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Non Sequitur: Scotland, Graduation and Paris?
August 2009
Nope! Not the name of my new post-structuralist novel, but indeed a string of real non sequitur events that occurred in August 2009.
Aye! That's Edinburgh, Scotland, for Ye, Ye Wee, Daft Lad...
This year we had resolved to see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. This particular idea took a hold of me based upon a viewing of a recorded Military Tattoo while sampling Scotch during a visit to my friend Bill at his Mom's house in Cowdenbeath last year. Bill and the Whisky both undoubtedly encouraged the notion. Because the Military Tattoo sells out many months ahead of time, we had to start booking things around New Year. As such, this trip was planned and anticipated for nearly nine months, which led to a great deal of excitement and anticipation.
The Military Tattoo is contemporaneous to the world famous Edinburgh Festival, so I also booked several theatrical and comedy-related performances for us to see. In particular we saw a great avant guarde Romanian stage adaptation of Faust. We also saw a selection of BBC comedians, and a production of Odysseus with opera and puppets (OK, it sounded more exciting than it was). Indeed, the Edinburgh festival is overwhelming in scope. Not only is the traditional festival going on, but there is also the Fringe Festival, for smaller and underground acts. The whole month of August, one could nearly spend the whole month hopping in and out of productions and only see a portion of the thick catalogue of shows available. For those who love live performance, my recommendation is try to get to the Edinburgh Festival!
It was great to see my pal Bill again. We go way back to undergraduate days in post-Thacherian Britain, circa 1991 (I think when you can reasonably apply the word 'circa' to a period in your life, it may mean you are on the cusp of dotage). This was the first time Bill met Marloes, so that in itself was a good outcome from our visit. Bill was, and always has been, a wonderful host, driving us all around town several days in a row, showing us the sights and generally taking us to out of the way spots that the typical tourist would not know about. We went to historical pubs (including the Red Lion in Culross) visited the Falkirk Wheel, the town of Culross, and Linlithgow Palace, residence of most of the Stewart Kings.
We also played 'skittles' a traditional form of wooden pin bowling, at what is claimed to be the oldest licensed pub location in Scotland from the 1360's, The Sheeps Heid in Duddingston Edinburgh. Bill instructed us on a lovely walk through the city and to the harbor, the Water of Leith Walkway, and we duly walked to Leith, an intriguing seaside region of greater Edinburgh. Bill recommended to me the novels of Ian Rankin based on his character Inspector Rebus; I bought the novel 'The Falls' and found it quite evocative of the feel and history of Edinburgh. Marloes and I made the best of our time, but also had time to relax in the hotel, go to the sauna, etc. One trip of note was to the Scotch Whisky museum, where we took a ride explaining the process of making Whisky, tasted representative regional whiskys, and visited the worlds largest collection of single malts (pictures available via below link).
Edinburgh and environs are indeed a beautiful, historical and complex multi-layered region. Not blithely lovely, but I would say haunted in many ways as well. Our visit was relatively short and was tempered by the fever of the Festival and the Tattoo. However, this is indeed a remarkable city of note and one I plan to return to...
PHOTOS FROM SCOTLAND TRIP
From under the face of Edinburgh Castle, the (Sir Walter) Scots Monument in the background
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Graduation: Masters of Financial Management
Nary a day had elapsed upon return from Edinburgh but I received my Masters Degree in Financial Management from the Erasmus Rotterdam School of Management (RSM). (As an aside, I have been waiting many months to use the word 'nary' in a proper sentence). Hard won was this study, I not being a mathematician by any stretch, though faced with a quantitatively intensive subject. Admittedly, graduation day found me a bit too fatigued to celebrate with abandon (i.e.: all night long), having just recently finished my thesis and then traveled immediately (see above), but it was gratifying indeed to see my classmates and to share the milestone with them. The best experience of the study indeed was to meet such a diverse, wonderful group of people from all over the world. We learned from each other indeed, and the years will show that the techniques of finance are useless without the facility to mesh and interact with others well. Everyone was and is remarkable, talented, and, most importantly (as I increasingly find), they have a great sense of humor! With the financial crisis hanging over the study like a gloomy cloud, people kept (and keep) their spirits up and look to the future.
PHOTOS FROM GRADUATION
"IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise...
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!"
- Rudyard Kipling
Oh La La! Paris!
Kind complements of my mother-in-law, Loes, myself, Marloes, JP (Marloes' brother) and his wife Mirjam were treated to a weekend in Paris. With a little sleep on the super fast Euro Star (three hour trip from Den Hague), I was refreshed and ready. We had wonderful weather and set about visiting the Eiffel Tower, the Paris Catacombs, Notre Dame de Paris, Sainte-Chappelle, Basilique du Sacre Cour, and the ever overwhelming, magnificent Louvre. The Louvre in particular was amazing. I've been there in the past, but have always rushed through in a few hours, missing quite a bit each time. I must dedicate two full days in a future trip...
The best part of the trip was getting time to spend with JP and Mirjam. We are usually pretty busy, but they, raising two wonderful children, Pieter and Elise, are busier x2! Thus, having some quiet time for contemplation, chatting and seeing the sights was a rare treat amongst us. We are hoping to repeat in the future sometime, but for now were happy that we could spend a wonderful weekend with great weather in one of the most remarkable cities on earth.
PHOTOS FROM PARIS TRIP
Mirjam, JP, and Marloes in front of Notre Dame Cathedral on a lovely Paris day!
Den Haag: Famke, Daughter of Marieke and Stefan
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