I did not take many photos of them actually racing as my mobile device camera isn't great at capturing events at sport speeds, but the one above came out mostly okay.
I attended the Saturday and Sunday days of the World Cup Short Track Speed Skating competition held here in my city. It is the first of six world cup events in this discipline.
I arrived on Saturday about 10 minutes before the doors opened, I went to the food truck to buy a poutine with sausage. The sausage wasn't very good, and when I got home I noticed I got charged 54$ for it. I guess I hadn't paid close attention when my card was charged; I'll be sure not to make this mistake again.
On Saturday I was in section 12 (row C seat 21) and on Sunday section 10 (row C seat 18); the latter brought me more central to the oval. The first final and medals awarded had Suzanne Schulting from The Netherlands winning the gold medal in 1500m distance:
Beside her is Kim Gilli, silver medal, from Korea and Kristen Santos-Griswold from USA; the latter in previous seasons was simply Kristen Santos.
A Canadian, Steven Dubois, won the silver medal in the men's 1500m:
Those are two Koreans who won the gold (Park Ji Won) and bronze (Hong Kyung Hwan).
There was a 1000m distance series of races on Saturday and no one of any skaters that I follow won in either of the men's or women's races.
On Sunday there was 500m finals and a second batch of 1000m finals and then finally the men's and women's relay races.
Here is what it looked like at the start of a 1000m race from where I was sitting:
Notable from these races was Steven Dubois winning the 500m men's and Canada's Pascal Dion winning the men's 1000m. Also, Suzanne Schulting won the 1000m women's.
Our Canadian's women's relay team won silver and our men's relay team won bronze, but through a tough break for the Italian team who placed third but was penalized.
Perhaps next year I'll consider buying my seat at the end of the oval, rather than at the midpoint of the long side.
The next competition is this coming weekend in Salt Lake City, and the next one is the weekend following, also at Salt Lake City. The first weekend is a World Cup while the second weekend is called Four Continents. There is a Four Continents race because there is also a European Championship that excludes the outer four continents. All of the events are live streamed, so I'll see about watching the races going forward, from home.
Yesterday was Labour Day weekend here in Canada while also being Labor Day weekend in the United States. I did nothing special to take advantage of the long weekend.
I have been watching very closely and very much the US Open where I saw Frances Tiafoe beat Rafael Nadal yesterday. Today and tomorrow are the quarter finals. Of the matches today, the one I want most to see is between Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia. The former an up and coming American who is young (18yo) and looks to be a top performer in the future, the latter a French woman who is playing exceptionally well over the last few months.
I read 'The Zero Stone' by Andre Norton over the weekend. I quite enjoyed it. A science fiction novel, though it was written in 1968; it still is readable in today's age. Now I am about two sevenths of the way through 'Terror' by Frederic Pohl and so far so good. I may have mentioned this before - I go to visit with my parents every other week and when at their house I have been taking books. The idea is to help them declutter their house for their eventual leaving of the house. As a result I have a stack of books that I am going through. Well before the internet and mobile devices, my father would buy a science fiction book to read on his train ride to/from work and once done, buy another. So far I have read 51 of these books, have 53 in a stack here that I have not yet read and I believe I have less then half of what was all of the books I'll be getting.
My work schedule for the month of September has been published; as it is a support job where specific coverage is needed at specific times, my team has to adhere to the schedule to which we are assigned. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I work 9h-17h. On Wednesday 9h30-17h30 and on Friday 10h-18h. Given this late start on Fridays I am thinking of making a weekly visit to the Swiss Vienna Pastry shop to see about getting perhaps a few croissants or other breads and or treats to enjoy that morning and over the weekend. The shop opens at 9h and I easily have the time to walk there and back to be home in time for my start at 10h.
I have attended quite a number of sporting events so far in 2022 but at the moment have exactly zero future sporting events scheduled. For the remainder of 2022 I may go to one Canadiens game and I will definitely go to the ISU event here at the end of October.
This past weekend I attended both days of the ISU event, the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships. I was a little disappointed that Kristen Santos (USA), Suzanne Schulting (NED) and Arianna Fontana (ITA) were not competing, but that they weren't gave the Canadian skaters better odds of winning or placing higher.
Kim Boutin, our star Canadian female skater, finished second in every competition, the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, and with her team mates in the 3000m relay. She ended up placing second behind Choi Minjeong from Korea who had the highest overall classification points.
I wonder why there are so few Americans either in men's or women's short track speed skating. I suppose it simply isn't a popular sport as compared to so many other sports at which USA succeeds.
At this competition in all races, men and women it was The Netherlands, Korea and Canada who excelled and won podium positions, with a few exceptions. Most notably with Liu Shaoang from Hungary who won the gold medal in 500m 1000m 1500m and Sitjn Desmet who won bronze in two events. I was hoping to see his sister Hanne win something, but she didn't pass semi-finals and bowed out of one of the disciplines.
Other notable absences include Shaoang's brother Sandor Liu Shaolin, the whole Chinese team and there were no Russians; likely due to the war in Ukraine. There was one sole Ukrainian skater Oleh Handei managed to qualify for one of the 500m quarterfinals, and when they announced his name the whole audience stood up and cheered for minutes on end. There was also one Israeli, Vladislav Byaknov, who trains in The Netherlands as there isn't really a short track speed skating community in Israel.
On both days the arena was completely full of attendees, there were just a few seats here and there that didn't seem to be occupied; possibly people who just caught Covid in the previous few days as there is a 6th wave that is expanding at the moment. The below photos just show the crowd around the arena.
My mobile device doesn't do great for capturing the races or racers, but there are a few I can mention. Here is the start of the 1000m final B group; Alyson Charles from Canada is on the left, and Anna Seidel from Germany had already moved forward to the starting line. They introduce the skaters one by one and when announced, the skater moves ahead.
Here is an example of the skaters lined up just before they start; in the center is Canadian skater Pascal Dion who ended up winning this 1000m final B group race which means he placed 6th in this event.
On Saturday while they were doing the medal presentations, I took the following photo which shows from right to left, Netherlands, Israel, Belgium, Belgium, and then a bit further France. It is one of the things I like about international competition, it can really bring people together.
On Sunday after the 3000m relay where Canada's women's team won the Silver medal, they did a lap around the ice so that the Canadian fans that filled the arena got to see them.
And then to end everything the whole Canadian team (men, women, coaches, trainers) went up to the podium for a 'Say Goodbye to Charles Hamelin' ceremony.
Charles had been competing on Canada's national team for 19 years and through that time he won numerous medals, competed in many Olympic games, and decided after the winter Olympics that had just passed that this event in his home country would be his last. There was a heart warming send off for him.
Maybe I'll go to Dordrecht again next year; I'll have to see how my new job works out and if there is a blackout at that time for vacations.
When Babylon was the largest city in the world I wonder what rush hour must have been like.
For the people on the fifth to last Concorde supersonic cross Atlantic flight; did they know that they were on the fifth to last flight of this amazing feat of engineering?
Given the choice to be an only slightly over full piece of medium sized luggage being passed through the intestinal combine of a major airport or being the nut on a bolt that keeps the tire on a Nascar race car during a race, spinning round and round as the wheel turns; I am not certain which one I would choose.
I suppose that being a local song bird as compared to being an internationally travelled Canada Goose speaks much to the idea of nesting near to home. Some people, through no fault of their own, have kept close to home for the entirety of their life, with respect to residence, travel and vacation. I have kept close to home with respect to residence, but have travelled and taken vacations to numerous places. Chicoutimi comes to mind, or Plano.
If I do not eat any more food today, that will be good as I over ate yesterday. I am not certain if there will be a food stall or equivalent at the ISU competition I am attending today and tomorrow. If there is, I may succumb to getting something.
That all of the underlings of the overling, not one of the side steps or the front steps or the back steps or the upstairs or the downstairs.
All are steps, this way or that, leading somewhere, or leading nowhere. I suppose, could be leading anywhere.
One step at a time; one day a time, one moment at a time, one femto-second at a time. All trace the passage of time.
However. With this stay-at-home, who knows what time is what? That is the second least important question of the list of three questions that could be posed by someone who has three questions of which the second least important question was the question just posed.
Juxtaposed between the left most leaning tower and the right most leaning King of Diamonds; a centrist position likely represents the greatest number of people.
I have never surfed, be it on waves in the ocean, or on snow. I did ride a skateboard in my youth for the briefest of moments. I may have roller-skated only once or twice, but ice skated perhaps one or two dozen times.
Reading out loud the nonsense that makes up most of this blog is not unlike counting to eleven an unequal number of times.
During this cower-at-home period, I still see the occasional commercial aircraft rising up or settling down into the closest airport. Who are the passengers of such aircraft?
Outside my bedroom window at night, as I am going to sleep; the planet Venus is bright and clear on the nights there is no cloud cover, plainly visible as I lie in my bed looking out the window. If I happen to awake at or around 4h37, I would also notice the moon out that same window; if near or at full, it would hide Venus with its brightness.
I've seen advertisements of the Google Pixel mobile device that takes excellent night sky photos; my own mobile device does no such thing. I am not prepared to pay the inordinate cost of the Pixel if only so I can take night sky photos. More likely I would get a proper camera, much more versatile in terms of photography; get the appropriate lens as well as the right aperture and shutter speed. I would use that same camera to see about taking high-speed photos when attending short-track speed skating competitions.
During this waft-at-home period, I do have an idea, on a morning that is clear, and that the temperature isn't too cold; to arise before dawn and walk to a spot I suspect I'd be able to see the sun rise over water. I am not certain if the spot I have in mind; looking downriver; would line up correctly with where the sun surfaces, but I would certainly go at least one time to check it out. It is possible that it would surface at the right place, just not on the particular day that I would go. According to TimeAndDate the Civil Twilight would begin at 5h33 with sunrise at 6h06 tomorrow morning. This is not that far away from my regular wake up time; so perhaps tomorrow morning I will dress appropriately and go for a walk to the spot I have in mind. I would just need to make sure I go to sleep at an appropriate hour this evening.
With respect to sleep, I have been sleeping without an alarm awaking me in the morning. I have been sleeping all the way through the night most nights, occasionally stirring after having 3-4 hours of continuous sleep, falling back asleep quite quickly to get an additional two to three hours. As usual, pre C19 as well as now, I fall asleep at night rather quickly.
All of the colours that make up the rainbow decided to go on strike. Brown and Gray had a party.
There aren't really that many people who loiter now that we have to squander-at-home. Meandering too is not generally accepted, unless you live out in an outer suburban or rural area where there are more significant or vast open spaces.
Back in November I had found out about a World Cup Short Track Speed Skating event that was happening in my own city. I was curious about it so looked into getting tickets, they were not expensive at all, so I ended up going and had a great time.
After that event there were two more, in Japan and China, and then a break, and then two more, in Dresden and Dordrecht.
I was curious to see how much it would cost to go to either of the Dresden or Dordrecht events and it seemed like I could swing it for around 1200$, which includes the air travel, train travel, AirBNB, event tickets and food. It turned out that both flights and AirBNB worked out better for Dordrecht, so that is where I went.
I arrived in Amsterdam the morning of Thursday, Feb 13, and took a train from Schipohl to Amsterdam Centraal station where I hooked up with a co-worker of mine who works out of Amsterdam. We spent the morning walking around the area of the station, stopped at a breakfast place to have pancakes and had some good conversation. Sadly, I had intended to take a photo of the two of us, but that didn't happen. It could be that the constant rain that was falling distracted me from taking out my mobile device.
I took the train back to the airport and saw this:
NL's commuter trains go faster than the commuter trains in my city.
I had pre-purchased a rail ticket to take me from the Airport direct to Dordrecht, however, the train I got on stopped at Den Haag (The Hague). Once it stopped and stayed stopped it became clear to me that I had to get off and find a different train that would take me to Dordrecht. I spoke with an agent who was wandering on the platform, had to wait about 25 minutes, and then the train came and we departed ten minutes later. This train stopped at many interim smaller stops between Den Haag and Dordrecht, but in the end I got there.
Prior to having left home, I had committed to memory the route to get from the train station to the AirBNB apartment, it wasn't particularly complicated. Take the street that is perpendicular to the station and walk to Singel street, turn right and look for #156. I met with the AirBNB host, she introduced me to her home, showed me my room and let me know about the place. I showered and shaved and then headed out for a walk around Dordrecht Centruum. Below are just a few of the photos I took while on this walk.
I had researched a number of different restaurants that I would try out, and on this first night I decided to go to 't Bevertje.
I wasn't certain how much English would be spoken outside of Amsterdam, so with a little trepidation, this was the first restaurant I went to on this trip. There were three waitstaff, one of which was comfortable and confident to speak English, the other two could manage. I ordered the beef liver with fried apples and longonberries, it came with a side order of potatoes. The main meal had a wide variety of vegetables mixed in with the fried apples, it was delicious. I should have refused the fries as the main meal was more than enough.
Though the resto was mostly full after I got there, it wasn't super noisy, so it was fairly easy to hold a conversation. The staff were very attentive, friendly and helpful. As a solo traveler it was very easy here as I could just sit at the bar.
After that I walked back to the AirBNB putzed around on my phone for a bit and then went to sleep.
The next day I walked a lot. There is a spot called Kinderdijk (pronounced Kinder-dyke) that is a Unesco World Heritage site. I got to see lots of windmills. It may have been possible to take a Waterbus from Dordrecht to Kinderdijk, however, the route requires a switch at Ridderdijk, and the Waterbus from Ridderdijk to Kinderdijk only runs from May to October, so it wasn't available to me. So I decided to walk there and back (12km each way).
NL has an interesting way to show on town entry and exit signs what is the name of the town you are entering, and what is the name of the town you are exiting:
Alblasserdam was one of the towns I walked through to get to Kinderdijk (the other was Papendrecht). As I got closer to Kinderdijk I could start to make out the windmills:
And then I could get close to one:
I found a bench were I stopped to eat a croissant and a banana that I had brought with me. This was the first time I sat down since having left the AirBNB, some 2.5 hours earlier. Then I walked around a little and found these two signs:
I paid 11 euro to go inside one, learned about the family that lived there and took care of it all. This is how I could get so close to this one:
I wandered around a little bit more and then headed back to Dordrecht. Took the Waterbus from Papendrecht (both directions).
I was going to go to the Strada del Vino resto for supper that night, but it only opened at 17h, so I found that Finn's was open, so I went in there and had a couple of whiskeys.
At about 16h54 I paid up for my drinks and headed over to Strada del Vino. When I got there the resto was pretty quiet, as it had just opened, so I mentioned to the person at the front that it was just me, and she put me at a table at the window which is quite separate from the rest of the resto.
In this first photo there is a person at the bar, it turns out she was waiting for a four-pizza take away order. You can see that all of the tables are empty.
Turning just slightly towards my left, you can see that there is a bar at this place, but it was very narrow and not particularly amenable to sitting to eat.
I order the ravioli with ricotta and spinach and also had a dessert of cannoli and ice cream. It was all very good. This was the only time throughout this trip that I took a dessert.
As people were coming in, it seemed to be that everyone had a reservation, so clearly this is an in-demand resto and is perhaps why I got the feeling that having just showed up like I did was not as warmly accepted as it could have been. I had been told that I had to leave by 19h; which was fine with me. Within about half an hour of arriving, all of the tables had filled up:
After the two whiskys and the two glasses of wine at Strada Del Vino I was a little foggy about where I was and how to get back to the AirBNB, but I eventually found my way there.
The next day, Saturday, was the first day of competition so I walked to the arena where it would take place. Along the walk (and in other places in Dordrecht that I had noticed this before), the owners of the homes have directed their trees to grow in a very specific pattern:
I'm curious what these would look like in the summer when they have leaves.
To get to the arena I had to pass through the campus of Da Vinci College, which had this rather unique bus shelter:
I had different seats for the two days of competition, neither of them were particularly good. On Saturday, for example, a significant part of the track was blocked by the camera work people:
Still, I could see most of the track:
None of the photos I took of the skaters in action came out very well. It makes me think that if I'm going to continue going to events like these I ought to get a better camera with the ability to take high speed photos.
During an 'ice break' (when they stop temporarily competition so the Zamboni can resurface the ice) I took a walk and photographed these three:
The only other one I would have liked to have had was one of Kristen Santos (USA). These four are major skaters in the competition that I have been following pretty closely.
After the event on Saturday, I walked back and grabbed a burger, fries and Coke from Snacky Dordrecht. There are a few of these in the city, a really small place that serves a really large number of items.
I took the food back to the AirBNB and ate at the dining room table there.
Sunday, while I could technically see more of the ice surface, I was further away so everything was smaller:
On both Saturday and Sunday they had a morning program that was not very well attended for repechage races. I went to the morning program on both days, and on Sunday I decided to move closer for a couple of the races to see what it would have been like had I spent the money on better seats.
Doing this made me figure that if I'm going to go away to an event like this in the future, I'm going to spend more on tickets to get better seats. At least this way I may be more visible to my Canadian skaters whom I'm there to support.
Of all of the races, this 5000m men's final was the one that got the crowd going the most, it was such an exciting race as it drew to a close, I'm including it here (11:09):
That evening I went to Ferdinands, a French resto right across the street from my AirBNB. Again, they opened at 17h and I was the first one in, the waitress/hostess was very friendly and we chatted a bit. She mentioned that cod was the fish of the day, and I said that I can get cod anywhere, but in a French restaurant I can get duck which I can't really get hardly anywhere else, so she asked me if I wanted breast or leg and I took leg.
It was all really good, and it surprised me that my meal also came with fries; this also happened with my meal at 't Bevertje. In neither case did having the fries really be necessary; the meal itself was filling enough. Here are a few more photos of the resto:
About 15 minutes after I had arrived, and perhaps two minutes after my food arrived, this other older couple came into the restaurant and sat at the bar right next to me and we started talking. They were very friendly. As other customers came in, so too did a young woman who was the other of the waitstaff in the resto.
Monday I took the train back to the airport and this time made sure that it was the right one:
The above was taken from within the train, but it clearly shows that Schipohl Airport was on the route.
I was curious to know if the Canadian skate team would show up at the airport on this flight, since the team is based in my city, and about 80 minutes before our scheduled departure time, first the five women of the team showed up, and then a few minutes later the five men. The women sat in a section across the concourse and were separated from us while the men sat a few seat blocks away from me.
Part of me want to go and congratulate them on the skating they had done over the event, to say how proud I was of them, and to wish them the best of success in Korea next month where the World Championship will take place. But the larger part of me didn't want to do this as who am I to them? Just some stranger. So I elected to let things happen to chance, if, queued up for boarding, or if, within the aircraft, or if, queued up at customs back home, if at any of these times I managed to encounter any of them I would chat with them then. But none of this happened.
Here's the plane we took:
It was still being loaded with food at the time of this picture. There was a delay in our departing due to a parts issue, but we did end up leaving.
About an hour before we landed they gave us a parting snack, a cute little pizza:
On the bus ride home from the airport I decided to message Court on Insta (Courtney Lee Sarault, one of the women on the skating team that I follow on Insta) to say that I had been in Dordrecht to watch them and saw them at the airport but didn't want to disturb them. But that I did want to congratulate them on their performance, say how proud I was, and to wish them the best in Korea, and finally, personally to her, that she get a good night of rest.
I haven't received a response, but that's okay, I didn't really expect one.
I was fortunate this season that the World Cup came to my city; next season it isn't likely this will happen again. Given this, if I am to go and see them race, I will definitely have to travel, so I may only get to see them at their race one time. If I do go, I'll be sure to get the best seat possible. And maybe, just maybe, between then and now I'll get a camera that can do high speed photos, and maybe also a telephoto lens.
