On the Catwalk in Cyprus...

Timing is everything in life and it turned out that Sophie’s was good, but Jimmy’s was bad when Ashlynn found out that she would be flown to Cyprus for three nights. In Sophie’s case, she would only have to entertain herself for one afternoon before she flew back to Holland. However, in Jimmy’s case, he was arriving in Athens for a conference the same morning that Ashlynn left and would be spending those three nights in her apartment without her. 

It was exciting that for the first time Ashlynn was flown and put up in a nice hotel for a job. Everything was arranged very last minute so she didn’t get confirmation until 9 p.m. the night before that a taxi was picking her up the next morning at 5 a.m.

The first big event was an evening of fashion shows in honor of the 100th issue of Moi Ostrov, a magazine for Russian expatriates living in Europe. These first two outfits were for Natargeorgiou, a duo of Greek/Cypriots fashion designers.

This outfit was designed by Ramona Filip, a Cypriot luxury wear designer.

These two photos were captured off of a video, which explains why Ashlynn looks a bit like an avatar.

She also wore Prada in another show for a local shop that sold a variety of designer brands.

Hashgiving...

The third Hague Hash we did in November was a joint run in Rijswijk with Amsterdam H3 and Opee hared the runners’ loop. Sadly for him, only two of the runners found the split and the rest of us missed it completely.

I enjoyed leading the circle. Once again Joe Dirt and Do Me Moore, the hosts, had made a trail that required the pack to follow photo clues rather than the usual flour and chalk up to the point of Opee’s extra loop for the runners. This fellow had to do a down-down for getting lost because he failed to turn over the page to find the rest of the clues. 

I clearly got into my role of leading the merriment of the circle...

...and I was occasionally even funny. 

Last year we helped with some of the cooking of Thanksgiving dinner, but this year Austin and Hannah did it all on their own, which was even more impressive considering they had six-month-old Emma to take care of. 

November Hashing with The Hague H3...

Although we don’t hash with The Hague H3 very often anymore, we found ourselves hashing three times with them in November. The first two times actually started in the same spot in Voorburg, which is an easy cycle ride from our house.

It was a beautifully sunny day to celebrate Webf*?%er’s 60th birthday. His trail had several drink stops including this one at a local brewpub.

It was not at all surprising that Opee committed at least one crime to earn himself a beer.

Three weeks later, we were back to the same start location, but it was a fair bit colder.

It was cool to learn that there was a hidden trail at the end of this light rail station’s platform.

The beer break was long overdue and we were relieved it was inside. Technology is frowned upon on trail. Since my memory is bad, I used my phone to jot down infractions to be reported on during the circle as The Hague RA would likely be looking for additional down-downs.

The circle was held out in the cold. As you can see, I turned my dear husband in for a crime committed on trail.

More GLOW...

This tall building was near the train station, so was our first stop on the three-mile (five-kilometer) route around the city.

Some of the installations are quite small...

...and some are quite large.

Apparently the crowds have grown from 45,000 in 2006 to 750,000 in 2018. Pretty incredible considering GLOW only lasts for one week.

We definitely enjoyed ourselves and hope to go again next year. 

In addition to the light installations, I spotted some cool street art.

GLOW Philips...

Philips, the giant electronic company founded in Eindhoven in 1891, was also once again my other favorite installation. This year their show was projected onto their own building. It was truly incredible how different the building could look.

Another GLOW Eindhoven...

Just before Jimmy and I set off to experience another GLOW Eindhoven, I saw on Facebook that a Dutch friend who had recently moved to Michigan would be in Eindhoven that evening. Although I figured he’d already have plans, I contacted him and it turned out that he had a big enough break between events to grab a beer and accompany us for our route around this year’s light installations. Ironically, it took being invited by Americans for Martijn to attend a festival in his hometown.

The cathedral was once again one of my favorite installations. This year was a projected show rather than just a projected image.

It ranged from being very colorful...

....to quite bizarre.

No doubt that the artists had a lot of fun creating this eclectic and entertaining show.

The Hague Highlights...

In 2018, The Hague celebrated the 200th anniversary of the first bathhouse built at Scheveningen Beach with a series of special events around the city. One of those events was The Hague Highlights, a very cool eight-minute video projection show on the Ridderzaal, the Knight’s Hall built in the 13th century, highlighting milestones in the history of the region. This photo depicts the Buitenhof, the set of medieval buildings still used for Parliament today.

Not sure what the symbolism was here, but I liked the colors.

The show also paid homage to many of the incredible world-class artists born nearby. From M.C. Escher (1898-1972)....

...to Piet Mondrian (1872-1944)...

...to Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). Just in case you need another reason to visit us, works by all three of these artists are prominently on display in museums in The Hague.