Sinterklaas 2005
Some background information: Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands a couple of weeks before the 5th of December on a boat from....Spain. Thereafter, he rides around on his white horse, accompanied by his side-kick Zwarte Piet. He also throws lollies at the kids.
The fun begins a little before the 5th of December. It is traditional to give a "surprise", that is a present wrapped unusually and a poem that has something to do with either the person receiving the surprise or the present itself. On the fifth, you give the surprise and poem.
Pieter secretly started working on the surprise for Julia a few days in advance. Here you can see the preparation work. The present has been suspended over a polystyrene container filled with water, by means of a piece of sting and a 10ml pipette. It is about to be taken to the -20ºC room.
18.8ºC, just what Pieter needed!
After a couple of days at -20ºC and a few additions of liquid nitrogen to get the ball rolling, you can now just barely see the present through the ice.
Julia chose to stick with newspaper for the surprise for Pieter.
Julia and her first present (not frozen). Party on! Excellent!
Julia attempts to get her present by using brute strength to break through the ice. No chance!!
An ice pick can come in handy for occasions such as these. The bottom is probably the weakest link...
After half an hour of hard work, reaching through the ice for the present...
...a thermal shirt, aha, that's why it was frozen!
Pieter reading his poem next to his surprise. What could it be....a guitar? An aeroplane? A bottle of wine!
What could be in the jar...does it have anything to do with...wine?
OK, this present wasn't supposed to be easy to unwrap.
Vin blanc, let's just call it an affordable wine.
A Pinot Noir from Valais/Wallis, where we went on holiday in April 2005. That's already better...
And also a wine encyclopaedia.
The first poem, about the frozen present.
The second, for the Wayne's World DVD.
This is the poem for the wine-theme surprise.