The reason we ended up going to Holland is because a nice man called Gosse asked if we were coming to Holland on my email and I said no but did he know anywhere we could play and he said he would try and then he went and got us a gig at Arnhem where he lives. Which I thought absolutely amazing.

Drove on wrong (right) side of road otherwise would crash all the way to Arnhem. Very exciting but all tired from journeying and also me = tired from having been in Australia. And then rushing to get ready for this.

We will go to Holland for one day then go to Germany for 5 days. Wonderful!

Kept ourselves going by playing nest and talking. (see CARGAMES section)

We arrived at Gosse’s house easily because his directions were correct. It was brilliant to see Gosse and Trix after talking to him on the email for so long.

I suddenly found out that his name is not pronounced Goss but you say Hosser as all Gs in Dutch are H but pronounced like you are going to spit something out. It’s actually a really interesting language.

Gosse and Trix and a nice lady called Elizabeth who is Gosse’s sister welcomed us with tea and chocolate! Yes!

The whole Dutch experience was wonderful as everyone was lovely and very hospitable. Here is what I had in my mind about Holland I suppose from childhood:

1. Boy with finger stuck in dike 2. No hills – whole of Holland completely flat that’s why there are lots of bikes 3. Bikes 4. Canals 5. Tulips 6. Windmills 7. Drugs i.e. cannabis probly 8. Coffee 9. Clogs 10. Sticky out plaits tied with red ribbon 11. Cheese 12. Liberal-minded about drugs, sex etc

Boy with finger stuck in dike is story here but more symbolic than I was led to believe.

Well – it is pretty flat but there are some hills and bumps. The country is very beautiful actually. And interesting.

Yes lots of bikes and good bike lanes and tracks.

Yes – spectacular canal we saw. With boats and lifty-up bridge.

Didn’t see any tulips but perhaps they were out of season.

Yes – loads of windmills – probably more windmills than nests (see CARGAMES section).

Didn’t actually see any drugs.

Lovely cups of coffee available.

No clogs seen on people’s feet – probly a bit like kilts in Scotland.

No sticky-out plaits.

Ate nice cheese for breakfast.

People are definitely very open-minded about stuff and therefore quite relaxed.

New things about Holland:

- Light switches are big you just sort of sweep them with your hand and they work.
- Loos are different (but let’s not go into that).
- There are 2 basins in the bathroom.
- Showers very good.
- Furniture like better than Ikea.
- Everything comfortable yet practical yet stylish.
- Dutch people mostly speak about 4 languages – Dutch, German, French and English. Very clever.
- Volvos are liked.
- Everywhere you go there is a grand piano.
- People enjoy music.
- People keep their tea in a thermos even at home.
- People like to eat lots for breakfast

We had a great gig at a place called the Katoenclub in Arnhem just down from the Bridge at Arnhem made famous by film with Anthony Hopkins. I think

The Katoenclub is perfect for a gig especially as it has grand piano. Geert did the sound and Willem was the boss.   He was lovely. He gave us food and drinks plus the fridge in the dressing room was full of beer and Chocolate!!! I had put this on my contract.

We had a wonderful time and in the end quite a lot of people turned up of all ages. See AUDIENCES I HAVE KNOWN for photos of audience.

Gosse was brilliant to be able to set this up – apparently he visited the club 7 times to make sure it was all going to work for us! And it did! Chris and Kate played beautifully and exquisitely. Gosse also helped to sell our CDs and Trix. Their 2 daughters came along named Dieuwke and Jikke they were lovely. Plus Elizabeth Gosse’s sister. Then we all had drinks after and talked and joked etc. I made a cartoon on the dressing room wall. It’s alright everyone else had done this before us.

Gosse had kindly arranged for us to do a radio interview at 9.30 in the morning. The radio people were great. Plus there was a grand piano. We played 2 songs and got interviewed along with Gosse. It was funny because everything was translated and I couldn’t help laughing a bit at the translation because every now and then you could hear a word you recognised…

I tried to say Hoodenmorgan Helderland. Which means good morning Helderland which is the area we were in.

After this we had to get to Germany to Mulheim to play support to Fairport Convention and meet up with our German promoter extrordinaire Ulla Hilger.

We were sad to leave everyone although Gosse and Trix would be coming to the gig at Mulheim cos the advantage of living in Europe is you can get to different countries without crossing the sea.

I asked Gosse if we could come back and he said we would organise a tour in Holland lasting longer than one day next time. We have decided we really want to go back cos we had the best time. We talked with Gosse about this and it looks very good.