Ok, I admit... that was rather lame...
Right... I'll get straight to the point without 'putting-it-off' any further -- the idea is: before I forget what I've been upto over the past few weeks, I think I ought to write 'em out. So, bear with me. Here goes...
"amsterdam-by-night" (march 31st, 2006)
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Raised eyebrows? Trust me - don't read too much into the heading.
Amith and Vidya had rented a car, in order to make their lives easier, and in the process discovered, over the next few weeks, that they would end-up doing all the driving while the rest of us had all the fun. :-)
The thought of visiting Amsterdam suddenly came into being after we had all left work on Friday evening and had absolutely nothing to do. There was a sense of desperation - it was Friday! We had to do something worthwhile! However, eventually, the trip turned out to be nothing more than just a harmless, 'drive-through-the-city' with some very brief stops for junk-food from time to time. By then, I had already realized that, in this part of the globe, "Parking" is very often your greatest enemy! :-(
But, before we left, we did catch a few 'interesting' glimpses of Amsterdam's (in?)"famous". red-light district. I leave the rest to your (wild?) imagination... ;-)
We picked Abhishek up from Amsterdam and he spent the weekend with us in Breda. In the car, on the way back, we made a lot of noise and tried to impersonate some very famous people... all in the name of 'antakshari'! ;-)
Honestly speaking, I need to revisit Amsterdam. This one can hardly be counted as a visit. :-(
mini-holland and the gates that 'lock' the sea (april 2nd, 2006)
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Abhishek is far better at planning than Amith is at handling his 'new' handycam. His videos paint an interesting picture; a tale of bravery - four determined adventurers romping around the Netherlands in the middle of an earthquake!
[Photo: Infront of the Schiphol-replica in 'Madurodam', with Amith, Abhishek and Vidya (L to R)]
Madurodam or 'Mini-Holland' is a place near The Hague (Den Haag). As the name suggests, here you'll find models and miniature-versions of all the 'must-see' landmarks and important destinations in Holland. What was worth noting was the attention to detail. Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam) was, in particular, very impressive! There was also a replica of one of the 'engineering wonders of the century' - the 'sea-locks' that actually 'lock' the sea out, so that it doesn't flood the bay/Euro-port (Europoort) at Rotterdam. It has only had to be put into action five or six times since it was built.
[Photo: Atop 'Bungee Tower' with Abhishek and Amith, at the Pier, Den Haag, NL]
We decided to devote the next half-hour or so to research :-)
No, actually it was a bit of an endurance test - when we set out for the pier at Den Haag, the intention was to go bungee-jumping! However, this was a cruelly windy day and the authorities had other ideas; thus, we were forced to 'customize' our experiment to this new situation (this was NOT Bungee-jumping season :( ...).
Location: The pier. Time: 30 minutes (of parking). The aim: To run all the way across the surface and up the stairs to the highest point in the... surrounding area - the upper-most rung of "Bungee Tower" (background: appropriate 'scary' music)!
The volunteers (and initiators) of this experiment were a handful of severely unfit software professionals (burp!), who were impaired by inappropriate clothing, large pot-bellies and too many cameras! :-(
But wait - we actually did it! Vidya was the first one to reach the car and he settled into the driver's seat just as the cop-around-the-corner arrived on the scene! :-)
Our next stop was the 'Europoort' where we got up-close-and-personal with two fishermen... and the Sea lock-gates (we didn't plan to meet the fishermen). I think they are best described by the word 'massive' (the 'lock'-gates and not the fishermen). On the way to the gates, we feasted on some delicious, fresh salmon nuggets! After another dozen photos and a small, voluntary demo on 'how-to-catch-fish'(how to lazily throw a line into the water and just sit there... forever!), we moved on... Abhishek keyed the words 'Euromast' and 'Rotterdam' into our GPS and we were on our way again...
[Photo: In front of the 'Euromast' in Rotterdam, NL]
The Euromast is this bee...ee..g tower! Well, actually its just a 198 metres high, but if you click your photos from the right angles, it could look enormous! The facts: It is the highest building/construction in Rotterdam and was originally built as a viewing-gallery to admire the beautiful gardens that surround it. When we were 'up-above-the-world-so-high', the view all around was breathtaking! But, at the same time, it was literally windy enough to knock us off our feet! Nevertheless - we braved the forces of nature yet again and took another zillion snaps in all sorts of ridiculous poses. :-))
In another hour, we started out towards our respective 'dwellings'... Abhishek had to go an extra-step further (to 'Oss'). The rest of us were Breda-bound. Tired, exhausted but happy, we headed home just as the sun went down…
Over 'n out. (Burp!)
:-)
