mybigadventures.com

After what seems like endless painting, undercoats and top coats of all the MDF and then walls and ceilings, we eventually finished. The new unit looks great, we've organised someone to refit the carpet next week and there's still some skirting boards to paint at some point but otherwise for now we're finished!

Half term has rolled around again and this year I headed off to Amsterdam with mum for a few days. We headed off from Doncaster aiport on Saturday and after just a 45 minute flight we were back on the ground. As it turned out, that was the short part of the journey with it taking us about the same amount of time again just to get through the airport. We stopped in a pretty central location with tram and metro links pretty close by which was handy for getting about. On our first full day we set out on a bit of a walk, which turned into a pretty long walk along the canals, through the red light district, past Anne Frank's house and along the nine streets. By the time we got back we had covered nearly 11km and were feeling pretty knackered. We decided on the next day to make use of public transport and caught the tram across to the Rijksmuseum. There was a special Rembrandt exhibition with lots of his early work spread across a series of rooms, so having managed to get some timed tickets we went in. It was really interesting with a huge selection of drawings, paintings, prints and engravings in the collection. Whilst there, we also popped in to the cafe in the museum for some tea and cake which was nice, it was pretty busy but very nice. 

On our last day we had tickets booked for the Anne Frank House, but as they weren't until the evening, we decided to drop by the Heineken experience. I actually managed to book tickets and save a few Euros on the way there which had the added benefit of skipping the queue when we arrived. I really liked the brewing room most with the big copper tanks and all the dials and guages! In the evening we went to Anne Frank. We arrived a little before our time slot but didn't have to wait too long before we went in. Despite the evening timeslot it was still really busy and we moved along in a queue most of the war around. It really is amazing that the two familys managed to keep hidden in the house for two years. We stopped for tea and cake in the cafe which has been added since me and Dani came just over a year ago.

Then it was time for home. We had a great time and were really lucky with the weather with blue skies and sunshine every day apart from the day we were leaving when there was a bit of rain. I've added a few photos to the album, let me know what you think. 

This week was half term and unlike previous years we hadn't made any plans to go for a short city break. Our tenants at the house had given us notice so we had decided to have a look at the house in Leeds and get some estate agents around to value it for a possible sale. We managed to fit quite a lot in on Monday, getting three agents around and doing some gardening whilst there. So the short story is, we've decided to sell. Just a few bits to sort out and and then it'll be hitting the market.

In other news, I've added a few new albums to the site. We've been out to a couple of places over the last month, visiting Ham House and Hampton Court Palace. Both trips were pretty grey days in terms of the weather with plenty of cloud cover but thankfully the rain held off.

We visited Ham House on a weekend in the middle of January. It is National Trust so the cards came in handy for free entry. We spent a couple of hours in the gardens but didn't get into the main house as there were only limited tours and we didn't fancy waiting an extra hour at the end of the day - maybe next time. The gardens were nice although obviously not a huge amount to see for the time of year. The sun was warm when it came out from behind the clouds but it was otherwise quite a cold day. 

We managed to get half price tickets for Hampton Court Palace at the beginning of February costing £8.25 each instead of the usual £16. It was quite a cold day when we visited, so we stuck to the state rooms and other parts of the house's interior. It is quite a vast estate and the signs didn't seem to be the most helpul in getting you from place to place. We did have a free audio tour and I suspect if we had followed it more closely, navigation around might have been a little less haphazard. We had lunch at the cafe and stayed until about 4.30pm when everything was starting to pack up. The wind had picked up quite a bit by this point and had blown a few of the trees outside the orangery over. The gardens looked nice from inside and I think it will be well worth a visit another (warmer) time.

This week after sorting the house out, we had a day out and about around the capital so I've added a few more of the usual sites, Tower Bridge etc, into a new album.

We were there until dark but some of the lights on Tower Bridge didn't seem to be working. London Bridge was lit up in bright orange though which I don't think we've seen before. I think I'll leave it there for now. Cheerio ta ta!