Quacking up

The other day I was cycling along, minding my own business, when I caught a glimpse of another cyclist, travelling in the opposite direction. There was something weird about his face. As he cycled closer I realised that he was wearing a false beak. He saw me looking and started to quack out loud. I love Amsterdam. It's the only place in the world where a man dressed as a duck on a bike offers you a performance for free... and it seems totally normal.

Pluk de Nacht

They were screening 'Eagle Vs. Shark' (a black comedy from New Zealand) as part of the film festival 'Pluk de Nacht' last night. Me and my friend Natalie decided to go along. It was so great to cycle over there, set up a couple of camping chairs next to the water, grab a beer and settle down to watch a good movie under the night sky. Okay, the weather isn't exactly typical for August at the moment, but we brought blankets with us and there were a few bonfires burning around the place, making it the cosiest film experience I can remember.

Shoving up at de Parade

Every year De Parade comes to town and I fully intend to visit, but this year was the first time that I finally got round to it. I had so much fun I kicked myself for not trying it before.

De Parade (pronounced par-ah-der) is a festival ground full of performance tents and trailers, each concealing a potential treat. Visitors queue to buy tickets for short performances, which happen at regular times throughout the evening. The whole thing goes on for a couple of weeks in Amsterdam each summer. The festival brochure gives a vague description of what to expect, but you never really know until you turn up and take your place on the bench inside of one of the tents (and if last night was anything to go on then it's also the chance to make friends quickly with your neighbours....there was a good deal of 'shuffling up' to pack us all in there).

While you wait for your performance there are plenty of cozy cafes and bars set up, strung with little lights and offering temptations such as tapas, a decent bottle of wine or lovely Italian icecream. The atmosphere last night was fantastic (helped by the fact it was one of those rare evenings this year when it didn't rain).

The whole idea of going to De Parade was to check out a show by Spinvis, until I realised that the last performance was last Thursday (another great piece of organisation by me). Instead we saw two shows, randomly selected from the brochure. Both were completely daft; one was great and the other was pretty bad (a couple of people mucking around to various records, but it made me laugh anyway... mostly due to the fact that we'd be quaffing wine the whole evening). The second show was hilarious: 'Schuif es Op' (which I think translates as 'shove up') by a 'Mr Bean-style' cabaret artist called Eric Koller who entertained us all with some clever visual sketches, chosen jukebox-style by the audience.

I regretted the wine today though - marathon training is just getting to that point where the body complains if you ask it to run in the heat for a couple of hours with no water and a hangover. Surprise surprise....

Beach volleyball without the sunburn

Last week's new 'Amsterdam Experience' was a visit to 'The Sand', a beach volleyball centre nowhere near a beach. In fact it was inside a warehouse in the middle of an ugly industrial estate, stuck out near to not-so-glamorous Sloterdijk station in the North of Amsterdam. The Dutch are very good at dumping some sand and a few potted palm trees where it suits them and creating their own seaside experience. In fact, they'd done a great job in creating a bit of an ambience, and although it wasn't quite Bondai beach, it was great to feel the sand between my toes and to make a brave (but not entirely successful) attempt at scoring some points in a mini-tournament played with my workmates.


I created my own mini Bondai beach on my bathroom floor on my return. You'd be amazed how much sand fell out of my surf shorts when I took them off for a shower. Oh, the glamorous life of us volleyball pro's....