What a fortnight that was
Well the dust has settled and I'm girding my loins in preparation for the impending old routine that awaits around the corner. Back to work tomorrow and a text from one of my colleagues advises me that not only are they extremely busy in the department (despite calling for voluntary redundancies) but I am also on the dreaded 10-6 shift. Sheesh. But it's only a four day week so I just have to batten down the hatches and claw madly towards weekend. Meanwhile I sit here ruminating on the glorious events of the past two weeks.
Diane arrived on the Thursday (30th April) and we spent a couple of days chilling around Salford including a visit to the Salford Museum, a place I hadn't been to myself in many years. It was a nice place to start as Di hadn't been at all and much photos were taken for her upcoming travelogue. On the Sunday we set off for the airport, our first destination being Amsterdam. I have to admit that Amsterdam didn't really impress me as much as I'd expected. Don't get me wrong, it was very nice and I enjoyed the canal tour and quaint old buildings. But I suspect you'd only get the most out of Amsterdam if you were going to indulge in the many "cafes" that provides certain legalised (in Holland) substances or the red light district. Neither of which were on our agenda!!! Having said that I was thrilled to go inside the Rijksmuseum and see some genuine Rembrandt paintings in the flesh so to speak. Pity the Rembrandt house was closed though. Also of note was the open air museum at Arnhem though it did confuse me due to the lack of information in English. A small detail but I might have got more out of it if I'd understood why everything was where it was.
Brussels on the other hand was quite breath taking. As soon as we stepped out of the railway station I felt as though I'd gone back in time, or at least on to the set of an old WW2 movie. I half expected Ingrid Bergman or George Peppard to come running around the corner pursued by German Stormtroopers. Beautiful old buildings everywhere and charm in abundance. Highlights included a side trip to Bruges with another canal tour and a visit to the astounding Musical Instrument Museum. Though I didn't think much of the menus in the restaurants despite their claims to be one of the finest culinary experiences in Europe. I confess when it comes to food I'm just cheap. I'm far happier with a burger and fries as opposed to some creative blob in the centre of my plate. And so on to London.
We spent only a day and a half in London but enough time to have a rather grand picnic in Regent's Park with some friends including quite a few Goths. We attracted a lot of attention from passers by, to the extent that I wanted to leap up and yell "wassthematta? Never seen a picnic before you Chav arseholes?" But I didn't, thankfully. However I did get a bit lost looking for a toilet and went on a 45 minute stroll in my search mission. I found it and returned before they could send out the Marines to find me. Another highlight was the incredible Henry VIII exhibition at the London Library. What a rascal that man was, the exhibition proved to fuel my already (wrongly) high opinion of him as one of my favourite Kings of England. Everyone loves a rogue eh?
And so back to dreary sunny Salford for the second week of Diane's visit. We spent this time visiting a few places that Di (or myself) had never been before including the village of Eyam in the Peak District, renowned for it's experiences during the great Plague between 1665-66. They actually quarantined themselves off and at the end only around 80 or so people survived out of the entire population. We also went to Martin Mere Wetlands bird sanctuary because, it seems I get free membership due to my small donations each month. Very nice relaxing place full of exotic birds from around the world. The idea is to protect endangered species but it's also home to lots of birds that migrate each winter but still come "home" to the Mere which I thought was rather nice indeed. We also visited Lyme Hall in Disley, Cheshire, a fine old manor that I hadn't seen for a good few years and knew Di would love it. Along with all this we met up with various friends for eats, had lunch with my dad and even went to see the new Star Trek movie. Set phasers to fabulous!!!
But it's all passed now and as I said at the beginning, (if you're still reading) I'm sat here trying not to think about work tomorrow *sigh*. No fear though because we plan on me visiting Canada again in early October. We just need to sort out the dates so I can book my holidays off work (providing I haven't been made redundant by then). We had a wonderful time as we knew we would. But then Diane and I have a wonderful time no matter where we go, as long as we are together.
Links to photos over at Facebook
Diane arrived on the Thursday (30th April) and we spent a couple of days chilling around Salford including a visit to the Salford Museum, a place I hadn't been to myself in many years. It was a nice place to start as Di hadn't been at all and much photos were taken for her upcoming travelogue. On the Sunday we set off for the airport, our first destination being Amsterdam. I have to admit that Amsterdam didn't really impress me as much as I'd expected. Don't get me wrong, it was very nice and I enjoyed the canal tour and quaint old buildings. But I suspect you'd only get the most out of Amsterdam if you were going to indulge in the many "cafes" that provides certain legalised (in Holland) substances or the red light district. Neither of which were on our agenda!!! Having said that I was thrilled to go inside the Rijksmuseum and see some genuine Rembrandt paintings in the flesh so to speak. Pity the Rembrandt house was closed though. Also of note was the open air museum at Arnhem though it did confuse me due to the lack of information in English. A small detail but I might have got more out of it if I'd understood why everything was where it was.
Brussels on the other hand was quite breath taking. As soon as we stepped out of the railway station I felt as though I'd gone back in time, or at least on to the set of an old WW2 movie. I half expected Ingrid Bergman or George Peppard to come running around the corner pursued by German Stormtroopers. Beautiful old buildings everywhere and charm in abundance. Highlights included a side trip to Bruges with another canal tour and a visit to the astounding Musical Instrument Museum. Though I didn't think much of the menus in the restaurants despite their claims to be one of the finest culinary experiences in Europe. I confess when it comes to food I'm just cheap. I'm far happier with a burger and fries as opposed to some creative blob in the centre of my plate. And so on to London.
We spent only a day and a half in London but enough time to have a rather grand picnic in Regent's Park with some friends including quite a few Goths. We attracted a lot of attention from passers by, to the extent that I wanted to leap up and yell "wassthematta? Never seen a picnic before you Chav arseholes?" But I didn't, thankfully. However I did get a bit lost looking for a toilet and went on a 45 minute stroll in my search mission. I found it and returned before they could send out the Marines to find me. Another highlight was the incredible Henry VIII exhibition at the London Library. What a rascal that man was, the exhibition proved to fuel my already (wrongly) high opinion of him as one of my favourite Kings of England. Everyone loves a rogue eh?
And so back to dreary sunny Salford for the second week of Diane's visit. We spent this time visiting a few places that Di (or myself) had never been before including the village of Eyam in the Peak District, renowned for it's experiences during the great Plague between 1665-66. They actually quarantined themselves off and at the end only around 80 or so people survived out of the entire population. We also went to Martin Mere Wetlands bird sanctuary because, it seems I get free membership due to my small donations each month. Very nice relaxing place full of exotic birds from around the world. The idea is to protect endangered species but it's also home to lots of birds that migrate each winter but still come "home" to the Mere which I thought was rather nice indeed. We also visited Lyme Hall in Disley, Cheshire, a fine old manor that I hadn't seen for a good few years and knew Di would love it. Along with all this we met up with various friends for eats, had lunch with my dad and even went to see the new Star Trek movie. Set phasers to fabulous!!!
But it's all passed now and as I said at the beginning, (if you're still reading) I'm sat here trying not to think about work tomorrow *sigh*. No fear though because we plan on me visiting Canada again in early October. We just need to sort out the dates so I can book my holidays off work (providing I haven't been made redundant by then). We had a wonderful time as we knew we would. But then Diane and I have a wonderful time no matter where we go, as long as we are together.
Links to photos over at Facebook