Sunday, June 29, 2008

Summer Party

While warm days and sunshine have appeared, it's been a pretty inconsistent summer. However a barby was planned and went ahead, despite a spit early on in proceedings. Cooked meat, drinks-a-plenty and laughs all round ensued!










Sunday, June 8, 2008

Amsterdam, via Bruges

Bethie and I took a quick bus trip to Amsterdam a few weekends back. We had around 3 hours in Bruges, Belgium along the way.

A shot of the white cliffs as we left Dover for Calais, France.



Bruges is a delightful little town in Belgium, not far from the border of The Netherlands. It was founded in medival times and largely deserted at a time, leaving much of the architecture intact.



There's a canal system through the centre which is quite pleasant to walk around.



The sun made us quite warm so a cold beer was just the answer we were looking for.





How could we leave Belgium having not enjoyed a waffle??


Amsterdam put on some pretty ordinary weather for our time there, but it was still a great time wandering around town. It's very laid back, of course everyone immediately thinks of the "coffee shops" but I found there was just a general calm about the whole place. The crowds weren't too busy like those of London can be, the bicycles though are in their hundred's of thousand's and can be upon you before you know it!





Bethie in some novelty clogs.


And you can buy some great albums in Amsterdam:





We went through Ann Frank Huis. the entrance and front part of the building where her father's business continued during the conflict was mostly rebuilt whereas the annex at the rear where the family hid was completely intact. It was a moving experience, not particularly pleasant.


We made the long hike down to the Heineken factory for the famous tour (and free beer!) only to find it was under refurbishment and not operating! Well, beer was still being made but we weren't allowed to see how :( I think Beth summed up our sentiments quite well.


A few shots thanks to the view from our canal ride.






And a view through the window of the P&O ferry on our way back to England. Quite a choppy ride.