Twixtmas DIY

We ordered some new door handles before Christmas.  I fitted them, they look nice.

There were a lot of gardening and garden tidying.  Loads to do in twixtmas!

Twixtmas Shopping

Much to our dismay, nuts are not yet on sale.  On the other hand, we picked up a lot of cheese.

Day 6 The Netherlands - Gouda

I bid my friends goodbye, I left and went to Gouda.  I changed the original plan in order to go to Gouda on Thursday, when the flour windmill was open. 

I walked through the Hague, onto the train and arrived in Gouda.

I went to the flour mill first, bought ourselves some wholemeal flour.

Then I walked into town, around the market, bought a sausage roll and a cheese roll.  Their sausage roll has more spices.  The cheese roll's cheese were milder.

I went to the syrup wafel factory and actually paid for a tour.  I had A LOT of wafel.  Unlike stoopwafel, which is one wafel halved and filled, syrup wafel is two wafel stuck together.  Double the amount of crunch.

I walked past a chip shop and saw a shrimp croquette, which I missed when I was in Amsterdam.  I ordered one, whilst waiting, I saw the fish shop next store were also doing shrimp croquette, cheaper!

I ate the first shrimp croquette, it was full of brown shrimp, very shrimpy.  Surely the fish shop knows what they are doing, so I went to the fish shop.  I asked what were their kibbling, and they said cod, so I asked for a portion of fish and a shrimp croquette.  The fish were nice, and the shrimp croquette was spicier but a lot less shrimp.

I decided to save a tiny amount of money by taking regional train/bus to the airport.  

Distance travelled on foot, approximately 8 miles.

Dutch food:

Dutch crisps, garlic

Dutch Sausage roll

Siroopwafel

Kibbling, cod

Garnalkroket, shrimp x 2

Dutch cheese roll

Day 5 The Netherlands - The Hague

I borrowed a bicycle and went around The Hague.

I first went to the Hague market.  It is very similar to English markets.  The Dutch loves fried fish so much, the few fried fish market stalls were already busy before noon, but why can't they just state what fish they are?  Then I cycled to the organic market, which was very quiet with very few stalls, possibly due to Christmas time.

Then I cycled to the Peace Palace again, and popped into the visitor centre.  I cannot believe they charges for toilets, so I left.  I cycled to the International Criminal Court, they closed for the holiday, otherwise I could have went in for a tour.

Last of all, I cycled to the Mall of the Netherlands, which is a Westfields.  I had a walk around.  Their Haribo also doesn't sell normal fizzy cola anymore!

I cycled back, we spent the rest of the afternoon setting up a new game.  We went out for dinner and came home for a game.

Distance travelled on foot, approximately 3 miles.  Distance travelled on bike, approximately 15 miles.

Dutch food:

Dutch chocolate biscuit

Dutch hotdog

Day 4 The Netherlands - The Hague

I walked around the Hague for two hours whilst my friend was at the climbing wall.  We had lunch at a pub.

We went to see the coast, we saw some wind turbines, possibly Dutch.  

We went home for dinner, we had pasta and more sausages, it was 94% pork, which was quite nice.

We played a board game viticulture.

Distance travelled on foot, approximately 7 miles.

Dutch food:

Dutch beef stew

Bitterballen

Dutch/Heineken Cider

Dutch sausage

Day 3 The Netherlands - Amsterdam / The Hague

Final day in Amsterdam.  I had a morning coffee in a local cafe.  Their little treats look awfully like chopped up pain au chocolat.

I walked into town, picked up another few snacks and zigzagged to the station.

Since I still have time, I had another ferry hop.

I got into the Hague.  There were a few things shut on Christmas day in Amsterdam, there were many things shut in the Hague.  I walked to my friend's flat and settled in.

We popped by the Peace Palace before dark and went back out to have dinner in a Cantonese restaurant, it was okay.

Distance travelled on foot, approximately 5 miles.

Dutch food:

Chicken Sausage roll

Mokka Gebakjes

Day 2 The Netherlands - Amsterdam

Forecast was bad so I just tried to make the most out of it.

I went to a local cafe, Berry, to have a Dutch breakfast.  Followed by a local craft market and a stroll at the food court. 

Then I went back via another supermarket called Jumbo to drop off dinner and straight back out to the Christmas Market had an overpriced sausage.

I popped in the Diamond Museum, had a look at their workshop.

I went to complete the evilness with some chips.  Faber has 3 or 4 men managing the queue...

It started raining, and I cannot believe the Dutch Boots were selling very substandard umbrellas.  The rest of the afternoon was trying to dry off.

Distance travelled on foot, approximately 4 miles.

Dutch food:

Dutch cheese on bread

Rookworst Sausage

Friet

Bread

Chicken sausage

Day 1 The Netherlands - Amsterdam

The forecast was dry, so I had to make the most out of it.

I got up relatively early.  I first walked towards city centre, I even walked past the red light district before noon.  I got some croquettes and got some extra food from Aldi and came back to the hostel.

I had a little rest then went back to town from another main streets, then I remember, there were "free" ferries.  So I walked to the pier and took different ferries back and forth, gave my legs a little rest. 

I also remember the homomomument.  So I paid a visit.

I walked back via Lidl, bough more food.  Then back to the hostel.  Both Aldi and Lidl were slow, compared with their counterpart in England and Germany.

I really wanted to go to the Christmas Market whilst dry, but I really cannot moved further...  So I settled in.

Distance travelled on foot, approximately 12 miles.

Dutch food:

Veal Croquette

Beef Croquette

Cheese Soufflé

Special Croquette, chicken and beef

Apples

Bread

Ham

Eierkoeken

Day 0 The Netherlands - Amsterdam

It turned out to be a very long day, long windy day.

I booked a cheap, split journey to the airport.  We left the house in good time, bumped into the neighbour, and a chat, then we had to speed walk to the station!

Once I got to the airport, I waited and got a Too Good To Go. It was acceptable, but it was the cheapest thing I could get at the airport.

I already got a notification that the plane is delayed, due to high wind, Storm Pia.  After one and a half hour, we boarded.

It was very bumpy, even the takeoff was a little hairy.  It was not helped by the "sound effect" of all the children oooing and ahhing.  When we landed, there were applauds...  Amsterdam was warmer than Manchester.

Instead of taking the train into town centre and walk two miles, I took the train one stop into the suburb and walked from there for 2.5 miles.  Except, road diversion and getting lost, it was closer to 3 miles.

I finally checked in and went to the supermarket to get some basics.  What a long day.

Distance travelled on foot, approximately 5 miles.

Dutch food:

Bread

Turkey?

Traveling Essentials

In-date GHIC, phone with roaming facilities, old EURO in the piggy bank, debit card with reasonable exchange rate.  All set to go.

Darlington Market

We had lunch at the Urban Deli in the Darlington Market.  It was very reasonable priced, the warm soup and the toastie were very good.

More Chestnuts

We bought a few chestnuts from the local green grocer, they were supposedly Italian, and they were massive.  I preferred the Spanish M&S ones this year.

Air Fried Chestnuts

They turned out much better than oven baked.

Vehicle to Grid

Someone in the inverter industry doesn't understand the point of vehicle to grid, worrying... Why do I want to buy a new battery when I have a battery on wheel, and it can also contribute to grid stability, why not?

Birmingham Christmas Market

I popped by the Birmingham Christmas Market.  Their overpriced sausages were cheaper than Leeds.  I even had a curry wurst, but the ones in Germany were better.

Chocolatey Cocktail

My colleagues ordered a chocolatey cocktail, and I said, "is that an orgasm?"  They were confused.  One of the colleagues knows about it.  I looked at their menu, it is missing some key ingredients to be an orgasm, nevermind.

Too Good Its Gone

 I booked a Too Good to Go, only had it cancelled, so disappointed!

PV Project Snag

This installation could have been better in so many aspects...  #

Snagging ongoing.

Christmas Party

I helped Sarah hosting this year's galette party.  I think it went well.

Late Harvest Carrot

Late harvest carrots, once frozen, it turned out infinitely better I imagined them would be.

 

Hot Springs

I think hot spring is just hot springs.  But my cousin thinks the sulphuric hot spring is more authentic.

Near Zero Production

We are getting closer to Winter Solstice, the day is getting shorter, with a bit of cloud, some days I am getting practically zero production from the PV system.

The other day, it was generating 38W, and I moved the snow, it was still only generating less than 100W.  We just have to accept the Winter!

Annual Christmas Light Repair Session

Once a year we take the old christmas light out, we bypassed the old dead bulbs to get as much bulbs lit as possible.  That's now done for another year.

Conservatory Payback

My PV system should be paying me back in 9 years.  How do I calculate the payback on my conservatory?  I am not convinced a hard roof would have that much "added value" either.

Holiday Home Multi Listing

My sister has heard horror story on holiday home booking websites. It doesn't help that the one she looks at is listed in multiple websites and their calendars are not synced. Let's hope for the best...

Gym Membership

I picked up a gym membership on Black Friday sale again.  It is extra good price as the single price has gone up to prohibitive. My local gym has been refurbished, I am looking forward to going more.

Garden After Hard Frost

After the snow came, the garden looks a lot deader.  I have cleared off a little more.  I worked so hard that I snapped my shovel handle...

Garforth Repair Cafe

Garforth Repair Cafe is definitely a lot more organised.  I am glad I went and I helped a little.  Whatever the problem is, we should always start at level 0 basic investigation...

Conservatory Modernisation

I am now thinking how to modernise the conservatory.  I don't know why solid roof become so trendy...

Office Move

A few of us moved the office, it was hard work.  We are now closer to the coffee, but further from the shower!

Honey Roasted Cashew

These honey roasted cashew from Grape Tree does taste of honey, interesting.