Stedelijk time

When in Amsterdam, you have to go to a museum - it's the law. Well, my law anyway. This time we went to the Stedelijk Museum, mainly to see the Studio Drift exhibition (pics 1 to 5), which was mucho fantastico. As Oomoo has gotten older, I've stopped taking him to as many exhibitions as I used to, as he at one point got quite bored with it. To my surprise that seems to have changed, and our tour of the Stedelijk (which by the way is usually quiet, so an excellent alternative to the crowded Van Gogh or Rijksmuseums) was really good fun. Can't wait to take him to the Van Gogh exhibition at Tate Britain when it opens next year!

If you have a moment, watch the films in the Studio Drift link above, and my pictures will make much more sense.

Amsterdam randoms 2018 part 1

Looking out the window at Toki.

Oomoo saying hello to Nero and Nero saying "talk to the tail" to Oomoo.

Some cool trippy tiles. Or maybe they'd melted in the heat 😉

The breakfast at Toki is probably one of the best one's I've ever had in my life. I'm drooling as I write this.

N waiting at Rainarai while our friend Z caught up with a bit of work.

Oomoo helping set up at Rainarai Westergasfabriek. He did lots of work there and loved every second of it. Our friend Z let him add up the previous evening's takings, and when we ate there, he took our orders and served us. It might be a bit far for him to go for a weekend job when he's older, but I'm up for making it work, hehe.

Catching up with Z in our Airbnb.

There was no long trip away for us this summer, but we did go over to Amsterdam briefly, bringing our friend M and her sister N with us. I can't ever go there enough, and I would love to spend more time there, as our usual three-night stints for never feel long enough. But I shan't complain! I'm so glad we do get to go regularly, and that it feels like home away from home. More pics to come!

The start of the summer holidays

Right then... Time to crack on with this summer's backlog of pictures! As always, it feels like summer was over in a flash. But what an amazing one it was, if a bit strange. Like most parts of the northern hemisphere it was incredibly hot and dry, and for a very long time too. It didn't rain for over two months, which scorched the grass and made the landscape unfamiliar. We hoped for rain but it wouldn't come (it did eventually, half way through August - phew), something we've never done before, seeing as we live in the UK after all. Apart from three nights away in Amsterdam (pics from that trip to come) we stayed in town, as my friend M came over from the States and stayed with us for a month. Her sister came for a while too, right at the beginning, and when they were in their most jet lagged state I suggested an early evening walk on Hampstead Heath, which these pics are from. Turns out a walk and some fresh air works wonders for jet lag... I have never in my 26 years in London seen the Heath looking like it did then. Usually it's a huge expanse of green, but it had turned beige as a result of the drought. It was actually very beautiful, and it felt like we were walking around in an impressionist painting, as the edges of everything felt blurry. It was one of those perfect walks that will stay with me for a long time and I'm glad I brought my camera, so I can revisit these pictures when winter is here, and summer feels like a life time away.