Oorlogswinter (Winter in War).

The Shell Gallery - covered up against the frost

800 year old tree

Trees, bent under their load of snow

The Castle and Orangerie

The Torck School

Friday 24 December

2010-12-25T23:22:00.000+01:00

Christmas Eve is upon us, and I make use of the daylight hours by going for a walk. First into the next town to buy some mobile phone top-up. Only to discover that my SIM has been disabled for non-use. I have not used it for more than 6 months. The other gripe is that although my credit expired, the €33 is still shown on the phone. Annoying. The roads in Velp are atrocious. No gritting or clearing has been done, and the snow sits on a substrate of sheet ice. You can imagine the slipsliding away that goes on, and not just by pedestrians.

Our aim for the walk is the Emma Pyramid, a viewpoint on a hill in the forest. The only problem is that the trees have grown too tall to see much beyond the confines of the forest, apart from the Rhine valley to the southeast. There is a thick layer of snow on the ground, up to 8 inches (20 cm) in places. The roads in the forest and heathlands areas have been closed; you need to know that this is actually a hilly district in Holland, and roads are steep and winding. The highest point stands at 370 feet above sealevel.

In the evening, I attended the Christmas Eve service in the local church. I was invited to join the tenor section of the church choir, as they are always short. I'm out of practice, but hope I made a useful contribution.

Church

Emma Pyramid

Road closed

Ducks - unusual ones

Slippery roads in Velp

Thursday 23 December - picture post

2010-12-24T20:13:00.000+01:00

Cologne Cathedral, from closeup

Stained-glass window in Cologne Cathedral

Christmas Market, Cologne

Dionysus Mosaic, German & Roman Museum, Cologne

Cologne Central Station

Thursday 23 December

2010-12-24T20:06:00.000+01:00

Although I had not hit the pillow until 1.15 am, I had to get up only 6 hours later to catch the ICE train to Cologne, Germany, where I was going for a daytrip with my father. The bus took us to the station in Arnhem, and ICE 105 left at 9.06 am. It is a luxurious train, and I had booked seats for the 100 minutes to Cologne. Well, it turned into more than 2 hours, due to a signalling fault at Wesel and the generally snowy conditions. Arrived at Cologne at 11.15 am, and the weather was downright unpleasant: sleet and freezing rain, and freezing temperatures.

My primary objective had been the Dom, the Cathedral, but it was cold in there, and not just in terms of the temperature. The Cologne Dom is a massive structure, with the spire rearing to no less than 400 feet in height. But when you come in out of cold conditions, and being ordered to remove your hat: well, there are ways of conveying a message. And the clergy in the cathedral should be aware that in cold weather, people may come in wearing a hat, because it's cold, and not out of disrespect. A wee notice at the door would help. At least then you don't cause offence. As I said, the Dom is a magnificent structure, and I was as overawed as I was on my first visit in 1998.

After the Dom, we ambled through the Christmas market outside the Cathedral, then the adjacent Roman / German museum. A bit of lunch in the Früh cafe consisted of a small glass of beer (zwei Gölch?!), salt potatoes and Hungarian goulash, complemented by a fruit salad. The italicised phrase means "two beers" and was barked out by all the waiters at every customer. The Germans can be very abrupt, which is something I'm aware and familiar with. It was funny in the cafe, though.

The train back departed at 14.46, and got duly delayed due to the weather. We had to change into an old NS carriage at Emmerich for the rest of the journey back into Holland. The train was extremely busy, in both directions, due to the Christmas holidays.

I shall post a separate entry with pictures.

Wednesday 22 December

2010-12-24T19:53:00.000+01:00

After yesterday's debacle at Stornoway Airport, today went well. The plane took off only half an hour late, and much of that delay was run up waiting for two incoming planes. Arrived at Glasgow at 10 o'clock, after a flight over snowy Highland mountains.

Loch Maree, near Gairloch

The bus transfer to Glasgow City Centre took less than half an hour, but it was noteworthy that the trees were thickly encrusted with rime. Had to wait for the Edinburgh train at Queen Street station, where it was so cold. Temperatures at Glasgow Airport were reported to be at -11C, and it felt like that at the station. Fortunately, they called the 1100 departure well before the scheduled time so all passengers could wait in the warmth.

The journey to Edinburgh ran up a delay near Croy, but I have many hours to wait at Edinburgh Airport. I have lunch on the very cold station, then jump on the bus to the airport, where I arrive at 1.30pm.

Cue a period of excruciating boredom, until I could check in for my flight. A queue of 25 minutes, after which I proceeded to departures. Cue another period of waiting, extended due to the late departure of the flight. Once on board, there were more delays. But we finally took off at 8pm, 90 minutes late. The journey to Amsterdam was made enjoyable as I struck up a conversation with a lady next to me, who had suffered the same sort of delays that I had. She had a journey of 2½ hours ahead of her once at Amsterdam.

Touched down in a snowy Amsterdam at 10.30pm local time. At the baggage reclaim, dozens of cases were lined up - these were awaiting collection by their owner. There were 3000 pieces of luggage still there. My train departed at 11.15pm, and for the journey to Utrecht, I was able to use my laptop to go on-line, as the NS train offered free internet access. They did rather better than Edinburgh Airport which wanted £10 per hour for the privilege. Arrived at Arnhem at 12.40 am, and took a taxi to my father's house.

A tale of two journeys

2010-12-23T22:39:00.000+01:00

I am quite tired after two days of travelling (preceded by one that was taken up by abortive travelling). On Tuesday, I made the trip to Holland, which lasted some 16 hours. Today, Wednesday, I took the train to the German city of Cologne, which required an early start. Bearing in mind I did not go to sleep until well after 1 am, you can imagine I'm slightly whacked this evening.

I therefore postpone writing up my travel diary until tomorrow.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-20T20:34:00.000+01:00

I'll be in Holland from 21 December 2010 until 5 January 2011, as plans stand at the moment. For those who are new to the Shell Gallery, I use it when I'm visiting my family in Holland. I usually stay with my father, who lives a couple of miles outside the city of Arnhem, 65 miles east of Amsterdam. The name Shell Gallery refers to a landscape feature in a castle garden near my dad's house. I started this blog in May 2008 following the death of my mother, memories of whom are strong in the village where my father lives. I'll be blogging here from Wednesday 22 December onwards. For now, you can browse through my Dutch picture collection on Flickr.com, where I upload under the username Veluweman.

Departing Vlieland - 18 June

2010-06-30T13:25:00.000+02:00

After a week of sunshine, the Friday of our departure dawned overcast and grey. Having cleaned the bungalow, we set out for an hour's walk, as far as the Dam 30 crossing, then back along the beach. We left the Ankerplaats at 10 am, to drop off our hired cycles near the ferry terminal and wait for the boat to turn up. It did so on time, at 10.30. Having been one of the first to board, we took up position on the top deck to watch everybody else throng on board. The MS Vlieland departed at 11.45 amidst a drizzle and poor visibility. The well-known landmarks were all shrouded in mist, and we only saw the dunes along the North Sea shoreline as far as Kaap Bol, just east of the beach hotels. On going inside, there was no seating left for my father and I to sit on, and nobody offered to give up theirs to my dad, who is in his 70s. OK, he is fit and healthy and was content to sit on a sideboard by the window, but it wasn't very good. Arrived into a bright Harlingen at 1.15, on time to miss the 1.30 train (it takes a while for the boat to dock, luggage and passengers to unload) because the bridge was open. Had a good trip all the way to Velp, but amazed at the number of cycles being carried on the train. In addition to cycle-hauled prams, babies and other paraphernalia by young parents. Anyway, we were back at my father's house by about 5pm.

Did I say we're always incredibly sentimental on leaving the island of Vlieland? My father's been coming there for nearly 50 years now.

View of the Ankerplaats

Junction of paths at Dam 30 crossing

View from crossing at Dam 30

Dog watching over fishermen's possessions on the beach near Dam 30

Good-bye to the beach

Ferry disembarking

View of the village and the lighthouse dune

Luggage trollies going on board the ferry

Departing Vlieland - the island salutes you

Trains at Leeuwarden

Karveel I

2010-06-28T18:47:00.000+02:00

This shows the interior of the bungalow

Kitchen area

Sitting area

Final full day - 17 June

2010-06-28T18:44:00.000+02:00

Another bright and breezy day, and we set off by bicycle to the dunes near the Posthuys, 5 miles away. Having parked the bikes at the beach crossing, we headed south towards the Vliehors. Upon arriving at the boundary, we found the red flags flying, meaning that a military exercise was underway and entry was forbidden. The northeasterly wind had the flags flying straight out. We headed towards the nearby Meeuwenduinen (Gulls' Dunes) and made our way back towards the Army Camp. Upon walking back north to the Posthuys, we saw a line of shellduck young crossing the road, with a flock of gulls diving in, thinking their lunch was crossing the road. A couple of cyclists were waving furiously to chase off the gulls. The adult shellduck shepherded their young back into the bushes. Shellduck and eiderducks lay their eggs in empty rabbit holes, taking their newly hatched chicks to the sea on foot. A road makes them very exposed to predators. Having arrived at the Posthuys, we had a cup of tea and a piece of applecake. We then slowly headed north towards the village. After returning to the bungalow, we had a paddle in the sea.

Pad van 30 [Path of Dam 30]

Trees along Pad van 30

Danger area

Vliehors

In the Meeuwenduinen

Highland Cattle - yes, we're still in Holland

Pad van 20

Goldfish pond "Klaas Douwes"

Along the beach and back - 16 June

2010-06-27T23:46:00.000+02:00

Another sunny and windy day, keeping the temperature around 16C but most enjoyable. After a jaunt into town by bike at 9 o'clock, we set off on foot down the beach, heading south. After a coffee break at the Pad 20 crossing (pad is Dutch for path), we traversed the island near the Posthuys, and went north along the periphery of the Bomenland plantation. Had lunch at the viewpoint, and then my father decided to take a wrong turning. It all ended in tears, or rather in a fox snare. Dozens of snares have been put up across the island to catch foxes, which some idiot has set loose in the place. We then walked the length of the Wadden Sea shore, or rather the line of dunes that separate the sea from the main road. It is a mildly elevated section (all of 20 feet above sealevel), which ends at Lange Paal, 2 miles south of Oost Vlieland. From there, we followed the main road into the village. There, we had an icecream and headed home.

Emerging from the forest into the Ankerplaats

Ankerplaats entrance

Anyone missing a rubber glove?

Anyone riding the cycle path in the dunes just has to go up the crossings and see the sea

Bomenland (Land of Trees)

Along the seashore

No caption necessary!

Tuesday 15 June

2010-06-27T12:41:00.000+02:00

Today, my eldest sister came up to join my father and I on Vlieland. She lives near Amsterdam so it's only a 70 mile drive up to Harlingen to jump on the boat. We picked her up from the ferry pier and took her to Karveel I to ply her with much needed coffee. At midday, we set forth by bike through the dunes to the Posthuys restaurant for some lunch. It is quite a breezy day, not all that warm, and although there are screens around the patio outside the Posthuys, the watercress and other loose bits and pieces that adorned our various lunches soon ended up on the floor. After lunch, we walked up and down the little dyke along the Kroonspolders, then slowly cycled back towards Oost Vlieland. It was still early so we flopped down by a roadside seat and lazed away some time before the ferry was due. By 4.45pm, my sister was on her way back after a very nice day out and about in the island.

Mars, built around 1905

Ferry docked

Weatherview - northeasterly breeze force 5

Bird reserve

One of the dozen-or-so "Water Paints" frames on the island

The beach at "Pad van 20"

Posthuys patio

Kroonspolders

Road through Bomenland [Land of Trees]

Around the corner - 14 June

2010-06-26T13:36:00.000+02:00

The northeastern cape of Vlieland is locally referred to as the northeastern corner (Noordoosthoek) of the island. Walking along the beach from the bungalow takes you there in an hour or so, then it's a quick jaunt to the marina. On the way, a clear view is had of the neighbouring island of Terschelling, a few miles to the northeast. After the marina, we walked through the village and I called into the cemetery to photograph about 50 wargraves. These are mainly of aircrew, shot down in action during the Second World War, and those washed up following shipwrecks due to mines at sea during the war.

Crossing onto the beach

Trawler heading out to sea

The shell gallery

Breakwater

Beached jellyfish

Along the beach

View of Terschelling

Sailing boat (dated 1906)

Marina

Hello puss

Old church

Picture post - 13 June

2010-06-25T23:49:00.000+02:00

Beach hotels

Stortemelk campsite

Fortweg, near northeast corner

Marina

Entering the village of Oost Vlieland

Duck trap

Posthuys

Kroonspolders

Along the beach

By bicycle - 13 June

2010-06-25T23:41:00.000+02:00

This Sunday, we took the bicycles and went for a run round the island by pushbike. Starting off by going through the entire complex of holiday cottages that stretch from the Ankerplaats east to the edge of the Stortemelk campsite, then on to the easternmost point of the island. This offers a nice view of the next island, Terschelling. The marina and harbour are half a mile down the road from there, with quite a few old sailing ships in there, dating back to the early 1900s. We headed south, through the village to the main road towards the Posthuys. Halfway there, we had a look at a restored duck decoy trap at Oude Kooi, and an interesting chat to the old gent who lived in the nearby house. No ducks are being trapped these days, by the way. We put the bikes away near the Posthuys and walked down the dyke, fronting the Kroonspolders to the southeast of the restaurant. The Kroonspolders are a failed attempt at land reclamation, but are a success in terms of being a nature reserve. The dyke has been deliberately breached to create a tidal, brackish area of water in polder #3 (there are 4 polders). From the end of the dyke, we walked to the Army Camp, about 2 km to the south, and back along the beach to the crossing west of the Posthuys. Having retrieved the cycles, we returned to the Ankerplaats, 5 miles to the north.

Picture post - 12 June

2010-06-25T18:35:00.000+02:00

Kooispleklid dune

View north from the Kooispleklid dune

Lange Paal campsite

Dunes north of Lange Paal

Nieuwe Kooi

Along the Waddensea shoreline

Dodemansbol (Sailors' Grave)

Steps to viewpoint

Posthuys restaurant

Roadsign by the beach near the Posthuys

On the beach

12 June - All island walk

2010-06-25T18:24:00.000+02:00

Vlieland is not a large island; the main road stretches for all of 7 miles (11 km) from the northeastern cape to the Army Camp in the south. Beyond that, a large sand plain (Vliehors) stretches for another 4 miles in the direction of the neighbouring island of Texel. This Saturday, we set off for a walk the length of the island, starting from the Ankerplaats bungalow southwest towards the second highest dune in the island, the Kooispleklid, at 100 feet in height. It is an easy walk through undulating, grass-covered dunes, with many bushes. Beyond the Kooispleklid, the path leads to the Lange Paal campsite. Lange Paal is Dutch for Long Pole. The National Water Management Agency had a reference pole there at one time, and due to rot had to add another pole on top of it. It is also the start of a 3½ mile round walk, signed with coloured markerposts.

Lange Paal sits next to a small forestry plantation; there are several of these plantations in Vlieland. The largest encircles the village of Oost Vlieland; there are four others, Lange Paal, Nieuwe Kooi, Oude Kooi and Bomenland. Apart from Oude Kooi, today's walk will show us all of them. The round walk veers into the dunes, then dives into the plantation of Nieuwe Kooi, which surrounds the pond in which ducks would have been trapped in years gone by. Nowadays, it is one of those tranquil spots you find in abundance in this island. We had lunch by its shores, plagued by nothing worse than a female duck begging for crumbs. The walk continued on the eastern (Wadden Sea) shores of the island to the last forest, Bomenland. This means Land of Trees in Dutch, and is the oldest plantation, dating back to 1906. It is noticeable for a small monument to a crashed WW2 bomber and a lovely viewpoint. On entering the forest along the main road, you see a small grave marker, where sailors lie buried who died of infectious diseases in years gone by. The poem on the board is well known in our family, but no longer recited aloud following the death of our mother in 2008.

Hier rust het stof uit vroeger dagen - Here rests the dust from days gone by
Verborgen in een houten kist - Hidden in a wooden chest
Wilt eerbied voor deez' rustplaats dragen - Give honour to this place of rest
Daar zulks plicht en menslijk is - As such is a duty to humanity

Beyond Bomenland stands the Posthuys restaurant, which used to be a mailstage in the days that the mails for Vlieland came from Amsterdam by relay through Texel. Following the crossing of the Eyerlandse Gat narrows between Vlieland and Texel, the mailrider would make his way over the sandblown waste of the Vliehors to find sanctuary at the Posthuys.

There is these days only one town in Vlieland, Oost Vlieland (East Vlieland). It is a prosperous, very touristy place. Until the 18th century, there was also a West Vlieland. It now lies 4 miles west of the Vliehors, under several fathoms of water. Yellow bricks from its houses still wash up on the strands of Vlieland. It is strangely ominous sign that the coat of arms for the village of West Vlieland is a barren tree.

Our walk was ended by walking back to the cottage along the North Sea strand, a distance of about 5 miles.

Further picture posts

2010-06-23T20:46:00.000+02:00

I am badly behind with presenting diary entries and pictures of my holiday on Vlieland. On my return to Stornoway, I shall continue making entries here until this is complete. Those of you on Facebook who are interested: please bookmark the site as I am switching blog relays on FB back to Atlantic Lines.

11 June - picture post

2010-06-23T17:39:00.000+02:00

Crowds at Harlingen ferry terminal

Cycle track on Vlieland

Vlieland lighthouse

Town Hall

Flotsam on the beach

On the beach

Karveel I (the right-hand part of the cottage).
Further pics

Journey to Vlieland - 11 June

2010-06-23T17:33:00.001+02:00

A very early start, 5.45 am, saw me at breakfast by 6 and out of the door at 6.45 am. Once more wallowing through mud on the way to the station, then walking along a road where pedestrians bound for Leeuwarden city centre are but an after-thought. No matter. It is still quite muggy as I buy a cuppa on the station while waiting for my 7.33 am local train to the port of Harlingen, 16 miles to the west. Those wishing to catch a ferry can now alight at the harbourside station of Harlingen Haven, which has been closed for more than a year due to engineering works. These involved moving the tracks from outside the harbour wall to within the harbour wall. The walk to the ferry terminal was unchanged, and the terminal was absolutely heaving with people. The island of Terschelling, a few miles west of Vlieland, is hosting the 29th edition of its "Oerol" (translates as 'everywhere') cultural festival. About 55,000 people would go there, and it is noticeable in the ferry terminal. Hordes of people wishing to board the 8.15 ferry, the 8.30 fast ferry, the 8.45 slow ferry, the 9.30 fast ferry to Terschelling - whilst poor souls bound for Vlieland have to wait for the 9 am ferry to Vlieland in amongst it all. And then you get people who park their vehicles in a carpark a mile away (taking your car to Terschelling is ever so expensive, and prohibited to Vlieland), not taking account of the distance or the fact that the bridge in between carpark and ferry terminal just could be open - for a quarter of an hour at a stretch. Finally, we're called forward to put our bags on the baggage cars, then have to board the ferry via the cardeck. Although, as I said, you're not normally permitted to take your car to Vlieland, people can apply for permits to take their car, lorry or whatever across.

Ferry leaves at 9 am, and the murky conditions mean nothing can be seen on the crossing, not until the last quarter of an hour when the sky appears to brighten and visbility extends to the northeastern corner of Vlieland. We dock at 10.30 am, and the hordes dissipate into the island. My father is waiting at the dockside. I go off to hire a bicycle, then cycle to the bungalow he has hired and sit down for a cuppa. For many years, we've hired cottages in a park called Ankerplaats (Anchorage), out in the dunes. The oldest houses were built in 1971, the more recent ones in the 1980s - all were (initially) named after types of boats. Our cottage Karveel I is no exception. Karveel translates as caravel. What we normally do on Vlieland is walk and cycle all day. Unfortunately, it is chucking it down all afternoon, but by 4pm we venture forth, when the rain finally relents. The walk takes us through the woods behind the cottage to the Torenvijver (Tower Pond), the lighthouse (perched 150 feet above sealevel on a dune) and into the village. We return the same way.

The big ride

2010-06-23T12:35:00.000+02:00

As summer has arrived in Holland, my dad and I went on a cycle ride on Tuesday. I did not set out expecting it to stretch to 40 miles or so, but it did. It was quite a varied run, starting in the Heathlands north of Arnhem, then to the forests east towards the town of Dieren (10 miles northeast of Arnhem). We crossed the River IJssel by ferry, then wound our way along the eastern bank of this river to the motorway bridge near Velp, which includes a cyclepath. Left home at 10.45 am, to return at 4.30pm, with a couple of stops along the way for refreshments, including lunch and icecreams. There were hundreds of other cyclists about, and everybody appeared to be enjoying themselves.

Journey - 10 June / Pictures

2010-06-21T17:35:00.000+02:00

Bridge across the River IJssel near Zwolle NL

Blackwater Reservoir, Rannoch Moor (Scotland)

Ben Nevis

Insert system disk and press Enter

Accessible toilets at Glasgow

Journey - 10 June

2010-06-21T17:29:00.001+02:00

My journey on departing Stornoway was uneventful. I left Lewis by plane at 11.30 local time and following a stop-over at Glasgow during the afternoon, touched down at Amsterdam Schiphol airport at 7pm local time the same day. Holland is an hour ahead of the UK. Whereas it was fairly clear and sunny over northern Scotland, there was nothing but clouds all the way from Glasgow to Amsterdam, and it was in fact tipping it down in Holland. It was also about 10 degrees warmer there than in Scotland. On arrival, the pilot advised us it was 20C / 68F. At 7pm.

Armed with my pre-purchased NS (Dutch Railways) ticket, I jumped on the train to Enschede which left Schiphol station at 7.49pm, changed at Amersfoort (30 miles east of Amsterdam) and enjoyed the ride north to Leeuwarden. In my compartment was a group of east African folks who spent the entire trip chewing qat, and were clearly under the influence of the stuff. It was stifling warm and muggy on the train, as I advised those of you who follow me on Facebook at the time. The train pulled into Leeuwarden station at 10.15pm. A 30 minute walk took me to the hotel, but roadworks at a nearby junction had me trudging through mud. Not their fault. Anyway, I had a shower and went to sleep - the alarm was set for 5.45 am.

Video clips from Vlieland

2010-06-21T13:15:00.000+02:00

This first clip shows the aspect and more importantly the sounds from a viewpoint in the south of the island. As the camera moves further to the right (facing north), the winds starts to rumble in the camera's microphone.

This video was taken as the ferry departed on Friday (18th). The weather was pretty awful, so you can't see a lot. I almost have to refer to pictures I took on departing following my previous visit in 2008.

Monday 21 June

2010-06-21T12:09:00.000+02:00

Told you I wouldn't be around that much. Went to visit my sister, who leaves 75 miles away near Amsterdam, by train yesterday. She's a good cook, and has a house with cats, so plenty of fun to be had. Didn't get back until about 11pm last night. This morning, it's brighter and not as cool as yesterday, which saw the mercury hunkered down at 13C. Today should see us back up to 19C, which is closer to the seasonal norm of 21C / 70F for this part of the world.

Today is also the Summer Solstice, and the Druids will have been heralding the rising of the Sun above the Heel Stone at Stonehenge in southern England. There will also have been a posse of druid worshippers over at Callanish in the Isle of Lewis, marking the same event a bit earlier in the morning. The only problem is that the Callanish Stone Circle is a lunar monument, and has no bearing on anything solar. But who am I to steal their thunder.

Hurricane season is underway, and although there is nothing in the Atlantic (apart from five tropical waves), the Pacific has its first hurricane on the go: Celia. This one is nearly 400 miles south of Acapulco, and poses no threat to land. One of the Atlantic tropical waves has pushed some tropical heat into the southeast of the US, giving our friend Sam (Docklines) a touch of heatstroke. Sam has not posted on his blog for a year and a half, but is present on Facebook.

Trip to Holland

2010-06-19T16:18:00.000+02:00

Here I am again, back on the internet after a week's hols in the island of Vlieland. I have 1,111 pictures to go through, so bear with me on that score. The journey has so far gone quite well. I arrived into Amsterdam on June 10th amidst muggy and clammy conditions, something I was complaining of on Facebook at the time. The next day, it was foggy, spoiling the nice views on the ferry crossing to Vlieland, an island some 75 miles north of Amsterdam, and 20 miles off the coast of the northwestern province of Friesland. The weather cleared up late on the 11th, to stay mainly sunny right the way through until late on Thursday 17th. On leaving the island, it was wet and cold. There have been some changes in Vlieland, which I have been visiting all my life - since the mid 1960s. The nature side of it has hardly changed, apart from the introduction of Highland cattle. Yes, I can hear you think, travel away from the Scottish Highlands and Islands and what do you find? Highland cattle. As I said, I have many pics to process, and they'll turn up on my Veluweman account on Flickr. I'll post the link later; there are about 1.6 GB of pics to upload, which will take some time.

More later.

Picture post

2010-02-01T19:20:00.000+01:00

This scene greeted us this afternoon as we returned from a trip to the shop. Our small village (pop 1500) has no shops, only one extremely expensive restaurant, and not even a pub. So, we have to go to the next town for the daily needs. Fortunately, it is only half a mile away, so even within walking distance.

The Shell Gallery is now closed until I return to Holland.

Monday 1 February

2010-02-01T11:56:00.000+01:00

A grey morning with snow showers, but nothing too dramatic. Temperature a bit above freezing, and no prospect of that going up any time soon.

The international economic recession has bitten here in Holland too, and like elsewhere, the bankers appear to have contributed in no small measure. As a result, the Dutch parliament is holding a public inquiry during which key-players are being interrogated. The former president of the Dutch central bank DNB is in the chair this morning. Leaving that to one side, it appears to me that the bankers haven't really learned. They insist on having their pay, and cannot abandon their lifestyle.

This was most graphically illustrated at the start of the crisis when one British high-flyer found himself confronted with the prospect of a number of zeroes being chopped from his income. Until that time, he was known as a trans-European party animal, owning villas in quite a few countries, hosting lavish parties every weekend. And that was coming to an end. He could not countenance the loss of face, so he jumped in front of a train and was killed.

I've started preparations for my return to Stornoway tomorrow, and once I again I am looking forward to a boring but trouble free journey. I have a couple of hours leeway at London Gatwick and Edinburgh (yawn), so I am packing a big book to read.

Apart from a possible later entry with pictures, this will be the last post on the Shell Gallery until I return to Holland once more. I shall resume blogging on Wednesday 3 February, from Atlantic Lines. I shall keep those of you who are on Facebook and / or Twitter updated on the progress of my trip through tomorrow.

Sunday notes

2010-01-31T19:41:00.000+01:00

The snow from last night left us with a covering of nearly 4 inches at 10 am; the sun, which shone brightly all day, managed to melt a lot of the snow left exposed to its rays. Still, there was a substantial covering in many places. Went for a walk in the woods during the afternoon, and found snow depths up to 6 inches in places. The noticeable thing was that the open heathlands held hardly any snow as that had melted under the sun. It is surprisingly warm when you're in a sheltered location, even more so behind glass. Many people had had the same idea to go out into the crisp air, and there were quite a few youngsters out sledding in the village. For reference: it's hilly round here.

Sunday 31 January

2010-01-31T07:38:00.000+01:00

An early morning post to look back at this day 57 years ago. A northwesterly storm battered northern Europe, leaving 2,000 people dead in the southwestern Netherlands and 300 in southeastern England. The storm first hit the Outer Hebrides, where the MV Clan Macquarrie was driven ashore at Borve in Lewis, 17 miles north of Stornoway. Its crew were all safely winched ashore on a breeches' buoy and put up locally. Some ended up marrying local girls. Further south, the Irish Sea ferry Princess Victoria sailing between Holyhead and Dublin sank with the loss of 133 after its doors were smashed in by the waves. As the storm progressed southeast, the force 12 winds on its trailing edge pumped the waters of the North Sea into the narrowing and shallower southern end. This hurricane lasted for many hours, giving rise to a phenomenal storm surge of 5.7 metres, 19 feet. It flooded the Fens area of East Anglia, Canvey Island in the Thames and broke the dykes in southwestern Holland. At low tide, the sea was already at the crest of the dykes; when high tide came at midnight, disaster struck. At daybreak, 8 am, the province of Zeeland in the southwest, was under water. Some 2,000 people drowned. In the 35 years after this calamity, the Dutch built a massive series of sea defences in the southwest, which now protects the islands of Zeeland. See the above link for further details.

Saturday 30 January

2010-01-30T23:46:00.000+01:00

A snowy day, which ended even more so than it already was at the start. We awoke to about 2 inches of the white stuff, which looked quite pretty. After watching the ladies' final of the Australian Open Tennis championships, my father and I set off by bus, train and shanks' pony to my sister's, some 45 miles from here, about 20 miles east of Amsterdam. The journey went well, apart from the fact that the connection at Utrecht did not work. The 15.08 train was cancelled, so we had to wait 20 minutes for the next train going in that direction. A slippery walk through town brought us to my sister's house at a quarter past four. A convivial evening was enjoyed, celebrating a nephew's 15th birthday.

At 8pm, we headed for home and were offered a lift in a relative's car. That cut the journey time from 2½ hours to one, but the conditions were atrocious. Heavy snow left the A1 motorway, leading east from Amsterdam, in a state that can best be described as an icerink. Fortunately, the majority of drivers kept at a sensible speed of between 30 and 50 mph. One accident had occurred about 5 miles west of Arnhem, where a car had crashed on the opposing carriageway. The snow was not being cleared, and gritters were hardly in evidence. The heavy snow on the approach to Arnhem slowed traffic to about 25 mph and the driver had to pick their way between the reflecting beacons on either side of the road in order to stay on the carriageway. Visibility was extremely poor. We were dropped on the main road through the village and returned home like snowmen.

Snowy scene, late evening

On the A1 motorway near Amersfoort

Friendly puss in the snow

Utrecht Central Station

Waiting for the bus

Liège

2010-01-29T19:12:00.000+01:00

This city in Belgium, 75 miles east of Brussels, was the scene of a tragic accident earlier this week. An old five-storey building collapsed following a gas explosion on Tuesday. The preceding weekend, people had complained of a smell of gas, but the fire service said nothing was wrong. Not so. At 2 am on Tuesday, an explosion occurred, and five hours later the entire building at 18 Rue Leopold crumbled to the ground. Today, the death toll rose to 12, after the remains of a young couple were found in the rubble. They had been in touch with the rescue services to pinpoint the location of a girl of 13, who was retrieved successfully. A fire subsequently ignited around their area, and contact was lost with the couple.

The houses in the area are poorly maintained, and the authorities were actually not certain how many people lived in the collapsed building. Twenty were injured, twelve are dead. The owner of the property was evasive about the number of his tenants, saying many would have been 'visiting'. Many old city centre buildings across Europe have been converted into so-called "Houses of Multiple Occupancy", that unscrupulous owners try to cram as many people as possible into, and do little in terms of maintenance. Whether this applied to 18 Rue Leopold in Liège remains the subject of a forensic examination.

Friday 29 January

2010-01-29T17:31:00.000+01:00

It has been a horrible day, with alternating showers of rain and snow. The mercury, you won't be surprised to hear, has been hogging freezing for most of the day. Now that the sun has set, the clouds have cleared away. That'll always be the case. We'll get -4C tonight.

Over in London, former prime minister Tony Blair was apparently very worried about having to appear in front of the Chilcott Commission, which investigates the British government's role in the lead-up to the war in Iraq in 2003. Mr Blair appears to have been at variance with his cabinet colleagues. When they appeared in front of the commission, they mostly said that the invasion was justified to disarm Saddam Hussein and remove the threat of WMD (weapons of mass destruction). Mr Blair said the war had been launched to remove Saddam from power. This was actually the line taken by president George W. Bush in the aftermath of 9/11. The strange thing is that Saddam had no part to play in that atrocity, investigations have shown.

Yes, Saddam was a very nasty piece of work, and around one million people have died as a result of his actions as head of state in Iraq. I certainly did not rue his hanging, in December 2006. However, it is my stated position that George H. Bush (sic) should have proceeded to take out the Iraqi dictator in March 1991. At that time, American forces in Iraq at the end of the 1990/91 war, could easily have done so. George Bush senior was dissuaded from the idea by Arab leaders. So, George Bush junior decided to finish the job his daddy left him.

Iraq is less of a problem these days than Afghanistan. Nobody has ever subdued the tribes of that dustbowl, not the British, not the Soviets, and NATO won't either.

MMR

2010-01-28T17:25:00.000+01:00

We all remember the uproar surrounding the alleged link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination and early onset autism. This link has now been disproved, but the campaign by the doctor who suggested the link to dissuade parents from having their children vaccinated using that vaccine has led to an upsurge in cases of the diseases mentioned.

Dr Wakefield is accused of acting in a manner that did not serve the interests of children over the way he conducted his research. The British General Medical Council upheld that opinion today, although some of the parents that support Dr Wakefield heckled the GMC chairman as he delivered his conclusions. The GMC must now decide whether Dr Wakefield is guilty of serious professional misconduct. If he is found guilty, he could be struck off, and barred from practicing as a medical doctor in the United Kingdom.

Thursday pictures

2010-01-28T17:02:00.000+01:00

Witch Hazel. Oh, it's got nothing to do with witches. Witch is a corruption of an old English word meaning bendable.

In deep water - these statues sit in the middle of a (frozen) pond

Friendly puss

Kapellenberg, snowfree for the first time in weeks

Thursday 28 January

2010-01-28T16:13:00.000+01:00

The weather has changed markedly since yesterday. After temperatures well below freezing for a few days we are now basking in +6C (43F) with occasional sunshine, but with intermittent wintry showers. If it was 8 weeks later, I'd be talking about March showers - that's the Dutch equivalent of April showers. Been back and forth to various shops today, such as the baker's and another photography store. The latter one was in a shopping centre in Arnhem, 45 minutes' walk away. Another day, another suggestion. I'll go to a few more shops before I make up my mind which camera I want.

Those on Facebook may be familiar with the dice game "Farkle". Well, I've got myself six dice and am playing it on my own table. No need to go on line for this one. There are quite a few on-line card games as well that you actually play with real cards, would you believe. Board games too fall in this category, and a few weeks ago I played a game of Monopoly on the table, rather than on-line. Much more fun, in actual fact.

Once I've uploaded my pictures, I'll post them here.

Wednesday pictures

2010-01-27T23:39:00.000+01:00

Went for a walk in and around the next town, Velp, this afternoon. It was below freezing, and in exposed parts, it was very cold. After I went to a camera shop to enquire about a replacement for my faulty camera, we went to Castle Biljoen (which translates as Billion), a small, privately owned castle just outside the town. On the way there, I noticed catkins beginning to come out on some willow trees in town. We returned home through the forests.

Crossing the tracks

Castle Biljoen

Ice build-up at a weir

Catkins

Auschwitz Memorial Day

2010-01-27T20:37:00.000+01:00

This afternoon, a ceremony took place at Oswieczim, Poland, at the site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Two survivors addressed the gathering of a few thousand, as did members of the Polish, Russian and Israeli governments. A few things struck me.

One of the survivors had been asked what was the worst aspect of the camp. The cold? No. The lice? No. The living conditions? No. The humilitation had been the most unbearable of all the unspeakable aspects of 'life' in Auschwitz.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also spoke, and his political standpoint rang out a wee bit too loud for my liking at such an occasion. I recognise that the Jews were targeted by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. I will go so far as to say that starting a new life in the land they assume to be their homeland (of 2000 years ago) is understandable. But if they'd just asked the sitting population if they could join them, an enormous lot of grief since 1948 could have been prevented. In other words, Mr Netanyahu should have toned down his speech.

Wednesday 27 January

2010-01-27T12:23:00.000+01:00

After an overnight low of -12C, the temperature is now on an upward trend. This evening, milder weather will move in from Scotland, where the mercury has risen to +10C yesterday. The result here, where the temperatures have been so low, will be freezing rain. It is likely to lead to havoc on the roads overnight and in the morning rush hour.

Today it is 65 years ago since the infamous Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp was liberated by Soviet forces. More than a million people, mainly Jews, were killed there during the Second World War. The process was conducted as an industrial process. To date, some of the goods left behind by the victims of the Holocaust remain on display. These include suitcases with name tags, spectacle frames, hair and shoes. I have never visited Auschwitz and am not likely to. January 27th is Holocaust Memorial Day, remembering all the victims of the Nazi's policy of extermination of all those they considered to be sub-human. We must never forget.

Tuesday 26 January

2010-01-26T23:47:00.000+01:00

A bright and sunny day, but ever so cold. The day opened with the mercury at -9C, and we only went as high as -4C by mid afternoon. As I type, the temperature has plummeted right back down to -9C, and it's only half past eleven. Heaven knows what it'll show by sunrise time tomorrow morning, just after 8 am. Went for a walk in the Castle Country Park, which is always a nice amble. Most of the noteworthy water features have frozen over, and the ornaments have been wrapped in tarpaulins to protect them from the hard frost. People are waiting for the ice to grow thick enough on the castle moat, but the weather should change to a less cold spell tomorrow afternoon. So, more snow in the offing.

Politics is the same wherever you go. The Dutch minister for Transport did a nice Duke of Wellington impression in Parliament this afternoon. The issue is around the introduction of charging for the use of the roads, in order to relieve the massive congestion on this country's roads. The Dutch automobile club ANWB published a survey on its website, where drivers could register whether they fancied the idea to be charged for every kilometre they drive, although road and cartax would be abolished. The Minister, Camiel Eurlings, said on Friday that a negative outcome of the survey would mean the shelving of the scheme. The Lower House of Parliament in The Hague did not fancy the idea that government policy would be decided by a poll on an ANWB website rather than through debate in Parliament, so Mr Eurlings was called to account. He promptly backtracked on his words last Friday and stated that Parliament was supreme. Remember the Duke of Wellington? He marched his army right up the hill - and then marched it all back down again.

A few pictures to close this post

The well

The Castle from an unusual angle

The Castle Moat

The Torck School (former primary school)

Monday 25 January

2010-01-25T22:58:00.000+01:00

A cold, cold winter's day. Temperature no higher than -3C all day, and it was just as well that there was no more wind than this force 1 from the northeast. Tomorrow is going to be even colder, but then the sun will be out. Today was grey and misty, and the few pictures I took in the next town, whilst walking to the shop, bear that out. I shall post those tomorrow.

The suitcase saga has thankfully come to a positive conclusion. Although I was told the case would arrive between 8 am and 1 pm, the delivery van did not turn up until 2 pm, by which time I was already phoning the airport again. Not impressed with the driver who chewed on his pen whilst talking on the phone in the middle of delivering the case to me, before handing it to me to sign the chit. Yuk.

Today is Burns' Night in Scotland, and the poetry will have done the rounds, as will the haggis and the drams. Here in the Low Countries, I have been busy solving a postal mystery - I have written about that on Atlantic Lines, as it is a Scottish story. Tonight will be a cold one: down to -11C in places, with a daytime high of -5C. I'll wrap up warm.

Sunday 24 January

2010-01-24T23:24:00.000+01:00

Apart from all the hassle surrounding my missing luggage, I can report a mildly wintry scene here in eastern Holland. A thin layer of snow fell in the night, although it was rather thicker further west in the country. After receiving confirmation that my bag had turned up, I was able to go out for a stroll. Ice from the cold spell around New Year still paves the paths in the forest, and only thanks to the thin layer of snow was it possible to walk fairly normally.

Watched television tonight, including the final instalment of a show in which an actress is selected who would play the role in the Mary Poppins stage musical. Starting with 11 girls, the evening started with 3, finally going down with the one who had been a clear favourite right the way through. The idea had been picked up from the BBC, but comparing the two, including the surrounding media coverage, I will go so far as to say that the Dutch programme was milder and good humoured. It gets incredibly competitive and personal on British TV, whereas there was a nice atmosphere of camaraderie here. I am not saying that in a vein of 'better or worse', in my mind it reflects a difference of culture.

Another programme reunited a school class from 1981, and that was quite interesting too. One lady had been in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, and her stories were horrendous.

Nearly half past eleven; time to shut up shop.

The staggering journey

2010-01-24T16:47:00.000+01:00

Well, I don't know what I have to do to get a normal trip by plane. Yesterday's trip to Holland was full of weird events. It started at Stornoway Airport, when my 09.00 am departure to Edinburgh was delayed by ice. The flight to Glasgow, departing at the same time, left without problem, but the aircraft used for the Edinburgh service had to be de-iced. Normally, the plane would have been sprayed with ethylene glycol, but that is not kept at Stornoway. So, the groundstaff set to with scrapers, more commonly used on cars with iced-up windscreens. After it was established that the ice grew back as soon as it was removed, they moved the aircraft into the hanger, which is kept at 21C / 70F at all time. That would certainly thaw any ice, but by the time it returned from there, the sun had appeared, and the mercury had risen by 2 degrees, from -1C / 30F at 9 am to +1C / 34C at 10.30 am.

The flight to Edinburgh afforded some stunning views over the west coast of Scotland, from Lewis all the way to the Paps of Jura if not the mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland beyond. The Isles of Skye, Rhum, Eigg, Canna lay in full view, and it wasn't until we crossed over the spine of the country that cloud increased. Rain fell heavily over Fife and it was dismally grey and wet over Edinburgh. We landed at around midday, but I did not mind that delay. I was scheduled a 4 hour stop-over there, so it would shorten that wait.

Well, it wasn't long before the departure screens announced my onward flight to Gatwick to be delayed by an hour. Which did make me a bit concerned about the connecting flight to Amsterdam; I had 90 minutes at Gatwick, so it would be a very tight connection. We left Edinburgh just after half past three, more than an hour behind schedule. The delay was caused by a flat tire on the aircraft (i.e. in the landing gear), which had to be replaced before the aircraft was able to leave Gatwick on its inward journey. Beautiful flight to London, during which I saw nothing except for the sun and low clouds. Arrived at 4.40pm, and my flight to Amsterdam was going to leave at 5.10pm.

If memory serves, the plane from Edinburgh disembarked near gate 59. We were bussed to the terminal building, and that was where the mad dash began. First to passport control (for a domestic flight???), then to Arrivals, up the stairs to Departures, through Security, and then into the Departures lounge. By that time, it was 5 pm. My flight was marked as Final Call, so I hared down the stairs to gate 59. After a few minutes, all passengers were allowed on board, and I sat in my allocated seat, 23A. If this was the same plane that had taken me from Edinburgh, all I could have done was move from 23F to 23A and not have done that blessed half marathon through the North Terminal at Gatwick. OK, I'm only joking.

Left Gatwick at 5.35pm for Amsterdam. Halfway across the North Sea, the snow began and we arrived into Schiphol at around 7.40pm, broadly on time. I waited at the baggage reclaim, but no bag. When the belt was stopped, I proceeded to the service desk and filed a report for a missing bag. Then, I went to Schiphol railway station and travelled to my dad's house near Arnhem, where I arrived at 9.50pm.

I was quite relieved when I received a phonecall at 1pm today to say my bag had arrived at Amsterdam Airport, and it would be delivered some time tomorrow morning.

Photo video - 3 January

2010-01-10T19:19:00.002+01:00

The below video is a compilation of pictures I took on Sunday 3 January.

Monday pictures

2010-01-04T17:51:00.000+01:00

Winter fun on a frozen town pond

Path on a steep hill in the woods

Stream in the forest

Road Closed

Village pond