44 hours in Amsterdam.

A few weeks ago, I decided that adventure was waiting for me, and booked a random little holiday. A trip to Amsterdam. A place I've always wanted to visit. I've travelled alone before, but I've always done it and went as part of a group of people I didn't know. This time, I would be going completely solo! So scary!!

A couple of my friends who have done a lot of travelling before reassured me that I would be okay and that it is one of the greatest experiences ever!

With that in mind, I pushed myself way too far out of my comfort zone and booked my flights. There was no going back.

As the weekend was approaching, I was getting more and more excited about my weekend away, but also more and more nervous, as backing out of it would mean me losing lots of money, and a good weekend. The week before my weekend in Amsterdam, one of my good friends was there, his first time there also. Once he was home, I got some recommendations of things to do, places to go, where to eat, and what to most definitely avoid!

Friday 21st...
17:20 my flight departed from Norwich airport. 18:00 and I'd landed. Honestly been on longer bus journeys to school! After arriving at the airport, I got a train from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam Centraal station, which took about 15-20 minutes.

A 40 minute walk through Amsterdam to my hostel at Vondelpark, my goodness it is warm! It is quite muggy weather so my skin is definitely "glistening"!

After checking into my room, finding out a bit more about what to do and see, I headed upstairs to where I was staying.

My original planned night of chilling in the hostel, probably with a movie on my laptop in bed, to get myself ready for a long day of exploring the next day, was changed when one of my roomies said that she was going out for food at 11pm if I wanted to join her. Well if that's what all of this travelling stuff is about, I shouldn't say no! After scoffing a pizza bigger than I could usually manage, it wasn't until 1:30am when I got to bed. So much for an early night.


Saturday 22nd...
A not too early start to the day. There was a free walking tour with a pick up from my hostel at 10:40, so I hung around until that started. 3 hours of going around Amsterdam learning about the history and the culture is exactly what I wanted to do, but being told by someone who knew, rather than reading from a book. Plus, it was free! Our tour guide, Peter, was very good. Knowledgable and gave us good information about all sorts; the Amsterdam stock exchange, churches, prostitution, drugs and coffeeshops, canals, bicycles, cheese, the many many choices of museums, and much more.

The tour was great. A few people from my hostel were on the tour with me, and we all got chatting with each other and a few others on the tour. Once the tour had finished, we all ended up in a bar together, and spent to rest of the day hanging out. Basically any museums I had planned to visit on Saturday afternoon, didn't happen. It was a good day, and we all met up again in the evening for a fireworks display. There was a big event on over the course of the weekend called 'Sail'. It happens on one weekend every 5 years, so there was a great atmosphere throughout the city, with music, and an awful lot of boats!

Once the fireworks were over, we all walked back to our hostel, via the red light district, which was certainly an eye opener and something I wouldn't have done had I been completely alone!

Back to the hostel and into bed.


Sunday 23rd...
The one thing I really wanted to do in Amsterdam, was to visit the Anne Frank House. Countless times as I was growing up did I read her diary, so going to the museum was one of my main reasons for visiting. Tickets were all sold out until about October, so to be able to get in, all you have to do is see if any random tickets appear online, or queue up for several hours to get in. I had planned on getting up super early, and queueing up before the museum opened at 9am, as at this time of day, firstly it wasn't so hot and exhausting, and secondly, the queues wouldn't be so long. Also I had to head back to the airport at around midday, so I had to get there early to be able to catch my flight in time!

When I got home from the fireworks on Saturday night, I logged online to see if, on the off chance, any tickets had become available. There was a ticket, for 8:30am! Frantically trying to rummage through my packed bag, without waking up my room mates to find my bank card, and I managed to buy the ticket to the museum. No waiting in a ridiculously long queue for me. It was perfect, I was so lucky!

The Anne Frank museum was amazing! All the way round the museum, I was so emotional. Having read the book many times before, I already knew her story very well, but seeing where it all happened, and trying to imagine being her, silent in the Secret Annex for 2 years, it was so interesting!

After the museum, I had a couple of hours to kill before I had to be heading back to the train station.

My friend sent me a list of recommendations after his trip to Amsterdam the week before, and on that list, I was advised to find "the best apple pie". I love apple pie, so definitely went on the hunt for it.

Mmm, apple pie!

Apple pie for breakfast, yeah why not! And "the best apple pie" it certainly was! I wanted to bring some more home with me, but I couldn't fit any in my bag! Sad times.

Last stop before I headed home, was the Amsterdam Duck Shop - a shop just selling rubber ducks! We walked past it on the walking tour on Saturday morning, and as we went past it, I knew I was going to have to make a visit back to it. In our family, we take rubber ducks on our travels as little mascots and put them in our photos (here's 3 ducks enjoying one of our many ski holidays), so it was only right to buy some from a dedicated rubber duck shop! Silly me forgot to actually take a photo of my duck in Amsterdam, but here's a mock up photo! Also, note how appropriate the duck I bought for myself was...meet Princess Duck.

Princess Duck checking out the map of Amsterdam.

Well, that was it. I had to end my brief visit to Amsterdam and head home :( I definitely needed longer than I had so that I could visit more museums and not try to pack so much in to a short space of time, but if it means I have to plan another weekend to go, then so be it! 

My first solo trip was a success! Here's to many more in the future, I hope!

If there's anyone out there hesitating about going away on a solo trip, do it! I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone to do this, and had the most amazing time! Somewhere like Amsterdam is such a great place to go for your first solo trip, it's fairly small, there is plenty to do and see, and it's so easy! Plan ahead, even if your plans don't stick, and have some fun!

Thanks to the people who let me hang out with them whilst I was there! Was good fun!

Here's some more photos from my trip...warning: cliche canal and bicycle pictures!

A bike in front of a cute Dutch house.

A canal.

A bridge, over a canal.

A bike, on a bridge, over a canal.

Jheez, another canal!

Evening sun over the Vondelpark.

A massive ship at the fireworks.

Happy travelling! xx

A Little Sunset Stroll.

I live in a village, surrounded by fields. I've never really taken advantage of the open spaces that surround the housing estate I live on.

I watch the sun set from my bedroom window every night, so today, after a day of fairly beautiful weather, and a sunshiney drive home from work, I decided to take a little evening walk behind where I live.

My sciatica is playing up a little bit at the moment, so while I don't want to do any full on exercise in the gym, I also don't want to sit about for too long to let my hips seize up.

So off I went, armed with my camera, taking a few photos on the way! Here are a few that I took.

4.5 miles later, it's time to put my feet up, put the TV on, and have a ham and cheese toasty. I think I deserve it!

Norfolk really is a beautiful place to live!

The secret wedding project!

A few weeks ago, my mum got married!

I wanted to give her and my step-dad-to-be, a gift that no one else would. A gift that money could not buy.

My step-dad proposed to my mum in March 2014, on a ski holiday to Serre Chevalier. Shorty after it happened, I came up with this crazy idea. An idea that I thought would never become a reality.

A music video. A video where all their family and friends would sing along to a song, dressing up, being silly, generally having fun, to a cheesy song about love. After all, who doesn't love a bit of karaoke, right!?

I wanted this to be a surprise for their wedding day, and I spent countless hours trying to work out how I could make it happen without them finding out.

After a mass email was sent to all of their friends and family, I knew there was no going back! Thrilled by some of the responses I got for it, I knew that I was doing the right thing! As you can also see, people were starting to chuck their ideas in as well, which was great!

It was now a thing. A thing that I had to be fully committed to!

I began travelling around to people's houses, armed with my camera and a bag full of props, and started to get the ball rolling. 

This was a year long project. After taking five months out of filming to enjoy life in the Swiss Alps, I was still working on this, right up until 2 days before the wedding.

The editing was tricky. Trying to get everyone in time to the music, without it looking out of sync, it took a lot of precision. But the whole process was fun.

The best part was, no one let it slip what i was up to, not even on a night out after a few cocktails!!

The wedding day came, the video was, by this point, now in the hands of the best man, and still, they had no idea!

I was so overwhelmed by the response from my parents, and everyone else: those who were involved and had no idea what I was really going to do with their crazy footage, and those who didn't know what I was up to. Secretly, really proud of it!

After a few upload issues to the internet, due to copyright, and the risk of me getting into trouble, this is the best way that I can share it, finally! It's a little while coming, but I got round to it eventually.

To everyone who has already seen it, here it is for you to watch again. For those who are in it, here you can see you embarrass yourself, again. And for those of you who haven't seen it, enjoy it!

Click here for the Wedding Video!! :)

Hopefully, this can also give other people ideas if they want to do something similar! I loved making it, and I'm so glad everyone loved watching it! Feel free to share it too...you never know who might have the same crazy ideas as me, and who don't think their ideas are realistic.

xx

My new little obsession!

I have to admit, I've never used Burt's Bees products before. I knew of the brand but had never been and purchased any thing from them. It wasn't until I was working on my winter season, when I met someone who loved their products, that I started taking a bit more of an interest.

I've always stuck to products that I know work for me, which is not many as my skin is so difficult to work with, and also quite sensitive, meaning more expensive things are a no go area as I don't want to spend money on something that is no good. I've spent so much money on cleansers, and moisturisers, and all sorts of other beauty products and cosmetics that I have tried and then given up on because they make my skin worse, or they don't do anything at all.

After the suggestion of trying Burt's Bees, I bought a couple of things. The brand is not really that expensive, but it is a bit more than what I would normally spend on things. Thankfully, it is living up to it's expectations.

I have technically only bought 3 things from them: a foot cream, a hand cream, and lip balm. Foot and hand creams are some of the things I have difficulty finding something that works for me. I am on my feet all day at work, and my hands dry out so much as I have to wear rubber gloves all day (joys of being a dental nurse!) so getting something that I am satisfied with without damaging my bank balance too much, is tricky. Also, I'm very prone to eczema, which is the most annoying thing! i've had it my whole life, and it can still be hard to manage. My hands and feet are unfortunately where it seems to crop up most.

I purchased the 'Coconut Foot Cream' and the 'Almond & Milk Hand Cream', and both have made me notice a positive difference! The foot cream is not greasy, which means I can put it on, leave it to soak in for a short amount of time, and then carry on with my day, without worrying that carpet/sock fluff is going to stick to me (gross!!!). I did find the hand cream a little bit greasy, certainly more so than my usual Soap & Glory 'Hand Food', which I LOVE, but it has worked really well for me! My hands are definitely softer and I will definitely continue to use it, although not as an every hour thing when I'm at work!

But this is not where my obsession lies. It's the lip balms that have really got me. I have spent far too much money on these little things, but I love them so much! I now have 7, so a different flavour for every day of the week, no? I've never had an obsession with a beauty product before, but I think I have one now!

The variety of flavours makes it so much better, because they actually taste and smell good when you apply them, and it lingers as well, making me love them even more! And what's better, it's all 100% natural ingredients!

I have different favourites for different reasons. The original peppermint one not only smells great, but it tingles your lips, which is a really nice sensation! Some of them I am yet to try as I have only just bought them, but if they go down at the rate the others are because I'm using them so much, then Burt has done a blooming good job and making good lip balms!

There aren't many more flavours to get before I have the whole collection, so come pay day, that is going to be my first purchase!

Right, I need to stop before I become a crazy lip balm lady, is that a thing, and is it too late?!





(P.S. Who ever I be kissing....my lips are more kissable than ever!!)