I arrived in the Netherworld(s) a week ago ( or at least that's what my friend coined it ), after having had to delay my trip with a day, due to feeling like crap that had gone through the drain, the day before I was supposed to fly.
I still felt like sh*t far from great, a day later, but I had a Christmas dinner at my sister's planned for Christmas Eve and I didn't want to miss that one.
A week has passed and I now have two Christmas dinners and two days with my buddy behind me, as well as a day spent with my younger sister and my two Dutch nephews and loads of time spent at - and with - my mom's, doing fairly little ( basically the stuff she is used to doing ) and playing scrabble, among other things and, of course, going on walks without my mom ( who can barely walk these days ).
To get back to The Netherworld...
Winters might have grown warmer ( and wetter ) over here, since my childhood, but it's far from a fiery furnace out here. In fact, sunshine seems to have become a rarity.
There's also no red man with pointy ears and a pitchfork taking pleasure in torturing pour souls
or at least I don't think that's what the Dutch prime minister or King look like. This might still change.
Here's some pics of the Dutch polder near Gouda, the cheese city I grew up in.
It's super green and wet ( 200 rainy days a year are no joke ), even more so than per usual and too warm for ice (skating).
It's also super flat, hence the title of my post.
The previous picture, the frosty one, was taken days before my trip, on a walk in my neighborhood in Portugal. Out there, the mornings and nights are way colder than here in Holland, Northern Europe.
Ice Age anyone? ;^)
After all, the world has been in an interglacial for way too long.
Oh and I almost forgot: I am about to move house soon ( next month? ) and while I was here, in Gouda, I also managed to make sure I acquire a new place to live ( in Portugal ), 20 minutes cycling away from my current apartment, off-grid and with a hectare of land.
Looking forward to the contrast, once again!
To Be Convinued
Hope you're all keeping cosy or cool wherever you find yourself on this planet.
Much love and good vibes and enjoy this colorful duck that I photographed on today's afternoon walk ✨