Fizzy Pink Wine and Heart Yoga

Vanessa and I went to the beach last night.  The beach near Den Haag is called Scheveningen and it's amazing.  We met up around 7pm, and walked along the sand.  People on the beach are just so amazing.  I saw a little girl with a potato chip bag that was three fourths her size completely filled with ocean water.  I also saw a man in his prime, 40s maybe, in a very nice outfit, dress pants and shirt, sitting in the sand picking out shells.  :-D  How can anyone be sad or feel lonely with business men playing in the sand!

The best part of Scheveningen is the row of restaurants and cafes that run along the beach.  Each one has couches and beds for people to lounge on!  I've never seen beds on the beach before!  Vanessa and I found a nice one and piled up with a bunch of pillows and drank rosé and ate bitterballen and garlic bread as the sunset over the ocean.  Perfect.  After dark, we wandered down the line of cafés.  At night they all set up mini-bon fires at each couch so you can be warm on chilly summer nights!  It's just so beautiful!  There are people everywhere, barefoot, smiling, drinking tropical drinks.  And the the sun sets and the fires come on and the ocean glows blue in the darkness, and the pier makes everything sparkle yellow.  Life as it's being lived!

Lolpod:  The train to Den Haag was late (which was good, because so was I!), and I was thirsty so I stopped at the snack kiosk to get a drink.  Lipton Ice Tea.  No lemon.  I get on the train, sit down, settle in, open my drink, and almost drown.  Not because I spilled my drink.  No, because it was CARBONATED.  Now, water is one thing, but...iced tea?  Carbonated.  Iced...tea?  I was so taken aback, I had to laugh out loud.  Just when you think you're getting a hold on how the world works; carbonated tea!  :-D  Let that be a lesson to you!

Today I got up rather late (after being woken up early by a text from Robert! :-)  I can't really complain!)  and took my day slowly.  I went down to the market and got some food from an olive vendor and I got some gummy frogs from the candy vendor.  :-)  

The sun shone for a while today, but around 4pm it got cloudy and even thundered a few times.  But nothing came of it.  No rain, no cold weather.  I took a bike ride around, and just breathed the city in.  I also bought Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, since my German has suffered so dearly in the past few months.  And then back to the Burcht, and back to Obama's book.  He has definitely moved me to tears once or twice!

I just did an hour of yoga and my body is very thankful.  Ah, how much of myself I have neglected!  I subscribe to YOGAmazing, a yoga podcast, and I really like it.  I did a heart opening sequence, and a relaxation sequence as well.  I remember Neel, my friend and sometime guru in Knoxville, telling me about the dangers of not letting your heart chakra lead you.  Wise man, that Neel.  I feel warmer, calmer now.  More like myself.  I'm happy.  :-)

Lolpod: Nothing really made me laugh out loud today.  In public at least.  This, however, made me laugh out loud in the privacy of my room: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=uiKIlwNVElY

:-D