Just back from a weekend in the Netherlands. I've finally been able to attend the annual Hockey North America European tournament in Zoetermeer, Holland. It was great fun but not being fully recovered from my ski injury was rather like finding the fun in FrUstratioN: I couldn't skate flat out and that really affected the rest of my game. We finished the tournament with a played:4 won:2 lost:2 record which wasn't bad and we had a thrilling final game against Canada which we narrowly lost... dispute still rages about the legality of the Canadians' second goal. But given their magnanimity after the Olympic rowing final I think we should just take it on the chin. I now have to write up all the details for the Statesmen website. Watch that space for more.


On the Saturday afternoon we had a gap between games and I went to visit my colleague Joep at his home in Amersfoort. It was very interesting to see where he lived and walk around the area. It confirmed my suspicion that the Dutch seemed to have got this 21st-Century living pretty mullarky pretty well figured out. It's not a lotus land or utopia, but it looks pretty good to me.