It's good to be reminded from time to time that Holland, the nation reknowned for it's thriving contemporary design, is also the nation where 90% of the houses have kitschy lace curtains in every window.
And so the home of the sleek, high-performance functionality of the Bugaboo, is also the home of the zwangerschapssnorkel.
From what I can tell, the zwangerschapssnorkel is meant to improve the oxygen flow to a baby while his mother is in bed the bathtub. Because, I guess, the baby receives all its nutrients and oxygen through the belly button. Never mind that it's through the fetus's belly button, or as we call it in New Amsterdam, the umbilical cord, which is not attached to the mom's navel but to the placenta.
Even if David Blaine were a pregnant woman, I couldn't see how a zwangerschapssnorkel makes sense. And yet, there it is. It has been relisted for sale on maarktplats.nl (the Dutch ebay) after the previous auction winner turned out not to have 9.999 billion euros after all.
On the bright side of Dutch wackiness, they also smother bread with chocolate sprinkles and call it breakfast.
zwangerschapssnorkel, even at EUR39 I wonder [marktplaats.nl via jan at kidsrepublic.nl]
not in bed but in bath
ah, even better/worse. I couldn't figure out how you are supposed to hold that thing while you're asleep. -ed.]