Rehearsal

While running errands on Friday afternoon in the city center (a too long delayed Dutch-English dictionary, and a guidebook for an upcoming travel adventure), I heard a faint bass rumbling above the din of the tourists and Christmas shoppers milling around. I followed the sound - partially based on a guess of where it might be coming from - and I saw that a group was holding a full rehearsal, including lights and camera work, for an upcoming concert. Only workers and performers were allowed within a few hundred feet of the stage, and a small crowd gathered along a metal fence around the perimeter to listen to the show. Apart from the brief comments from the director between songs, the performance was (I'm guessing) indistinguishable from what would happen later in the evening, when the square would probably be packed shoulder-to-shoulder. The preview was enough to make me set an intention to return that evening, when the full light show would have been on display, and crowd would been energized. But the steady rains and just-above-freezing temperatures convinced me to stay indoors.  

I also saw, for the first time, a duo who specializes in drawing a hoard of pidgeons. I'm not sure if they're making money off it, or if it's a hobby. 

And, for the first time, I stopped in the Magnaplaza, which contains the types of shops I would never patron (in the clothing sense). It did have a nice Christmas tree, though.