We had a flying visit from my friend Fiona and her boyfriend and sister. We got to hang out with them a bit last night and tonight, but they spent the day going to an Ajax vs Den Haag football (soccer game). Quite the experience really – because of fighting, you have to have a fan card to buy a ticket to games, and for contentious games such as this one each fan can buy only one. Supporters are bussed or trained in on special busses/trains, and they’re segregated from each other at the stadium, with separate entrances and everything. Even this wasn’t enough, and Den Haag agreed to not even come to away games for a few years, so half the stadium was empty! Crazy. So the only way Fiona et al could see the game was to buy a tour package for a tour of the whole facility starting at 8:15 am – it did include a lunch of sorts as well. After the game, we tried to wander around Utrecht for a bit, but it was very cold and Liam hadn’t been having a good day anyway – his molars are coming in, and he got to a point where he was just uncontrollably crying, so dinner had to be skipped in favour of takeout and we had to scurry home, where we did manage to have a nice evening and calm Liam down before the tired football fans headed to bed. They’re leaving really, really early in the morning in order to get to Paris by 11 am (!). So, no pictures of the visitors, just one of the still lighted centre. It sure does make it look pretty.
