Veronica’s Back in Holland...

Kati was very happy when Veronica arrived home on December 19 for Christmas.

 

Veronica was excited to fly her drone for the first time in Holland, first in our neighborhood park...

...and then a bit further afield at Vlietland. 

I enjoyed spotting a few Santa hats in our neighborhood.

The Hague Highlights...

Once again, The Hague hosted The Hague Highlights, a free light show that was expanded to be shown on two monumental buildings.

The first was Old Masters, New Heroes shown on the 13th century Ridderzaal (Hall of Knights).

On one side of the Mauritshuis, my favorite museum, was this Christmas tree...

...while on the other was an interactive light projection featuring the Masters of the Golden Age. My camera battery only survived long enough to capture Paulus Potter’s The Young Bull...

...and Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.

Christmas in The Hague...

Gillian and I took the train from Leiden into The Hague to meet up with Jimmy. It was very windy. Along the way to his office, we came across these fallen bikes...

...and this fallen tree.

I was very underwhelmed by The Hague’s Christmas Market, but enjoyed seeing the giant tree just outside the market in front of the Escher Museum...

...and another within the market.

We then walked through the empty city center to eat dinner at the new FoodHallen.

Leiden with Gillian...

On December 14, I was thrilled to spend the day with Gillian, who was in town for the weekend for a retirement celebration. After our usual walk with Kati, we headed to Leiden, where we encountered a huge rainstorm which we sat out in the train station for over 30 minutes. 

Eventually, the bad weather cleared and we were able to head to the Floating Christmas Market...

...which was set up on the main canal...

...and featured this reindeer and giant wreath.

It was getting dark by the time we were leaving Leiden, so the gold and silver balls hanging over Haarlemmerstraat, the shopping street, were lit up...

...as well as the giant Christmas tree in the square on the way to the train station. 

Ironically, while my dear friend from Edinburgh was visiting, Veronica was visiting Sam, her former roommate in Norwich, who was living in Edinburgh.

Christmas Tree at City Hall...

In early December, I ended up wandering through the Den Haag Stadhuis (The Hague City Hall), where I came across this giant Christmas tree.

Lucky for me, I happened to have my camera along on a beautiful clear day with blue sky shining through the ceiling.

I couldn’t resist taking some ornament selfies. 

December Devon Outings...

In early December, Veronica and Brett cycled to Topsham. In addition to this cool photo, she shot this drone footage.

A few days later, she set off on another Expedition Society hiking weekend. Luckily since it was December, they didn’t camp outside, but rather stayed at a hostel.

They hiked in Cheddar Gorge, where she broke down and even tried some cheese, as well as shooting this drone footage.

Christmastime in Exeter...

Just days after Jimmy and I were at a Christmas party in Brussels, Veronica and Brett were at one in Exeter with the Expedition Society.

Clearly they were in a giant tent as it didn’t look anything like the quaint pub that Veronica and I had visited during my trip just one month earlier.

This was taken the following week in town...

...as was this.