Hoi hoi

Harlingen was our next stop as we thought we might take a day trip to one of the Wadden Islands, the chain of islands that runs along the north the Netherlands and Germany. The site was on the waterfront, right next to a fish factory, but handy for town. (The fishy smell only bothered me a couple times and we got used to the noise from the refridgerators...)

Just to keep in practice here's a then and now:

The town had a wealthy feel to it, and like all Dutch towns we've visited it was remarkably litter and graffiti free. We've not had a truly representative experience I know, but it is quite noticeable. The citizens all great each other with "hoi hoi" so we've taken that up.

We wandered the streets until we came across a gathering of people. It was a Lanenkaatsen tournament and it seemed every citizen of Harlingen was there, either playing or watching. You all know how to play Lanenkaatsen so I won't bore you with the rules. The game we watched was quite tight with the red team just sneaking in by a kaatsen or two at the end. We left with plenty of games left to play and the rest of town was like a ghost town. We felt sorry for two kids we saw kicking a ball around as they had obviously forgotten where they were supposed to be. Losers.

 Let battle commence!

 This young lady had an off day with her serving so was near to tears at times.

The young lady facing us also started badly but picked up her game and scored some winners.

This bloke was 25 when he started explaining the rules to us.