Kees entertaining the ladies...

On the Rozengracht early arvo.

I went pasr Wil Graanstra's chips shop to say hello. I know Wil for about... shees ehm...13 years I think. I first started buying his chips when I had just moved to Amsterdam. Quite good chips. But Wil is a special person. Somehow his little chips shop feels like the centre of the universe. We discussed meditation today. At the end he wished me good fortune. And I wished him the same. Now I'll prolly not see him for 6 months.

Students were having boat races through the canals.

In the late afternoon I went to Kees' work. The institute he works for (NIKHEF) and some other ones at the science park had an open day. When I got there, Kees was entertaining the ladies with his magic tricks ;-)

Kees has his own office.

Kees in his professional habitat.

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When i got home again I had dinner and watched the first episode of the BBC series Mastercrafts. It was about greenwood-working. Very interesting to see. This is an old version of a lathe. Pretty awesome. If I had a garden I'd make one as well.

Then later I went to Mulligans to see Gerrit. We had a nice chat and quite a few drinks and then i went home. Some cnut put up a fence blocking my way. Not impressed!

My shadow was pretty fast tonight but I kept up well.

The crazy dinner.

Waiting for the ferry in the morning.

My colleague George wanted to test calling using Skype for work purposes. So he used his iPad to call my iPhone. The connection sucked dogs balls and the quick conclusion was; EPIC FAIL.

Waiting for the ferry in the evening.

Stephen Collins had put out an open invitation for dinner in which I gladly participated. Kees and Marjolein were there too, as well as "crazy" Wendy.

My epic big screen-debut

The weather is looking awesome for the weekend! I think I'll go cycling up North again...

Sun rise while waiting for my ferry.

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A colleague enabled a small web server on his mobile phone. The website published was showing images from his phone's camera, which was aimed at me... Pretty neat technology and quite fast too.

Waiting for the ferry home.

I made a small video of the Fast Flying Ferry. It's a wing-boat and it's fast alright.

Magners edition.

The morning ferry.

This ship that's being turned has been there for a few weeks I think.

It's BIG. And 2 little tug boats were towing it all the way to sea...

I saw my shrink for the last time today. I think time will need to do the rest. There's a lot of sadness in me still...

Tintin?

I bought dinner and then went to Mulligans.

Empty glasses...

That required filling :-)

The Mulligans wall.

On my way home i bought some funny m&m's that you usually can't get everywhere.

The shit ad.

I hate this ad. It says "look, this chicky is mine!" and even she looks macho. Yuck.

I had lunch outside on a bench.

Big boat action.

Ferry action. I deliberately missed one so i could have a nice quiet sit at the water. It was lovely.

Fur flowers. Dunno what they're called.

I played squash.

The riot cops were getting ready for action to get rid of squatters.

The Fast Flying Ferry as they call themselves. It's fast and it's a ferry. Wouldn't call it flying to be honest...

I waited on my tram at Leidseplein for ages.

Then all of the sudden they all came. I could choose between 3 different trams! What luxury!

In the evening I met Mic and we played 45 minutes of squash. It was delightful! Going again next week :-)

My big bicycle ride.

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I went for a big bicycle ride today.

Crossing the first bridge on my way out of Amsterdam.

Crossing the second bridge.

View from the second bridge.

Soon I was "in the wild". I made first contact with a cow. It was wiiiiiiiiild man. She just kept staring at me like I was.... alien.

Then I arrived in a town called Durgerdam. I tested the local hotel for food. I think I'll bring my own next time...

The town is old and has some nice old buildings.

All the houses are basically along the shore.

I think everybody there owns about 3 boats.

Durgerdam harbour.

A bit further there were also horses. Hadn't seen any for a while.

I then continued cycling on to a dyke. Wind in my back, it was fantastic. The smell, the warmth of the sun, the sound of the waves. All awesome.

The lake.

I saw this pole.

Parked my bike against it...

--- and went down the dyke to just sit and stare at the water.

I made a short movie while I was there. You may want to turn your sound down because the wind was kinda.... fierce.

Then I cycled more land inwards.

I discovered a little village called "Holysloot". I need to ask people about that name coz "Holy" is not a Dutch word to my knowledge...

There were sheep as well.

One of them tried out for Holland's got talent in this movie I made. I don't think she'll make it...

Then I drove on to ehm... some other town which name eludes me right now.

Town hall?

I wonder if my colleague Sylvester knows this but the little village where he lives is not the only one with a church without tower-top. Or whatever you call that.

Nice looking church though.

I was getting closer to civilization again...

I think the guy on the left is carrying a packet of milk on the back of his bike. How Dutch can you get? The girl on the right was more attractive thankfully.

And crossing the bridge back in to town again.

It was a lovely, lovely ride. Sitting at the water was very, very nice. I think I'll do it again if I have the chance.