Smoking will become outlawed in all enclosed public spaces in Holland as of July 1st, i.e. tonight at midnight. I'm mightily relieved - tobacco smoke makes me unwell and can in extreme circumstances make me throw up. Has happened. Also, when you come home from a smokey place, your hair, clothes and everything reeks, and you have to change your clothes and take a quick shower. I could not believe the amount of whingeing being shown on Dutch TV tonight from people moaning about the meddling state. The ban, already common in much of Europe, was introduced on health grounds. Since the introduction of a similar prohibition in Scotland in March 2006, barstaff (e.g.) have noticed a distinct improvement in their health.
I've spent today scanning photographs from 1997, from the months prior to my departure to the UK. The pictures can be found on my two Flickr accounts. The photos of a holiday in the Yorkshire Dales (part) and Western Scotland can be found here.
Pictures of a cycling trip round the Frisian town of Heerenveen, and of a daytrip to Vlieland (now well-known to most of my readers) here. Please allow an hour for the upload and annotations to be completed.
The weather will see a brief tropical spell down here. Tomorrow, the mercury will exceed 80F and on Wednesday, some forecasters see us hitting 90F. I'm not looking forward to this at all. A thundery breakdown will follow late on Wednesday and through until Friday.
Monday, 30 June 2008
Toads
Those who had a look at my pictures for June 28th (last Saturday) will have seen the tiny toads. They were hopping around by the dozen on a forest path in early evening (just after 6pm). The area is not near water (the nearest body of water is a pond a few hundred yards away) but shaded by a hedge. The toads were only 1 cm in size. I'll show my best picture, but it appears something hatched.
Sunday, 29 June 2008
Two walks
Last night, we went for an amble in the woods, only to return with purple-stained fingers. The blueberries are out in force, and tasting very sweet. This morning, we headed north again, as far as the Eerbeekseweg (4 miles away). The cyclists had to dodge a herd of Highland cattle that was standing about in the cyclepath. The weather is quite acceptable, just over 70F today with a breeze and occasional sun. I have not yet uploaded the associated pictures, but will do so later tonight.
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Veterans' Day
Today is Veterans' Day in Holland. It is a fairly new phenomenon, which was first observed in 2005 on the birthday of the late Prince Bernhard, who died in 2004 at the age of 93. The formal part of proceedings took place in the city of Den Haag [The Hague]. A fly-past and a march-past took place in the centre, and the parade was taken by HRH Prince Willem Alexander, the Prince of Orange and future King of the Netherlands.
The three branches of the Dutch armed forces, Navy, Army and Airforce, were represented in that order. Veterans took part who had taken part in war and peace missions from the 1950s onwards. Dutch military had served in Korea in the 1950s, the New Guinea crisis (1950-1962), Unifil [Lebanon], Balkans and Afghanistan. The (old) soldiers appreciated immensely the presence of a sizeable crowd along the route. The most important matter to them was recognition for the work they had done in the past, sometimes not so distant in time. For many, their experiences are as vivid today as they were at the actual moment.
In the past, on returning from their tour of duty, the politicians, the armed forces and the general public were apathetic to the needs of the veterans. To this day, it is shown that some are not just affected by physical injury, but even more so by psychological damage. Post-traumatic stress disorder, the shell-shock from World War I, is not an imaginary condition.
I have often written on the Northern Trip journal that the military get blamed for going on controversial missions (Iraq is a case in point), which is not fair. The politicians take the decisions, which the armed forces have to carry out. Blame the politicians. Not the soldiers.
The three branches of the Dutch armed forces, Navy, Army and Airforce, were represented in that order. Veterans took part who had taken part in war and peace missions from the 1950s onwards. Dutch military had served in Korea in the 1950s, the New Guinea crisis (1950-1962), Unifil [Lebanon], Balkans and Afghanistan. The (old) soldiers appreciated immensely the presence of a sizeable crowd along the route. The most important matter to them was recognition for the work they had done in the past, sometimes not so distant in time. For many, their experiences are as vivid today as they were at the actual moment.
In the past, on returning from their tour of duty, the politicians, the armed forces and the general public were apathetic to the needs of the veterans. To this day, it is shown that some are not just affected by physical injury, but even more so by psychological damage. Post-traumatic stress disorder, the shell-shock from World War I, is not an imaginary condition.
I have often written on the Northern Trip journal that the military get blamed for going on controversial missions (Iraq is a case in point), which is not fair. The politicians take the decisions, which the armed forces have to carry out. Blame the politicians. Not the soldiers.
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