So, that's the end of my fifth week in the Netherlands. The mood here is good, after Holland came back from certain defeat just as England was snatched from the jaws of victory. Tommorrow I finally move out of my cell in the Hotel Fidder into my new digs, in Kampen, ten minutes up the railway. Hopefully, that should be a massive improvement in quality of life.
The world of coincidence grew again this week, as I started working with a new signalling designer who's come across from England. His name is John Caddick, he's from Chippenham, and he worked at Westinghouse twenty-five years ago. Welcome to the twilight zone.
Friday there is a market in Zwolle, and a few of us fancied a fresh fish lunch, so we headed into town. Everyone else had bikes, so work lent me one. Now, I haven't ridden a bicycle in fifteen years, but I figure it's just like riding a bike, right? It's a bit big for me (the Dutch are seriously tall), but that's cool. It's got a bell but, get this, no brakes. You have to peddle backwards to slow down. Oh, yeah, and the whole wrong side of the road thing is fine till you have to turn left, which is seriously disorienting, or use a roundabout. Still, I got back in one piece, a bit sore (for people who cycle so much, they haven't got comfortable saddles).
Anyway, I'm off for a swift pint before I finish packing to move. Live from Zwolle.
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