New Year’s Day Hash...

It was no big surprise that Jim volunteered Opee to hare Berlin H3’s New Year’s Day Hash. It was also no big surprise that he ignored most of the area that we had scouted the day before and just punted despite not knowing the city well. Luckily he pulled it off like usual. 

Despite being slow, I managed to meet up with the pack in several key photo spots.

We’d been told at the start that there would be a gluhwein stop, so there was a lot of disappointment when we went through this Christmas market without stopping for a drink.

All was forgiven when we stopped nearby for a drink stop, which included bubbly.

Compared to the many statues around the city of stodgy old men, this series of naked statues was quite modern. 

Eventually we made our way to this beautiful Christmas market where we were treated by Berlin H3 to a free gluhwein with a shot. 

It was dark by the end of the trail, but that didn’t stop the RA from noticing that Opee was wearing new shoes. 

I know this photo is upside down, but better to see the shape of the trail.

 

Starting 2024 with a Bang...

After much drama at Schiphol Airport about whether we’d been banned from the EU for overstaying our Dutch visa (which actually wasn’t due to expire until this coming August), we were thrilled to be able to start the New Year in Berlin with Jim. Much like his place in The Hague, he lived in an incredible penthouse apartment, seen here adorned with Christmas lights. 

After hashing with us a few times at the FILTH, Jim joined Berlin H3 and volunteered to host a New Year’s Eve party. 

We already knew several of the guests from various Hash Weekends. 

Having not seen any fireworks when we rang in 2014 in Berlin, we were shocked by the display of giant fireworks from every direction. The show lasted for many hours, putting what we were used to in Holland to shame. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get any good photos.

Jim’s flat also had a rooftop terrace, where some Hashers set off some fireworks.

Jimmy had brought his laser along, so we could have a dance party.

Veronica and Brett had a very quiet start to 2024 in a quaint shepherd’s hut in the Devon countryside. And Ashlynn bartended until the wee hours.
 

High and Lows of 18th Year - Part 2...

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows. Much of this list again focuses around traveling, our favorite thing to do:

• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Ardennes - Belgian Nash Hash, Melissa’s first midnight naked run; Brussels - celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary at a seafood restaurant and rooftop bar; Cornwall - helping Veronica move to Exeter; Frankfurt - German Nash Hash, hashing along beautiful trails through the vineyards along the Rhine River; Littlehampton - first British hash away weekend, amazing trail in Arundel; Milan - amazing spa amongst ruins; Netherlands - Eurohash at the castle, pleased to be able to help, Red Dress Hash in nearby Baarlo with lots of community support; South of France - Terri’s incredible 60th birthday party
• Jimmy Travel: Cornwall - sunny day in Falmouth visiting Veronica; Frankfurt - surreal to be DJing in a bar overlooking the Rhine where 40 years earlier he had been on a boat with his sister
• Melissa Travel: Cornwall - extra long hike on the South West Coast Path with Veronica; Milan - nice hike at Lake Como, amazing exhibit at Pirelli Museum; Winchester - Christmas Market with Carlin
• Family Travel: Northern Ireland - hiking on the Causeway Coast, Bushmill Distillery Tour, Giant’s Causeway with prohibited swim, great Thai food, Titanic Museum, arcade in Portrush, Red Dress Hash in Belfast (photo above)
• Veronica Travel: Aberdeen - Visiting David and Tamsin in their new house; California - epic photography-focused road trip with Brett through Death Valley and Sierras, Thanksgiving with Brett’s family, seeing family in Bay Area, Mitchell and Leslie’s wedding, celebrating four-year anniversary in Mammoth; France - fun times with Brett in Paris and Lyon; London - visiting Mommy and Daddy, seeing Moulin Rouge and Hamilton; Netherlands - being with Kati, moving the metal table off the balcony, introducing Brett to how the Dutch celebrate New Year’s, Castle de Haar; Norwich - Peter and Bekkah’s wedding, visiting UEA for the first time since graduation in 2019
• Ashlynn Travel: Berlin - visiting Bjarne and Soso; Bulgaria - amazing solo travel after mediocre festival; Cornwall - visiting Veronica, seal sanctuary, swimming in a tide pool and camping; Istanbul - Bilge showing us around his hometown; London - with Sophie, Ely and Ciaran; Scotland - camping and surfing, snowy cottage getaway with James
• Jimmy/Ashlynn Travel: Portrush - paddle boarding into a cave
• Jimmy/Veronica Travel: Cornwall - hashed with Truro H3 following by insane Sunday roast
• Melissa/Ashlynn Travel: The Hague - having a drink at the Boardwalk Hotel in Scheveningen, where we first stayed when we moved to the Netherlands
• Jimmy/Melissa: Good fortune of friends helping with our move (lifting boxes and furniture, loaning a car, cleaning our bathroom); Hashes coming to our rescue in Brussels (while commuting) and in London (while living out of suitcases); moving to London; subletting from Andrew, whom we met in 2006 when he was just six years old; getting a permanent job with workable pay; hashing three times a week in London; finding a dream flat; being on the same island as the girls and knowing we’ll see them more often
• Jimmy: when you go through a stressful time, it can pull a couple apart or it can pull a couple together and realizing that it’s made us even closer; DJing at the underground pub at Eurohash; after 25 years of back problems, finding a stretch that resets his back
• Melissa: creating an inventory for The Hague Hash Museum; enjoyed long walks across London; many cool art exhibits in London and Rotterdam
• Veronica: moving in with Brett in Exeter; starting a PhD; good friends in Penryn and Exeter; trying new disciplines at the Aerial Convention; lots of camping and hiking on the South West Coast Path; Tunes in the Dunes Festival; seeing Twelfth Night at Minack Theatre; getting stronger due to working out, bouldering and aerial; life drawing, sculpting and modeling; nude photo shoots; beach fire pit; Brett’s birthday dinner in a castle; first gallery display of my photography; lots of live theatre; graduating from master’s with a Distinction; sea swimming with friends
• Ashlynn: meeting Ciaran; Kelburn Festival with Ciaran and friends; Ciaran’s surprise tickets for Dog Lover’s Show; Iris, the puppy; bartending at the Old Hairdressers; DJ career taking off including Co-Clear DJ gig and DJing back-to-back with Ciaran at Nice & Sleazy; accepted into master’s program plus getting grant funding for my research; family atmosphere in my flat; ran 32K Ballbreaker Hash in Belfast and going to a club afterwards with Hashers; graduating with a First Class Bachelor’s degree
• Melissa/Veronica/Jimmy: visiting the Tate, incredible immersive 1984 play in Hackney Town Hall, Halloween Hash in Hampstead Heath
• Visitors in Voorschoten: Alan, Ashlynn, Brett, Simon, Veronica
• Visitors in London: Ashlynn, Brett, Jim, Veronica

Highs and Lows of 18th Year - Part 1...

My apologies once again for the lack of posts. Not only have we been moving around a lot until just recently, we still don’t have proper WiFi in our new flat. So, I’m once again going to take a big jump ahead in our timeline and will start with our Highs and Lows of 2023 and then pick up our story in January 2024...

Hard to believe that we’ve lived in Europe for 18 years as of November 22, 2023. Once again, the four of us weren’t together then, but were reunited for Christmas, this time in Glasgow, and have decided to change the timescale of our annual highs/lows to the calendar year instead. Usually we make our list while enjoying a meal at a restaurant, but we reflected on 2023 after our Christmas dinner at Ashlynn’s flat before heading to a family gathering with her Scottish boyfriend. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Saying goodbye to Kati and the Netherlands
• Climate change
• Train strikes
• UK visa stress and cost for all four of us
• Israel/Palestine Conflict
• T*%@p running for dictator
• COVID disrupting Melissa’s 60th birthday celebration
• Broken down ferry transporting us to Scotland from Ireland
• Missing Jimmy and Chloe’s wedding in Jacksonville
• Attacked by millions of flying ants on hike in Ireland
• Jimmy: disappointment in Port XL Program; disastrous DJ set at Imperial College starting too early for dancing; winge-y City H3 hashers whining about how he lays trail
• Melissa: tough adjusting from a Dutch village of 25,000 to the insanity of London; living in a dollhouse for 1.5 months; everything’s just a little bit harder in London; deafening noise in the Tube; having to step down as Religious Advisor for the FILTH; missing BMPH3 Christmas Party Weekend
• Veronica: having to leave Penryn; unfulfilling master’s degree and emotional rollercoaster of doing a second master’s dissertation; long distance relationship with Brett and the realization that being apart could last for years; flat tire and difficulty finding vegan food in California; constant sewage alerts in the sea; stress house hunting in Exeter; difficult conversations about the future; experiencing US Black Friday
• Ashlynn: Missing Iris, the dog; dream hospitality job shut down; academic strike causing long delay in getting grades; breaking up with James; missing Sophie; not exercising good work/life balance; marine biology imposter syndrome; no chance to scuba dive
• Jimmy/Melissa; moving chaos; living out of suitcases; Victorian plumbing; saying farewell to the FILTH Hash

First London H3 Hash...

While Jimmy studied for a big job interview later in July, I went to my first London H3 hash. It was a long journey to get to Epping Forest in the north east, further complicated because the closest train station was closed for repairs. 

Luckily it was worth the long journey as the trail was almost entirely in the beautiful national park with two beer stops (both of which we had to buy our own drinks, just like at the end). 

Despite a group of us spending some time lost since the trails by the two hares didn’t match up correctly, it was still a great hash.

Supposedly fit for a king, I figured this ale was fit for me. We’ve had to adjust our expectations since British beers are quite expensive, as well as much lighter than our usual Dutch and Belgian beers.

Getting a down-down is truly an award since it’s rare to get free things at London hashes and I got a free half-pint for doing my first trail with London H3. 
 

Subletting in Balham...

On July 14, we moved back into Jessie and Sam’s place, this time renting it for six weeks. This allowed us to unpack a little bit, store the rest of our stuff in the basement and not have to worry about having to move on while we were travelling in August. 

As grateful as I was to have a place to stay, I was stressed since it was like living inside a dollhouse as everything was quite compact. This was the entire kitchen with the frig/freezer on the right under the counter. Cooking was a challenge with limited counter and storage space.

It’s hard to tell from this angle, but the kitchen was beside the dining table. In addition to not having a dryer, dishwasher, microwave or television, the flat also didn’t have Wi-Fi. Strangely, the owner, who previously worked with Jessie, left many of her belongings. The living room looked nice full of books and art...

…but instead of a nice dresser for the tenant, her books and rocking chair cluttered the bedroom. The bathroom sink was so small that we brushed our teeth in the kitchen. At least there was a closet so we could hang up some of our clothes. 

The neighborhood was nice with quite a variety of flowers.

 

Colorful Bermondsey...

The following day, Jimmy left early for Brussels. I headed south to further explore Bermondsey, which was very colorful. 

The large and colorful East Street Market in Walworth, in southeast London, operates six days per week. 

On my way to the hash that evening, I passed by this colorful outdoor food hall complete with giant ants next to London Bridge Station...

…and this skyscraper on Bishopgate covered in cloud reflections.

This was my first Eels (Eely East London Something) H3 trail, a group started during COVID which continues to run monthly. Although we started and ended in a pub near Liverpool Street, the circle was on a cul-de-sac with this reminder not to pee on the wall. 

Finishing my day, I spotted this colorful garbage truck. Too bad all garbage trucks don’t have such cool paint jobs.