Winter walks

Just a few photos from a couple of walks we took at the weekend, around the beautiful
Westonbirt Arboretum and the tiny Gloucestershire village of Huntingford. Although it's technically still Winter, there was a definite feeling of Spring in the air...

Mega 2016 Catch-Up - Amazing Amsterdam!

Just a few photos from my trip to Amsterdam last May with my mates Glenn and Rob. As mentioned in a previous post we were mainly there to see The Dandy Warhols but we also managed to spend a few days seeing the sights of the beautiful Dutch city. Here are Glenn and I posing in front of the obligatory canal with the equally obligatory bicycles...

More canals and more bikes...

And, of course, trams...

We were staying a 20-minute tram ride from the city centre and they were definitely the best way to get around. And when we got to the centre we found such lovely places as these:

The Royal Palace in bustling Dam Square with added middle-aged Punks

More lovely buildings and waterways

Above is the stunning Rijksmuseum. We didn't have time to properly investigate this huge museum / art gallery / cultural centre but we had a great time wandering around its grounds and just generally hanging out in the neighbouring park and gardens...

( Who let this idiot get in the water? )

 We met a familiar face outside the Van Gogh Museum...

And, of course, Rob had to mess about in the fountains :-)

We had a look around the train station, much to rail enthusiast Glenn's delight...

"Trains!" ( Double-decker ones at that... )

And from the train station we headed down to the waterfront ( not a cue for a Simple Minds song )

I was very tempted to hop on board this ferry and investigate the other bank but we didn't have enough time. And there wasn't enough time for this either:

The infamous Red Light District was certainly eye-opening!

And here's a friend I made at the hotel who helped me eat my breakfast.

All too soon we had to head for home but it had been a fantastic long weekend in a truly beautiful, friendly, laid-back city. It was my first trip abroad for 9 years so I really appreciated the experience and the great company. Hopefully I'll be able to take Sarah there sometime  -  Amsterdam is just too awesome to keep to myself!

Cornish landscapes

Recently we spent a week down in our beloved Cornwall and, although the weather was mostly awful, I managed to get a few half decent photos  -  or as decent as my phone can capture. I often wonder if it would be worth investing in a proper camera again.( Our last one was stolen when our house was burgled a couple of years ago and was never replaced. ) Camera phones are obviously handy for quick snaps but my Samsung in particular is not great on picture quality. Anyway... here are a few lovely Cornish landscapes, starting with Lizard Point above, mainland UK's most southerly point. We always see seals basking in the waters here but this time we were lucky enough to see the most seals we've ever spotted in the wild in one day. No pictures of said aquatic beauties  -  you'll just have to take my word for it, Dear Reader :-)

Here are Sarah and James posing in front of the Lizard Lighthouse. ( That's some bad hat, Harry. ) We went on a very interesting tour of the lighthouse, learning about its history and present day use. We also heard that author JRR Tolkein once stayed here and was very taken with the lighthouse. Our guide said that this structure, with its two towers, may have been the inspiration for Mordor's own twin monuments... but I think that's probably as much in the realms of fantasy as Middle Earth...

 Here's the beautiful lighthouse lens.

And the lighthouse itself...

And a few more shots of the Lizard coastline...

 The slipway below is at nearby Church Cove. Looks a bit steep :-)

 And these last few shots are from windswept Mullion, just down the road from where we were staying.

 Even though our holiday was slightly spoiled by about three days of constant wind and rain, plus a nasty bout of food-poisoning for me, it was worth it for the times the weather lifted and we managed to get out and about in such a beautiful landscape. A windswept, rugged Cornwall still beats a lot of other, more manicured, holiday destinations in my book...