We have had two firsts: our first ever New Year's Eve in The Netherlands as a family. In our recollection we have never been home since Piet and Mary left The Netherlands, now 24 and 26 years ago. We were either "home abroad" or skiing in France. What surprised us the most was the constant fireworks during the day, culminating at midnight when all hell broke loose...it felt like Bagdad being bombed! We have similar memories from our youth, but for the girls this was a real eye-opener.
The second first was the New Year's dive at Scheveningen beach, a tradition we have seen on television before, and always wondered why people want to go swimming in freezing temperatures. This year the girls were adamant to join, and they convinced their nephews Bart and Max to come over from Belgium as well. Their timing was perfect, they managed to get tickets (yes, you need them!), which were sold out very quickly. There is just a nominal entry fee, partly to support a charity, as the dive is sponsored by Unox, a famous Dutch sausage and soup brand. Everybody gets an orange hat, and at noon 10,000 people were sprinting towards the sea to get wet and cold. Luckily the weather was reasonable: dry, 7 degrees, but with a chilly wind. Piet came a bit later and never saw the kids, and made some pictures from a distance; the main beach is closed off for the participants. After the dive there was hot soup for all the swimmers. And in the afternoon there were many orange hats walking and cycling in The Hague.
