(written on 4 March 2013)

So, yes, my summer holiday starts the day after tomorrow! You wouldn't say that from this picture but it is actually summer in this country, and on the entire northern hemisphere. I did manage to get to the swimming pool this morning by wearing waterproof trousers, but as I left the pool and saw the rain coming down badly, I decided to leave the bike there and take a tram on to the office. There are limits to my patience with the weather. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that my summer holidays next week won't get completely ruined by the rain.

The Kid's boyfriend left this morning to return to England, but the Kid himself is staying in Amsterdam for just under a week still. A weird incident this morning had revived Daniel's dream of Michel with a vengeance. After having dropped his boyfriend off, Daniel had returned home and had lied down on his bed just a bit more when he had heard Michel's front door. I have no idea how he managed but with enormous speed he'd gotten dressed again and had run out of the house, walking down a street parallel to the street Michel was walking through (presumably on his way to the station.) At the end of that street, right at Dam Square, they had stood opposite each other very briefly - for the first time in 2.5 years -... before each of them walking on without saying a word. Daniel, when he mentioned the incident over Skype just minutes later, said he was happy that it happened. That seeing Michel again had given him closure. That remains to be seen because to me it seems as if Michel's grip on him continues as ever before. I'm sure this will a case of "to be continued"...

(written on 4 March 2013)

The picture is a bit boring, I admit, but I just wasn't in the mood for much else. I took it as I was sitting at my table (which doubles as a computer desk) working on my pictures (and getting quite concerned with the lack of progress on my blog) whilst the Kid and his boyfriend were sitting on the couch watching a film, Guess Who's Coming For Christmas? - rather badly timed, if you ask me. One of the actors in the film had a very recognisable voice. It was Richard Mulligan and that brought back many memories. Mulligan played Burt Campbell in a sitcom that I absolutely adored when I was a kid myself, namely SOAP. I'd almost say that I had a rather dubious obsession with that TV series at some point, going as far as recording many episodes on tape, writing them out in a note book and then also typing those scripts (with a real type writer, not even an electric one) into another note book. Nevertheless, I would argue that having that slight tic actually has helped my understanding of the English language tremendously - something I am benefiting from to this day. Besides, Susan Harris (the writer of SOAP) has such an amazing sense of humour, which was also apparent in The Golden Girls (another one of my favourites) that I believe that my own sense of humour stems mainly from watching her sitcoms.

Of course I didn't mention anything about this to the Kid. SOAP was on TV in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the Golden Girls a decade later, and both series ran before Daniel was even born. Mentioning the fact that I loved Mulligan as an actor in a TV series from the 1980s would only result in one of Daniel's infamous "you're old" looks, quite often followed with the word "Grandpa!" - something I was quite keen to avoid tonight. I had a similar thing the other week when I discovered that Carl Sagan's amazing TV series Cosmos is now in its entirety on YouTube. It was a brilliant discovery as I think that no TV series shaped my understanding of the world, physics, history, space travel and humanity as much as Cosmos did all those many years ago. I devoured the accompanying book then and marvelled about the spaceships such as Voyager I and Voyager II that only just been sent out to the stars then. And even now, seeing the show on YouTube, that same enthusiasm grips me and I watch every episode with intense attention. But again there is no point of sharing that with Daniel. "Oh that's stupid," he said as he walked past my computer screen and saw three seconds of Cosmos. "You know what is really stupid?" I corrected him, "You dismissing this show without having the slightest idea what it's about." He laughed and agreed. Progress.

(written on 4 March 2013)

Nothing but excitement, even at the start of the week! First of all, this is the last work week before my two week holiday starts on Friday afternoon. That is wonderful and my trip to the UK (Blackpool, Glasgow and Belfast) is something I have been looking forward to so very much. Admittedly, I will not start travelling straight away because my flight to Liverpool (from where I'll take a train to Blackpool) is only a week into my holiday, but even that first week at home will be pretty cool. Daniel will stay at my place till Tuesday so it will be nice to spend some days with him in Amsterdam still (or I could possibly even show him The Hague) and after he leaves I will have two full days at home to get my flat into shape, to properly set myself to 'holiday mode' and just do nothing.

So there is a nice time ahead of me for sure! But the fun already starts tonight! Some months ago, Sean presented me with a ticket to Madonna, who is performing in Amsterdam yesterday and today. I was not intending to go (ticket prices are quite steep) but of course when he insisted I came and see her as well, I could not refuse. So tonight I took a metro down to the ArenA (it's so easy to live close to a metro station, however minimal Amsterdam's metro network may be) and walked over to Ziggo Dome, the new concert hall where Madonna was performing. After a short wait, Sean and his friend Beneta showed up as well and we entered the Ziggo Dome, which turned out to be an awesome venue. Exactly the size that Amsterdam was missing, and with our seats providing an excellent view of the stage, I couldn't be more chuffed with the ticket that I had received as a gift. The picture shows her Madgesty and I do apologise for the bad quality of this BlackBerry shot but I just didn't have the guts to take my real camera with me (terrified that it would get confiscated). I did take another picture today that I could have posted instead, but yeah, that one was of Daniel, and maybe I have overdosed my blog on him already.

(written on 4 March 2013)

It took a bit of encouragement from my side but in the afternoon Daniel took a train to the airport to welcome his boyfriend Matt to Amsterdam for his first ever visit to this city. This picture shows them, not too long after their arrival back home after a walk through a rain shower that left them absolutely soaked. Daniel treated Matt to a welcome prosecco (left over from last week's boat ride) and asked me to take a picture of the two of them. And then another one. And another one. And another one. They spent some time at home and then went out for food and to explore the bars, leaving me on my own in my studio. That was actually quite nice, good to have a bit of peace and quiet (yes, I am that age.)

In the morning, when Daniel was still sound asleep I started exploring the maps and guides that I had ordered from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Even though I had already taken them out of the envelopes that they arrived in weeks ago, I had only checked them briefly (given that I won't exactly start walking the AT tomorrow) but this morning I was pleasantly surprised by how detailed the maps and books were. The AT, contrary to the West Highland Way, tries to avoid all human settlements as it winds its way over 2,700 miles and through 14 states, and that was clearly visible on the maps where the main colour was definitely green. I'm still reading ebooks on the AT and I do hope that one day I will be holding the first map (Georgia) in my hands while standing on top of Springer Mountain.

In the afternoon I had a lunch with Paul in Bagels and Beans on Waterlooplein and we continued to another cafe (because of the lack of service in the former.) It was great seeing Paul again. We don't go out often enough and I'm afraid I'm entirely to blame for that. Ever since moving to the city centre, I have become much more of a hermit than what's healthy for me, but slowly these summer months seem to be turning the tide. That's good. Need to get out more again!

(written on 3 March 2012)

It was just a very short visit to Antwerp - one night only - but we continued exploring the city in the morning. First of all there was a grande coffee to be enjoyed in a very busy Starbucks at Central Station (our hotel didn't do breakfast) and from there we walked to the beautiful, triangular park not too far from the station. Of course that provided Daniel with ample opportunities for more pictures and I obliged by indeed taking many. To give this blog at least some variation, the picture of the day is not one of Daniel though. It was taken from the Big Wheel in front of Central Station and it's actually a composite picture of many separate ones while the wheel was waiting for passengers to get off and on. 

After the photo session in the park we continued walking through the city centre, which included having a coffee near a big street market as well as a visit to the castle near the river. And then... it was time to take a train back, but not all the way back to Amsterdam. I had suggested to Daniel that we would get off the train in Rotterdam so that he'd have the chance to see that city as well. I had explained to him that Rotterdam and Amsterdam are really very different cities but only when he saw it with his own eyes did it really sink in. Had he been a bit reluctant to stop in Rotterdam (or let's call it seemingly indifferent), he was quite impressed, especially with the high rise buildings and modern architecture on the banks of the river Maas. While the shopping street had reminded him of Basildon just a bit too much, the newer parts of Rotterdam were met with appreciation - and so was the coffee we had near Blaak station with its famous cube buildings. Instead of also having dinner in Rotterdam, or even seeing a film there, we returned to Amsterdam in the early evening, having done enough walking these two days. We got a take-away curry from an Indian restaurant close to where I live instead and were quite happy with that. It was a quiet evening at home, ahead of Matt's visit tomorrow.

(written on 3 March 2013)

Daniel came home quite late last night (or should I say early this morning) so I did not have high hopes of getting an early train to Belgium. I had hoped for the 9:52 one but that seemed impossible because Daniel was still asleep behind his curtain as I got up. So, instead of rushing to get to the station I just went to the Coffee Company and had my breakfast there. When I got back, Daniel was indeed awake and asked which train we'd be taking. Much to my surprise he then got up quite quickly, got dressed, and before we knew it, we were on our way to the station - getting absolutely soaked walking there. We did manage to still catch the 10:52 train so it wasn't too bad at all.

We arrived in Antwerp less than two hours later but for Daniel that had seemed like an eternity. He'd been asking "how much longer?" pretty much since The Hague and without a book to read - but with last night's hangover accompanying him - it was more of a survival train ride for him than I had expected. A big surprise also awaited him as we left Antwerp's wonderful Central Station and walked towards the hotel. "I've stayed here before!" he said with surprise, referring to the one time he'd been in Antwerp before for a t.A.T.u. fan-club meeting, some years ago. By pure coincidence (for there are multiple hotels in Antwerp) I had booked the same hotel.

We checked in, dropped off our luggage and left the hotel again to walk into the city centre and, first of all, have some lunch. Antwerp did not have the nasty weather that Amsterdam was experiencing today. In fact, it was rather pleasant and sunny. So we explored a lot of the city, had some lovely cakes in one of the pedestrianised streets and even walked through the old pedestrian tunnel underneath the Schelde river to the other bank of the river. After having bought some chocolate, we returned to the hotel at the end of the afternoon, to have a bit of a rest, and freshen up. Daniel had a good time, I think, despite his earlier exclamation ("oh no, now I have to spend my time in Antwerp with you!") as we left the hotel. Such a lovely compliment. 

When we left the hotel again in the early evening, we had pizza and pasta in an Italian restaurant in the city centre and then had some real Belgian beers in various bars in the city centre and also in a street close to the station (and our hotel) that used to be well known because of the many gay bars that were there. Not many of those remain and even the one we went to was not very special. So we left after one beer (actually half a beer for Daniel) and returned to the hotel.

(written on 3 March 2012)

Stunning sunset today, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to signal the start of a long summer. In fact, the 10 day forecast shows way too many clouds and way too low temperatures for my liking. Oh, and lots of rain. And it's not like I'm planning a nice weekend indoors, because tomorrow Daniel and I will take a train down to Antwerp in Belgium, coming back on Saturday. Then, on Sunday evening, his boyfriend Matt arrives for a visit of three days, so it's to be hoped for them as well that the weather will not be as bad as the meteorologists say.

Today also came the answer to the question on the missing couchsurfer. Yesterday I had expected a guest from Sweden over who had asked to stay with me for a night. But in the end no one showed up, which was quite unusual because typically couchsurfers tend to be quite reliable. Today there was a message from the Swedish guy saying that hitchhiking from Sweden to Amsterdam had proved to be much more difficult than expected and that therefore him and his friend had only gotten to Danmark. Without internet he'd not been able to contact me... until today. Ah well, that's that mystery solved them. 

Belgium tomorrow!

(written on 3 March 2013)

Yeah. Another day. Another picture of Daniel. I admit that it may be getting a bit monotonous now, this blog. The thing is, that it's so nice to finally be able to try some photography on a person rather than on objects. Normally, whenever I aim a camera at someone, for example for photo shoots at work, people try to dive away and even when they agree to be in a picture, two or three tries is enough before they get tired of being stared at through a camera lens. Daniel is the opposite. He would enjoy a photographer's eye aimed at him 24 hrs a day and I'm sort of taking advantage of that situation.

Following Daniel's example of getting a Museum Pass, I ordered one online tonight as well. It's embarrassing, really, that I didn't have one yet. I've lived in Amsterdam for twenty years (well, close) and could have visited so many museums in those years... but in reality I only visit museums when I'm abroad, with FOAM and Huis Marseille the only real exceptions in Amsterdam. That needs to change, and Daniel's pictures and stories of the museums he has visited in Amsterdam so far made me decide to get a pass as well. Unlimited access to all museums for 50 euros per year - now that really is a bargain, and I should have done this ages ago.

(written on 3 March 2013)

"Colleague so-and-so asked me this morning whether Daniel is your boyfriend," colleague this-and-that told me in a conspiracy tone in the office kitchen this morning. Ha! I knew it! Ever since I mentioned Daniel (or rather The Kid, as I call him there) on Facebook, and especially since I started posting pictures such as the one above on Flickr and Facebook, alarm bells must have started ringing in a wide circle of friends and family, and gossip galore must have started among some colleagues. And who would blame them? Daniel is a good looking guy who doesn't mind posing in all kinds of situations - always aware of the camera, even though he sometimes pretends to be oblivious of it (as in this picture.) So it was with a big smile on my face that I could answer colleague this-and-that that he could tell colleague so-and-so that, definitely no, Daniel is not my boyfriend. It won't stop the speculations though. Even the fact that Daniel's real boyfriend will arrive in Amsterdam on Sunday evening won't stop that.

(written on 3 March 2013)

I suppose I could post another picture of Daniel today, but that would turn this into a Daniel Blog and there is no need for that; he has his own blog. Not that the day had many other interesting picture opportunities... I took many pics yesterday on the boat trip and posted them on Facebook, but that means that today I was a bit camera-ed out. Apart from me receiving an email promising me 17,500,000 USD if only I would send back some financial details, nothing much special about this day. I'm looking forward to my holiday to the UK, which starts in just over two weeks, so that's my main focal point now.