Dressed Up with the AWC...

There were two opportunities in May to put on a nice dress for AWC functions. The first was the AWC Board Installation. After stepping down as the magazine editor after eight years and a three-year break from being on the AWC Board, I agreed to be the Treasurer.

The ceremony was once again held at the residence of the Charge d’ Affaires, the acting US Ambassador of the Netherlands. The weather was perfect for some photos in the huge garden. Here is the new AWC Board...

...and everyone who attended the ceremony.

Two days later, I was in a dress again to volunteer at the payment table at the AWC Gala. It was nice to see Hannah and Austin all dressed up. It wasn’t a glamorous job, but it was fun. The evening ended with me running across town in my dress and sandals to make the final bus just as the doors were closing.

A Perfect Farewell...

It was a wonderful cruise and we all had a great time. Afterwards, we had the captain take this picture of our group next to the boat...

...and this one of us inside the open back of the boat.

Of course, I had to capture one of the boat leaving as well.

Despite polishing off several bottles of bubbly, we weren’t quite ready to finish the party just yet. We headed to The Weeping Tower (the round building in the center). Built in 1487 as a defense tower, the rumor is that women used to say farewell to their men there as they headed to sea so also a fitting place for us to bid farewell to Seanette.

However, we weren’t entirely ready to say farewell as we had one more stop to make: Wyland Fokink, a 17th century genever bar.

Finally, it was time for hugs and to head home. No doubt a very memorable send off!

Farewell Cruise...

It came as a surprise when Seanette announced that she and Richard would be moving to West London with just one month’s notice from his company. I figured that it was unlikely that I’d have a chance to see her before she left since she’d be so busy with friends in Amsterdam, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got an invitation for a farewell gathering of AWC friends.

She invited just four of us to an intimate high tea aboard an incredible private luxury canal boat (we paid for our own lunch, but she very generously treated us to the two-hour boat tour).

Our captain was very nice. Here he is collecting our lunch from a local restaurant.

Saloon Boat Salute was built in the 1920s and painstakingly restored a few years ago to its former grandeur and converted to being 100% electric.

Due to our boat’s small size, we could go into the smaller canals that the typical tourist boats can’t reach...

...and could get quite close to some recognizable spots, such as the East Indiaman, a beautiful reproduction of a ship from 1749...

...and our favorite dive bar in Amsterdam: the Sluyswacht (no it’s not your imagination—it really is very crooked).

Dutch Nash Hash...

In what was most likely a Dutch Nash Hash first, Jimmy and his co-hares laid the hash trails live on Saturday. Here he is doing a pre-run brief before setting off on the earliest bus taking the Ball Breakers to their start. Everyone agreed that the trails were great, but he overlooked one major detail: the spot he chose for the beer break couldn’t be reached directly by the beer van. Luckily there was a pub nearby so folks could get a cold beverage while waiting the extra hour for the beer and snacks to arrive.

I loved the long trail and was still smiling at the end. On Sunday, we hashed from the castle and took a ferry across the Maas River to the small village of Steijl. Jimmy surprised everyone with a mimosa stop after many of us fell for a very long false trail along the river.

After lunch, it was my turn to lead the hash circle. Somehow I managed to be entertaining enough that most of the remaining hashers paid attention. Afterwards was the main event: not one, but two birthday cakes on Neptunus’ head for his 65th birthday. His granddaughter on the right was especially enthusiastic in helping. Not only was there flour...

...but also a lot of eggs, beer and ketchup.

For the second cake, there was also whipped cream and candles.

Neptunus was a good sport about it. Luckily he was spending another night at the castle as he clearly needed a shower.

The Doctor is In...

The partying continued throughout the weekend for Dutch Nash Hash. Once again we were at the castle in Baarlo, but the girls weren’t with us as in previous years. To mix things up a bit, Jimmy asked Neptunus if he could run a cocktail bar on the first night.

He took the role of lead bartender very seriously including designing six cocktails served in fancy secondhand cocktail glasses.

 His co-hare Lisa was also his assistant bartender.

Steve actually wasn’t part of the bartending team, but just loves to dress up.

The cocktail bar was a huge success! It was a lot of work for Jimmy, but he loved every minute of it.

The following night there was dancing in the chapel until the wee hours of the morning. We failed to get a photo of me and Jimmy, but here I am with Alan and Kevin.

The Party Continues...

Late in the afternoon, Celine and Richard left and we met up with Skye...

...who led us into the some very crowded parts of town. 

We ended up back at Skye’s place for drinks and munchies. We’d planned to have just a short stop, but were so mesmerized by Skye’s fascinating life story that we were there for a few hours.

Eventually we made our way back out to the streets, where we did a poor job trying to recreate the famous Abbey Road cover.

Perhaps next time it would be a good idea to look at the cover beforehand.

As this photo shows, as nighttime fell, things got a bit blurry, but we managed to make it back safely home after lots of hugs goodbye.

King's Day in Amsterdam...

Following a crazy night of hashing and partying in The Hague for Koningsnacht (King’s Night) with Hannah and Austin, Jimmy and I headed to Amsterdam to hang out for Koningsdag (King’s Day) with Ola on her last day in Holland before moving to Germany. On the way to meeting her and Nick, we came across this cool cardboard throne.

Nick might not look like a great rock ‛n roller in this photo, but I loved listening to him play.

It might be hard to tell, but I took this photo into a big round mirror that was leaning against a tree. Ola had brought Tim, a retired doctor from the US, along to the last FILTH hash and he was back in town to celebrate the King’s 50th birthday.

Celine and Richard also joined us as we crossed the city looking for treasures among the hoards of junk at the country’s largest flea market.

As the day went on, the crowds continued to grow.