A Man in the Floor...

It was especially fun seeing this man, whom we’d seen poking his head out of the floor in the Boijmans Museum several times over the years. Sorry that I couldn’t find the first photo I took of him, back when there was no barrier around him despite the hole that a child could easily fall down. Eventually a transparent box was placed over him so there was no danger of falling. 

Now that he’s been relocated, he remains safely off limits to intruders and can be viewed from every angle.

 

A Huge Variety of Art...

Only a few pieces of art were on display in the center hallways for visitors to see. 

Instead, the collection is stored in separate rooms depending upon the medium. 

Storing over 30,000 paintings means only a few were visible from the hallway.

Much of what was visible in the large objects compartment was pretty humorous, including this blue creature...

…this half-Santa and half-spaceman...

…a big baby and a boy in a box...

….this colorful couple...

…and a bathtub built to look like a boat.

 

Grand Opening of the Art Depot...

After watching the Depot Boijman’s Van Beuningen being built since early 2017, it was very exciting that I managed to book tickets to attend the opening weekend in early November. Veronica made it back in town just in time. It was great that Sally and John also joined us. We started with a selfie in the mirrored exterior. 

Rather than a traditional museum, the building houses more than 151,000 objects collected by the associated museum over the past 173 years. The design inside was as impressive as the design outside with staircases that looked like something out of an Escher print. 

One very unique design element was that were several transparent bridges containing small works of art which could be viewed from above...

…or below.

Jimmy, Veronica and I were happy to hang out on a bridge...

…while Sally was happier to cross quickly. 

Behind the dramatic center staircases and artworks were rooms where the behind-the-scenes work is done such as art restoration. 

 

The Green Zone...

The girls were excited to be able to explore the public area known as the Green Zone at Cop26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference hosted in Glasgow.

They especially liked the virtual reality experience. 

Despite it now being owned by the giant multinational Unilever, they still thought it was cool to come across The Vegetarian Butcher, which was started in The Hague.

Not sure how the illusions fit in, but the photos are fun. 

As much as Ashlynn enjoyed it, she wasn’t thrilled about the greenwashing that she witnessed while bartending periphery conferences held by multinationals that preached sustainability while throwing big parties that wasted an incredible amount of food and expensive wine.   

Ashlynn invited Veronica and Brett to watch her when she DJed her first live set at the Subcity studio.

Halloween 2021...

If I hadn’t seen this photo...

…I would have assumed that Ashlynn was wearing a wig for her first Halloween party. But that was all her...

…except for the freckles and beauty marks next to her eyes.

For her other party, she covered up the red with a black wig. Lucky for her, the red washed out fairly easily, unlike when Veronica used temporary red dye. 

We skipped getting dressed up after a big storm hit just before The Hague H3’s run start. Luckily it was dry for trail, which we walked with the rest of the group. There were several stops along the way, with this one in front of a Shell gas station, which was definitely the strangest since we had to grab donuts off of a sign with our teeth. 

Another stop was a drinking game under this overpass, where I spotted these murals. 

 

Sisters Reunited in Glasgow...

At the end of October, Brett joined Veronica to head to Glasgow to stay with Ashlynn, the sisters’ first reunion since early August in California. 

Little did any of us know that it would be another four months before Jimmy and I got to see Ashlynn’s cute flat with our own eyes.

Of course, Ashlynn took them to some of her favorite restaurants...

...to her favorite park, Kelvingrove...

…and to her school, University of Glasgow. 

Since Ashlynn would be working that entire weekend, Veronica and Brett went further afield. One day they went to Edinburgh. Brett had done a semester abroad during undergrad, so was happy to show Veronica around. 

Another day, they went to Perth to meet David and Tamsin for a nice hike. 
 

Back to the UK...

Veronica was thrilled to head back to Exeter in mid-October to spend two weeks with Brett. They enjoyed a day trip to Bath, where they enjoyed lunch at Sally Lunn’s Bunn House...

…and a visit to the Roman Bath, both of which Sally and I enjoyed back in 2018.

Veronica was especially thrilled to go for a hike on the South West Coast Path and do some more wild swimming.