Birthdays, Beauty and Because Dutch News is News Too.

Birthdays

Way back in late October and early November, Nico and I celebrated our birthdays. Nico, 30, me, 32. Yes, yes, for those of you who didn't know, I am a cradle snatcher! We were supposed to celebrate the 30th in style, but not having finished the flat by that point we had a few friends over for a few drinks and a quiet night. The party was supposed to come later but I think Nico's night out with the boys a couple of weeks ago may have been it? On my birthday, we headed to Drenthe and checked out the Hunebed. 5000 year old tombs that look like mini-Stonehenges. For some reason, blogger isn't letting me upload photos at the moment, but if you have Facebook, you can see a few shots there.

Beauty

On the 18th November it was 6 months since we got hitched. To celebrate, we went to Den Haag to the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, home to Vermeer's famous Girl with a Pearl Earring. Although we did sneak a peak at this portrait, we were there to see the exhibition Dutch Portraits - The Age of Rembrandt and Frank Hals. The museum is small and intimite and the soothing sounds of two young violin players filled the air with a more than fitting soundtrack to rooms packed with aristocrats, merchants, scholars and families staring down their pointed noses at the curious creatures of the 21st century. Being able to compare portraits of the same era in such close quarters highlighted why Rembrandt has such a well deserved reputation. His depth and detail, in my eyes, surpassed many of his contemporaries. If you're in the Netherlands, you can see this beautiful and rare exhibition until 13th January 2008. After that, I guess these masterpieces go back to their private owners and galleries that are scattered around the world.

Because Dutch News is News Too

So goes the line from CCN - a short news comedy programme that airs nightly on TV in the Netherlands. It's part of the Boom Chicago crowd. We have a couple of friends, Jessica and Geert, who enjoy CCN (among other silly things) as much as we do. So we arranged to go to Amsterdam to see a live comedy improv show by Boom Chicago. We warmed ourselves up with a pint or two at a pub, then made our way to the theatre for food and fun. The theme of the night was Me, MySpace and iPod, quite fitting for me, especially since I had just got back from nerding it up in Milan at a 3 day conference on technology and education. The show was quirky and sarcastic and had the audience roaring with laughter. Add that to the best little cafe we had found earlier in the day, and the discovery of one of the funniest books ever published - Animals with Tourettes - and the company we had, it was a fabulous day and evening out.