Quick Visit to Friesland
The IJsselmeer from the AflsluitdijkUnlike previous years, the last weekend before the Discworld Convention was not devoted to organising and gathering various things for it. Instead, Wingnut and me spent last weekend in Friesland. Which is why my repaired Werewolf cards are only now drying underneath a pile of dictionaries.
We managed to make it to the wedding weekend on time by flying from the small London City Airport, which is a handy 30 minutes away from us. It was the first time I'd flown with KLM in years. Because they're not a budget airline, they served food onboard the 45 minute flight. Homeopathic cheese sandwiches.
Being driven from Schiphol to the small village in Friesland meant it was the first time I got to cross the Afsluitdijk, the big dike that joins North Holland and Friesland and thus dams off the (former) Zuiderzee.
It was a weekend for beautiful views. That night the brightest moonlight I've ever seen fell across the farmhouse and fields. The next night, a group of us left the warmth of the party fires to check on the progress of the eclipse. The moon was mostly obscured and was a dark copper brown. I do love lunar eclipses.
Less beautiful is my left leg which was bitten by a mosquito. Now there's something I don't miss in London. There's a small bruise right above the bite so it looks like the mosquito punched me before biting. We will not speak of the location of the other bite, only to say that mozzies ain't got no respect these days.