The Laboratory

So it appears a lot of you have been doing Christmas decorating this weekend. While we've got our wreath up, there hasn't been time for the tree. But maybe you've decided to go a bit arty with your tree this year, perhaps like Tate Britain has done... Hanging upside down from the glass ceiling in the Millbank entrance, Shirazeh Houshiary’s Christmas Tree can be appreciated from different perspectives at three levels of the gallery. The tip of the tree from the lower floor, the floating body from the ground, and the glittering roots covered in gold leaf open into an abstract star formation when viewed from the upper floor.

Today we are in Italy on our European tour, and the news is ... MR CREEN IS HUNGRY Imagine our delight to find, when vaingloriously Google searching our own names, that Adam is the star of an Italian book about a hungry pig. The only other Mr Creen in fiction is a minor character in an Isaac Asimov science fiction novel, so this makes things so much better. Here's what the authors had to say (Adam's bad translation): MR CREEN IS HUNGRY Lorenzo Naia, Roberta Rossetti A child who eats badly will be an adult with health problems. Alternatively, correct nutrition along with some good rules and habits, can prevent the onset of diseases and mental and physical problems. But in a world in which "big" is the usual way to speak of food, how can a child learn to feed themselves in a healthy way? To find out, there needs to be a place where a child’s curiosity is stimulated through the meetings and emotionally important experiences between the charac...

We hope you recovered from watching the Andre Rieu video yesterday. If you want to see it again just click on  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUKEOwM0F4s On our holidays we travelled from Maastricht in the Netherlands to Brussel in Belgium, which brings us to the Word Of The Day: non-contiguous Belgium is about to get smaller and the Netherlands bigger after the countries agreed to a swap of land. Each will cede small, uninhabited parcels of land to reflect a change in course of what is known in French as the river Meuse, and in Dutch as the Maas. The border will most likely change at the start of 2018 after both countries have ratified a treaty next week. The land swap, however, does not extend to the border village of Baarle-Hertog, aka Baarle-Nassau, which has non-contiguous part of the Netherlands in Belgium, and vice versa. Yes, there's a Belgian village in the middle of the Netherlands, but just to make it extra confusing there are small areas of Dutch land in t...

So why was Miffy saying "Hup Holland Hup" yesterday? Because it's a football chant for the Netherlands team, with a catchy tune. And just as Brits like to sing "Rule Britannia" at the Last Night of the Proms, the Dutch love to got to concerts given by Andre Rieu (think smug violinist) in Maastricht. When we were there at half term you couldn't move for posters about his Christmas shows. So here you go: Andre Rieu and his audience sing Hup Holland Hup, and Viva Hollandia. You have GOT to watch it all the way through! And you thought the English were weird... Hup Holland Hup Laat de leeuw niet in zijn hempie staan Hup Holland Hup Trek het beesie geen pantoffels aan Hup Holland Hup Laat je uit 't veld niet slaan Want de leeuw op voetbalschoenen Durft de hele wereld aan translation: Go Holland go Don't let the lion stand around in his undershirt Go Holland go Don't put slippers on the beast Go Holland go Don't let them de...

Yes, greetings to one and all, and welcome to what we are calling The Official Creen Pro-European Advent Calendar of Novelty. This year, to celebrate the fact we are still in Europe, we are going to share some of our favourite memories and images of Europe, as well as tell you more about their Christmas customs. Today ... the Netherlands! Miffy, the little rabbit, is from Utrecht in the Netherlands, where she goes by the name of Nijntje (a shortening of konijntje, which means "little rabbit"!) We visited Utrecht on our recent tour of the Netherlands and saw the Miffy Museum, as well as its amazing Cathedral, and the underground Roman foundations. Tomorrow we'll tell you more about this:

Here's a cracker joke that Adam made up: Anyway, here we are on the last day of the Advent Calendar. Thanks to all 30 of our faithful visitors who checked in every day, and everyone else who we'd encourage to find out what you missed! It's been a busy December, Adam had 4 carol services to play at, while Sarah had 4 staff parties to attend. But we have enjoyed seeing so many people, and getting lovely cards and letters. Wishing you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year! Final pun of the year: