Traveled to The Hague today to celebrate my other brother's birthday. We went on a picnic with the whole family:)


Come on, everybody, let's go!


Ruben on his bike with uncle Hans and dad Jaap.


On the slide with mom Gayleen!


Round and round and round...


I'll race you home!


Mmmm, kroepoek.


Mmmm, chinese!


I can eat with a spoon \o/

It was a great day:)

Finally dyed my Panic! At The Disco shirt, (iirc I bought it at the concert in Amsterdam in 2011). It doesn't fit, so I can't wear it anyway, but I want to let my mom turn it into a pillow:) The original is white, I used olive green paint powder.





I also put the skull scarf S. gave me in the dye, but that doesn't seem to take. Maybe after the required 45 minutes of soaking?


*waits*


Nope. It didn't work for the scarf, even though the fabric was on the approved list on the dye. Weird. (But it's still cool as it is;) The shirt turned out fabulous, better than I could have imagined. That colour will fit perfectly in my interior:)

Nephew Ruben dancing to this video of Nijntje (aka Miffy) at Mom's Bday party:)

Taken Wednesday, June 12

No comment [2-1]

:-p


I guess they missed all the vandalized bikes next to mine when they put on this saddle-cover... It reads: "Is your bike safely parked here, or could we do better? Tell us at cyclingtothebusstop.nl".

I was wondering why my sock was wet...

Sunday, April 8
With bonus sightseeing from the bus
After traveling from Amsterdam on Friday and exploring London on Saturday, we're going back home today!


We got up around 6.30 and handed in our keycard at the desk before getting our complimentary English Breakfast in the hotel's restaurant, that opened at 7.00 a.m.


At 7.30 we walked to the tube and traveled underground to Victoria Station.


From there it's a 15 minute walk to the Coach Station for our bus to Amsterdam.


We checked in around 8.15 and the passengers were divided over two busses; one would go to Brussels/Amsterdam, the other to Rotterdam/The Hague.

On our way out of London, the bus passed all the sights, so I couldn't resist making touristy pictures. Get ready, set.... go! (I hope I got all the names right;)


Westminster Abbey (Western facade)


Westminster Abbey (the Old Palace)


Westminster Central Hall (Church)


The Clock Tower (with Big Ben) and Houses of Parliament (the New Palace)


Close up of the Clock Tower. (Big Ben is the name of the largest bell;)


The River Thames and a bit of the Londen Eye.


Bye, Houses of Parliament!


Aaaaaaaaaand a bit more of the London Eye:)


Just because I liked the look of it: The Mad Hatter Hotel.


The Tower of London and Towerbridge


Towerbridge


Bye, Tower of London!

After about two hours(?) we arrive at the Channel Tunnel.


Heehee: France, straight ahead!
While we were waiting for our timeslot on the train, our busdriver tried to repair his broken windshield wiper, but failed. So we were transfered onto the other bus which meant we wouldn't make a shortcut, but had to travel through Rotterdam and The Hague before Amsterdam. We didn't mind, because we were very glad we didn't have to wait for another bus. Both drivers were so very courteous and made sure all the passengers and their luggage were transfered without any problems.

After everything was settled, it was time to board and the bus drove right up on the platform...


This train only has compartments for cars, trucks and busses. Passengers don't have to leave their own vehicle. So cool.


No need for windows when going through the tunnel, but there was a tiny window right below me, so I could see the tracks when we started to move.
Hans did get out the bus for a bit to take pictures. The doors in between compartments are pressurized, but you can go through them if you want to go to the on board toilet. The busdriver took a little break and stretched out on two passenger seats:)


After half an hour we arrived in France; the compartment opens up and the bus can drive right out onto the road! Did I already mention how cool this was?


We're in France! With a long drive ahead of us...


This is Brussels! Driving up Treurenberg hill.


The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral
(Kathedraal van Sint-Michiel en Sint-Goedele)


Look: behind the trees in the distance you can see The Atomium!


Around six p.m. we had a break just before the border at roadside stop Hazeldonk. There are several restaurants there, we had dinner at the McDonalds;)


Back on the bus for the last part of our trip.


We arrived in Amsterdam around 9 p.m., 45 minutes earlier than scheduled. Hans accompanied me on the metro from Amsterdam Amstel to Duivendrecht...


... where I took the train back to Zwolle:) (I finished rereading part four in the Nightrunner series, yay!)


Home sweet home. All the goodies I collected \o/

The end.

It was a great trip. I don't recommend the nightbus if you need sleep to function, but it worked quite well for us:)

Saturday, April 7,
(continued from here)
London, day 2: after breakfast


While searching for a shop I had discovered online, we explored the Covent Garden area and ended up in The Seven Dials; a set of streets with quaint little shops; on the right you see Hans walking though a small alley to Neil's Yard.


Neil's Yard; isn't it awesome? So pretty with all the colours! Plus we found the shop I was looking for! (Bought delicious Comfrey & Mallow Footbalm)


Cool graffiti in the alley


When we walked back towards the centre of town, we came by this building-site art by Nathan Bowen


When we passed the Palace Theatre with the Singing In The Rain façade, Hans couldn't resist; he had to swirl around a lamppost:)


We decided to check out tonight's theatre The Duke Of York, to find out how to get there later and to see if we could maybe already pick up our reservations for All New People. (We could, yay!)


View from The Duke Of York. (Sorry, I'm too lazy to check the streetname or sights;) Enjoy the impressive buildings.

While I was leading brotherdearest to Piccadilly Circus (for a visit to bookstore Waterstone's and drugstore Boots) I had meant to quickly bypass M&M's world on Leicester Square. Unfortunately Hans sensed my discomfort and decided we had to go in. Well, he is my little brother and he had been so sweet up until now, accompanying me to all the shops on my list without complaining. Still. I think that doesn't compare to the horror of what I was about to experience...


Four floors of M&M madness, oh pardon, 'merchandise'. It smelled like chocolate but there were humansize dancing M&M's and what little comfort I got from the scent was blown away by the weirdness of it all. I repeat: FOUR FLOORS.


Okay, this was kind of cool, especially the wall with M&M's in an overwhelming amount of colours. But again: on FOUR FLOORS.


Ahw, look at his crazy happy wittle face. *pinches cheeks and then slowly steps away*


And then look at my not so happy face when I discover the Periodic Table of M&M's. I think my exact words were "Oh. My. God." (I didn't know Hans was taking a picture of me until I heard him giggling. Bastard)

After climbing ALL the stairs and checking ALL four floors, Hans finally showed mercy and we went back outside to continue our walk to one of MY favorite stores. Pfew. I was also relieved to see the apostroph was still on the front of Waterstone's. That restored my faith in humankind a little;)

With bags full of books and toiletries (from Boots), we took the Tube to the hotel. On the way we grabbed food at Pret a Manger and had lunch in the park before finally checking into a room where we collapsed on the beds.


We napped until 4 p.m. *grins*


Well, I had to take a photo of my loot first, but then it was really nice to be able to sleep in a bed for a bit, after the long night on the bus and boat.

Completely refreshed we went back into town around 5 for our visit to the Hamleys Toystore, where it was busier than I had ever seen it!


There was an awesome LEGO display of the royal family.


The Queen was sitting in the corner with her little dog. Ahw.


For dinner we went to my favorite restaurant Mother Mash for mashed potatoes with steakpies and for dessert pudding and warm custard. Omnomnom.


Then we walked through Regent Street to get to the theatre. I tried to make a photo of the Abercrombie & Fitch ad across the street. Grumble, stooopid tourists...


My darling brother saw my struggle and having the advantage of height and a better camera, shot a photo especially for me. Obviously, he is totally forgiven for the M&M thing;)

Then it was time for the play All New People, written by and featuring Zach Braff, which is why we wanted to see it. Extra bonus was Eve Myles (Torchwood) who played another one of the four people in the play, who all end up together in a beach house in the wintertime. - If you want to know more, you can find a review from nick730 which I mostly agree with here.

We had great seats, but I had a bit of bad luck with tall men in front of me, the last one coming in after the lights went out, so Hans and I didn't have an opportunity to swap. In addition I was distracted by dumb people beside me who kept checking their phone throughout the performance. Grrrrr. Luckily I still enjoyed the play, because I was just so happy to be there.

Afterwards we noticed a bunch of people hanging around the side-exit of the theatre and since we suspected they were waiting for the actors, we stuck around for a while.


Zach did indeed come outside and was ever so nice: signing programs and posing for photos (he even made some arm length pics for people who were on their own!). We only took pictures from behind the crowd, but it was really nice to see him in person. A great end to a wonderful day!


We went back to the hotel, where Hans crashed while I got comfy in the tub. So comfy in fact that I fell asleep and didn't wake up until Hans started banging on the door. Oops. Luckily I had put my book away and had added warm water right before I dozed off;)

I didn't waste any more time getting ready for bed, since we had to get up early for the busride home...

To be continued:)