Just got back from a week off work and 4 days in Groesbeek, Holland. Wow, I needed that. Sam and I went in the wee car, which almost didn’t break down at all, and we had many experiences including:

• ferry restaurant (great)
• ferry cabaret (scary/terrible)
• being absolutely rat-arsed on a boat (good way to get your sea-legs)
• dutch roads and drivers (impatient but courteous)
• dutch park-and-ride (WAAAAY cheaper than in England at 2 euros per car, up to 5 passengers)
• pannenkoeken
• trying to buy lead-replacement petrol in Dutch when the pump says “lood vervangen” but the attendant doesn’t seem to think you want “lood vervangen” then discovering that there is in fact no “lood vervangen” petrol left anyway.
• water in the float chambers on the carbs
• Playing Ricochet Robots on the new style board and being rubbish at it
• Teaching Lorri how to play Go and finding out how scarily formidable her mind is
• loads of really good samba-based easy listening on vinyl in the beer tent
• how to pick your way through a muddy field wearing only gay trainers
• Some really great acts in the show
• a dutch transport Caff
• getting fairly ratted on a ferry and juggling to a room deserted by all but a stag party at the end of its life
• brit yobs getting arrested and holding up the disembarkation
• a crash within minutes of starting to drive in britain
• land-sickness (whydoes the cafe floor seem to be moving, when I happen to know it’s not?)