The journey from Newcastle to Amsterdam by ferry.

 On the 22rd March we caught a train to go to Newcastle and we should have known things were not going to run smooth when our train was delayed by a tree that had fallen across the rails and we had to wait an hour until the tracks were cleared. The weather forecast was snow, ice and wind.
So, on the day that had one of the worst weather forecasts of the year, we set off on a ferry to Amsterdam.

 This photograph as we are leaving Newcastle and as you can see
the sea is a bit wild !!

 A lot of sea...... 

..... the waves are thrashing.

 The boat is rolling, the stag parties are starting....

 and everybody's drinking and having fun, the hen parties are ...

laughing and dancing ........... and the waves are rolling and the boat's
a rocking and the sick bags are starting to appear. 

 The ferry journey should have taken 16 hours, instead it took 30 hours so all the passengers were stranded on the on the ferry. And the mood that evening had changed as you will see.

Very few people around and those who are…

….Not happy.

 Well, the next time I go to Amsterdam I will fly as I don't want to risk being stuck on a ferry for 30 hours and having to take seasick pills to stop being ill. I just wanted to share the horror of this journey and also the interesting shapes and movement of the waves which are quite beautiful if the boat was not moving as much. On top of all this, I missed Mr Stitch lecture which I believe was excellent and interesting. you can't win them all !!!!

Around Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city with crooked houses, houseboats and a network of canals with lots to see.

One house window of interest.

 This museum has been closed for refurbishment since 2003 and is actually going to open again April 2013.

 Lots, lots and lots of bicycles.

 The crooked houses.

 How about a sweetie bath! This is a shop window advertising sweets.

Great picture of a sweet shop window.

Quirky shops with interesting wares.

Interesting markets to browse.

 The Dutch love cheese and there's lots and lots of cheese shops
all containing rounds rounds of cheeses.

 These padlocks are an installation in their right.

Last but not least the red light district which I have to say was very busy
for Sunday after noon.

 I loved my time in Amsterdam there was so much to see and do plenty of restaurants, little cafes, great buildings to look out and canal trips to choose from. I most certainly will be visiting Amsterdam again but next time, I hope it will be warmer as it was bitterly cold and windy.  If you have time and the money, it is most certainly worth a trip to Amsterdam not just see the canals and architecture but also to experience the transport system which must be one of the best in Europe.

Out and about London.

After I been to the Manet exhibition decided to go and have a cup of coffee. As we were near the Burlington's Arcade we decided to go to the lovely cafe on the corner called Laduree. Where we had macaroons, coffee and hot chocolate and have to say they were delicious if a little expensive!

Looking out of the arcade.

 That rose macaroon was very nice as you can see by the look on my face.

 Looking into the arcade filled with  shops  selling
very expensive jewellery, clothes and shoes but it was very nice just looking.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My sister-in-law and I  decided we had to walk off the macaroons.  So we walked onto Bond Street to  do some window-shopping.  The images below are some of the shops windows we passed.

The above images have been taken from the windows
of  Victoria"s Secret. These costumes looked like a
work of art in their own right. I had to photograph them
because they are stunning.

 As I was passing this gallery I took a quick photograph

and photographed the image above who is by Abelardo.

 I photographed this image because I liked the picture,

as simple as that.  I don't particularly like Madonna but

I thought this was a very good image of her. I also photographed 

the artist name and details as well.

 This is a photograph of another gallery on Bond Street.

 Here we are at Butler and Wilson shop. This is a fantastic
shop full of very unusual and showy jewellery and
accessories. They also stock vintage dresses.

One of the windows.

In the shop.

How's this for a necklace !

Another window full of goodies.

Portobello Road.

Well my favourite place, Portobello Road and how busy it was!

 I thought this photograph of piles of freshwater pearls
is beautiful the lustre from the beads.

Egypt and Luxor

These are pictures of The Temple of Karnak near Luxor.

Images carved into stone.

The key of life.

Images in the stone.

More images in stone.

and some more. 

They are huge. How did they move the stone
and build them ! 

Fabulous to be there.

A row of Sphinxes in the temple.

More images craved into stone.
Now time to leave and cross the River Nile by boat.

The boat to take us across the Nile.

On the Nile.

Inside one of the Ramesses tomb.

another image inside of the tomb.

and another.....

and again.

another beautiful image inside the tomb.

Inside the tomb of Tutankhamun.

 monkeys in Tutankhamum tomb.

more images in the tomb.

The Sarcophagus of Tutankhamum.

An image of Tutankhamum.

Another in the tomb.

and another.

I loved going into the tombs and seeing all the hand drawn
images on the wall. Thinking about all these years ago
and how many people involved. How many died during
the building and the decoration of these tombs working
in temperatures of 45c and more.

The Temple of Hatsheput near the valley of the kings. 

Outside the temple. 

The watering hole in the middle of the desert
on the way to the hotel. Look at the decorated
pillars.

Looking for patterns in everyday objects in Egypt.

Grassy path

Sun umbrella's

From another angle.

and another

again....

again....

and again.

I loved my trip to Egypt. The rest, sun and the history surrounding the country. The trip to the valley of the kings was brilliant . I always want to see them and now I have been. My next trip must be to Cairo to the museum. Now that would be mind blowing for me !!