Home by lunchtime

16°C. Cloudy,


On getting home: I had every intention of cycling my restless feelings away. Now all I can see is torrential rain outside. Dammit!
Taking a solo holiday is revealing. Normally I can open conversation casually with strangers without any effort. But this trip I was largely in a bubble isolated from others & I think I know why: perhaps folks mistrust of single blokes travelling alone.

Day 2: Van Gogh Museum

19°C, heavy showers forecast, it’s sunny right now.


2nd full day: more walking planned but I have a blister- let’s see if wearing two pairs of socks helps. I didn’t sleep very well so now have a mild headache; perhaps when I was in Japan blaming my poor sleep on the earth-quakes- I may not have slept anyway.
This certainly is a beautiful city, as expensive as London though.
 
Later: VG museum was far busier then the Rijksmuseum. I had to queue. The tone of the labels was interesting, interesting to anyone learning to paint I’d imagine. It’s clear that various phases in his work were deliberate attempts to learn skills he had identified as shortcomings himself. It’s sad to reflect that he never felt that he’d "arrived" in the sense that he became a professional artist.
 
Anyway; My feet hurt so much from blisters that I am only comfortable in my running shoes. Now is the last part of my stay, tomorrow will be consumed with the journey back and the desire not to miss my flight. Shipol is one of the biggest airports in Europe, I need to get to the right place.
Now, I’d better go and pick up some foodie souvenirs to take home.

Day 1: Rijksmuseum

up to 21°C, some heavy showers predicted.

Hotel: like staying in an Art gallery, the room is a bit pokey though. There are shared bathrooms, which are worth a photo in themselves. (Wait & see).
I shall have to task some shots here before I go to the Rjiksmuseum today.

The light is ideal. Talking of Light- I will get to see at least some Vermeer & Rembandt today.

I didn’t get here early enough to look around yesterday, all I did was have a meal at a nearby bar washed down with a pint.

Evening: has turned sunny but the town was plagued by rainshowers in the day- a lot of my photos look almost black/white. Even I am amazed at the numbers of bikes here, but the machines are all situp& beg, often piled up with loasdf of luggage.
I’m off now to see some sunshine.

Amsterdam

16°C, rain


The weather forecast is terrible- rain all week. Worse weather than is due here.

Map image

This M$ map feature is good don’t you think? I will be staying near the top-right, just where the S100 meets the yellow road.

45 miles

19°C, sun & a few showers, amazing cloudscapes.


I’ve worn myself out. 170 miles so far this week. An advantages of recent upheavals is that I am burning off nervous energy by cycling, the spinoff- my fitness is the highest in ten years. Maybe I can sleep now.

Amsterdam

18°C, lots of short showers on the wind


Confirmed: I’m off for a few days to Amsterdam next Monday. The booking failed at the last moment on the first attempt so I didn’t get the hotel I really wanted, no disaster- the one I did get should be OK. The idea is to do the galleries, and walk and walk. If there is net access in the hotel, I can post more here next week (it’s more likely that they provide wireless access but no machines).

Turned out “lush”

19°C, sunny with strong SW winds. C=67 miles.


Gorgeous day after a grotty start.
Passed Chartley Castle on the way to Stafford. See photo below
Russian: I have been having fun with an online language translator:

"Я имел забаву с языковым переводчиком онлайн."

St. Kilda: 513 downloads in one day!. That’s faster then the Chernobyl scenery in its first day. I’m really surprised at that since it seems like a more obscure area.

He returns

14°C, rain


Dorset: I came back early, the weather was poor and the county rather crowded at this time of year. I wasn’t quick enough to get a video like this, but here is Portland lighthouse’s for horn. They switched it off just as I was getting the camera out.