My goodness gracious! So much has gone on. My mum & brother came on Tuesday night for their first visit. We had a wonderful time & lots of laughs.  We went to Aalsmeer & Uithoorn, mostly having cuppas everywhere, and my brother cycled to Aalsmeer with me to get a taste of the cycling life. He also met Lee in Amsterdam for a drink/watch the footie. We all enjoyed each other’s company so much, it was precious. On his last day we did a canal tour, and had some traditional dutch food, and went on the ferry across the river Ij.

Mum is staying 2 weeks, and we sure are filling it!!

We’ve been to Ouderkerk Aan De Amstel & Bijlmer today, we went to Crossroads international church yesterday.

On Saturday Mum got to put her feet up as Lee & I went to Amsterdam.

We had an excellent breakfast at Anne & Max’s in Zeeburg, an Island east of the city centre. Then we walked around the islands there a bit, and went in the fabulous Lloyd Hotel, from 1918, and had a coffee in their restaurant. It’s got loads of lovely period details. Then we decided to go to the Scheepvaart (Shipping/Maritime) Museum.

It was amazing & took all day. I can get a bit bored in museums generally, but everything was presented excellently. It was interesting & beautiful. We especially enjoyed getting on a replica Dutch East India Company boat, looking at maps from the 16th century and the building itself is pretty impressive. Also we had a lovely lunch in there.