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• Post #3168958

  It’s that time of year again in the Netherlands. Little sign posts marking a route, kids in hi-vis cycling, and adults in high-vis observing = the #cycling proficiency test for Year 6. It allegedly features an “unexpected traffic situation”, like a vehicle unloading on the bike path. Very realistic!

• Post #3168957

  1. There was one sole single cooling thunderstorm in the Netherlands this morning and it was for the #Leiden area 2. I slept badly so made the best lazy decision at 6:30 not to go running which meant I wasn't outside when the storm spun up out of nowhere Hope you all have a good start to your day :)

• Post #3168956

  No less appreciated than polite racing cyclists, are the seniors on e-bikes who announce their numbers as they come up behind. 🙏 I didn’t get why I was getting passed when I first moved to NL. Was I so unfit, were Dutch seniors so fit?! Yes they are, but also, that’s how I learned about e-bikes 😂

• Post #3168955

  Truly #Leiden is beloved of the rain gods. This is the third day in a row when we get cooling rain out of nowhere while the rest of the Netherlands gets little or nothing. It's almost enough to make me deploy hashtag blessed, but I'll reserve that for the city to show we're not suffering in German.

• Post #3168954

  Half an hour on the top floor of a post-war building and I feel sorry for the people who were here all day 🥵 Once, I dreamed of travelling from summer in Aotearoa to summer in the Netherlands and back again. Now Aotearoa in August looks good!

• Post #3168953

  Donald Pols was algemeen directeur of a well-known environmental group, but left to become directeur of sustainability and communication for Tata Steel. On day 2, they fired him when they found out he'd been the leader of a pro-apartheid student group in South Africa. My head can't keep up.

• Post #3168952

  The wind is nice and wooshy, my favourite weather, reminds me of home. But I have to keep the window closed to block out someone regularly setting off a bomb or two in the evening. Didn’t sound like the container it was in survived this time. Wish they’d put themselves in the bin while they’re at it

• Post #3168951

  A favourite post-run lunch is yakisoba from the #Leiden market. They actually specialise in okonomiyaki (Hiroshima version) but it was these noodles that called to me today. Some German tourists even stopped to ask where I’d got my food from.

• Post #3168950

  Someone just sent me a recipe for an Italian lemon cake that has 9 egg yolks. 9! I didn’t ask, “in this economy?” because they’re not one of the terminally online, so I’m saying it here. Anyway, that’s a lot of collateral meringues.