I was reading up on some conspiracy theories this evening. The sheer amount and the variety of topics are kind boggling!
It makes me wonder why we like conspiracy theories and why we as humans believe some obvious untruths. I am neither a psychologist nor a philosopher, but even so I find it fascinating.
What worries me about these theories and so many other things is that the people who suffer most are the ones who have no choice in the matter. The poor, vulnerable, uneducated or young always have to bear the brunt of other people’s decisions.
I lament the fact that so much money is wasted or stolen or just badly managed when it could have been used to uplift communities, provide essential services and make the world a better place.
I think the greatest conspiracy is that greed overpowers compassion and kindness, and we accept it as normal.
It’s been 10 weeks I since they closed everything. There’s an air of hope in the air as restaurants start preparing to open their terraces on the 1st of June.
I took the train for a bit of my journey back from the beach and put on my mask while on public transport. It isn’t mandatory yet but I guess its better to get in the habit. Did you know that if you wear a mask and glasses the latter fogs up? Well now you do. I recommend audiobooks if you intend to read on a train.
The beach break was exactly what I needed to charge my batteries and realise I need a longer vacation.
It’s been 69 days and I still have to check every day what was yesterday’s count.
I even noticed I counted a bit odd a couple of days ago and had to go back and edit the posts!
Today I continued my mini break at the beach with another long morning beach walk. The sand dune that separates the land from the sea is a nature reserve and I was delighted to see it was home to some wild ponies.
One thing about nature in the Netherlands is that the wind is nearly always there, and I’m even starting to enjoy the walks in the wind, especially if I can protect my ears in my hoodie.
I think there is a bit of magic in the space where land and water meets the sky. That is why I’m drawn back there, again and again!
At the end of the day we could celebrate life and the lovely break with a bit of bubbles at the hotel restaurant. In this time when I haven’t eaten in a restaurant for months, it’s a rare treat to be allowed to dine at a table that is not my own, even if its a bit weird being served at a distance.
Today I thoroughly enjoyed my minibreak. After sleeping in, practicing my Duolingo and catching up on social media I still had the time to walk on the beach before breakfast!
After breakfast we decided to visit the little villages around Zeeland for some sightseeing and shopping. I love the fact that in the middle of a little town like Burgh-Haamstede I can run into a castle and a statue of a knight!
We made it all the way to Middelburg, a bigger city and still beautiful, to continue our sightseeing and shopping excursion, before heading back to Renesse for a bit of chilling, reading and guitar playing.
I love that Zeeland has so many landscapes, the sea, the lush green farm land and a lot of ponies and horses!
So the thing about trains in the Netherlands, is, if you get on the wrong one it takes you twice as long to get there. I’m sure there’s a life metaphor in there, but that’s another story.
Today I donned my mask to get on a train to meet up with a friend, for a road trip. The journey included a metro and two regional trains, but due to the corona stuff, Google maps, the public transport app and thy sign boards were all giving different suggestions. The first part of the journey went well. I got on a metro that wasn’t on any app or board and still managed to get to my connecting station, a few minutes early, actually, and that’s where the trouble started.
Arriving on platform 2, as indicated by my travel advice app, there was a train showing its destination was the city I wanted to go to so I just got on. Oops. As soon as it pulled into the station I realised my mistake, because I took the train that stops in every town and suburb, in stead of the intercity which goes directly between cities. What is more, I took the one that took the long way round through the countryside. I am sure it would have been pretty scenic if I wasn’t irritated at myself for taking the wrong train. If I had waited 4 minutes for the next train, I would have been there 30 minutes earlier. I am sure there’s another metaphor in there…
What I did learn on the long train is that the wearing of masks causes additional strain to my neck while checking my phone. I guess I could say “while reading” but who am I trying to fool? The reason is twofold. Firstly the mask means you can’t just cast your eyes down but you have to tilt your head to see over the top of the mask, which isn’t such a comfortable posture. Secondly the mask tends to cause my glasses to fog up so I read my phone without them. It’s possible, but not advisable for longer periods due to the additional strain. Anyway, now I know.
By now you probably wonder about the road trip I mentioned, in passing. Well… Its a long weekend, its a beautiful day today and hopefully the good weather will continue, so a friend and I booked a trip to Zeeland to have a mini holiday on the Dutch coast. We found a location with good anti-Covid protocols in place and decided to practice social distancing in a different part of the country.
At last I can start exploring this new place that I have the privilege to live in.
This morning when I walked passed the rose garden in Vondelpark I picked up the scent of the beautiful roses.
The soft morning light and the light pink worked together to create the image of a vintage portrait.
I’ve always been fascinated by roses and even planted some rose bushes in the garden of my parents and even my own when I had my own place for a little while. But never have I seen them as big and lush as here, now, in the late spring of Covid Amsterdam. I stop to smell the roses, not because of some cliché, but because I am captivated by their abundant beauty.
Some of the pictures or roses I’ve taken on recent walks
While everything is so different, I hope you have a chance to notice the things that make you smile. I hope you get a moment to stop and smell the roses.
Some days I cook amazing meals, and other days it’s more like a failed experiment.
Today was neither of those. I did start out with a great plan but then realised that I will end up with enough food for a few days and frankly I don’t feel like eating it again and again. So I left out a couple of ingredients (beans and tomatoes) to unbulk it and that significantly changed the composition of the meal.
It wasn’t bad either. But it needed something to bring it together and I pulled out some old ideas from the random thought generator that is my head and voila! I had a gravy-ish mince dish with sweet potato wedges
The consistency reminded me that I have loved to add some brown onion soup powder and bits of potato, and then I’ll probably miss home and my mom’s cooking….
What new creations have you come up with in the kitchen?
I went for a long walk in the afternoon, to get my daily steps in, as long as some daylight and good vibes.
One of the downsides of working from home is that my ‘commute’ from the bedroom to the kitchen (COFFEE) to my desk doesn’t really allow for a lot of movement during the day. Luckily, the short ‘commute’ means I have a bit of free time at the end of the day, and a lot of energy.
As it happened, today I finished work at a normal hour, so I had time to work in a quick yoga practice, cook and enjoy dinner, and go for a 2 hour walk . Due to the long daylight hours I got home long before dark, and I even had time to practice a little guitar and watch a classic movie: Dirty Dancing! (What a movie, I wish I could learn to dance like that in a week)
As far as the yoga go, let me be clear: I am no expert. I haven’t done a lot of yoga in my life and I definitely do not know the names of all the poses, but I like that it makes me feel better. It really clears the mind and it feels so good to get my body moving. I watch videos from “Yoga with Adrienne“ on Youtube and I like her style, it is accessible even for someone who is a complete noob like me. Do people still use the term “noob”?
Anyway, the point is, it makes me feel good to move my body. I do not feel intimidated like the first two times I tried to attempt yoga classes. Keep doing things that make you feel good.
Today I was thinking again that I’m missing out on a lot of firsts in the “real Amsterdam”. Then I had a change of heart…
I think it’s fair to say that life as we know it will be a little bit different from now on. The business landscape has changed for sure, and so has the economy. Tourism will look different now, for many reasons, and one way or another this industry and others will rebuild itself.
In a city that is normally flooded with tourists, I now have the rare opportunity to experience it with mostly its residents alone. As time go buy business will develop and tourism will return, and hopefully in a more sustainable way than before.
Perhaps I am not missing out on the real Amsterdam experience; in stead I’m witnessing the rebirth of the city. No doubt it will take time and hardship, but in years to come we will remember the time the world stood still for a few months. I hope we will also see something good blossom out of this misery.
mcharlottesmith 