A day in Amsterdam

What do you do in one day in Amsterdam? We thought we'd just go wandering, and then saw the snow from our hotel window.




Well, you can't see it in the photo, but it really was snowing! We thought we'd go on a canal cruise, as that would be undercover. By the time we got on the cruise, the snow had stopped and the sun came out. We didn't stay on the cruise for long - we got off and went wandering as per the original plan.








Easter Sunday is apparently the busiest day of the year in Amsterdam. We had planned to go to the Rijksmuseum, but were informed that it's closed. It's re-opening next week, and the re-opening ceremony will be the Dutch Queen's last official duty before she is abducted. (We're pretty sure our charming and very friendly waitress meant abdication, not abduction!)

Amsterdam is a very pretty place on a bright sunny day. The little streets and canals are lovely to wander around.




Our wandering led us unexpectedly into the red light district - some very interesting stuff to be seen in the windows there!

We finally made our way back to the Centraal Station, and after a very stressful 30 minutes establishing that the train listed as going to Warsaw was in fact our train to Copenhagen (it stops somewhere in Germany in the middle of the night and then separates into two trains, one going to Copenhagen, but the noticeboard doesn't tell you that) we got on the train and were off, leaving Amsterdam behind.

London calling

It's a few days now since we left London, but I forgot to pack my Ipad camera adaptor thingy, so couldn't upload any photos. I've only just bought another one today in Copenhagen.

London really is a wonderful place - I always forget how much fun it is. I love the red double-decker buses, the parks, the pubs, the Tube, the taxis...it's all good.

Like most of Europe, London is having a really long winter - it was cold with very few hints of spring. We stayed near Kensington Gardens, where all the trees were still bare.




I finally got to go to the V&A - the fashion exhibition was brilliant. I loved the clothes from the '30s and '40s.








We had a delicious lunch at Jamie's Italian in Covent Garden, and then went to a great exhibition of Man Ray photos at the National Portrait Gallery. There was also some shopping on Oxford Street and the obligatory visit to Liberty of London.

A really enjoyable couple of days....next stop Amsterdam!

Amusements

I was flicking through the photos on my phone the other day, and found a little selection of things I've come across which have amused or pleased me. Here they are, in no particular order.

A tree outside the library adorned with supermarket trolleys - some wag obviously had great fun with this.

 The fountains in Forrest Place - I love seeing kids in their bathers splashing about in the middle of the city. One of the best things to happen in Perth for ages.

The Picturing New York exhibition at the Art Gallery of WA. Some beautiful photography of a beautiful city. I love this Alfred Stieglitz photo of the Flatiron Building.

Watching my 93-year old mother going for her swim at Koombana Bay. I hope I get to that age, with the same energy and enthusiasm.

Sitting in a peaceful, shady corner near the State Library on a blisteringly hot day, eating a sandwich, reading my book and watching the world go by. 

I don't know who put this here (on a glary street in Fremantle), but I couldn't agree more.  

It's hard to see in the photo, but the little white thing perched on the middle round window is a mermaid. I'm not sure why it's there, but it's a lovely touch of whimsy on this rather imposing Fremantle building.

 I've never been organised enough to bring a camera with me when I go out, or even thought to do so. It's now become almost second nature to pull out my phone and take snaps of things I come across. A truly wondrous thing, the smartphone.

October roses

Gertude Jeckyll

 Gold Bunny (or Freesia?)

Sparrieshoop

 Just Joey

 Souvenir de la Malmaison

 Climbing Peace

 Lady Hillingdon

 Albertine

 Albertine again

 Gertrude Jeckyll again

 Oklahoma

Buff Beauty

Chicago Peace

Spring garden

Last week we had freezing cold weather with howling winds, hail and driving rain. Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to go over 30 degrees. I guess that's normal spring weather, so here are some spring garden pictures!

Is it really August already?

I don't want to wish the year away, but to me August is the start of the slippery downhill slide to Christmas.

July was a rather busy month, and went far too quickly - here are some of the things I did (or didn't do).

1. I didn't watch the Tour de France, except for the last leg into Paris and up the Champs Elysees - too many cyclists getting in the way of the scenery, in my view. To celebrate the Frenchyness of July (T de F, Bastille Day), I put up an "All things French" display in the library which has been very well received by our Francophile patrons. Sometimes my job is great fun!

2. I didn't watch the Diamond Jubilee either, and am happily avoiding the Olympic Games altogether. There's plenty to see on iView or on DVD - last night's classic French horror movie "Les yeux sans visage" was brilliant. I am still traumatised by the surgery sequence - how did thet get away with that in 1959? Thank you Maddie for introducing me to some obscure but amazing movies.

3. I've been trying to finish various crafty projects. Some have been underway for more than a decade. I am determined to finally finish this one by the end of winter. (It was one of my 2011 resolutions, but we won't discuss that.)

 

There are also two knitted cardigans and a pinafore dress (all half finished), plus a long list of projects I've planned but haven't started yet. I decided to teach myself how to do woodwork, but haven't even looked in the books I borrowed for this purpose - I always seem to overestimate how much time I have available.

4. There appears to have been a lot of on-line shopping happening - I have added to my collection of Kobenstyle cookware (now all of two items), taken advantage of the amazing Toast summer sale, ordered various goodies from Biome, and started off the summer gardening with Digger's Club. It's far too easy to press that "add to basket" button!

5. Speaking of the garden, I've spent a lot of time weeding, weeding, weeding. Also planting seeds (spring onions, purple sprouting broccoli, tomatoes, cosmos, Queen Anne's Lace). We still have lots of broccoli to pick, and I've been trawling the net for cumquat recipes, as our tree is rather full at present. It's all looking very good right now, as there's been lots of rain. It's hard to believe that spring is only a few weeks away...

 

Two weeks off

I'm back at work now after two very nice weeks' holiday.

In the first week Martin, Maddie and I went to Sydney. We managed to miss both of the storms which hit Perth, and fortunately our house was OK.

Sydney was fun - we had a great time catching up with Martin's family. We managed to catch the last night of the Vivid Sydney light festival, which was very impressive, in spite of the drizzy weather.





At the Art Gallery of NSW, I saw one of my favourite Australian paintings.





I also managed to walk all the way across the Bridge - I've never done it before as I have a bit of a thing about heights. Just to prove I did it, here's a photo taken half way across. Now that I've managed this, I can work up the nerve for the Bridge Climb!





Martin and I then went on to Melbourne. Oh, the joys of Melbourne shopping! We had some wonderful meals, including an amazing Sichuan meal in Richmond with a great group of friends.

We also caught the train to Bendigo, to see the Grace Kelly exhibition. It was fabulous, and I found Grace to be a very endearing person - at least from what I learnt from the exhibition! The dresses were exquisite, even though they didn't have the one from Rear Window I'd been hoping to see.





Finally, there was the Napoleon exhibition at the NGV. Ruthless military exploits aside, I do find him to be a fascinating figure. He has certainly left a significant legacy, and one wonders what this country would be like if we were Terre Napoleon instead of Australia.

I had another week off after we got home - I had a list of things I wanted to do, none of which I managed to finish. I probably need at least another two weeks off!