Coming soon: The Big Red Bicycle Tour

1 rented Amsterdam street bike
1 town bike of 1940's Swedish design
1 polaroid camera
2 increasingly un-athletic guys from England
6 days
350 kilometers (approx)

No lycra
Tourists and residents-a-like now take their coffee outside. Daffodils fill green voids in the middle of roundabouts. My winter jacket has been replaced with a thinner and cooler jacket. Spring is in the air and everything feels a little more free, joyful, alive and sexy.

Throughout the fast approaching easter vacation, i aim to be free, joyful, alive and sexy in the following Dutch towns and cities, from the Netherlands to Belgium; Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Zandvoort, Scheveningen, Den Haag, Delft, Rotterdam, Sommelsdijk, Burgh, Middelburg and Bergen op Zoom.

Nearly a year after our South Korean walkabout (see here and here), Mr Neil Byrne will once again be my companion in moderate adventure. Last year it was hiking and bus-ing around the Korean peninsula, this year we'll be carving ourselves thighs like Ruel Fox while exploring Dutch cities, countryside & coastlines.If all goes to plan, a train ride back to Amsterdam and a well-earned sauna will ensue.

Zorba the Greek pie: A receipe

Cooking is a new hobby. The kitchen is a nice place to be. If i had a Facebook account, i would up-date my status with; "does nice things with spinach."
I (middle) have many reasons to be thankful to these two people (left and right).

They are housemates, landlords, landladies, friends, family and sources of wisdom & inspiration. He (left) also happens to a be a great cook and she (right) is a vegetarian. This combination means that i'm learning to cook creative, eating healthier and breaking wind more often.On the sideboard:
A glass of beer to sip while preparing
Pastry
Fresh spinach
Feta cheese
Eggs
Cream
Oregano, salt & pepper,
Potatoes
Various greens, reds, yellows and oranges for your favourite salad

On the iPod:
I prefer latin or reggae in the kitchen. As it's getting close to summer and we made the switch from red to rose, lets go for some feel good sunshine Bob Marley.

First, gather an oven dish and grease with butter or from forehead if it's a hot day. Take a square of pastry and make a cut in each corner approx. an inch long. Fold up and squeeze tight to form a modest pastry tray or raft. One average person will eat two of these.Fill half your raft(s) with chopped and squeezed spinach. Take a second to enjoy a sip of beer.Next, crumble some feta over the top of the spinach. Then in a bowl, beat a couple of eggs and add cream. Stir, little darlin' stir it up (that line as a cooking pun was stolen from Jason Mraz, thank-you, J). Pour the desired amount over the spinach and feta, sprinkle with oregano. Be generous. Put your generosity in the oven for 20mins at 250 degrees.Meanwhile, for dishes on the side I prefer a leafy salad with cherry tomatoes and fried potatoes. Serve with a smile, salt, pepper, mayonaise for the potatoes and salad dressing. As spring is in the air, go for rose. Enjoy.What's English for bon appetit?

Being retro in Amsterdam

Since moving to Amsterdam 5 months ago, cycling has become a large part of who i am. The city is best experienced on an old bike, weaving in and out of tourists, dodging trams, taking in surroundings and making sure to get off and explore often.

Riding a bike is a good thing. Its good exercise, it gets you outside, its green, it costs next to nothing and it can represent a small but significant fuck you to those who govern. They'd prefer you in a car. You have to pay insurance, tax, tax on fuel, fuel, fines for speeding and all those maintenance costs.

Cycling is self-governed. I have the freedom to go where i want, whenever i want. I am free like the wind. Travelling green and moulding myself a pair of thighs like Stuart Pearce's. For someone who has owned a car since age 18, cycling also represents a transportational step-back. A role back to retro, and that brings delight.

Considering my not so new cameras and not so new years resolution, role back to retro is a suitable theme for todays mutterings.

Having broke my camera in Stockholm last week, i decided to frequent the Marktplaats website (Dutch eBay) for a new one. Feeling generous about treating myself, i bought two, what credit crunch!? The combine cost of the two cameras was 40euros. 20euros each for a Holga and a Polaroid.

If digital photography is an automatic weapon, the Holga and Polaroid represent the gun with the flower petal tucked inside. There's no fun in digital photography; you aim, shoot and get pretty much what you desired. If total destruction wasn't achieved, you can then go back to re-edit the moment and change history. All too easy. All too joyless. "Live in the moment" is the slogan on the Polaroid box. A-men. The moment might not be perfect but those imperfections make it different, unique, fun and most importantly, real.

Handwritten letters are also real. Their envelopes wear the scars and crumbles of various postmen and women, maybe even a footprint from a brief stay on a sorting room floor. The postal stamp paints a mini history with a time and a place mark of its origin. As the envelope is torn open it could almost be Christmas. Photos, cards and other souvenirs may accompany the letter, which guarantees someone took the time and cares. It can be cherished, read and re-read again & again and won’t disappear into pixels on your laptop screen.

Handwritten letters are probably the opposite to social networking. For this reason and maybe a couple more, i have eventually followed through with a new years resolution and deleted my facebook account. In even the smallest grand scheme of things, that’s a non-existent news piece. I dis-like how much time it takes up, one e-mail inbox and a blog is ore than enough online communication. For everything else, I’m available here in person. And for everything else, the postman will pass it on.

Try it yourself, I promise it will make you feel warm and smiley…

* Light a candle

* Listen to a record

* Listen to some motown

* Listen to some 60's rock

* Write someone a letter

* Spend time with a grandparent

* Make conversation with an elderly stranger

* Buy a polaroid

* Watch Gilda

For this perspective and much more besides, i thank the older and wiser people in my sphere of influence.

-Billingham,
Amsterdam, 1986