It all kind of tumbled out of control when we got back from France. Fiona had been fighting a cold the last few days in Paris and by the time we got home it had completely blown up on her. She was proper sick and we had arrived back to a home with no food in the cupboards or clean clothes in closet. So after a short day in the office on Friday, I spent the first part of the weekend stocking up, cleaning up and washing up - while doing my best to make sure my stubborn patient didn't jeopardize her recovery by claiming everything was fine and attempting to help. I guess to no one's surprise I came down with the bug on Saturday night and spent the next two days flat on my back in bed. Although we both were most of the way over it by the end of the week, it's been a tough nut to crack, leaving us a little too drained to do much of anything at the end of the day.
We also had picked up an addition to the household on our return. Having kindly agreed to dog-sit Casey while we were away, our friends Todd and Erin had asked to take in their dog Sidney for a couple of weeks. Although I'm not sure Casey would agree, we liked having Sidney in the house. A miniature Schnauzer, she fits perfectly on your lap while you're watching TV, all the while emitting the dog equivalent of a cat's purr. We look forward to having her around again. We'll just have to break it to Casey that she'll have to share "her" people.
By the end of the week we were well enough to be looking forward to a May Day long weekend. This one was going to be packed full of all sort of new experiences as well. On Friday we went to the house of some Dutch friends who were hosting their annual Koniginnen Dag party. Koniginnen Dag is an annual holiday in the Netherlands where they celebrate the Queen's birthday. Apparently they've been running one for the past 8 years, each year inviting more and more people. This year I think the total was somewhere up around 75, with a good mix of locals and Dutch expats. Wearing of orange was mandatory, and having seen some pictures of the previous years, we went all out to comply. It was only when we arrived at the party that we realized we had only really gone half-way. The party itself was great fun and we met lots of new people - which is always good, but especially now as we have another large group of ex-pat friends and acquaintances that are being shipped out in the next few months.
The colorful costumes initiated conversation with the driver in the taxi ride home. He thought all the Dutchies had gotten together to celebrate Raymond van Barneveld's win at the Professional Dart's League event held in Aberdeen the day before. Fiona and I had tried to get tickets to this event several months ago, only to find it sold out. It turns out that Barney put on quite a show, including a nine-darter and the crowd nearly carried him out on their shoulders. As one of the few players who can consistently beat the English big names, Barney is especially popular in Scotland. The driver gave us a full run-down of the tournament and we're now a little more determined to get some tickets for the event next year.
Saturday was spent recovering from the festivities. We wandered downtown to go through the international market, replenishing our supplies of hagelslag, fresh fruit and French cheese. The temperature dropped again as we got home, with a little bit of accompanying rain, setting the stage for a nap-filled afternoon.
That evening we went down to the theatre to see our first opera - La Boheme. I think we were both a little nervous, unsure of what to expect and whether or not we would be bored to tears. But it turned out to be quite a nice experience. The overhead translation made it easy to follow the Italian lyrics, and the modernized set made it relevant. It was a lot more theatrical than either of us expected. Although I don't think we'll slot it in as a regular fixture in our calendar, I wouldn't hesitate to go again, especially if the topic/subject is of interest.
The holiday Monday was spent in the garden store and the yard, putting in a host of new plants and planters. We don't have total control over the yard, which we kind of miss - the most in-your-face example of an ex-pat's inability to "put down roots" - but we were determined to work with what we could. We filled in some empty spaces in the flower beds - a rhubarb plant so that I can spend the summer eating Fiona's apple-rhubarb crumble, as well as several herbs to fill in an old planter and a lavender plant to remind us of Provence. We also bought several planters and are trying some vegetables from seed - carrots, beets and beans amongst others. Hopefully they'll amount to something. But the garden looks good now, with some springtime weather having finally coaxed the daffodils and tulips up out of the ground. Small shoots are sticking out in the raspberry patch, threatening to take over a good section of the yard. The shrubs are greening and every day something new seems to be popping up. With this being our first spring/summer in this house, we're excited to see what it all becomes.
Somewhere in here we managed to squeeze in a little film study as well, catching Clash of the Titans at the theatre and the old studio epic, Cleopatra, with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, at home. Clash was a little disappointing for me, with some of the pseudo-3D effects really bringing it down. While I don't mind 3D when the movie is specifically shot that way (Avatar) modifying a movie in post-production to add it in never works. They're starting to show some of the more important football games here in 3D at certain pubs. 3D TVs are now for sale. True 3D is starting to feel less and less like a passing fad now. I wonder if people felt the same way about Cleopatra in its day as we did about Avatar? It was supposed to have been groundbreaking as well. I love those types of old movies - huge sets fabricated for one or two shots, thousands of extras, classic actors hamming it up a little, three hour run times - everything you need to while away an afternoon.
Wednesday we were back at the theatre for a pretty good ballet rendition of Romeo and Juliet. Great music - I was wishing I could have introductory music like Pappa Capulet. It did represent the last of the suite of tickets we bought early in the year. We'll have to dive back into the listing to see what we can see in the coming quarter. Perhaps a little more modern music?
On Friday we were back downtown, this time on the third floor of the Tiso outdoor supply store learning all about sea kayaking from a guy named Gordon Brown (yes, given the fact that Prime Minister Gordon Brown had just been chucked out on his ear the day in the election the day before meant that all the obligatory jokes and references were made.) We were part of a small group - 8 people - who managed to demonstrate what a small country Scotland really is. Everyone, although they had never met before, somehow knew somebody connected with someone else in the room. It was odd. When it came time for our introduction, we prefaced it by saying that we would break the trend, not knowing many people in Scotland. We told them we were from Canada, at which point Gordon said it was indeed unlikely as the only people he knew in Canada were in a small town in Ponoka - where I used to go for spring break vacation as a kid, visiting the farm of family friends.
Having seen some great videos and convinced that sea kayaking would be the best way to see a lot of Scotland, we hit the water in Peterhead harbour with group the next day at 9:30. It was a fantastic experience. We started in a sheltered part of the harbour learning turns and basic paddling before setting out past the first breakwater just before lunch. After lunch we crossed out further into the harbour, where the wind and waves were becoming more of an issue. We skirted a breakwater where a half dozen seals promptly threw themselves in the water not more than a dozen feet away. They tailed our group for a while, trying to figure out what we were up to. One surface a few feet in front of one of the group's kayaks, and when he got wind of the imminent collision promptly dove back down with a splash that nearly knocked the poor girl out of her boat. We managed to make it out to the harbour mouth, where the wind was creating some pretty good swell before we all sensibly headed back to the sheltered area to practice rescues and rolls. While I was a little too knackered to try the rolls, Fiona was brave enough to give it a go. So we're now sore and stiff in places that I wasn't even aware had muscles in them. But we had a great group, good instructors and a fabulous sunny day - so no complaints. I think we might even try it again.
Bonus item: a couple of stitched panoramas from the vacation - Lake Geneva and the Plage Notre Dame on Porquerolles.
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