Off to The Hague...

We were so relieved when we arrived the morning of April 10 into the Netherlands without any visa problems. However, we had some minor transport problems and ended up on the Randstad Rail into The Hague; at least I finally got to see this cool new platform at Den Haag Central. We dropped our stuff off at Terri’s, where we were staying for two nights. 

Terri was just getting back into town herself, so I left to meet up with Carlin, who happened to be in town on a house-hunting trip, and Jimmy went to the office. Most of the trams in The Hague have been replaced with modern cars, but it brought back good memories to ride on one of the old versions that we first started using regularly for the school commute back in November 2005. 

Carlin forgot to bring along walking shoes, so we kept our plans pretty nearby. We saw the beautiful tulips in front of City Hall... 

…which had Escher murals on the side.

After trying to find an artsy movie, we settled on a film that we had never heard of: Arthur the King. We were both amazed how much we enjoyed this exciting movie based on a true story about a stray dog that becomes part of an endurance race team. Couldn’t resist taking this photo of a dog in the loo after the show.

Terri threw an extra special book club that evening by inviting a few of the ladies from the AWC Book Club as well. and surprising me with an incredible photo book entitled The Life and Times of Melissa in the Netherlands. It featured photos of many of the parties, balls, AWC activities and hikes Terri and I have experienced together, but also had sections with other close friends with their personal notes. No surprise that it brought tears to my eyes that she dedicated so much time to make me such a beautiful and loving gift.

The love, wine and tears continued to flow after everyone left. I am so thankful to have this amazing woman in my life!
 

Shadwell Basin...

When I walk to the grocery store, I often take the long way to walk along Shadwell Basin, which was once part of the London Docklands. While it looked particularly inviting for a swim on this calm day in mid-March, the water is deeper (up to 30 feet) and colder than it appears. Apparently several people have died in the recent past, so there are lots of no swimming signs.

Further along on my route are two old ships permanently on display at Tobacco Dock, a cool old warehouse from 1812 that hosts occasional food festivals. 

One of the creepier things I spotted on my walk in early April. 

While these photos weren’t taken from the same angle, they show the transition of spring arriving in our neighborhood.

More April 7th...

As you can see, we still needed to wear coats, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our first drinks in 2024 on the terrace of The Salt Quay, a pub which we can see from our flat.

To get there is just one stop on the Overground, although it is actually entirely underground at that point as it crosses under the Thames. 

We were greeted by a lovely sunset as we walked to the Prospect of Whitby...

…for dinner and a few rounds of Rummikub.
 

Reverse Mudlarking...

On April 7, we took a walk to Rotherhithe, on the southern shore of the Thames. As we crossed Tower Bridge, we saw cherry blossoms near the riverfront.

We explored some back streets of the area known as Shad Thames, full of converted warehouses. Despite its grim water, I loved this sculpture that we came across: Waterfall by British artist Anthony Donaldson in 1991. 

As we walked along the Thames Path, we were happy to spot our building across the river.

Our destination was Rotherhithe Beach, which is directly across from our flat. Since the river is tidal, we timed our visit for low tide.

It was interesting to see this boat up close, which we see daily from our living room windows. I have no idea why the boat is allowed to be parked in such a random place blocking the view of several riverfront flats. It appears a family is living onboard.  

Jimmy’s goal was to return some bits of tile and glass that we had collected with the girls many years ago from the beach at Southbank, west of this beach in an area full of tourists. Unbeknownst to us then, a permit is required to legally mudlark (to scavenge the banks of a river for items of worth). We have several jars of our findings, but there were some leftover bits that didn’t fit. Instead of tossing them in the trash, Jimmy wanted to toss them where someone else will likely find them. 

We didn’t find anything worthy of adding to our collection, but did help remove some trash on the beach.

 

Rooftop Bar near London Bridge...

After seeing the tulips, I met Jimmy at London Bridge Station to check out a nearby rooftop bar on top of a mostly abandoned building. After climbing many stairs up, we were rewarded with some cool views of the Shard...

…and London Bridge Station.

While I enjoyed the views, I didn’t enjoy the loud music and was unimpressed with the menu, so we only stayed for one drink.

My visit to the loo brought back good memories of the flat in Tokyo where Ashlynn and I lived for six weeks in 2015.

We wandered past this sculpture outside the Shard while in search of a restaurant.

On our walk home, we saw my favorite view from our neighborhood. 

 

Tulips in London...

While there was a lack of green in many of the parks in early April...

…I visited one full of tulips: Victoria Embankment Gardens, which was made out of land reclaimed from the River Thames in 1865. It was lovely to see such a wide variety of tulips planted in lots of different patterns. 

 

March Fun in the Tropics...

While Ashlynn worked hard during the week, going to bed much earlier than she ever did in Glasgow, she played hard on the weekends. She loved going hiking with the other grad students...

...as well as spending time in the crystal clear water. 

 

Snails and Swimming in Moorea...

Crossing fingers that this video works of Ashlynn explaining what it took to reset up her lab inside of the facilities.

Our scientist at work!

She basically had to start her research over and thus had to collect new snails.

It was crazy how much plumbing she had to do as well as set up a lot of monitors. 

This photo was featured on Scuba Diving Magazine’s article about Women Divers Hall of Fame Awards 2024 Scholarships and Grants. Ashlynn worked hard to submit applications for funding for her research and her hard work paid off as she was granted the Graduate Marine Conservation Scholarship worth $2,000 to help offset her travel costs. She also received several other awards from other organizations.  

Much of the surrounding reef was very shallow...

...so she actually didn’t do much scuba diving there.