I have two very different themes this week. First of all, my dog turned 5 years old, so like any other family member, she got a birthday present:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 35mm L Canon, ISO 1000)
The rest of the pictures were taken within one hour on May 10th. That evening, the UEFA Cup final was played in Eindhoven (where I work), between FC Sevilla of Spain and Middlesborough of England. It was a very big deal for both clubs, since neither had ever reached the final of a European competition before this year. So huge numbers of Spanish and English supporters descended on Eindhoven, and as the weather cooperated, the centre of the city was transformed into two huge street parties. I popped out during lunch to take in the atmosphere of the Spanish party. One of the central squares had been set aside for the Sevillistas:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
I mingled with the crowds and enjoyed the sights, such as this one:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
Here is another girl, in mini-size this time:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
Friends from Seville ran into each other in Eindhoven:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
This girl, who obviously had some prior knowledge of Dutch food, had taken the sensible precaution of bringing some smoked ham from Spain, which elicited greedy looks from her surroundings (she was willing to share):
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
The English supporters had their party on another square, a few minutes away. But as the day wore on, some of them drifted over to the Seville party–they had correctly assumed that the Spanish were better at throwing a party. The two sets of fans mingled without any problems–it was really a beautiful football fiesta:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
There were some police officers around, but they did not have much to do except having their pictures taken with the visiting fans (the next day I read that only 17 arrests had been made, mostly for drunkenness and the like, and 14 of them involved the local Dutch fans):
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
This Seville supporter has apparently fraternized with the “enemy” and swapped scarfs with them:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
“Unemployed, no money, diverced, but still here….”
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
Beer flowed freely among young and old:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)
…and of course all that beer had to go somewhere, but Dutch cities have a solution for that too:
(Canon 1D Mark II, 24-70mm L Canon, ISO 200)