Well, better late than never they say.
I’ve been meaning to post for literally aaaages, but never got around to it. Fortunately for you good people, I injured my foot last weekend while Sumo wrestling a church elder. Long story, another time maybe. So I have some time to catch up with my blogging.

At the end of September, Sarah and I went to Holland to visit a colleague and ood friend of mine who very kindly ofered to put us up for a few nights.

The first exciting thing is that I am officially a hero! On the flight over there was a problem with the plane, and I came to the rescue saving everone from an almost certain death.

Sort of…

I still think it’s possible for a plane to crash and everyone die because the sun-visor on one of the windows has come out of its runners. Sarah assures me it isn’t. But hey, I fixed it and because of me countless future passengers wont have to worry about being bothered by the sun mid-flight.

Once we landed it was about an hour’s train journey to Apeldoorn where we’d be staying. It was now dark so we saw nothing of Holland on the journey. We arrived at Carla & Mike’s and settled in for the night.

The next day Carla had to work so we hopped back on the train and went to Amsterdam to see the sights. We took a canal trip and did the usual touristy things. It’s exactly like TV and films portray it in Amsterdam, although from what I can tell, the rest of Holland isn’t.

And yes, there really are that many bikes. Here’s a multi-storey bike park:

On Saturday we went with Carla & Mike into Apeldoorn town centre to have a look at the shops and buy gifts & things. In one of the shopping centres was a guy making about the most comprehensive balloon models I’ve seen.

In the evening in Calra’s road there was a festival to celebrate the end of summer. I decided to leave the camera behind and experience it without distraction. It was good fun, all the shops closed and set up stalls in the road. There were magicians and simulators, small fairground rides and all sorts of food vendors. The stmosphere was great and the fact that it was pissing it down deterred no-one.

Sunday was our last full day, so Carla & Mike took us to a national park about 30 mins away by Road. we paid our entry fee and set off. Just inside the park is a small compound with some bike racks in. The idea is that you grab a bike and cycle around the park. each time you stop you walk away from your bike, and hen you want to move on, you just grab another one.

The park was lovely, somewhat like our New Forest, but with hints of ‘foreign-ness’ about it. The bikes were cool too, proper WW2 style with curly handlebars and brakes operated by backpedal. They only had one gear too, and Holland isn’t as flat as you think it is!

Apparently this sign reads something like “Big animals sleeping area – animals only”. Presumably the animals are only allowed since they can’t read the sign…

Monday we relaxed for the morning before flying home, somewhat delayed by BA.

So thanks Carla & Mike for a great trip.

The whole photo album can be seen here.