We spent New Years Eve in Amsterdam this year with some friends from San Francisco. One of our guests is German so she brought a New Years tradition with her. It's called Bleigießen which is a tradition where each person melts pieces of lead (we used tin) on a spoon and then throws it in some water. You're then supposed to do fortune telling based on what you think your new metal shape looks like.
We had fun, though most of our initial shapes looked like terds. Brett's looked vaguely like a golf club and mine looked kind of like a sickle. I was a bit concerned to have a shape like the grim reaper's tool, but our guest assured us that it could also mean that you're getting rid of something bad. I'll take her interpretation any day :-)
As for New Years in Amsterdam, it's a bit crazy. The fireworks are going off like mad, and have been since 2PM. I can only imagine what midnight will bring. If you go to Dam Square there are revelers packed in like in New York City - but our colleagues warned us that we would likely have fireworks thrown at us if we went. After hearing about close calls and burnt jackets, we decided to stay home where it's warm. Happy New Year everyone!
2 comments:
I dunno, you're holding that spoon over a flame, boiling lead, breathing in the fumes.... Between the fireworks and the lead boiling, New Year's Eve must be about the most dangerous holiday in Amsterdam!! I'm glad you two survived.
Yeah. It was an interesting night. I think the metal was actually tin - though it used to be lead in years past. Crazy.
Post a Comment