So Now I'm Sitting in Groningen...

somewhere in the north of The Netherlands. And, happily, I've been corrected in not calling the country "Holland". That, in fact, is the name of one of the seven provinces, from whence the sea farers ventured off into the vast blue unknown in days of yore, some ne'er to return having been eaten by sea dragons and the occasional cannibal...but I digress. Switzerland was great, amazing how so many other cultures have influences there. We were subject to only two of them though. In Zurich, we had the German influence, while in Lugano we had the Italian. It's all very confusing when you're in the country. Travel from one side of the Alps to the other and you're talking a different language, expriencing a different way of working, different levels of service, and so on. Anyway...that was then, this is now. And right now, it's 11degC and drizzling outside. Lugano was warming up quite nicely, trees blossoming everywhere. Late yesterday, when we arrived in The Netherlands, it was sunny but cool. Pleasant. As the evening wore on, while we were driving up from Amsterdam to Groningen (just over an hour at light speed, or at least, Arjan speed) it got a little cooler and some cloud moved in. But then again, as the song goes, "Always take the weather with you"...cos there's fuckall you can do about it. Luckily I bought a decent raincoat in Zurich. I'm not quite sure what's happening over the weekend, but knowing Arjan, it'll be interesting and that's the main thing, though I'm quite happy to be bored too. We took a short walk through the town centre earlier today, and it reminded me very much of the little towns all over Europe...not too many cars, picturesque little parks with quaint old buildings, friendly people. Speaking of which, the Dutch have a quaint way of greeting each other. If you were anywhere else in the world and someone shouted "Hoi!" at you, you'd either wonder what you'd done, or punch the knob in the face. Here, though, it's a friendly way to greet someone, and it's done by everyone ranging from toddlers to geriatrics. I think it's great... Anyway...I'm ignoring my hosts, who are great people, so I'll leave you all with a friendly "Hoi!" and speak to you soon...