Just English things

When I moved to England there were a few things I found strange, as is the case whenever you get to a new country! Each country has it's own way of doing things, and it turns out that while England and New Zealand are super similar in a lot of ways, there were a few things that stood out to me when I first arrived on this side of the globe.

1) Traffic lights - In NZ the lights change from green to orange to red, orange meaning it's time to slow down cause they're gonna be red soon! Over here it's the other way round. Lights go orange after red, just before they go green again, to signal to drivers that they can get ready to go again.

2) Street signs - This one confused the heck out of me! When I arrived at Kings Cross Station after 30 hours of travel and knew I had to find Kings Cross Road a few blocks over, I immediately looked for street signs on poles. But lo and behold they were nowhere to be seen! I was slightly freaking out at this point because I had no internet on my phone to use google maps, and I couldn't see a street sign anywhere. I ended up asking a woman at a market stall nearby, who pointed me in the right direction. Then as I was walking towards the hostel I spotted one! The street signs are stuck on the side of the buildings! No white poles with blue street signs on them like in NZ. Since then, I've discovered that this is customary across Europe.

3) E-cigarettes - I don't think I saw a single e-cigarette in NZ. In England they're everywhere, especially in London. I saw hundreds as soon as I got out of the train station. Some people call them 'vapes' because they're 'vaporizers' and people use them for vaping.

4) Greetings - One of the most common greetings here in England is 'Are you alright?' or 'You alright?' which I found odd at first. In NZ you'd only ask a person if they were alright if they looked upset or if they'd injured themselves or something! So the first few times I was greeted in this way over here I was like 'yeah...I'm fine...why?' and was wondering if I had an upset look on my face or something! Fully used to it now though and when I eventually return to NZ I'll probably find myself using it, and getting a strange look in reply! Haha.

There are lots of other things, but these are all I could think of at the moment. I need to write them down when I think of them. So this will probably be a post I'll add to in future. And here are some more pictures of my time being a tourist in London...

Weird floaty Yoda wanting our money in Trafalgar Square. 

Me outside Buckingham Palace.

Squirrels are everywhere! I got excited when I saw my first squirrel.

The changing of the guards outside St James' Palace.

That's all for now. Be back soon! xx

Amsterdam

Last week I had two and a half days off work, so I did a quick trip to Amsterdam. Flights were only 50 pound return and the flight from Luton airport was only 50 minutes! This is what I love about Europe. Whenever I travel to another country, the first thing I do after touching down is locate the place I'm staying at. Even if I get there well before check-in time, I like to know where I'm going to come back to, and where I can orientate myself from. Plus the front-counter staff are always super helpful with giving directions and will often keep your bags safe for you so you don't have to lug them around with you for the rest of the day. When I arrived at Amsterdam Schipol airport (where by the way, the male customs officers, policemen and currency counter workers are SERIOUSLY good looking), I took a train (it was double-decker which was interesting!) to Amsterdam central station and then took a tram from there to the stop nearest my hostel. When I got to the tram stop I was kind of confused as to how you paid for the trip, so I just jumped on the next tram, took a seat and figured someone came to collect money or something. But then I saw that everyone who boarded the tram after me put a card to a card-reader just inside the tram doors, before sitting down and then again before exiting. I was a bit worried then, because I didn't have a card and hadn't made any payment when I boarded. Oops! Plus the intercom kept saying "don't forget to check-out before exiting the tram". The last thing I wanted was to get fined as soon as I arrived in the country! But there wasn't anything I could do because you couldn't buy these card thingys on board. Sooooo I jumped off at the station I needed to and got the journey for free. I felt really bad for it, buuuuut it wasn't intentional.

I stayed at a place called StayOk Vondelpark, which was super easy to find. It was only about a 10 minute walk from the tram stop and I'd figured out the route before leaving England so it was no problem. The roads of Amsterdam are interesting though! There are tram tracks everywhere, cycle lanes that aren't marked as cycle lanes (I almost got hit by a cyclist a dozen times) and just general mayhem everywhere, so you really have to have your wits about you and be concentrating at all times. I got to my hostel unscathed though, and was in time to check-in to my room. It was such a nice hostel too! Super clean and modern, and my room has an ensuite bathroom, instead of a shared one down the hall which is always a bonus. There wasn't anyone else in my room when I got there, which was kinda nice actually.

Once I got sorted I decided to head out to check out some museums, which were literally just down the road. It was rainy and cold - perfect museum weather. I first went to the Rijk Museum, which is basically a 3-floor art gallery. It's the one that the I AMSTERDAM letters are outside, and the building itself is a sight to behold.

 The back entrance to the Rijk Museum

And the famous letters at the front entrance - I'm under the M!

I spent about 2 hours at this museum, it was absolutely fantastic. The main attractions were the large amounts of original Rembrandt's and a few Van Gogh's. I've decided I love Rembrandt's works but am not a massive fan of Van Gogh. I love how Rembrandt's works depict historical figures and events, and the amount of detail in them.

 Inside the Rijk Museum

Van Gogh's self portrait

Rembrandt's Night Watch - this painting is 3.6 x 4.4m and has ridiculous amounts of detail.

I loved this Rembrandt - Man in Oriental Dress - I just think he has so much personality, I love the way light is portrayed and I love his jewels.

Description of the above painting.

One thing I was delighted to come across in the Rijk Museum was the Doll's House of Petronella Oortman. I have recently finished reading The Miniaturist which is all about Petronella Oortman and her husband Johannes Brandt, who was a wealthy Dutch merchant, and the amazing dolls house he gave her as a wedding present. I had no idea they were historical figures and that the dolls house was real!! So to come across her actual dolls house in the museum was a real treat. It's HUGE and incredibly detailed and exactly as described in the book. I'm guessing the author spent many a day at the museum, staring at this dolls house.  Apparently having realistic dolls houses was a popular thing in 17th century Holland. 

The intricate interior. The house was made to replicate the Oortman's actual home.

Description of the dolls house.

This photo gives you an idea of the size of the thing.

Another gem in the Rijk musuem was the research library. Libraries are one of my favourite things in the world, and this one was just so impressive. It's the largest public art history library in The Netherlands, with works collected since 1885.

Isn't it amazing?!

I had to get a selfie inside. lol.

I left the museum at closing time and it was dark outside, so I decided to walk around and find a supermarket to get something for dinner. I found one, which was called 'Albert Hijn' which is a chain of supermarkets, apparently! I had no idea what 'supermarket' was in dutch so was just wondering around until I found it! I grabbed some food and took it back to the hostel. There was still noboby in my room so I ate my meal then spent the rest of the night reading the diary of Anne Frank before going to bed early (it had been an early morning) in preparation for the coming day.

I woke up to a roommate! Yay! Her name was Gabriella and she was from Brazil! She was super nice, and we went down to breakfast together after getting ready that morning. The breakfast spread at the hostel was epic! Cold meats and cheese, eggs, fresh bread rolls, breads and lots of spreads (including pots of nutella - yuss), fresh fruit, yoghurt, cereals, tea, coffee and juices! We were stoked, and made sure we had a big brekkie to keep us going. Gabriella hadn't booked anything to do that day so at breakfast was deciding what to do. I'd booked on a cycle tour that day, so unfortunately we didn't see much of each other for the rest of the day. But my tour didn't start till 12 so after breakfast we wandered down to the Albert Cuypmarkt - a huge street market, for a bit of a browse. It was an exceptional market, and it's there every day of the week. It had everything from clothes and shoes to furniture, homewares, gadgets, flowers, cheese, dutch baked goods, fried chicken, chocolates...you name it! 

So many lovely flowers

These flowers were glittery! Weird!

The Dutch do love their cheese.

Mmmmmmmm chocolate...

Dutch baked goods. The smell was divine!

After the market we parted ways (she went on a canal tour) and I went to meet up with my bike tour group. I did a city tour with the company Mike's Bike's (recommended by my sister who did one in Germany). We got some pretty sweet bikes to cruise around on and there were about 13 of us. Our tour guide was a super cool Canadian dude with a great sense of humour and extensive knowledge of dutch history. Cycling around Amsterdam is so much fun - it's really flat so it's not hard and with the cycle lanes, it's easy to get around. Plus cycling along the canals is so scenic. It's a great way to cover all the main sights as well. We went throught the lovely Vondelpark, to Museumplein (where all the main museums are - I went there on day one), through the stylish Jordaan area, past the Anne Frank House (the line was insane - I planned on going after the cycle tour but I would have had to wait at least 2 hours to get in. In the rain and cold wind. So I'll have to do that next time), through the Red Light District (wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - the girls had clothes on at least!), along the canals and ended up with a drink at a bar next to a windmill. It was so good, I would recommend it to anyone.

 Typical Amsterdam - houseboats and canals

The building with the white flag pole coming out of it is the Anne Frank House. The entrance is two houses down to the right, hence why you can't see the massive line to get in.

Windmill!

Charging points for electric cars are all over the city.

Pretty Amsterdam <3

That night my room mate and I went out for dinner and had bitterballen (traditional croquette type things) and dutch pancakes! They were very scrummy. The next morning I got an early bus to the airport and had to return to England. There is still so much I want to see and do in Amsterdam. Of all the cities I've been to, it's the one I want to return to the most. I loved it.

xx

Linda

I've met some really great people over here in England, but there's one lady who I've made a special bond with. Her name is Linda, and she's a 61-year-old, chain-smoking waitress/dishwasher with a heart of gold and a terrible chocolate addiction. I'm not quite sure why Linda and I became so close, I suppose we just clicked and she was so kind and welcoming towards me from the outset that I think I may have clung to her a bit! But now we call each other 'girlfriend' and go jiving together on Wednesday nights and she comes up to my room to vent to me about various things when I've got the night off, so it's a full-blown friendship, and I'm so grateful. 

I will try and describe Linda. She's a tiny wee woman, about 5'3 or maybe even less, with shoulder length dyed-red hair and zero derriere. Not even kidding, it's pancake flat. What she doesn't have in the rear department she makes up for in the chest region though! She's got skinny wee legs and a deep, raspy smokers' voice. When she works in the kitchen she wears leggings and usually a polka-dot top, and when she's doing front of house she wears a nice black dress and tights. She usually gets a ride in to work with Ron, who works on the bar, and sometimes even comes in when she's not working, just to hang out and have a drink. When I finish my shift on Sunday I usually sit down in the bar and chill out with Linda for a while, sometimes we do a crossword together. And sometimes I'll just sit in the bar and chat with her after I finish my shift on a week night, if she's also been working. 

Linda is even more addicted to chocolate than I am. She and Ron used to work at a gas station and she said they'd both have two double mars bars every day. Now whenever she comes in to work she has at least two chocolate bars in her bag that she gets through and often will bring in a box of malteasers or quality street chocolates that she puts behind the bar for all the staff to share. It's so funny.

Linda is married to a man named Pete, who is a nice chap. He's a bit quiet, but I suppose that probably works quite well because she's not quiet at all. Pete is her second husband. She has three sons, one of whom lives in Oxford, the other two live with her. And she has a daughter as well. And a few grandkids. She has a terrible diet consisting of tea, white bread sandwiches, biscuits, cake, potatoes, chocolate and cigarettes. I've asked her whether she eats any fruit or vegetables and she says she'll eat potatoes and the occasional banana. What about salads, green vegetables and fruit? Nope, she just screws up her nose. 

From our various conversations I've found out that Linda has had a very tough life. She has spent time in prison (I didn't think it appropriate to ask what for) and her oldest son has been in and out of prison for the majority of his life, which has taken a toll on the rest of the family. He's constantly asking her for money and when he seems to be doing well he falls back off track and ends up in prison again. Linda says she's had to distance herself from him a bit, because it's too painful. In addition to this, Linda's first husband beat her. She was in a violent relationship with him for years and tried to leave him a few times, but he managed to hunt her down. He is now dead.

I admire how strong Linda is, and how happy and bright of a person she is, considering all she's been through and had to deal with. She has such an infectious personality, which I love about her. She's the kind of lady you can't help but love. She's blunt and hilarioius. Loud and sometimes obnoxious. But she's so caring. She's made me feel so welcome and gone out of her way to include me in outings with her family, invited me over for dinner, taken me to jive class, given me boy advice and cared for me when I've been under the weather. She is simply a fantastic human.

The lovely Linda in the middle - the grouse girls went out for her birthday last week.

Linda and me taking a break from jiving. Not a great photo of either of us! 

xx