We had a nice dinner too!
Tomorrow, we'll set course to Onbekommerd's birthplace, Valk Yachts in Franeker to get some items sorted.
This is "Onbekommerd"!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Discussing the German Wadden trip
It was one of these wet Dutch days today. We started by visiting the market in Sneek in a steady drizzle. After some shopping, we set course to Headammen where our friends Hans and Jet live. Together we are going to do a German Wadden trip early June, so we all thought it would be a good idea to do some pre-trip planning.
We had a nice dinner too!
Tomorrow, we'll set course to Onbekommerd's birthplace, Valk Yachts in Franeker to get some items sorted.
We had a nice dinner too!
Tomorrow, we'll set course to Onbekommerd's birthplace, Valk Yachts in Franeker to get some items sorted.
Monday, May 14, 2012
From Monnickendam to Lemmer and Sneek
The weather yesterday was almost perfect for an IJsselmeer crossing, so we set off from Monnickendam at 9:
A three hour trip with sun and little wind brought us to the 'Naviduct' lock at Enkhuizen. This lock is built as an aqueduct, on top of the motorway. Here we are waiting to enter:
As it was a Sunday, there was quite a bit of traffic, but not busy, just nice:
By 3pm we were tied up in Lemmer, back in the Fryslân province. Lemmer is not one on the 11 Frisian towns, it is a 'vlecke', wich means a large village. The old lock is quite nice and so is the quayside in the old quarter. Nice in the pre season, packed in mid summer and noisy with several bars and discos. The weather was still nice and we had pre dinner drinks outside in the cockpit for the first time this year.
This morning it was pretty windy, but as we are now only navigating lakes and canals that's fine. We made our way to Sneek, which being sort of a major town has a few facilities we need (such as a Vodafone shop to sort out the Internet on my iPad).
Tomorrow the plan is to visit our friends at the Headammen (that is also a Frisian word!).
A three hour trip with sun and little wind brought us to the 'Naviduct' lock at Enkhuizen. This lock is built as an aqueduct, on top of the motorway. Here we are waiting to enter:
As it was a Sunday, there was quite a bit of traffic, but not busy, just nice:
By 3pm we were tied up in Lemmer, back in the Fryslân province. Lemmer is not one on the 11 Frisian towns, it is a 'vlecke', wich means a large village. The old lock is quite nice and so is the quayside in the old quarter. Nice in the pre season, packed in mid summer and noisy with several bars and discos. The weather was still nice and we had pre dinner drinks outside in the cockpit for the first time this year.
This morning it was pretty windy, but as we are now only navigating lakes and canals that's fine. We made our way to Sneek, which being sort of a major town has a few facilities we need (such as a Vodafone shop to sort out the Internet on my iPad).
Tomorrow the plan is to visit our friends at the Headammen (that is also a Frisian word!).
Location:Koopmansgracht,Sneek,The Netherlands
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Monnickendam
Our first day back was quite busy in the end.
We had (and still have) lots of chores to do. Certainly, on a boat, the job list never ends.
Ed and Elly came to see us with their new dog, Bentley:
We had a real Dutch barbecue, as it was the opening of the season in Monnickendam. The allocated portions of meat will keep us going for a few days. There was nice live music too:
It's quite cold, but at least it is dry!
Tomorrow, the forecast is light winds and sun. Ideal to cross the IJsselmeer. We'll probably aim for Lemmer, we have never entered Fryslân there.
We had (and still have) lots of chores to do. Certainly, on a boat, the job list never ends.
Ed and Elly came to see us with their new dog, Bentley:
We had a real Dutch barbecue, as it was the opening of the season in Monnickendam. The allocated portions of meat will keep us going for a few days. There was nice live music too:
It's quite cold, but at least it is dry!
Tomorrow, the forecast is light winds and sun. Ideal to cross the IJsselmeer. We'll probably aim for Lemmer, we have never entered Fryslân there.
Friday, May 11, 2012
On our way back to Onbekommerd
After collecting Lyn's new passport on Wednesday, we could start planning our return to our 'home on the water'. It's not easy to find an affordable one way flight at short notice, but somewhat surprisingly, we could use some almost-expiring KLM frequent flyer miles to book tickets for Friday 6:40pm.
This morning, we enjoyed visiting the exhibition of Leonardo anatomical drawings with Gwilym and Janine at the Queen's Gallery:
Then we had lunch with Sean and John Eloff. Nice Japanese food!
Now we are at Heathrow, waiting to board our flight. We'll report from Onbekommerd tomorrow.
This morning, we enjoyed visiting the exhibition of Leonardo anatomical drawings with Gwilym and Janine at the Queen's Gallery:
Then we had lunch with Sean and John Eloff. Nice Japanese food!
Now we are at Heathrow, waiting to board our flight. We'll report from Onbekommerd tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
M&M World
Yesterday was May Bank Holiday (for our South African readers: this has nothing to do with banks, it's what a public holiday is called here).
Rachel and Mathew, Lyn's niece and her husband who live in Cambridge had come down to London for the day to see the exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings in the Queen's Gallery (we are going on Friday). We met them afterwards and walked to Sean's office. He was there, studying for the CFA2 exam he is writing in under 4 weeks time. We went for coffee and muffins together:
After coffee, Sean went back to the books, but as Rachel and Mathew did not have any fixed plans what to do next, we asked Sean - who after all by now is a real Londoner - for suggestions. Somewhat to my surprise he suggested M & M World, which is in Leicester Square. So we walked there, not quite knowing what to expect.
This place is quite amazing, it's a classical example of the power of merchandising and branding. They have used the simple concept of an M & M (a coloured sugar-coated chocolate) into a cult. In this store, there are 4 floors (!!!) of M & M branded merchandise, anything you can think of has been "M & M'ed". Clothing, souvenirs, cups, glasses etc etc.
And yes, you can buy M&M's too!
Thanks for the suggestion, Sean!
Rachel and Mathew, Lyn's niece and her husband who live in Cambridge had come down to London for the day to see the exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings in the Queen's Gallery (we are going on Friday). We met them afterwards and walked to Sean's office. He was there, studying for the CFA2 exam he is writing in under 4 weeks time. We went for coffee and muffins together:
After coffee, Sean went back to the books, but as Rachel and Mathew did not have any fixed plans what to do next, we asked Sean - who after all by now is a real Londoner - for suggestions. Somewhat to my surprise he suggested M & M World, which is in Leicester Square. So we walked there, not quite knowing what to expect.
This place is quite amazing, it's a classical example of the power of merchandising and branding. They have used the simple concept of an M & M (a coloured sugar-coated chocolate) into a cult. In this store, there are 4 floors (!!!) of M & M branded merchandise, anything you can think of has been "M & M'ed". Clothing, souvenirs, cups, glasses etc etc.
And yes, you can buy M&M's too!
Thanks for the suggestion, Sean!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Voting
As London residents with either UK, EU or Commonwealth nationality, we are entitled to vote in local elections here (Lyn, having a Commonwealth nationality as well as EU can even vote in Parliamentary elections and so can Sean).
At the end of April we registered and today we voted in the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
What has surprised me, is that during the registration and voting 'process' we have not once had to prove that we actually live here, what nationality we are or have had to identify ourselves. For the registration we just downloaded a form from the Internet in which we stated our address and our nationality. And at the polling station this morning, they just asked for our name and address and noted on their list that we had now voted.
Imagine doing that in South Africa or many other countries. It would be a total mess, with twice as many votes cast as there are people living in the entire country!
I find it quite encouraging that society can still operate like that here!
At the end of April we registered and today we voted in the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
What has surprised me, is that during the registration and voting 'process' we have not once had to prove that we actually live here, what nationality we are or have had to identify ourselves. For the registration we just downloaded a form from the Internet in which we stated our address and our nationality. And at the polling station this morning, they just asked for our name and address and noted on their list that we had now voted.
Imagine doing that in South Africa or many other countries. It would be a total mess, with twice as many votes cast as there are people living in the entire country!
I find it quite encouraging that society can still operate like that here!
Location:The Ave,Richmond,United Kingdom
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Passport application
Thuis morning, we went to the consular section of the Dutch embassy here in London to apply for Lyn's Dutch passport, the final step in 'the process'.
It took all of 15 minutes to check the paperwork, almost an anticlimax after some 15 months of jumping through all the hoops, starting with the citizenship test back in February 2011. We should have the so eagerly anticipated document in 2 weeks.
Afterwards, we went to 'Chappell of Bond street', which is not in Bond street at all, but in Wardour street, in Soho. It is the best place in London to buy sheet music, so of particular interest to Lyn. We bought a few items, for use on the digital piano on Onbekommerd.
Finally a visit to Oxford street, where the decorations for this summer's events (the Queen's diamond jubilee and of course the Olympics) are being installed.
It took all of 15 minutes to check the paperwork, almost an anticlimax after some 15 months of jumping through all the hoops, starting with the citizenship test back in February 2011. We should have the so eagerly anticipated document in 2 weeks.
Afterwards, we went to 'Chappell of Bond street', which is not in Bond street at all, but in Wardour street, in Soho. It is the best place in London to buy sheet music, so of particular interest to Lyn. We bought a few items, for use on the digital piano on Onbekommerd.
Finally a visit to Oxford street, where the decorations for this summer's events (the Queen's diamond jubilee and of course the Olympics) are being installed.
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