Karnival ...

The university is closed for Karnival festivities and southern Netherlands is very much alive ... some images from 3 days of spectacle in Maastricht, Eindhoven and 's-Hertogenbosch (yes, the town's name actually starts with an apostrophe) ... perhaps the most authentic way to experience the Netherlands !

Nijmegen for a day ...

My winter months in Nijmegen have seen little but rain and work (and episodes of The A-Team with Dutch subtiltes ... after countless hours of direct observation and inquiry, I can report conclusively that "I pity tha fool" has no direct Dutch translation) ... so when we had an unseasonal day of sun yesterday, I emerged from my hibernation to explore my surroundings in search of some eccentric beauty ...