3rd Tuesday with a beard

Prinsjesdag in the Netherlands. As always on the 3rd Tuesday in September. Normally I watch most of it on TV. This year was a bit different.
I only saw the final part on my iMac at my office.
When all the traditional ceremonies started I was with my wife Annemarie at a travel agency, booking a trip to Barcelona this autumn break, a month from now, halfway October.

A few months ago, a while after Bas had the accident with his hand, we promised him to go on a citytrip together with the four of us. Bas choose Barcelona as the destination. He is a huge FC Barcelona fan, and wants to see Camp Nou in real.
We tried to combine the trip with a football match as well, but it seemed impossible to match that with school breaks and our agendas. 
We will do a tour in the stadium and Bas is very happy with that as well.

So that was the reason I missed the most of the king's speech. Not a problem. I did notice the beard though. That was new. I liked it.

In the evening I went to an information evening at school regarding Bas (VWO4). I met his mentor and got all kind of school information. Bas has entered the second half of his study now and things are now getting serious. Lots to learn, bigger exams and choosing his next study becomes more and more serious.
The dean spoke for almost an hour about rules, regulations and so on. Very serious stuff. Then another teacher came on and he put it all back in perspective. It wasn't as hard as just has been told, this schoolyear is about fun and relaxing as well. And that is just as important for our teenagers as all the studying.
He illustrated it with a poem, writting by a famous dutch writer, Annie M.G. Schmidt.
I googled it and will copy it below. It's very applicable to the current situation of Bas and his classmates. On the threshold of adult life:
 (It's in dutch though...)

Dit is het land
Dit is het land, waar grote mensen wonen.
Je hoeft er nog niet in: het is er boos.
Er zijn geen feeën meer, er zijn hormonen,
en altijd is er weer wat anders loos.

En in dit land zijn alle avonturen
hetzelfde, van een man en van een vrouw.
En achter elke muur zijn and're muren
en nooit een eenhoorn of een bietebauw.

En alle dingen hebben hier twee kanten
en alle teddyberen zijn hier dood.
En boze stukken staan in boze kranten
en dat doen boze mannen voor hun brood.

Een bos is hier alleen maar een boel bomen
en de soldaten zijn niet meer van tin.
Dit is het land waar grote mensen wonen...
Wees maar niet bang. Je hoeft er nog niet in.