I Love Broadway...

The quality of BSN on Broadway was truly amazing. The atrium was decorated with playbills and posters from musicals performed at the school over the years. The hall was set up cabaret-style with tables rather than the usual rows of seats. And you could even buy wine by the bottle! The variety of performances was also amazing with kids as young as 11 singing. The organizers set up a green screen and asked Jimmy to take photos of both performers and attendees (you can see Ashlynn enjoyed posing with her friends as well).  The main goal of the evening was to prove to the administration that the kids really want do a proper musical this year, but unfortunately the request fell on deaf ears.

Veronica Performs at BSN on Broadway...

Shortly after school started, Veronica auditioned with Lizzy to perform at BSN on Broadway, a show fully organized by the Year 13 (seniors). She sang while Lizzy accompanied her on violin to a song from Wicked. They were accepted for the event, but rather than singing a duet, they joined up with Lily and Kelly to sing a medley of Disney Princess Songs.

No surprise that it brought tears to my eyes to hear Veronica sing a few solo lines. You can check out a video of their performance here. 

Leiden Liberation Parade...

After lunch, Deb and I staked out a prime viewing spot for the parade. The weather was fantastic as it was the warmest October 3rd ever recorded. This year was the 125th anniversary of the parade and the theme was High Leiden, recalling great moments in past parades. Frankly, there were too many great entries to include them all. Only in Holland could you find a six-person band (complete with a tuba player!) on a custom bike.

 There were a few live animals including a group of two-humped camels and this merry band of geese.

There were lots of great costumes including several entries with alien and futuristic themes.

Leiden Gets Yarn Bombed...

I was glad my friend Deb could join me for the day at the Leiden Liberation Celebration, which is held every year on October 3 to commemorate the liberation from Spain in 1574. We wandered through the carnival and market and enjoyed people watching. When we crossed the main canal on our way to lunch, we were surprised to find that the bridge had been yarn bombed. I wasn’t familiar with the practice, but Deb was. Apparently, this form of temporary graffiti began in Holland in 2004 and has since spread around the world. We were especially impressed that these dedicated crafters must have used boats to set up most of their knitted “street art.”

A 5-Star Hotel for Travel Bugs...

After several weeks of construction, Jimmy was ready to install his upgraded geocache. Instead of just a simple ice cream container, he’d upgraded to a big fancy box with lights. He was inspired to build a bigger and better geocache after finding the box next to the garbage bins at the apartments next door. He then worked on building the infrastructure, which included reinforcing a pretty large hole with cement blocks, and wiring the LED lights above the “rooms” which he hopes get filled up with travel bugs.

Soon after the upgrade was completed, the rave reviews started appearing on the geocache website and it started earning “favorites,” which then attracts even more geocachers; so far there have been around 120 visitors. Only die-hard geocachers who pay for a premium membership can declare favorites, so already having over 25 favorites is quite an honor. It also attracted the attention of the police when a neighbor got suspicious about people searching around the bushes. Luckily we were home and just happened to notice them poking around. The officers weren’t familiar with geocaching, but were quickly put at ease when we explained the game and showed them the log book.

Closure of Storm Surge Barrier...

Once a year, the storm surge barrier in Hoek van Holland (one of the world’s largest moving structures) is closed as part of a test. After going to the visitor center with Jimmy’s dad during the summer, we were especially interested in seeing it close this fall. It was a beautiful day when Jimmy and I set off on our bikes for the 75K ride. Unfortunately, not only did we misjudge  how long the journey would take, but also how long it would take for the arms to swing shut, so we missed it. And silly us, we thought we’d get to watch them reopen, but they actually stay closed for about 12 hours. It was still cool to see how the arms lowered over time. Had a great lunch along the canal in Maassluis and thoroughly enjoyed being on our first long ride in months.

2011 Kite Festival...

While Jimmy and the girls were busy at the first of many Sunday rehearsals for this year’s panto, Aladdin, I headed to Scheveningen Beach to see this year’s international kite festival. As you can see, the winds were just right for a huge variety of kites to fill the sky.

Just had to include this silly snail that looks like it’s sitting atop the Kurhaus.