The Drake equation

In 2019 I wrote a blog post A Pale Blue Dot with these two pictures in it. Left the iconic picture of Earth, taken  in 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft, on their way to the Moon. Right a picture taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1, leaving the solar system and looking back to Earth At 6 billion km only a pale blue dot.

Earth is our beautiful world, one of the eight planets in the Solar System and the only one where life has developed, as far as we know.

Are there other worlds in the Universe? Our Sun is one of about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way and the MIlky Way is one of an estimated 200 billion galaxies in the (observable) universe.

The left picture shows the spiral structure of the Milky Way, with the location of our Sun marked. The right picture is the famous Ultra-Deep Field image taken in 2003 by the Hubble telescope. The image shows an estimated 10.000 galaxies in a part of the sky with a diameter 1/10th of the moon.

In 1992 the first extrasolar planet (exoplanet) was detected, at the time of writing this blog more than 5000 have been found and it is now assumed that most stars will have at least one planet orbiting it. That means that in the Milky Way alone there are already billions of planets.

Wouldn’t it be strange if Earth is the only planet where (intelligent) life has developed? There could be numerous planets in the Milky Way and Universe where life has developed. Michio Kaku an American ‘science communicator’, who always enjoys being in the limelight, goes even further: “The Laws of Probability Tell Us That the Universe Should Be Teeming With Intelligent Life Forms” 

The Laws of Probability ? As usual I am a sceptic. In 2010 I wrote two posts about “Are we alone in the Universe“. My personal opinion at that time was: “Yes, we might well be alone“. Now, thirteen years later, my opinion is still the same, maybe even stronger.

After this lengthy introduction, time to go back to the topic of this post, the Drake Equation.

Speculation about extraterrestrial life dates back to antiquity. Around 1900 it was thought by many that the planet Mars had irrigation canals, built by intelligent beings. Development of more powerful telescopes showed that those canals were an illusion. But maybe there were intelligent beings outside our solar system? This led in the 1960’s to the SETI program. the Seach for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Involved in this program was Frank Drake, a young American astronomer. To have discussion points for the first scientific SETI meeting, he came up with what is now called the Drake equation.

Actually it is NOT an equation, it is an estimate for the number of intelligent civilisations in our Milky Way. The idea is simple, you start with how many stars are born yearly in the Milky Way. How many of these stars will have planets, how many of these planets will be suitable for life, how many of these suitable planets will actually develop life. How many planets with life will develop civilistations (intelligent life), and how many of these civilisations will be able/willing to communicate with us. And finally, how many years will such a civilisation survive.

Here the Drake equation is visualised: The estimated number of intelligent civilisations in the Milky way who can communicate with us is given by N as the product of a number of factors.

R* = how many stars are born every year in our galaxy. (R = 1 yr−1)

fp = the fraction of these stars that have planets. (fp = 0.2 to 0.5)

ne = the average number of planets in the habitable zone of such a star (ne = 1 to 5)

fl = the fraction of habitable planets that actually develop life. (fl = 1)

fi = the fraction of those planets, where evolution leads to civilisations with intelligent life (fi = 1)

fc = the fraction of these civilisations that develop a technology capable of releasing detectable signs of their existence into space. (fc = 0.1 to 0.2)

L = the length of time that such a civilisation will exist.(L = 1000 -100,000,000 years)

In the 1961 discussion the various factors were discussed. I have given these estimates above. Using the lower limits, it gives a minimum of N ≈ 20 technological;y advanced civilisations, who could send signals to us. If those civilisations have not self-destructed, L could be many millions of years resulting in maximum of N ≈ 50.000.000 !

With this evaluation you will understand that it made sense to start the SETI program. After a few years a distributed computing project SETI@Home was started, where volunteers could use the idle time of their PC’s to analyse data from radio telescopes, searching for signals. of intelligent life . Many years I have taken part in this program. My PC during idle time was doing this.

After about 20 years the program was stopped, without any results. But in 2016 a follow-up project started Breakthrough Listen. Basically the same as SETI, but much more powerful, it will generate as much data in one day as previous SETI projects generated in one year. Until now no positive results.

I ended my 2019 post with :”As soon as evidence of life will be found, on Mars or deep under the frozen oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europa, I will celebrate and be convinced that life indeed is teeming in the Universe. Until then, I believe in the Rare Earth Hypothesis , that we might well be alone.

What is this Rare Earth hypothesis? In 2000 Ward and Brownlee published a book Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe in which they argue that primitive (microbial) life may be common in the Universe, but that complex (intelligent) life is probably very rare.

I agree with them that complex life will be rare in the Universe, but I no longer think that primitive life will be common.

A few months ago I published a post Perseverance perseveres about the Mars rover who is looking for traces of past life on the planet Mars. The scientists were expecting/hoping to find stromatolites, fossils of microbial life formed in the time that Mars had water. Something similar to this, found in Australia, 3.4 billion year old.

Until now no sign of fossil microbial life has been found. So it could be that the chance that primitive life develops on a planet in the habitable zone is also small!

As long as no sign of (fossil) microbial life is found in our solar system or elsewhere, I think that even primitive life may be rare in the universe. I used to say, We may be alone in the Universe. I now go one step further:

We are probably alone in the Universe

But of course I hope that I am wrong

Kota Bharu trip, July 2023

Here is a report about a 5D4N trip to Kota Bharu, organised by Paul and Fahmi. When I showed my interest, they invited me to join, It’s a long drive from KL to Kota Bharu, we used the inland route via Gua Musang, it took us about 7 hours, with some sanitary stops and lunch in the Gua Musang R&R.

Paul and Fahmi had booked a homestay a bit south of the town center, in a kampung, but the house was modern and big enough for us, with three bedrooms.

After a rest we went out for dinner The KST restaurant has good reviews and was not far from our homestay. Fahmi selected a fish for the Ikan Bakar and picked a variety of fresh vegetables for the Ulam, a Malay salad, where you dip the raw veggie in a sauce of your choice. .

Left the ulam with two sauces, right the Ikan Bakar.

We also had Mango Salad and Tomyam soup. I nice start of our trip.

The next morning I took a photo of our homestay.. The owner (?) is living in the left part of the house. We had very good privacy in our part.

For our breakfast we went to another popular eatery, Kopitiam Kita. Famous for its Roti Titab, toasted bread with an half boiled egg and some kaya in the four corners.

We had to queue, but found a table reasonably fast.

The Roti Titab looks a bit weird, but was actually very tasty. Coffee was also good. Friendly service.

We drove to the center of the town and parked our car. Left the clock tower in the town center. Inspired by the Big Ben (?), could not find the date when it was built. Right a recent one, near the river. Both not really special.

One of the attractions of Kota Bharu is its Mural Art. Nowadays Mural Art can be seen all over Malaysia, after Zacharevic’s creations in Penang and Ipoh started the trend. Often they are of mediocre quality, using a wall just as a canvas. Here in Kota Bahru they are quite acceptable, often depicting Kelantanese topics, like wayang kulit or kite flying.

One section is dedicated to the Palestine war, a bit depressive but quite interesting. Kelantan is probably the most conservative Islamic state of Malaysia, strongly against Israel and in support of Palestine.. Here is a collection of scenes.

Another section, less depressive, is about Kelantanese life, food, customs etc.. The carpet on the floor has been painted!

Various scenes of kampung life.

Nice countryside.

Left Wayang Kulit, right Silat (Malay martial art).

And of course food 😉

After walking around in this quarter of town, we had a look at Kota Bharu’s famous Siti Khadijah Market. The market is not old, it was opened in 1985 as the Buluh Kubu Market, but in 1997 renamed Siti Khadijah, after the wife of the Prophet Mohammed. Three storeys high, very colorful. The ground floor is a wet market.

Kota Bharu has quite a number of museums. We only visited Istana Jahar, built as a royal residence in 1855. Now it houses the Museum of Royal Traditions and Customs of Kelantan.

When you are interested in colonial architecture, there is no need to visit Kota Bharu. We found only one building, a bank, built in 1912 and completed in 1922. It now houses the War Museum. In 1941 the Japanese invasion of British Malaya started with the landing of troops on the beaches of Kota Bharu.

Nearby is the Royal Landing Pier, We found a suitable place for lunch. In the background you see the clocktower near the Royal Landing Pier.

Walking back to our car we passed one more example of street art, an interactive one this time. Of course I had to try it 😉 .

After a long rest in our homestay we went out again, to the Cahaya Bulan beach.

Paul is not really a cat lover, not clear why cats always like him !

The beach is nice, but not spectacular.

Many food stalls along the beach.

We ordered deep fried squid (celup teping sotong) and prawns. With a coconut as a drink.

The stall even had an outside toilet!

The next day was already our last day in Kota Bharu. We still had to try the Nasi Kerabu and went to Liniey Nasi Kerabu Tumis, where we had to queue for some time, as it is a very popular eatery. But it was worth it.

Our first destination for the day was the Kampung Laut Mosque. We had to cross the Kelantan river to reach the mosque.

The mosque is one of the oldest in Malaysia and has an interesting history, which is explained in a number of panels. Its original location was close to the Kelantan river and erosion and flooding threatened to destroy the building. After a major flood in 1966-67 it was decided to dismantle the building, transport it to another village and rebuild it there. But that was a temporary solution only, Now the mosque has been brought back to Kampung Laut, at a safer distance from the river and protected by a heavy cemented wall from future flooding.

We could enter the mosque but as Paul and I were wearing shorts, we first had to cover our aurat (in this case our knees). The caretaker was very friendly.

The state of Kelantan has been in the past part of the Kingdom of Siam, Only in the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 it was decided that Kelantan would become one of the Unfederated Malay States , controlled by the Brits. .This explains why there still is Thai influence in Kelantan.

We visited two Buddhist temples in Tumpat, first the Wat Phothivihan with a giant Sleeping Buddha.

A few more photos. The entrance of the temple is guarded by two lions, one male and one female. When you look carefully you can see that the picture shows the male one 😉 .

We continued to the Wat Machimmaram, with a giant Sitting Buddha.

After so much local food, we were in the mood for something Western, so we went to the Aeon Mall, where we had already done some shopping the day before. But the whole mall was closed from 12:30 until 14:30! We had forgotten that it was Friday, Prayer Time, and that Kelantan is a very conservative Islamic State.

Luckily we had some biscuits at our homestay where we took a rest, before we went out in the afternoon. To another beach, Pantai Senok. A pleasant surprise. The main attraction is the forest of casuarina trees, planted in a grid pattern. Many families were enjoying the shade under the trees

Because of the grid pattern, you can see through the trees in certain directions.

A nice background for pictures.

Really a nice location.

The beach is also attractive. People were riding horses and flying kites.

We walked along the beach until the dam, separating the beach from a river. A small lighthouse marks the mouth of the river.

Using Google Search Paul and Fahmi had found a restaurant, not far from the beach, which specialised in oysters (tiram in Malay). When we arrived at this Maggi Tiram Kmah restaurant, we found a pleasant place, with friendly staff.

It’s all oyster dishes they serve 😉

We had a delicious dinner, starting with fresh oysters , followed by nasi tiram, nasi telor sotong and maggi tiram (soup)

The left picture shows the telor sotong (squid eggs) and the right picture shows three cheese-baked oysters, given to us free of charge. The total bill, including drinks, was RM 45. Unbelievable 😉 .

Here is a Google Earth screenshot with the locations we have visited. Click on the map to enlarge and see details.

The next day we started our drive back to KL. We stayed overnight in Kuala Terengganu, where Paul and Fahmi had booked a hotel.

Kuala Terengganu has two interesting mosques, This is the Crystal Mosque, built between 2006 and 2008.

And this is the Floating Mosque, built between 1993 and 1995. A real beauty.

It was a nice trip. Thanks to Paul and Fahmi for inviting me.

Netherlands trip, 2023 week 4

Here is the report about my fourth week in the Netherlands in 2023. For earlier reports see: week 1, week 2, week 3

In this fourth (and last) week I had to prepare the Backershagen apartment for my departure. Do some cleaning and laundry. Main task to empty the fridge.

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Thursday 15 June

Visit from Henk and his wife Marian. I know Henk for many years, since my university time. First we had coffee with vlaai. In the shopping center near my aprtment there is a popular shop that sells this Limburg delicacy. I had bought three slices.

To make it easier to choose, Henk and Marian helped to cut he slices in half 😉 .We continued with lunch. It was a kind of heatwave in the Netherlands, I decided that a bowl of gazpacho (cold Spanish soup) would be a good start of our lunch. But in the supermarket there was no more stock, so I chose the “unknown vegetable soup”. They liked it.

That evening I visited Nico, Paul’s brother for dinner and a chat. He had prepared poussin (young chicken) stuffed with Boursin (French cheese), a Belgian recipe. Excellent dinner.

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Friday 16 June

A day without commitments, so I could relax after three hectic weeks. For dinner and wine I had not much choice, just finishing what was left, some of my meatballs in this case.

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Saturday 17 June

As my first meeting with Lambert, in the Amsterdam public library, had been rather short, I decided to visit him again, this time going to Purmerend, where he lives. Forgot to take pictures.

I am very happy with the public transport in the Netherlands. I have been using train, metro, bus many times, using my so-called public-transport card, With this card you can access any kind of transport in the country. You don’t have to worry about enough balance on the card, it will be topped up automatically from your bank account.

Here a bus to my hometown and the train to Arnhem.

The bus has special seats for senior citizens, and in the Amsterdam metro you are allowed to take your bicycle with you.

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Sunday 18 June

I was lucky that during the last few days, friends invited me for dinner, so I didn’t have to cook myself. In this case Johan and Edmund, living in Vinkeveen in a nice house. They are proud of their beautiful garden and rightly so.

Johan and Edmund had invited Theo, another friend, for dinner. As the weather was good we had dinner in their garden.

Edmund had prepared delicious Surinam food. Theo, also living in Amsterdam, took me back in his car to the town. Nice evening.

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Monday 19 June

Dinner with Dick Jurriaans, former colleage at the Snellius school, in the Elements restaurant in Amsterdam. The kitchen and restaurant are staffed by students from the hotel school, connected to the ROC of Amsterdam. The result is perfect service, a creative menu and a very affordable price.

Almost the Summer Solstice. Compare the two photos, left on 28 May, right on 19 June

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Tuesday 20 June

During this Netherlands trip I had been extremely fortunate with the weather. But for this day there was a warning voor extreme weather with lots of rain in the afternoon and evening. I was invited by Roald, a former student and a close friend for many years, to have dinner at his apartment in Amsterdam, but we deicded to cancel it.

Left a screenshot of the rain radar website, in the center the actual downpour. So I had to prepare some food myself. Vegetarian, I still had some potatoes and cucumber. With a glass of wine, quite acceptable 😉 .

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Wednesday 21 June

It has become a tradition that I have dinner with Inez, the day before I fly back. What would you like to eat, she asked. Real Dutch food, I told her, but I had already tasted many typical Dutch dishes. What about zuurkool stamppot met spek en rookworst? (sauerkraut stew with pork belly and sausage) Great, that was still missing on my list 😉 Actually this stew is really winter fare, but we enjoyed it a lot..

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Thursday 22 June

Departure day. Packing my stuff, switching off the fridge, last minute checking of the apartment. My brother Otto brought me to Schiphol airport.

..This was the fourth week. During my four week stay, I had 25 meetings!

Netherlands trip, 2023 week 3 

Here is the report about my third week in the Netherlands in 2023. Click here for the first week and here for the second week.

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Thursday 8 June

A visit from Wim, one of my first students and now a long-time friend. We had lunch in Backershagen and chatted a lot. Sunset is still moving (slowly) northwards, two more weeks to go until the summer solstice,

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Friday 9 June

A 3D2N visit to Ruud and Jur in Groningen is usually part of my program when I am back in the Netherlands. This time I combined it with a visit to Gerrit, another former student, who became a good friend. I started teaching in 1976, when I was 32 years old and I still am in contact with a few of my first students, who are now more than 60 years old 😉 .

Gerrit moved a couple of months ago from Amsterdam to Dokkum, a town in the Friesland province. First I took a train to Leeuwarden and from there a bus to Dokkum, where Gerrit was waiting for me. After coffee and cake, we walked to the historical center of Dokkum.

Dokkum has a rich history, in the past it had a harbour, and there are many heritage buildings. Many more photos can be found in my blog A Dutch Trip up North .

It was an enjoyable walk, worthwhile to come back another time. In the left photo I am standing in front of a historical map of Dokkum, in the right picture I am lighting a candle in one of the Dokkumer churches. I may be a staunch atheist, but I like to do this, while wishing something for a loved one.

In the afternoon I continued my travel, by bus and train, to Groningen, where Ruud was waiting for me at the station. We enjoyed a beer in their garden. Actually two beers ;-). Left Affligem alcohol-free beer, which is getting quite popular these days. Followed by a “real” beer, a Belgian tripel, very strong, 8.5 %.

Jur had prepared a nice dinner.

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Saturday 10 June

We made a trip to the northern part of the Friesland province. For me an unknown part of the Netherlands. Perfect weather.

Many more pictures and info in the album A Dutch Trip up North. The right picture is taken at the small village of Moddergat. I had never heard about it, Interesting history and really worth a visit.

For our dinner we went to Lauwersoog, where we had a sumptuous seafood dinner. I started with oysters

Jur and I shared a seafood platter. So much variety of seafood that we couldn’t even finish it. Ruud is not a fan of seafood, but enjoyed his dinner too. I will come back to this restaurant with Aric!

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Sunday 11 June

On my way back to Amsterdam, I stopped in Leeuwarden to meet my university friend Nellie, who is living in Friesland. Talking about long lasting friendship, we met in 1961 as freshmen at the Free University of Amsterdam.

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Monday 12 June

Rene and I were both physics teachers at the Snellius school, many years ago. When he started teaching in Utrecht, we kept in touch. Either I visit him and his wife Caroline in Nieuwegein, where they live, or they visit me in Backerhagen, like this year.

Caroline is always fascinated by the view from my apartment.

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Tuesday 13 June

I started the day with another walk from my apartment. This time part nature, part architecture. Here is a report with many photos: De Zuidas.

The right photo shows the Science Faculty of the Free University where I have been working from 1969 until 1976 for my Ph.D degree.

The Zuidas (South Axis) is a rapidly developing business district in Amsterdam, also nicknamed the Financial Mile. Lots of interesting modern architecture.

In the evening my brother Pim visited me for a mussel dinner. Nowadays mussels are available in the supermarkets even when there is no r in the name of the month (May-August). During this stay the dinner with Pim was the only time that I prepared dinner for a guest, the other guests came for lunch. Easier for me 😉 .

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Intermezzo

Not only did I enjoy the Dutch food, also the variety of fruits was very pleasant. When I am back in spring there are strawberries, now they were there too, even Dutch ones, But there were now also cherries, blueberries, raspberries, red berries and blackberries. Delicious.

And there was rhubarb. Cooked with raisins and sugar, with yoghurt a perfect dessert.

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Wednesday 14 June

A day trip to visit Carel Poeder and his wife Joanne. Carel was the principal of the Snellius school when I started teaching there in 1976. I kept in touch with them and in 2018 Aric and I visited them in France where they have a house. See my blog France 2018, part II. When back in the Netherlands they stay in a house on a campsite near Gaanderen. Nice rural environment.

Joanne picked me up from the Gaanderen station and drove me to the camping.

Originally two caravans, but it has the atmosphere of a real, nice house. A pleasant surprise. It was a short visit, we had coffee and lunch, then they dropped me at the station in Doetinchem.

This was the third week.

Netherlands trip, 2023 week 2 

Here is the report about my second week in the Netherlands in 2023. Click here for the first week.

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Thursday 1 June

A traditional part of my trip to the Netherlands is a 3D2N visit to my sister Lous in Valkkoog. On my way, by train, I stopped in Alkmaar to visit Ineke, the wife of my brother Arie who passed away last year October. Last time I met him was in April 2022 (left photo). I could not be present at his funeral. It was good to meet Ineke, we talked a lot and she had prepared a nice lunch.

In the afternoon Lous picked me up from Alkmaar, we drove to Valkkoog where we met her husband Arend and had a Korean dinner. For someone with tropical blood, they are quite spartan with temperatures below 20° Celsius inside their bungalow 😉

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Friday 2 June

We made a day trip to Den Helder where Lous and Arend had found two interesting places, a former school, transformed into a library and a botanical garden in a residential area. I wrote a separate blog about it, with info and more photos, A Dutch Trip up North .

We visited the school in the morning and the botanical garden in the afternoon. For our lunch we went to restaurant Lands End , I had kroketten, a typical Dutch delicacy.

This is the most northern point on the mainland of the Province North Holland. At the horizon left the island Texel.

We will keep the Maritime Museum for a next visit.

Instead we went back to Valkkoog where we enjoyed the weather, the beautiful garden and a nice BBQ.

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Saturday 3 June

Before traveling back to Amsterdam I walked around in the village and took some photos. Left a view of the agricultural land at the back of the garden. Right beuatiful Akelei flowers.

The church of Valkkoog and its cemetery.

Right Lous and I in the garden of a neighbour, under a Goudenregen (Golden Rain) tree.

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Sunday 4 June

Lunch with Atie, Annabella and Hans, another tradition. Hans is a former colleague at the Snellius school, Annabella his wife and Atie the wife of Dick Schuursma, vice-principal at Snellius , a good friend, sadly deceased some years ago. Last year they came to my condo, this time we met in the apartment of Hans and Annabella. As a present I had brought two of my cardboard polyhedra, many years ago one of my hobbies, see my blog Beautiful Shapes.

In the afternoon my nephew Aswin (right) visited me with his boyfriend Cedric (left). The weather was still very good, the sunset was shifting every day a bit further to the north (until the summer solstice on 21 June)

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Monday 5 June

As I had no commitments this day, I decided to take a walk to the Amstelpark. During the walk I took numerous photos, whcih you can see in my report Walk in the Park. Left the route I followed.

One of the attractions of the park is the Rhododendron Valley. The season was over, but there were still enough flowers to enjoy. The windmill near the river Amstel is a popular tourist attraction, specially for Asian visitors. But I was early, so it was still quiet.

Left some Highland Cattle, unusual to see them here. On my walk back I passed the Jewish Maimonides school, built like a fortress as protection against antisemitic attacks. Sad that this is needed.

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Tuesday 6 June

Another tradition: an outing with Inez. Last year we visited Kinderdijk, click here for my blog. This time we went to Bergen in the province Noord-Holland. We started with Park Meerwijk where in the period 1915-1918 a number of villas was built in the style of the Amsterdamse School. Beautifil villas with their thatched roofs.

Museum Kranenburgh is not far away, we had coffee there and visited the museum. Bergen is an artist village and there was an exhibition with works of local artists. Some of them were present to tell more about their work.

The museum has a nice sculpture garden.

We went to the beach for a short while. The wind was strong and quite chilly

But we found a sheltered spot in a beach cafe, where we had our lunch. I had an “uitsmijter”, two fried eggs with ham and cheese on bread. Another very Dutch dish.

Inez has a caravan on a camping near the beach, we went there for another coffee before going back to Amsterdam.

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Wednesday 7 June

A day without commitments 😉 Here is a screenshot of my digital calendar.

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Intermezzo

More (mostly) Dutch food. From left to right my signature meatballs, Boerenkool met Rookworst and Seafood Spaghetti. Boerenkool (Kale) stew is a typical winter dish, I was surprised that the supermarket still had fresh kale.

This was the second week.

Netherlands trip, 2023 week 1

Our plan was to visit Iceland this year but Aric was very busy with his laundry shop and could not take leave. So I decided to go to the Netherlands on my own, four weeks. When I checked ticket prices, I found that the KLM tickets were very expensive and not even a direct flight. Emirates and Qatar also had a stopover, but were more affordable. I booked with Qatar and had a transit in Doha. A very modern airport, similar to Changi airport in Singapore. Easy to spend a few hours there. Here are some pictures

The first half of the flight was a night flight, leaving KLIA at 3 am (!), the second half was a day flight, leaving Doha at 8 am and arriving at Schiphol at 2 pm. Nice food for lunch, chili con carne.

I arrived in the Netherlands on Thursday 25 May and left four weeks later, on Thursday 22 June. To keep the blog readable, I will split it in four parts, one for each week, and each part subdivided in days.

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Thursday 25 May

I was lucky on arrival, the plane landed not far from the gate, immigration was fast and my suitcase arrived quickly on the carousel. I took the train to Amsterdam Zuid and walked to Backershagen, where I arrived in my apartment around 3 pm, about one hour after landing, a record! A vase of roses was waiting for me, a sweet gesture from Yolanda, Paul’s sister. But there my luck ended. My mobile phone was not working and I could not connect to the Internet.

It took me a few hours to solve the problems. I went out to buy a new sim card for my smartphone and (blurry after the long flight) I had not put the telephone plug back in the wall socket!

Finally I could relax in my apartment and enjoy my favourite Dutch food (cheese, herring, strawberries etc.).

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Friday 26 May

Beautiful weather, although the wind was still chilly. Usually I am back in the Netherlands during spring, when the trees are still bare and gradually are turning green. Now it was getting summer, everything green. Very nice. Here is a view of the Zuidas from my apartment.

Later I visited Pim and Nanda for a nice asparagus dinner.

Sunset very late, at 9:40 pm. It is setting behind the buildings of my alma mater and will still move a bit more North in the next weeks.

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Saturday 27 May

A lunch meeting with my friend Lambert in the OBA, the Amsterdam public library. I used public transport and arrived at the Central Station (left), The town was busy with tourists. Right the St Nicolas church.

The OBA is at walking distance from the Central Station. It is a nice modern building, opened in 2007.

The top floor has a cafe where I met Lambert. The view of the Amsterdam skyline is impressive.

We had a short meeting with coffee and cake. I stayed a bit longer and had my lunch there.

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Intermezzo

I enjoy de diversity of food in Malaysia, but when I am back in the Netherlands I am craving for traditional Dutch food 😉 . From left to right (using Dutch names), Schoudercarbonade met snijbonen, Bloemkool met worst and Witlof met een speklapje. All with my favourite potatoes, Opperdoezer Ronde .

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Sunday 28 May

Whitsun. A day trip with my former student and now long time friend, Yolanda. She was my student in the late 70s at the Snellius school, located at the Startbaan in Amstelveen. The school has been demolished many years ago and is now a residential area. The Startbaan is still there but only the Snelliuslaan reminds of the school.

We decided to walk around the Poel, a lake in Amstelveen. There were yellow irises everywhere. I used the Komoot app to record our walk. Here is a report about the hike, with more photos.

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Monday 29 May

The next day I visited Alphen a/d Rijn, where I was born and where my youngest brother Otto now is living in the family house.

It has become a tradition to visit my parents’ grave with Otto. We bought some plants to decorate the grave.

For lunch we went to McDonalds, where Otto’s eldest son Pascal is manager. He was busy but joined us for a while. We had something very Dutch, a McKroket, never seen that elsewhere in the world. Not bad at all.

During spring there are tulips, daffodils, hyacinths. Now there was a variety of wild flowers like klaprozen (poppies) and margrieten (ox-eye daisies).

I went for another walk with Otto in the region of the Bedelaarsbos. Beautiful Dutch polder landscape. Click on this Komoot report for more photos

One reason to (re)visit this region is that many years ago we put a so-called geocache here: Bedelaarsbos . We archived the cache in 2015 and were curious if we could still find its location. Here Otto is standing on the remains of a tree trunk where we thought the cache was hidden. While we were walking there, I logged another geocache, Tuf-Tuf.

Back home, Otto proudly showed his (first) grandchild and of course I had to take her in my arms as well.

Here Aswin, Xander (his twin sons) and I have pancakes for dinner, skilfully prepared by Otto. Spekpannekoek met stroop (bacon pancake with syrup), can it be more Dutch?

A very nice day. But unfortunate that my bicycle was missing from the (guarded!) bicycle shed where I had parked it that morning.

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Tuesday 30 May

When I am back in Amsterdam. Yolanda and I always have a “luxury” dinner in a restaurant selected by her. This time her choice was Visaandeschelde, a seafood restaurant in Amsterdam-Zuid. The food was so delicious, that I forgot to take a selfie of the two of us. I also forgot what were the many ingredients of the various dishes. They looked likes works of art. Very pleasant service.

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Wednesday 31 May

My “soulmate” Inez visited me in Backershagen for lunch. I told her about my missing bicycle, that I had tried to find it back, but in vain. That it was anyway an old barrel and that I wanted to buy another second-hand one. She said that there was a good bicycle shop near where she lived. After lunch I went with her to this shop, where I bought a “new” second-hand bike for 179 Euro. Left the happy owner, right how I will lock my bike from now on 😉 .

This was the first week.

A Wedding Dinner

It is many years ago that Aric and I attended a Chinese wedding dinner! When our friend Henry Hor came to our place in April, to invite us for the wedding dinner of his son Benjamin, we accepted his invitation. When I decided a few weeks later to visit the Netherlands, I planned my timetable in such a way that I would come back just one day before the dinner, hoping that my jetlag would not be too severe 😉 .

For those not familiar with the tradition of Chinese wedding dinners, here some information. A Chinese wedding dinner is a big and expensive event, where hundreds of guests enjoy a traditional many-course dinner. The size of the event is indicated by the number of tables, where eacht table is for 10 pax. The price for one table can easily be in the range RM 2000-3000. At this occasion there were 30 tables. To contribute to the cost of the event, the guests don’t give the wedding couple a present, but an ang pao envelope with money. On arrival we presented our ang pao, and we were given our table number. Henry is busy here, doing some checking.

Left the wedding dinner invitation. Benjamin is living in the US, Anita in Malaysia. They met via the Internet and married last year in the US. Now Benjamin came back for the church wedding. He brought quite a few of his American friends. Anita who is planning to move to the US, is Chindian. So the dinner was Chinese, but the company was an interesting mix of Chinese, Indian, Malay and Mat Salleh, very Malaysian.

A few pictures of the hall. On the invitation a starting time of 6 pm is mentioned, but almost nobody comes that early. We arrived at 6:30 pm

Still enough time to greet friends. Left Aric and George, right Khong, George and me together with Henry

At around 7 pm the couple, Anita and Benjamin, entered the hall.

They were seated at the main table, near the stage, with their close family. Then the dinner could start. An eight-course menu. Free flow of wine and beer.

The first course is always a variety of starters. Read the menu for details.

Followed by seafood soup (left) and and chicken chop with mango salad (right)

In the meantime the MC (master of ceremonies) introduced the speakers and also photos and videos were shown on the big screen above the main stage. Here is “our” table.

There was one more table with our friends. Left photo (from right to left) George, Boon Chee and his wife. Right photo (from right to left) Richard Yap, Teoh and his wife. We know each other through Bukit Kiara and IKEA, before COVID disturbed our lives.

Fourth course: steamed pomfret with ginger in soy sauce.

The next two courses, left butter prawns with egg floss, right mushroom and broccoli

Henry, Anita and Benjamin at the VIP table, listening to the speeches on the stage.

Then it is their turn. Benjamin has to open a bottle of champaign (or maybe sparkling wine),preferably with a loud pop ;-). Then groom and bride have to fill the tower of glasses. This is a traditional element of the ceremony.

Next is the official toasting with all close relatives and friends on stage.

Everybody has to sing yam seng, cheers in Cantonese, litterally “drink to victory”. The “yam” must be kept as long and loud as possible, followed by a short, explosive “seng”. Here is a short video, showing that not everybody was familiar with this very Chinese custom. the MC had to help 😉 .

These events are very suitable to meet old friends. Left the Gang of Four, we still meet regularly. Right Boon Chee, Andrew and I, we have not met each other for many years.

In the meantime the last course had arrived, Mixed fruits and a dessert of sea coconut and snow fungus. This time Aric was serving the others at our table.

The finale of the dinner. Bride and groom visit tables for another yam seng toast and pictures.. Not all tables, just tables with their friends and relatives.

Here I am toasting on the good luck and happiness of the couple. Yaaaaaaaam Seng.

A pleasant evening, nice to meet old friends. i had no problem with jetlag!

A Dutch Trip up North

In 2015 I published a blog Trip up North and two years later another one, both about trips to the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia. During my present stay in the Netherlands I have made two trips to northern provinces, so here is a report about my Dutch Trip up North 😉 .

During my stay in Valkkoog with my sister Lous and brother-in-law Arend we made a day trip to Den Helder, the most northern town of the province North Holland. It is the main naval base of the Netherlands. There is a maritime museum which I may visit another time, because Lous and Arend wanted to show me two other attractions of the town.

The first one was unusual, a public library: School 7. From the outside it looks like a modern.building.

But look at the facade on the onther side and you will see something different. The modern library is an extension of a primary school, built in 1905. The structure of the old building has been cleverly preserved and is visble everywhere inside the library.

Originally the school had two floors , each with six classrooms and toilets for the pupils. The former toilets are now places where you can read a book, listen to a poem or watch a video.

Here are a few pictures of the modern extension. Not suprisingly the library has won prizes, both in the Netherlands and internationally. More info about the awards here (in Dutch).

The library has a friendly atmosphere, you can sit down and read a book or enjoy a cup of coffee and a snack.

We had lunch at Lands End, the most northern (mainland) point of North Holland.

Two seals are watching the Wadden Sea. At the horizon you can see the Wadden island of Texel.

Another surprise in the afternoon, the Hortus Overzee, a botanical garden in the center of Den Helder town, in a residential area. Started in 1939 as the City Nursery, but around 2000 transformed into a tropical botanical garden, with for example a Japanese garden, a waterfall etc. Amazing.

The Bird of Paradise flowers (center) are quite common in Malaysia, but it was a surprise to see them here.

There are several greenhouses, where tropical plants are kept.

It was a real pleasure to walk around in these gardens.

One week later I visited my brother Ruud and his partner Jur in Groningen. On my way I first stopped in Dokkum, to visit my friend Gerrit, who was my student when I started teaching in 1976. So we know each other more than 45 years!

We walked around in Dokkum, a nice historical town.

In the past Dokkum had as harbour, ships could use the Dokkumer Diep to reach what in those old days was called the Lauwerszee.

Left the city hall (1610), right the windmill Zeldenrust.

Left the public weigh house of Dokkum (1593).

The St Boniface church (1871) built in Neogothic style by Cuypers (Rijksmuseum and Central Station in Amsterdam). In 754 Bonifacius was murdered in Dokkum, I learnt in primary school 😉 .

This is one of the 11 fountains , a series of art works, created in Friesland in 2018. This fountain is cooled inside, so the outside is often covered with hoar frost, but during my visit it was too hot 😉 .

A nice town, worth a more detailed visit in the future.

I continued my trip to Groningen where Ruud picked me up from the station. Beautiful weather, time for a refreshing beer. 0.0% beer, getting more and more popular these days.

The next day we visited the northern part of Friesland. Right the Keersluis Munnikezijl, built in 1882 to improve water drainage in northeast Friesland.

Flooding was always a problem in this part of Friesland. After the devastating Christmas Flood of 1717 it was decided to block the Dokumer Diep. The Dokumer Nieuwe Zijlen were completed in 1729 and are now National Heritage.

Left the monument that was erected in 1729 after completion of the works. The right picture shows a monument to remember the resitance fighters who lost their lives against the Germans at the end of WWII.

Our next stop was at the small village of Moddergat (~ Mud Hole). It was a fishing village where in 1883 17 of the 22 ships were lost at sea during a storm, killing 83 fishermen. A few of the fishermen houses have been restored and are now an interesting museum.

In one of the houses the interior can be admired. Often two families lived in one house.

It was another day with beautiful weather. The right picture shows a monument to the women who, especially after the disaster, must have had a tough life.

Our last stop was at Wierum, in the past another fishing village. Built on a terp, a man-made hill. Originally the church was the center of the village, now it is close to the dike, because part of the village has been swallowed by the sea.

More monuments, left a memorial for the 22 fishermen who perished during another severe storm in 1893. Right a statue of a fishermen’s wive who had to walk across the mud flats to stab sea worms, which were used as bait by her husband, What a life! More info about Wierum here (in Dutch)

This part of Friesland was virtually unknown to me. . Here is a Google map of the region, where I have marked the places I have visited.

The next day, on my way back to Amsterdam, I stopped for a while in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, to have lunch which my friend Nellie. We know each other since 1961, when we both were freshmen at the Free University of Amsterdam. The work of art near the station is another one of the 11 fountains, mentioned above.

A tiring, but rewarding 3D2N trip up north in the Netherlands.

Perseverance perseveres

On 18 February 2021 the Perseverance rover landed successfuly in the Jezero crater on planet Mars. A few weeks later I wrote a detailed blog about the landing and the mission of the Perseverance: to determine whether Mars ever was, or is, habitable to microbial life. We are now more than two years later, time to give an update. I assume that you have read the first post ;-).

First about the Ingenuity helicopter. There has been a lot of opposition to include the helicopter in the project, many people were worried that it might compromise the main goal of Perseverance. Here are two pictures taken by the WATSON camera (mounted on the robotic arm). Left the Ingenuity still under Perseverance’s belly with its legs unfolded, right next the the rover, ready to fly. Photos taken 1 and 7 April 2021, respectively

Here is a selfie of Perseverance, taken on 6 April 2021 again by the WATSON camera. Notice how small the helicopter is. Do you wonder why you don’t see the robotic arm in this picture? Actually WATSON took 62 pictures, resulting in this composite image, click here for details.

Originally only 5 flights of Ingenuity were planned, just to test if the helicopter could fly in the very thin Martian atmosphere. Because contact with Earth takes about 11 minutes, those flights have to be autonomous. They were so successful that the Ingenuity is still operating now, on 23 April it had its 51th flight. It is actually scouting for Perseverance to find suitable locations to explore. Click here for a list of all flights, full of interesting details. During flight 51 Ingenuity took a picture of Perseverance (upper left corner). Not easy to spot, the right picture shows an enlargement

In my Perseverance blog, I could only be rather vague about details of the mission. The rover was supposed to collect samples of Martian rocks and soil (regolith), using the drill on its robotic arm. Then put these samples in sample tubes and store them in a container. Here is an example of a sample tube, the container can hold 43 of them.

Here is the proposed route at the time when I wrote my blog.. The x marks the landing of Perseverance in the Jezero crater, which was a lake, billions of year ago. In those days a river was flowing into the lake (from the left), creating a delta of sediment. If ever life developed on Mars, this region might be suitable to find proof of it.

And here you see the actual route of the rover during the last two years. It is a screenshot from the NASA website Where is Perseverance? Really worthwhile to visit the site, you can zoom in on the map which is updated regularly. The red markers give the locations where samples have been collected. The blue markers show where the Perseverance and the Ingenuity are.

When you visit the website and zoom in, you will get this. Clicking on a white circle will tell you when the rover was there, clicking on a line segment gives the distance, clicking on a red marker will tell you the number of the sample collected

During the two years that Perseverance has been exploring, it has collected 19 samples, here is the list, with lots of details for each sample.

The first sample was actually a failure, it must have been a shock for the team! Here is a screenshot. Sample Type: Atmosopheric. The core must have been too powdery/brittle, broken into pieces, and the capsule is empty. More about it here .

Fortunately all other sampling attempts until now were successful. Here is an example. The rocky outcrop has been named Wildcat Ridge. Two samples (no 12 &13 in the list) have been drilled and a circular patch of the rock has been abraded to investigate the rock’s composition.

Why two samples from the same location? When you look at the list, you will find that this is the usual procedure. All samples have been collected twice from each location (except the first, failed, one).

In the period between 21 December 2022 and 28 January 2023, one sample of each location has been dropped in what has been called a depot, named Three Forks. I have indicated the location with a red oval in the detailed map above. Here is a picture of the second sample being dropped.

And here is a collage of all 10 samples dropped. THe Atmospheric sample, 8 samples with rock or regolith and one witness sample. A witness tube will follow the same procedure, but not collect any rock or regolith. Back on earth it will be inspected to check for any contamination with material from Earth. Click here for more details.

,The sample tubes tubes are not dropped at the same spot, but about 5-15 meter apart. The center of each circle is the location where that sample was deployed, with in red the name given to the sample (see the list).

Why all this? Basically for safety reasons. The ultimate goal of the mission is to bring the sample capsules back to earth, where they can be studied in much more detail than is possible by Perseverance. In my first blog I wrote that this so-called Mars Sample Return porject at first sight looks like science fiction. And I still think it does 😉 . Here is an outline of the project in its present form.

  • In 2027 the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) will be launched and reach Mars in 2029 where it will go in orbit and wait for the container with the samples.
  • In 2028 the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) will be launched. It will land on Mars in 2029, probably close to the Three Forks depot. It will bring two helicopters and the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), a rocket.
  • If Perseverance is still working properly, it will also travel back to the Three Forks depot. In that case it can transfer its samples to the MAV
  • If not, the two helicopters will transfer the ten dropped samples to the MAV
  • After the samples have been stored in the MAV, it will leave Mars, go in orbit around the planet and release the container with the samples.
  • The ERO will pick up the container with the samples and place them in the Earth Entry Vehicle (EEV). Then it will leave its orbit and travel back to Earth
  • Near Earth the ERO will release the EEV which will “fall” back to Earth. No navigation, no parachute. It is scheduled to land in 2033 in the desert sand of the Utah Test and Training Range.

In this artist impression the Sample Retrieval Lander is at the right, left the Perseverance. The Mars Ascent Vehicle has just been launched, it will bring the container with the precious samples to the Earth Return Orbiter. One of the Sample Recovery Helicopters is hovering in the thin Martian atmosphere.

In the original design, the Sample Retrieval Lander carried another rover which transported the sample tubes from Perseverance to Mars Ascent Vehicle. . It has been skipped because of the success of the Ingenuity helicopter. The Sample Recovery Helicopter has basically the same design, but is stronger, can carry a small load and has wheels. Here is an artist imprssion. It can transport a dropped sample tube, one at a time, from the depot to the Lander.

.Another design change is that the Sample Retrieval Lander has a powerful robotic arm to put the samples in the sample container. Have a look at this fascinating video. The robotic arm picks up a sample tube from the ground, and puts it inside the rocket. But it can do the same with samples stored inside the Perseverance.

Have a look at this animation. You see the Sample Retrieval Lander land near the Perseverance. The robotic arm transfers the sample capsules to the Mars Ascent Vehicle, which is then launched. When in orbit it releases the container with the samples. This container is then collected by the Earth Return Orbiter. There the container will be placed in the Earth Entry Vehicle. All this will take place after the landing of the Sample Retriever Lander in 2029.

At the moment the whole whole retrieval mission is still in the design phase. Here are prototypes of the sample container and the Earth Entry Vehicle. To give you an impression of the size, a sample tube is about 15 cm long. The container is roughly the sise of a basketball. The diameter of the EEV will be about 1.5 meter.

The retrieval operation will take place in 2029, six years from now. The Perseverance is working beyond expectation, but will it still work properly in 2029? In the first phase of the exploration Perseverance has collected dupilcate samples and dropped one of each at the Three Forks depot. In one of the NASA reports I read that in the second phase the Perseverance will no longer collect duplicates.

So, when everything goes well, in 2029 Pereverance will return to the Three Forks Depot with in its belly around 30 collected samples. In that case The Robotic Arm will transfer the samples to the sample container. It will leave the depot untouched! Why? Because the retrieval will be a risky process. The container after launch will be floating in orbit and hopefully collected by the Earth Retrun Orbiter. And near earth the container, now inside the EEV, will be dropped near Earth and hopefully fall down in the Utah desert. I still think it’s science fiction 😉 So, in case something goes wrong, at least there are still 10 samples in the depot, waiting for another mission.

The paragraph above is my own interpretation.

And this is my personal comment, before I finish this blog.

The whole mission until now has been presented as a huge success. And techologically speaking, I agree. But still I think the scientists will be a bit disappointed, because a “smoking gun” has not been found until now.

When (microbial) life developed on earth, 3.5 billion year ago, it left fossil traces behind, called stromatolites, like this one, found in Australia..

If this kind of sediment would be found in the Jezero crater om Mars, it would be frontpage news all over the world: Life has existed on Mars.

In 2019 a team of NASA/ESA scientists went to Australia to study the stromatolites. In the video they call them the Holy Grail.

But until now no sign. The collected samples contain organic molecules, but that is nothing new, Curioisity, the predecessor of Perseverance already found them.

Of course Perseverance will persevere exploring the sediments in the Jezero delta and collect more samples. Hopefully it will one day be able to take pictures of stromatolite. If not then we will have to wait until 2033 when the samples are returned to Earth and can be investigated in specialised laboratories.

Yes, I think the scientists are a bit disappointed.

Agrippina

In May 2020 I wrote a post An opera and some history, about the opera L’Ottavia restituita al Trono by Domenico Scarlatti. When I was looking for information about this opera, I came across the opera Agrippina by Handel. Handel was born in1685, in the same year as Scarlatti, and he composed this opera in 1709 while he was staying in Italy. It was a huge success, got into oblivion later, but is now considered one of Handel’s major operas.

Agrippina (AD 15 – 59) was the wife of Roman emperor Claudius (10 BC –AD 54) and mother (from an earlier marriage) of emperor Nero (AD 37 –  68). Claudius died by poisoning, with probably his wife Agrippina as the instigator. Nero became the next emperor AD 54, 17 year old. At that time he was married to Octavia (AD 39 or 40 – 62), but the marriage was an unhappy one and soon he got mistresses. One of them was Poppaea (AD 30 – 65), married to his friend Otho (AD 32 – 69) who would become emperor after Nero’s suicide.

Probably everybody knows about the reputation of Nero. He killed his mother Agrippina AD 59 (22 yo) and a few years later he divorced Octavia and got her killed AD 62 (25 yo). He forced Otho to divorce Poppaea and exiled him to Lusitania (present day ~ Portugal). He married Poppaea AD 62. When se was pregnant AD 65, he caused her death.

It was a tumultuous period in the Roman Empire.

The Italian composer Monteverdi created in 1643 the opera L’incoronazione di Poppea (The coronation of Poppaea). Nero, Poppaea, Octavia and Otho are the main characters in his opera. The libretto uses the historical facts reasonably well, although with some artistic freedom. Otho loves Poppaea, but she prefers Nero and Nero prefers her above his wife Octavia. The opera ends with Otho and Octavia being exiled and Nero marrying Poppaea.

Scarlatti twists the historical facts. In his opera. Octavia has been exiled, but comes back to Rome, disguised as a shepherdess, to take revenge on Poppaea. Because the Roman people support her (historically true), Nero finally accepts Octavia back, although he still loves Poppaea. Otho doesn’t appear in this opera.

In Agrippina the main characters are Agrippina, Nero, Claudius, Otho and Poppaea. In the libretto of this opera the historical facts are distorted beyond recognition and I find it surprising that in the reviews of this opera hardly any attention is paid to the discrepancies.

The opera starts with Agrippina receiving the news that Claudius has drowned in a storm while at sea. Immediately she starts plotting to have her son Nero as the next emperor. She tells him: . “del quinto lustro oggi al confin sei giunto” which literally translates as “you have reached the border of your fifth lustrum today“. It took me some time to decipher this, the start of your fifth lustrum is when you turn 20. As Nero was born on 15 December AD 37, this gives an exact date of this conversation between Agrippina and Nero, 15 December AD 57.

Why do I pay so much attention to dates? Well, Claudius died AD 54 (possibly poisoned by Agrippina) and Nero was already Roman emperor from that time on. His friend (!) Otho was actually married to Poppaea at that time, she divorced him AD 58 only. Nero himself is still married to Octavia and divorced her AD 59.

So the story of the opera is completely fake. Keep that in mind when you read the following synopsis.

After receiving the news about the death of Claudius, Agrippina starts her scheming by asking Pallas and Narcissus to support Nero. In the opera they are both in love with Agrippina and provide the comic relief in the story. Historically, they were important figures in Claudius’ court. Pallas and Agrippina may have been lovers, but Narcissus was very loyal to Claudius and was murdered in AD 54, at about the same time as Claudius. Another fake element in the opera.

When Nero is about to be crowned emperor, Lesbus, a servant of Claudius enters and announces that Claudius did not drown, but was rescued by Otho, the commander of the army. Big commotion. Otho enters and tells that Claudius in gratitude will resign and make him the new emperor Privately he tells Agrippina that his love for Poppaea is more important for him than becoming emperor.

This gives Agrippina the opportunity for another plot. She knows that both Claudius and Nero are in love with Poppaea and tells Poppaea that Otho has promised Claudius that he will leave Poppaea to him, if he can become emperor. .Of course Poppaea is upset. Agrippina advises her to tell Claudius that Otho has forbidder her to see him, hoping to make the emperor so angry that he will take back his promise to Otho

When Poppaea meets Claudius she does as suggested by Agrippina. Claudius is furious and when he meets the others, he is full of praise, but calls Otho suddenly a traitor. Agrippina, Poppaea, everybody deserts Otho after this. Left alone he sings a lament, one of the most beautiful arias composed by Handel. Listen to Voi che udite il mio lamento, sung by countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński.

Poppaea, can not really believe that Otho has forsaken her for the throne and meets him in a garden. Soon it becomes clear that Agrippina has been plotting and Poppaea wants to take revenge. She asks Otho to come to her rooms later, Lesbus enters to tell her that Claudius wants to visit her in her rooms, next Nero meets her, she also invites him to her rooms.

Follows a hilarious scene in Poppaea’s rooms. First Otto arrives, she asks him to hide. Next comes Nero, also asked to hide, When finally Claudius has arrived, she tells him that it was actually Nero and not Otho who told her she should not meet Claudius. He can not believe her, but is convinced when she calls Nero out of his hiding.

Claudius is now confused who is lying and who is speaking the truth. He asks everybody to tell their story.. When Poppaea tells that Nero was in her rooms, he takes a decision, Nero will marry Poppaea and he will keep his promise that Otho will become emperor! Everybody unhappy 😉 When Otho refuses the crown, he reverses his decision: Otho can marry Poppaea and Nero will become emperor. Everybody happy.

All is well that ends well

In this synopsis I have omitted many details of the various subplots. As this review says: The plot of Agrippina is convoluted, even by operatic standards. I found it very informative to read the libretto (English translation). Before I mention the various YouTube recordings of Agrippina, a few comments about the libretto.

  • The libretto contains a huge amount of recitatives. The text file contains ~ 3000 lines, of which ~ 2400 are recitative. All recordings I have watched skip parts of the recitative here and there.
  • This opera has an unusual large number of “asides”, speech of a character, meant for the audience, not for the other persons on stage. Agrippina has 108 of them, they are an essential part of the story.

I have found many video recordings of Agrippina on YouTube, in this blog I will mention a few of them. I will give the link, a few screenshots and some comments.

I will start with the most recent one, a Swedish production, premiered in January 2023 and only visible on YouTube until July 2023.

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2023

It is the most authentic prodcution I have found. The opera is performed in a theater that dates back to the 18th century. The men are dressed in Roman togas, the ladies in period dresses.An empty stage, no props, hardly any action. Here are a few screenshots

The opening scene of the opera, Agrippina has geven Nero the letter about Claudius’ death.

Claudius praises the others but calls Otho a traitor. Notice that Otho is played by a mezzo-soprano (a trouser role). Actually it follows the premiere in 1709, where Nero and Narcissus were sung by castrati, but Otho by a mezzo.

Poppaea takes her revenge. Nero, thinking that Cl;audius has left, jumps out of his hiding

The final scene. In the original libretto the goddess Juno appears at the end and gives the love couple her blessing. Modern productions skip this finale

I liked this recording very much, although some of you may find it too static. Here is another extreme, a 2016 production by Robert Carsen, a famous opera director. Full of action, with many extras (non-singing actors). Personally I think this production is way over the top and distorts the essence of the libretto.

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2016

The opening scene. Nero, still in pyamas is watchting TV before Agrippina gives him the letter.

Agrippina asks Pallas and Narcissus , both in love with her, to support Nero. Later she will reward them. A grotesque mise-en-scene. Left Pallas, right Narcissus.

When Claudius arrives, video cameras record him. He praises everybody, but calls Otho a traitor

In the libretto Poppaea meets Otho and later Nero in a garden (“with a fountain”).. Carsen changes the garden to a fitness club with a pool. Hilarious but also ridiculous. Left Poppaea feigning to sleep when Otho enters. Right Nero jumps out of the pool.

The libretto places the next scene in Agrippina’s rooms, where she meets Pallas, Narcissus and Claudius and still tries to promote her son Nero. In this production the action takes place in the same fitness club, which makes no sense at all. Agrippina meets Pallas, gets a massage from Narcissus and his friends and convinces Claudius that Neo should become emperor.

Poppaea’s room. Nero has been hiding behind the sofa, when he thinks that Claudius has left, he jumps up and mistakenly tries to make love with Claudius.

The final scene of the opera, added by Carsen. Nero is laughing hysterically, while both Agrippina amd Poppaea have been killed. No comment 😉

After this extravaganza it is a relief to watch the 2018 production by Ars Lyrica Houston, my favourite. A timeless rendition, no military uniforms, no smartphones, it doesn’t matter that Agrippina is white and Nero black, there is no suggestion of an incestuous relationship between mother and son, Agrippina has only one wish, to make her son emperor.

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2018

The opening scene, Nero reads the letter that Claudius drowned.

Lesbus announces that Claudis is alive and Otho shockes the others when he telss that as a reward he will be the new emperor.

Agrippina lies to Poppaea that Otho leaves her to Claudius and advises her to make Claudius jelaous

Agrippina’s plot works well. Claudius praises everybody but calls Otho a traitor. After all the others despise him, he sings his heartbreaking lament. Click here to listen.

Soon the plot becomes clear and Poppaea is planning revenge, She invites Otho, Nero and Claudius to her rooms. Left: the plot becomses clear. Right: : Poppaea invites Nero to her rooms

Agrippina manages to get a promise from Claudius that Nero will become emperor. Claudius agrees, is actually in a hurry to visit POppaea,

WIth Nero hiding in her rooms, Poppaea explains to Claudius that it was Nero and not Otho who told her not to meet him. Claudius finds this difficult to belief, but is convinced when Nero comes out of hiding, half undressed.

The final scene. First Claudius decides that Nero will marry Poppaea and Otho will become emperor, but he reverses his judgement when everbody is unhappy.

Compare this production with the vulgarity of Carsen! The supporting role of Lesbus is played brillianly. Agrippina not only sings well, it is also a pleasure to see her facial expressions. The many asides fit well in this production. That Poppaea and Otho are slightly drunk when they reconcile is aristice freedom of the director. Really my favorite Agrippina

I will show the other YouTube videos in less detail, in chronological order.

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2004

With Jarousky as Nero. Period costumes and funny wigs. Not convincing. Nero reads the letter (left) and Otho is called a traitor by Claudius.(right)

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2004

All producers like to give a presonal touch to Handel’s opera: “This is MY Agrippina”. Here is the version of Jan Vriend. Nero is sung by a tenor and Otho by a bariton. Two screenshots, one that Nero reads the letter, the other one that Otho is called a traitor by Claudius. Interesting staging ;-).

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2009

Another version, by Hernan Schvartzman. Lots of semi-nudity. A bit weird. The relation between Agrippina and Nero is more than is normal between mother and son. Left : Nero has read the letter. Right: Otho is called a traitor.

I found this production so weird that it deserves an extra screenshot. Claudius is furious after he finds Nero in Poppawa’s room. Why Nero is having angel wings escapes me. The other half-naked boy with angel wings is Amor. Mind you , here is a very positive review of this production. “De gustibus non est disputandum!”

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2018

The stage in this modernist production is a theater hall. Maybe original but not functional. Left: Agrippina hands an ipad(!) to Nero. Right: Claudius calls Otho a traitor

Part of the action takes place underneath (!) the theater hall. Here Nero is litterally exposed to Claudius in Poppaea’s room. Another example of a producer who wants to leave his personal mark on the opera.

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2019

Nero is a punker here and the relation between him and Agrippina is rather incestuous. A miscasting, in my opinion. The rotating installation on stage is not functional. Left: Nero and Agrippina. Right: After Claudius has called Otho a traitor, Pallas and Narcissos physically attack Otho. Ridiculous

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2020

This Metropolitan Opera production is no longer availble on YouTube, only a trailer. Military uniforms, Nero is played by a mezzo in a trouser role and sniffs cocaine. Many extra actors. If you just forget about the original opera, it is an interesting modernist version..

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Epilogue

I started this blog about four months ago. Of course I have not been working on it daily, and often I just was listening to the various YouTube versions. I have not counted the number of “Agrippina” hours, but it must have been a lot. Still the music is not boring at all.

If you disagree with my critical remarks, please leave a comment.