A Fire at Spreepark...

On August 11, a large part of Spreepark in Berlin burnt to the ground. You might recall that I blogged about our December 2013 visit there in April.

According to an article on Slate:
Spreepark's Old England Village, which makes up a significant chunk of the park, was burned down by delinquents who wanted to have one last hurrah on the rundown carousels before one of them went to jail the following day.

Below are some photos Veronica took during our visit.

The Girls Return...

On August 12, Veronica’s flight arrived at 7 a.m. After 21 days without hearing from our kids, the Project Nepal parents weren’t complaining about the early morning. Tracy even used one of the airport’s kiosks to print a sign.

Everyone was all smiles!

They had a great time, but were also happy to be back.

We booked Ashlynn’s return for the same morning and she also looked happy to see us.

Our wayward travellers finally reunited!

Keep Calm and Carry On-On...

Bought my new favorite hash shirt in  Brussels.

Opee had to do a variety of down-downs, including one topped with whipped cream...

...while doing a push-up. 

A FILTH Hash in Leiden...

Opee hared the August Full Moon Hash in Leiden. He was very creative with his beer breaks, of which there were many; imagine our surprise when he placed beers along the railing between the train platforms.

Here we are at a Love sign in front of Leiden Centraal...

...and here we are trying to find trail through the bike racks.

Boar Whore, the GM, wasn’t the only hasher that was very impressed with Opee’s ability to set an entertaining trail.

A Day in The Hague...

The next day, we cycled into The Hague. We stopped by Jimmy’s office, but he wasn’t able to sneak away for lunch so we went to Scheveningen on our own. As we walked up to see the Kurhaus, Mike got a good surprise: a Rolling Stones star. Just happened that day was the 50th anniversary of their big concert at the hotel. The tattoo on his arm is a sure sign that Mike is a huge fan.

While Carolyn only needed to put her feet in the North Sea, Mike needed to take a quick dip.

We enjoyed mussels at one of the beach huts...

...and Mike enjoyed trying out one of the portable urinals. Afterwards, we cycled into the centrum to visit the Mauritshuis. It was great spending time together; their visit was short and sweet as they set off the following day to visit friends in Belgium.

Fun Day with Old Friends...

The weather was perfect for a nice long walk around Marken.

Don’t see black swans very often, so we stopped for photos.

Back at home, we enjoyed some Belgian beers. After a big day of exploring, we decided to stay close to home for dinner, so walked up to a restaurant in our village.

An Old Fishing Village...

Marken is a quaint fishing village that attracts a lot of tourists. This little house is part souvenir shop and part museum; it’s preserved as it was from the 1930s until 1983 when the owner Sijtje Boes died.

While I knew that folks used to sleep in beds built into cupboards in the wall, I had never seen a bed that had a cubby hole underneath for the kiddies.

Traditional outfits and wedding clogs.

Making Wooden Clos...

Our first stop in Marken was to see the clog-maker. Our timing was perfect; a tourist bus had just arrived, but we managed to beat them to front row seats for the clog-making demonstration.

The clog-maker was hilarious and the demonstration was quite interesting.

Of course, Carolyn and Mike had to pose for the requisite giant clog photos.

Edam with Carolyn & Mike...

A few days later, Carolyn and Mike, old friends from the San Diego Hash, stayed with us for a few nights. Jimmy had to work, but I spent a day with them exploring a few cities north of us. We started in Edam, famous for their round cheeses.

The Edam Museum, housed in this house from 1550, was closed for renovations.

We enjoyed a walk around the historic center of this charming city.

Afterwards, we went to Volendam for lunch and a quick walk along the waterfront. We considered taking a boat across to Marken, but decided that it was better to drive; the journey was surprisingly picturesque.

More Fun on the Boat...

It rained for a short while; the captain had ponchos for us, which looked goofy but helped. This is Andrea, whom I shared a room with in Israel back in 2011), and is now a hasher.

Jimmy enjoyed a little juggling; looks like the girls on the next boat enjoyed the show.

After the parade, we made our way slowly back to the starting point. We joined Celine for dinner afterwards at a Tibetan restaurant. Our walk back to Amsterdam Centraal was crazy as we walked through a street party. It was an awesome day, although my cell phone didn’t make it home with me.

Cool Tricks...

As impressed as I was with the Flyboard demonstration as part of the Leiden Boat Parade, this one was even better. They went incredibly high...

and incredibly low.

Gay Pride Parade...

The parade itself was hilarious with big boats with crazy themes. This is the Gaymobil boat, a parody of the toy company Playmobil.

I Love Boys. I Love Drags. I Love You. Brought to you by Out TV.

In addition to this American boat, there was a Moroccan boat for the first time.

Finding Our Boat...

Jimmy arrived in Amsterdam (after a quick business trip to England) just as the parade was starting. Finding our boat was no easy stunt. We were rafted up to five motorboats and one houseboat when counting from the shore. Unfortunately, the houseboat owner wouldn’t allow anyone to cross, so he had to find a way down from the Skinny Bridge (Magere Brug).

Luckily people were happy to help the strange man with the juggling clubs.

Once he made if off the bridge, he had to climb across five boats to get to ours.

Once he arrived, I handed him a beer, a sandwich and a goofy pink shirt.