Bike Hash from Leiden to Katwijk...

The rest of the weekend was filled with hashing events as part of the FILTH’s 100th Weekend. On Saturday, we cycled to Leiden Centraal for the start of a bike hash. Ironically, the hare had laid the trail towards our village and within a block of our house, so Opee decided to host an impromptu beer stop at our place.

The trail then headed towards Wassenaar Beach and through the dunes to the beach at Katwijk, where we stopped for a picnic lunch. The weather was perfect!

We then headed back to Leiden for a total ride of about 40K; it was a great trail! The circle was held in a park and included some interesting games.

Afterwards, we went with Melissa and Pieter to a waterfront café for dinner before meeting back up with the hashers for a pub crawl.

Oktoberfest...

As soon as the plans for the FILTH (Full Moon Hash) 100th Hash were finalized, we invited Melissa and Pieter to come up from Frankfurt. They arrived in town in time to join us for the agency Oktoberfest party. Considering they live in Germany, it wasn’t surprising that Melissa had an authentic dirndl; I had bought mine when we were in Munich in February.

Pieter, however, was stretching it a bit with his outfit, although he did have an authentic Bavarian hat. Despite not being German, Jimmy was in charge of the party. Several of his fun German colleagues were out of town, so although the party was well organized, it wasn’t as fun as the previous year.

Sophie’s 16th...

The following weekend, Sophie, Ashlynn’s best friend, turned 16. Ashlynn joined Sophie and her parents for dinner at The Penthouse, the same restaurant where Veronica celebrated her 18th. It was a clear and beautiful day; they enjoyed lovely views over The Hague.

Bronze International Award Expedition...

The weekend after we returned from England, Ashlynn set off for her expedition for the Bronze International Award. She borrowed Andrew’s backpack, the same one that Veronica used. Ashlynn’s hips are so tiny that Jimmy had to add extra padding to the hip straps using tea towels.

Sophie’s mom dropped the girls off at Den Haag Centraal early on Saturday morning where they met up with the other four girls in their group.

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pandas

Eventually they arrived in Chaam, near the Belgium border, where their expedition would begin. Much of their 12.5 mile (20K) walk was along country roads. Eventually they turned into the woods, where they would camp for the night. An adult supervisor came by to check that they had everything they needed, but otherwise the girls were on their own. The next day they only needed to hike 3 miles (5K) to meet their expedition goal and to catch the bus. While some of the girls struggled carrying their packs and weren’t too keen on camping, Ashlynn loved it all!

Settling In...

Over the next few days Veronica went to lots of information sessions and parties for the international students. By the time the UK students moved in, she felt very much at home. It also helped that she had worked hard to organize her room.

With an Indonesian quilt, Nepalese prayer flags and a world map, Veronica’s room has an international flair.

Veronica didn’t waste any time and started taking cool photos around campus right away. This is the historic Ziggurats, dorms built in the early 1960s. If you look closely, you can spot the constellation Orion on the top right.

Moving Day...

That Wednesday was moving day for the international students; the UK students would move in on Saturday. We managed to snag the keys to Veronica’s room  without having to stand in the long line to register. Here she is being dramatic after climbing all those stairs before opening the door to the flat.

Here’s her room before Hurricane Veronica hit...

...and here it is after.

Due to the limited shelving and cabinet space, we bought a shelving unit with lots of baskets to store clothes and bits & bobs. It fit perfectly at the foot of the bed. We also bought a small shelving unit for the bathroom, which only had a mini-shelf over the sink and no medicine cabinet. There was no time for a long good-bye as we were working hard up until the minute that we needed to drop off the rental car and hop on the train. Jimmy surprised me with an upgraded room on the ferry back to Holland. While we were sad to return without Veronica, we were happy that she was so excited about her future years at UEA.

More Fun in Norwich...

The next two days in Norwich were filled with running errands, mostly buying kitchen supplies and food (Veronica will be cooking her own meals), as well as bedding and shelving for her room. In between, we managed to see some more of Norwich including Harriets Tearoom,which was very traditional,,...

...and The Forum, a very modern building housing the public library, regional BBC headquarters, tourist office and several restaurants.

We also had several great meals, including tapas and cocktails at a gallery/café and Japanese at an Asian fusion place.