Work trip to Zeist, Netherlands - 6th to 8th January 2009

What better way to start the year, than with a work trip to the Netherlands? In the middle of a huge cold snap in the UK, the Dutch had an even worse one. It was foggy, the fog was freezing, there was snow and ice, and it got down to -10C. I often think that UK weather is bad, but other places seem to have extremes that we just don't get close to. It was so cold (and slippery) at times, that it was just funny rather than annoying.

I was staying in Zeist, which is a pretty rich town by the looks of things. One of those places that's near enough to the big cities to be useful, but from which you can just walk off into the forest. Not surprisingly, a lot of well off people choose to live there, because it is a lovely place to live if you like peace and quiet.

For dinner one night, we ventured out of the hotel, to a Chinese restaurant. It seemed to be quite busy, and there were even some Chinese people in there - always an encouraging sign. I have experienced the ubiquity and strangeness of Dutch Chinese restaurants before, and this was another such experience. It turned out that the place was full because it was their Tuesday "all you can eat" night, so we got to enjoy weird satay stuff, and a bizarre mix of Chinese, Indian and Indonesian food. I know that UK versions of ethnic foods are probably not 100% authentic, but the Dutch versions are even less so.

My journey home was one of those bad ones that happen from time to time. It was an especially foggy day, but the airport seemed to be open, and flights were leaving OK. I waited there for a few hours, until my flight was boarding - whereupon they cancelled it. Apparently, fog in London had closed City airport - typical that the UK weather caused chaos, whereas the (worse) Dutch weather caused no issues at all. A quick call got me the last available seat on a Heathrow flight - involving an hour's delay and an annoying detour. The whole experience reminded me of how crap the UK can be at times, and how much better the Netherlands seems to be on so many fronts!