Tag: bike

Amsterdam Baby!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

WARNING: This blog post may contain stereotypical images of Holland and the Dutch.

After a few days in Amsterdam I can safely report that the place is crazy. Totally crazy. I'd like to write this post avoiding any stereotypical images, but I think that may be impossible. So I thought I'd get them all out of the way early on….

The first thing you notice on arrival in Amsterdam are the bikes! Bloody bikes everywhere! Every space in the city has a bike attached to it. I'm sure that if you stood still long enough someone would prop a bike up against you. So not only do you have to contend with cars, buses and trams, all driving on the wrong side of the road, you have bikes whizzing everywhere. It is quite a challenge.

Marijuana. You can't write a blog post about Amsterdam without mentioning weed. Who had the idea that it would be sensible to make it legal to enter an establishment and smoke weed? On top of that they call them 'coffee shops' just to add to the ridiculous idea. And then just for people that don't actually smoke you can buy a 'space cake' and join in the crazy behaviour. Furthermore, it has become a tourist attraction.

Talking of tourist attractions, what city in the world would you see prostitues selling themselves in shop windows as families walk past pointing? It is a very strange situation.

Amsterdam does, of course, have some pretty typical tourist attractions: museums, historical buildings and canals. It wouldn't be right to visit Amsterdam without visiting the Van Gogh Museum and getting a picture of the famous 'Sunflowers' (also please note you can buy all sorts of crap under the guise of sunflowers). It was also surprising to see the man himself in the foyer painting…..

Amsterdam is a strange weird fantastic city and well worth a visit.

 

Chocolate Croissants

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Bakeathon enters the home straight. Today makes nine out of a planned ten baked products.

There are not many things that I can actually say 'I really, really like', but Croissants in a can I really, really like. It is the most amazing invention…

Now I understand how this could be seen as cheating, and that I haven't actually made anything, but I did open the can….

Furthermore, once the can was opened and separate pre-prepared triangles were exposed, I had to actually place some chocolate in them before rolling them into perfectly shaped Croissants. The result was perfect Chocolate Croissants that I really, really like….

The Croissants were quickly devoured for breakfast. This was followed by a bike ride with the dog and the new fitness mad Amy…

You'll be glad to hear that the tenth and final part of Bakeathon will be something spectacular….

 

Project365 #253 – Near death experience…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Today’s picture…the view moments before a near death experience…..

 

I had taken the dog out for a walk, I was on my bike. In the field were a dozen or so cows laying down at the far end of the field, all seemed calm. There was an arrow indicating the footpath continued down the side of the field, so we crossed the stile and was on our way. It was not until we were halfway across the field when the cows began to charge us! They were getting closer, I was peddling quicker, the dog was running faster. When we reached the corner of the field we had another stile to negotiate before we reached freedom. We did it. We managed to avoid being trampled to death. The cows, they just turned around and ran back to the other side of the field. Although, I’m sure I heard them laughing as they went…..

 

Project365 #72 – Lincoln

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Today’s picture is actually three…..

Picture #1 – A fella riding his bike up the massive hill up to the cathedral in Lincoln….and he rode all the way…without stopping.

Picture #2 – Tiger Suits for sale in Primark, only £10 each. I did resist the urge to buy one.

Picture #3 – ‘Brian the Bunny’ gingerbread biscuit from Costa Coffee.