Pisa Holiday

Well it's been a while since I last posted here. I've had a really lovely time the last couple months. My most recent adventure was a 4 day weekend in northern Italy. My friend Rebecca and I flew into Pisa in the middle of November. Pisa is really a lovely city. I know a lot of visitors say it can be done in a day, but it has such a lovely feel and so many interesting bits tucked away that it really is a place I could see relaxing in again. The plaza with the tower, Cathedral, and Baptistery is amazing. We only had our camera phones with us that day so no web photos yet. We spent 2 days in Pisa, 1 day in Firenze (Florence), and 1 day driving in the Cinque Terre. We spent the day in Florence in museums with the highlight being Michelangelo's statue of David. I've put pictures up at this location. The pictures are all from the day driving along the coast line in the Cinque Terre.

Gardens

Well it's been almost a month since my last post. I've been enjoying the English summer around Cambridge and haven't done a lot where I could take pictures. I've mainly been spending time in gardens, so that is what this post is about. A couple weeks ago I visited Anglesey Abbey and took some pictures. Anglesey Abbey is a 12th century priory which was converted into a house and gardens after the Dissolution. It's just a 20 minute bicycle ride north of Cambridge. It's one of my favorite places around Cambridge.







And this is a set of pictures from a different trip to Anglesey back in May. You can see the chestnut trees are in blossum.





And here are some pictures of Bonkers in our back garden in Cambridge.



Well this weekend feels like summer is starting to come to an end here in Cambridge. The air definitely has a feeling of fall to it. I'm certain we will have some more nice days, but the plentitude of warm sunny days may be near it's end for the year.

My Yamaha SZR660

At the request of a friend I'd like to introduce my Yamaha SZR660 motorcycle. She's a little shy having been a little abused by her previous keepers, but with a lot of TLC and a holiday to the Cumbrian Lake district she is doing great. She's still a bit camera shy, but I did manage to get this picture while she was resting after a nice ride in Cambridgeshire.



This picture was taken as she was trying to decide if she wanted to cross the ford or not. In the end she didn't want to get her tyres wet, so we took a different way around.



And here is a rare close up picture of her. I think she was really enjoying the country side and didn't notice the camera.

Amsterdam weekend

So here is a bit more from my Amsterdam weekend.

Here is a picture of Alison and Graham on our first day. We woke up around 4am to catch a 5am train to catch a 7:20am flight. Once we arrived in Amsterdam we stopped for a nice breakfast and did some shopping. After checking into the hostel we wandered through Vondelpark and found a nice cafe next to the film museum.




We walked around quite a bit. There are almost no cars in the old part of town. People get around on foot, by tram, or by bike. The canals cut through the city in half circle arcs every other block. Here's a nice picture of one (notice all the bikes on the bridge)



On Saturday night we went dancing at club Paradiso till 3:30am. This was the main reason I decide to go to Amsterdam and I wasn't disappointed in the least. I had the best time. The DJ was Roger Sanchez and he played the crowd perfect. I just wish we had better access to water (2euros for a small cup of water), which meant that I was pretty dehydrated most of the evening. We did manage to get up on Sunday and wander around the city. I think the whole city was up late because it was deserted. Here's a cafe near a canal before the people showed up.



In our wandering around we walked by this cheese shop that had a wonderful window display.


Sunday was very lazy and relaxed with us basically walking around and sitting in cafes. As I was sitting staring at my mochachino (cafe mocha) I noticed the nice contrasts so ...click...


On Monday Alison, Graham and I decided to do our own thing. Alison visited family in Rotterdam, Graham rented a bike to visit the country, and I stayed in the city and went to the Rijksmuseum which houses the Dutch Masters including the works of Rembrandt. The picture that most struck me was by Verspronck titled 'Girl in a Blue Dress'. The museum is undergoing renovation so there was only a very small exhibit. The museum it self is huge and an beutiful building.



Next to the Rijksmuseum is a wonderful park Museumplein. I found a nice spot of grass to sit and took these pictures of my views of the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gough Museum and the concert hall




As always I need to take more people pictures ;-)

I really loved amsterdam and am looking forward to going back for another long weekend. I sense a jet-set lifestyle emerging.

First post

So it's about time I get some photos online. I just got back from a 4 day weekend in Amsterdam with my friends Alison and Graham. It was fabulous! The city is so relaxed and one of the main past times seems to be siting in cafe's and watching people and talking with friends. Alison took this great picture of me which just so captured my mood this last weekend : relaxed and watching the world go by.