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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Nobody's playing at Playland today

It’s warm here.. 26 degrees yesterday, even warmer today. To please my nephew and brother, we went to Playland, a large activity parc just East of center. We were looking forward to a huge roller-coaster ride and more thrills. We asked tourist information yesterday, we asked the bus driver this morning, and they all made sure we safely arrived at what should have been the gates, but there was no-one there.. When we passed the open gates in wonder four workman came to us. In typical ‘regulation’ language we have gotten to know so well in Canada, they immediately told us ‘you can’t be here’. But we were! Of course, they meant regulations have it that no customers are allowed inside the premises when the parc is not open. Not open?? The leaflet said ‘opens april 21!’ Turns out they only open during weekends the first two months. You have to check everything three times, it seems. They repeated twice more that we couldn’t be here, so we quietly stepped outside the gates and went for a drink in Tom and Jerry’s place.

A very funny waitress helped us there: “oh no love, you wouldn’t want to order a cappuchino here..” Turned out she’s turning fifty next month and has been working there since her nineteenth. That would make you turn honest about what you can and cannot do well.. She did her best though in drowning the cheesecake in chocolate sauce and canned strawberry’s, serving with the smooth ease and self-deprecating style that hints at an alcohol problem. But funny she was.
Because Chango demanded action, we decided to go bowling. Canadian bowling, that is, but perhaps Hans will write something about that. It is different from European bowling (small balls, 5 pins). And what else to do on a sweaty day with a sunburn from yesterday’s visit to the swimming pool (‘is that your son Sir? It’s not allowed to leave him in the water alone.’ ‘But I’m sitting here at the pool side at two meters distance, the water is 60 cm deep here and anyway, he has his diploma..’ ‘Still, regulations are, he can’t be in the water alone, Sir.’) than go bowling..?

After some Greek dishes, we tried to get a little nap just now (Hans still jet-lagged, me suffering from jet-lag-by-proxy), but of course that does not work with a 6 year old boy around.

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