Enjoying the Amsterdam summer

Henk en Charles, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Yesterday, it was 31 degrees in Amsterdam, again the hottest place in Europe. Henk and I took our bicycles out and cycled up into Waterland, along the dyke past Durgerdam and stopping every now and then for a swim in the IJsselmeer. The water was very warm, having had five days of hot sun beating down on the 2 meters of water there is the the lake. beautiful, just right for cooling down.

later, we would meet Fred and Annemiek for a drink or two in the centre watching everyone walk past in their summer clothes, and as the evening wore on , there were more and more yellow T-shirts, being worn by the Brazilian supporters, as Brazil were due to play their first match at 9.00.

Back home, we all sat out on the balcony eating the pizzas we had ordered from the nearby Pizza Pescara, not something we normally do, but it was summer day, of care-free living.

Today, a front came over and it didn't get above 17 degrees, while the garden is getting some much needed rain. Not exactly the best of days, as I often get to feel very tired when the weather changes so dramatically.

Somehow, I have convinced myself that Italy have an excellent chnace of winning the World Cup and had a bet on them to win at 10-1. was also thinking of a bet on David Villa of Spain to score the most goals, having read an article about him. He was 28-1, but by the time the teams had been announced and I went back to put some money on (as he had been picked), they had closed down teh betting market. Two goal later and he is now 5-1 favourite, with the pospect of scoring a bunch of goals against the very weak looking Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.