(Almost) The Perfect Sports Weekend

Every 6 to 8 weeks we write our blog and we always start by looking back at what we have been doing in this period. Looking back we have been busy. Mid May I had my first Finance Conference at Heineken UK. We held it at the Stadium of the Hearts of Midlothian. A brilliant name for a football club. There is a great story about the good luck charm in Edinburgh in front of the St Giles Cathedral. However, you will need to find this on the internet yourself. It was great to have my whole team there and to really bond as a team. In the afternoon we did all kinds of team building activities at the Highland Games, which of course included ‘Tree throwing’.

The weekend after we went went to the Netherlands to celebrate my parents Sapphire anniversary, which is 65 years, an incredibly amazing achievement. They held some smaller celebrations and we then celebrated it at Loes' houseboat with a small dinner with my parents, Loes, Jack, Ailsa and Noa. Ailsa made a beautiful wedding cake for opa (granddad) and oma (grandma).

Hugo stayed at home, he had a serious case of Mono or Glandular Fever (Pfeiffer in Dutch). We asked him to go back to the Netherlands, so that Jack, Ailsa and Noa could look after him. It took him a few months to get back into shape. To make it more challenging his girlfriend Anna came over from Germany exactly when diagnosis was confirmed. The good news is that he had in excellent care 😊 After two or three weeks she needed to go back to Mainz again. Hugo needed to do 2 exams, he passed both exams and a project while being down with Mono, which is a great achievement. Well done Hugo!

Next stop was to get some premature skincancer removed from my face. I did not look forward to this since it involves injections in your face, close to my eye and then scraping/cutting out the infected area. On the day of the procedure, I was a bit ‘stressed’. When I was finally lying on the chair and the surgeon came and took the injection needle, which from up close looks really really big! He, then put the magnifying glass on to have a good look at it, he took a lot of time examining the area. His conclusion was that he would prefer another approach, some sort of chemo creme, as it would not leave a permanent dent on my face.

Since I started working in Heineken UK it has been a very busy period. I had not spend time in the market with sales as I had planned for. Therefore, I went with the Off Trade team into the market to an event to sell a new product into the market, Strongbow Tropical. We hit the small stores in the Birmingham area. It was a good experience since you visit a lot of small stores in one day, you get a good feel on all products in the market, shopowners and managers and you get to know a lot of colleagues. It was put in a competition form, which was great fun.

Next day however was even more impressive. I went with my D&T collegue Nejat to Silverstone, where we were invited to test drive Aston Martins on their testcircuit. We started with a visit to the Silverstone museum where we could practise our skills with Scalextrics on a remake of the official circuit. We got a great tour at the museum and I learned that Silverstone is an old airfield used in World War 2. The circuit is built on the outside of the airfield. That is also why Silverstone is logistically really difficult to reach, but I will come back to this later. The main event was in the afternoon where we got our personal co-pilot coach and we did 20 minutes tours in driving Aston Martin Advantages. Every time we drove we learned new techniques and every time I went a bit faster. I really thought I nailed it. At the end my coach proposed to do a ‘hot-lap’ with him driving. Conclusion is that I still have a whole lot to learn.

One of the things that we have not figured out yet is how we stay fit and do sports. We finally decided to buy a ‘Peloton’ bike. It is a great indoor bike, we can really recommend it. It allows you to set it perfectly for your size. This is important due to the height difference with Vivienne. It has a big screen and online trainings sessions both recorded and live. You can also decide to simply bike through an area in a country or city which you can then see on your screen. We are really happy with it. But also yoga, strength trainings or pilates and more are available.

I had the Finance Directors Europe meeting in Vienna in the following week, it was great to see all my colleagues. It was a bit a trip down memory lane for me. The day that we arrived we were informed that Klaus, the MD of Brau Union Austria was going to leave the company. Klaus worked for me in the past as a controller when I worked in Brau Union and I was very sad to hear about him leaving. We had a good meeting and a nice dinner in Haus des Meeres. On the top floor there's a good restaurant with a great view over Vienna.

Next plan was Frank & Ria arriving in London and staying with us for a few days. Also Jack & Ailsa decided to come for the same weekend, so suddenly we had a house full. On Friday night we went to one of our favorite places near Covent Garden, it's called ‘The Lady of the Grapes’, a small wine bar with fingerfood. The food is really good, the winelist is even better. June was also the warmest June ever in the history of the UK, we had a nice table outside, enjoying the company and the wine. On Saturday Jack & Ailsa went to visit Jack's friend Sully. For a year Jack lived in Belgium with the Ahmad Family when he was finishing high school and Sully is their son and a dear friend of Jack. On Saturday we went into town for our first afternoon high tea. We went to the Ivy Asia and got a High Tea with an Asian twist. The food was really good. The men's restroom was hilarious with a Samaritan peeing next to you. From there we went to one of the musicals that was on our list for a long time; ‘Choir of Men’. It was probably one of the best musicals I have seen so far. It was an ode to the existence and the role of the Pub in the English Society. It was brilliant, spectators were invited during the show on the stage. Great songs, great stories, fabulous atmosphere. You should go and see it.

Viv did a short stint at our house in Austria for just 3 days. We got the approval for the extension of our terrace and the construction company would start building the foundations. We love the area where we live and we are extremely happy there, but one thing by now we should have known. Anything that we have built so far is delayed and is not starting as agreed. You might remember our new kitchen last year. It was planned to be ready in May, but when we came for the summer holidays, our old kitchen was gone, but our new kitchen was nowhere to be seen. To our surprise the start of the foundation really started when she was there, but then in the middle they left and finished the works several weeks later.

At the end of June Viv went to Vienna and slept one night in Don Papa before she drove to Switzerland to move Hugo out of his apartment in St Gallen. It was gorgeous weather with 30 degrees, not ideal to move out though. Unfortunately the new tenant didn't want his sofa, dining table, bed, mattress and chairs. They had to bring this to a secondhand store. Viv and Hugo decided to rent a trailer at an Obi. In the meantime Hugo's friend Egon came to help them carry everything down. They left it on the street with a note, "please take me home". It was too short, they were back with the trolly in an hour. Everything was brought to a secondhand place and hopefully the new owners are happy with Hugo's things. Wednesday evening they had dinner with two friends of Hugo.

On Thursday the last packing was done and Hugo filled the car with his belongings, in the meantime Viv was busy cleaning the flat. At 13:30 the real estate agent came for the check-out inspection, they forgot two minor things and therefore they charged us cleaning costs!!

Thursday afternoon the two drove back to Austria. They arrived pretty smoothly in Don Papa around 21:00. Loes was there with Robin, Armin, and Daisy.

They had a wonderful week with Loes. Armin went to work after the weekend and Loes and Viv left on Wednesday, but unfortunately there was a huge summer storm hitting the Netherlands. Loes flew from Graz and Viv from Vienna, both very delayed, but they arrived safe and sound. Viv flew to the UK, although she was actually supposed to fly via Amsterdam. Then from Amsterdam she would be on the same flight as Jivan, her oldest (neighbour) friend, they grew up together in Voorschoten, next to each other. Jivan and Viv landed almost at the same time at Heathrow airport, but needed quite some time to find each other at this huge airport. Jivan was coming for only two full days, Wednesday evening till Friday afternoon.

While Viv was in Switzerland/Austria, Roland and his son Florian had a midweek in London and also came to our place at Hyde Park Gardens. We had dinner at our house and it was great to reconnect and also talk about our children and the good old times when we were both playing tennis at de Enk in Rotterdam-Zuid and our study time at Erasmus University. We both have 4 children and it was nice to compare ‘notes’.

Thursday afternoon Viv and Jivan met Richard and Julia, old friends from our Warsaw years. I also made it, but just for a short time. Julia is ambassador for the UK in Japan and Richard supports her there. They have a busy schedule when they are in England, we were so happy that they could squeeze us in.

On Thursday night we went into Hyde Park. Bruce Springsteen gave his Hyde Park concert and we took our picknick plaid and basket with wine and fingerfood and enjoyed his concert for free (yes, we are so Dutch) with a view on the big screen inside the concert area. What a life listening & watching the Boss, while relaxing in the park. In the same concert series this year we had Pink, Billy Joel, Guns&Roses, Lara del Rey and Blackpink lined up. This way of going to a concert beats standing there for Viv and not seeing anything because everybody around her is too big… The next morning Jivan and Viv heard Billy Joel sound tracking for his show later that day.

That same Friday Wimbledon started. Everybody had told us that the first week is the most fun to go there. Michiel Schapers was in London as trainer for Gijs Bouwers, who qualified for Wimbledon. Michiel had tickets for us to come for both Tuesday and Thursday. But I had planned it poorly and was in Edinburgh and we could not go. So we decided to go for the perfect sports weekend… Friday I left the office a bit earlier to go to Wimbledon. In the afternoon people start to leave and those tickets are recycled so you can enter at a discounted price. Unfortunately we had not counted on Andy Murray who was playing Friday late afternoon and the rain also did not help, so Andy got everybody to stay, because he had to play a 5th set, which he lost. We ended up in a queue with almost 1500 people in front of us, who had the same plan. We changed plans and went for a great dinner in an Argentinian Steakhouse in Wimbledon and our perfect sport weekend failed already at the start.

What is the perfect sportweekend?

On Saturday morning we went to Silverstone for the F1 Grand Prix. We left early to be on time since Silverstone is in a very awkward part of the country. We arrived at the train station and we were on time and also the train was on time and standing on the platform. The train doors were still closed but the platform was full of F1 fans, although we still had 20 minutes till the departure. After more than 30 minutes the train doors were still closed. Apparently there is a safety procedure that the train doors can only be opened by a qualified person. Although there were at least 10 employees of the train company, none of them was authorized to open the door. We discovered another train leaving to Milton Keynes on another platform so we ran over and made it. I still believe the train is still standing there. But back to our trip and Silverstone.

30 minutes from home to train station

40 minutes wasted on the platform

45 minutes train ride to Milton Keynes

30 minutes taxi to shuttle bus

15 minutes shuttle bus to side of track

25 minutes walk to entrance P6

15 minutes figuring out what do we do now?

5 minutes walk to a double decker bus

15 minutes drive to paddock club.

This was the VIP treatment. (3 ½ hours) Can you imagine how much time an average die hard fan will take to get there…

We had a great day but needed to leave directly after the qualifying since we had our next event at Lords in St Johns Woods in London. We needed to change clothes at Euston station in a filthy toilet. Julia and Richard Sciver's oldest daughter Natalie was playing with the (female) Ashes. The Ashes is the most famous cricket match between England and Australia. Lords is the Mekka of Cricket, the most famous and historic ground to play on. We were invited by them to join in the family box of the players and it was an absolutely great experience. So we managed ‘the Ashes’, Silverstone and almost Wimbledon in one weekend. What a life! The next day, on Sunday, I went back to Silverstone for the race itself. Viv stayed at home. A wise decision because it was a very intense weekend, and you start to realise that when you are getting a bit older.

Noa went to see her boyfriend Mahdi for the second time this year in Tunisia, for some fun in the sun. She shared some lovely photos with us.

We are almost at the end of this blog. The hardest moment was a few weeks ago when my sister Caroline called us late at night that they were on their way to Rotterdam, because my mother fell and broke her hip. The ambulance was taking her to the hospital while we were speaking over the phone. I flew to Amsterdam the next day and arrived at the hospital in the afternoon. At that time mum already had surgery and they have replaced her hip. We set up a visiting schedule via Whatsapp, very useful solution and kept each other up to date on progress and developments. After 5 days she moved to a ‘Care Hotel (zorg hotel)’. It sounds great but is in reality an efficient solution where people can rehabilitate and are put in a ‘hotel’ room. It is an hospital with minimum medical equipment. It is so efficient that they have more rooms and patients than physiotherapists and you are on a waiting list to get the rehabilitation started. Mum arrived there on Monday and her first official physio was on Friday. I left after a week, back to work but Caroline, Jack and Joke & Paul are visiting in turns every day. I went on the day that I left by tram from the house of my parents together with my father to the care-hotel and it went relatively well to get there. Since last week Noa also goes to visit 2x a week after work, that is the advantage as she's working in Rotterdam and doesn't have a driving license (at least not one that is valid in the Netherlands). But it could be worse, it could be that your name is Hugo and you have not even started your driving lessons….

Due to the broken hip, my mother and father missed the trip to Andre Rieu in Maastricht. We gave this to my dad's 90th birthday last year. Maybe if Andre is reading this, he will invite them for next years summer on the Vrijthof in Maastricht.

While I was in the Netherlands we had... surprise, surprise - visitors again in London! Gusta and Ann, our friends from Munich came for a girls weekend and stayed with Viv. They had a great weekend. Viv will write something about it as I wasn't around, I left all of a sudden to see my mum in hospital.

Gusta and Ann arrived Thursday evening. Friday we decided to go to Greenwich, unfortunately it was drizzling all day long. Nevertheless we had fun together. We took the uberboat back. In the afternoon we had snacks and drinks at our own Heineken bar. Friday night was show night in London's WestEnd. We saw Tina, this show was amazing! We can really recommend it. Saturday morning, we started at Covent Garden and walked all the way to Kensington, where we had an afternoon tea. Because we ate quite a bit we decided to have soup and some bread in the evening. Sunday morning Ann and Gusta left. It was wonderful catching up with them again.

Viv is now in Austria again. The construction company is going to finish the terrace and we hope it will be great (and that it is ready on time). But this we will save for the next blog.

Stay safe everyone.

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