August 6 - 7, 2007 Trolls, Nettles, Americans and other Oddities Found Lurking in the English Countryside

Shakespeare's Way is a 146-mile footpath from Stratford-upon-Avon to London. Our friend Andrew Spender decided to hike the entire footpath in 9 days. We wanted to be part of it, so we flew into Heathrow Airport on August 5th and drove (yes, on the left, well mostly) up to a town called Chipping Norton. There, we met Andrew, and the next morning, Richard Hough. Andrew had just completed the first 2 days of hiking - a total of 31 miles. For August 6th we set out to hike to Woodstock - some 16 miles in one day. There would be 4 of us that day - and here we are:

L. to R. Chuck, Steve, Andrew, Richard

Here's a video from early in the hike:



The entire footpath is marked by these little stickers on fenceposts, signs, gates, etc.

Below is Steve and Andrew enjoying lunch at Enstone. Good thing the pub was closed, we probably wouldn't have gone any further.

Below is our fearless leader Mr. Spender with the map, and Richard
Throughout the hike are these gates to keep sheep, cows, and at least some Americans from over-running the place.
On our second day (Andrew's 4th day) Steve, Andrew and I continued from Woodstock toward Oxford. We stopped to visit Winston Churchill's grave.
There are these plants known as Stinging Nettles. Although inocuous-looking little green leafy plants, they sting the hell out of your legs. In the video below, you will hear Spends issue a Nettle Advisory to his American proteges.


Disaster struck midway through this day, as Spender's boots disintegrated for reasons that were not apparent, but likely due to something in the soil. They have been sent in to the manufacturer for lab analysis. In the meantime, he used Chuck's hiking boots to finish the hike from Oxford to London - 88 miles in another man's shoes.

Most of the hike was dry, but there were some famously wet areas, such as this field shown below, in which Tails is seen attempting to traverse without sinking up to his knees.
Once we arrived at the Oxford Canal, it was easy going for a while.
For the Americans, it ended up being a 2-day, 27-mile hike. It was 16 miles the first day, and 11 miles the 2nd day.
In the video below, our mood brightens as we approach Oxford.

Below is our Food and Beverage guy - the so-called F + B guy, none other than Mr. Dave Rock, who offered professional ground support throughout the 2 days. He is pictured below standing outside of Christ Church at Oxford University, where our hike ended, and we sent Spends on his way with a fresh set of boots and a smile. And a beer.

4 Augustus 2007 All of Amsterdam Honors Gay Culture

Poets, philosophers, and even politicians sometimes speak of human equality. But in Amsterdam, they practice it. Actually, they rejoice in it. So, although the Dutch are well known for their pragmatism, they are much more than merely pragmatic, they present a model for human dignity and respect - we're all in this together, and our differences are to be celebrated. My first taste of this was on Rembrandtplein, Vrijdag nacht, 3 Augustus. These two drag-queen types below showed up and were parading around chatting everybody up. All of the locals were smiling, laughing, and enjoying a fun time with them. Even the tourists joined in and took photos and just enjoyed the whole scene. It was like, hey, these guys are having a good time! Proost!

The next 4 photos are courtesy of nighttours.com, where you can find a photo collection of the entire Canal Parade on Zaterdag (Saturday). The Canal Parade is the highlight of Gay Pride weekend and consists of a parade of canal boats -just like floats in a traditional American street parade - cruising by on one of Amsterdam's main canals, the Prinsengracht. This map
shows the route.

The boats contain straight, queer, bi, transgender, gay, lesbian, drag, cross-dressing, people of all stripes and types. A beautiful celebration of diversity and acceptance. It was awesome to watch hundreds of thousands of people cheering on the blatant non-heterosexuality of the event. Plus, most of the boats were blaring out really great music, and everybody was laughing their heads off!
Actually click on this link from Youtube.com to see a 4-minute video of the parade.

Below are two Dutch friends of ours that went to the parade with us - It's Edwin and Afra - obviously having a great time! Plus Anne just behind them.
In the photo below are Rob, Piet, Chuck and Kathleen. That's Anne in the lower right corner of the photo doing a Nicky -get- in -the -picture.
Below is Afra, Nick, and Heather.
This guy was cool. I was standing on the Reguliersgracht bridge over the Prinsengracht when he pulled up on this cool bike. Check out the heels! Hey - who is that doing a Nicky-get-in-the-picture with the green blouse on?
Now, here's the famous Dutch pragmatism - they were selling ice-cold Grolsch beers with built-in foam insulation for street drinking. Below, Anne and Kat enjoy one. Or two.

These two guys were rocking out on one of the boats.
Jason is smiling......and so is Afra, sporting my Green Tilley Hat.
Here's MacGyver, Kat, and Anne (below)
Below is Jason, along with 4 of the coolest women in Amsterdam - two Americans and two Dutch - who could ask for anything more?

Hey - one more photo - Here's Uncle Buck with Kathleen!

Going Dutch

Wow. It's August 1st today, and the last few days have been really fun. We're going Dutch.
That is, chillin with our Dutch friends. Like below, This is Thomas van Hout and me at Zandvoort, which is a massive beach on the North Sea. This was on Monday (Maandag).


Below is Heather, on the left, and Afra. This photo was on the roof at #559 at our hotel.

Below is me and my sister Kathleen at the beach.

Below is Kathleen on the left, and Afra on the right, talking about important stuff.
Below is Afra on the left and Heather on the right at The Blue Teahouse, a restaurant in Vondelpark.
On Tuesday night, 31 July, 2007 Dave and I went out to dinner with Rob and Piet, two of our friends from Amsterdam. We took the ferry, with our bikes, over to the North of Amsterdam and ate at a harborside restaurant named IJ-kantine that was really awesome. Here is a photo below of us on the Ferry, L. to R. it is Dave, Piet, Rob, and Chuck.
Oh , I almost forgot - on Monday we also visited Haarlem, a small city near Amsterdam.