Happy New 2015!

We had a great time celebrating the New 2015, together with our Russian and Ukrainian friends.

Here, outside of our homelands, we’re still friends, you know.

This is another genuine Russian course, a salad called herring under a furcoat, a must-have for any celebration:

The whole country was full explosions and smoke, as usual. All cats and dogs were hiding in the darkest corner of the house, in utmost terror.

Here are some photos of fireworks on a backdrop of the snowless Houten winter. It’s no Dubai of Barcelona, of course, but still.

The neighbours rushed outside to join the cannonade:

Once they’ve run out of ammo, they switched to sparklers (sterretjes, “little stars”):

On January 1^st there was a nation-wide New Year’s Plunge (nieuwjaarsduik) again, just like before. It was also held in Houten, but I decided to skip it this time. Yet the weather was quite mild, air temperature +4° C and water 8° C.

Happy New Year!