Bustling around Bruges

Our next adventure afforded young Timothy a cute new stamp in his new wee passport. We were off to Beligum, Bruges where chocci and beer frolic and play. We were to discover the wonders of both plus diamonds and lace. It was an amazing place, the first day there we came across these two ladies singing opera in the square.


We arrived by train which is a much more agreeable form of travel for the boy, he can have lots of cuddles and snacks. (just what he loves) We had three days here and wnet out both nights where there was beer, dessert and much merriant. We had huge kwaks. I could only sip at mine since I am still feeding the boy. Mum fininshed almost all hers and Ben had to finish everybody elses so he was very pleased with himself. For dinner I had mussles of course, so fresh and so was the beer, no comparised can be done! Ben tried flemish rabbit and mum had fish. The dessert was even better but I will let the pic speak for me.



Here we are watching diamonds betwwening polished, he was a very funnny fellow, lots of jokes. We learnt about different qualities of diamonds, size, cut and finishings. All very interesting though of course the history and some of the present don't have a very nice background, with slave mines etc.



Lets not forget the super tasty lolly shops... and of course the chocolate making which we watched at the chocolate musuem.


Here I am enjoying a fresh waffle with icecream and chocolate sauce, are you not very jealous :p




We went on a lovely boat ride around the cannals of the city. It was very beautiful and guide was amazing, he delievered the talk in no less then four languages!



We discovered more wonderful hand made toys of which we got Timothy a dragon that he can pull along with a string, very cute. We also discovered this wonderful Christmas shop, I of course went mad in.


So after buying lots of decoration, choccies and Christmas gifts at the markets we set about going home again. All fun was had and we are encourage by how good Timothy was that we will definitely be back on the trains to somewhere soon. Mind you, you couldn't get a better baby than our lovely little man. bye for now........

*remember you can click on pics for better view.

A Weean in the Heilean

Timothy has now spread his reign to the Scottish highlands. We had a whirlwind tour staring with Edinburgh (though we flew into Glasgow). We went and saw the castle as you do and then stayed the night in Glasgow. The next day we went to Loch Lomond, Stirling castle and the William Wallace tower.

here we are in Edinburgh castle and at Loch Lomond



We got to see amazing birdies, they had a show with them at Stirling castle


this is a four week old owl


this is where the term mantle comes from, you can see the bird has its wings out over its catch, protecting it from others.


here the hawk is flying through the human forest, demonstrating how they come in to pick up food scurrying on the floor.


here is a film of Glen Coe (COMING SOON)



We went up the William Wallace monument and it as a bit windy


After a very full day we stayed at a lovely farm b&b just outside Stirling. Monday saw us haul all the way up to Skye, absolutely beautiful, Skye and the drive there. We had a particularity stunning stop at Glen Coe which even had a Scot playing the pipes. We stayed one night at Skye before back in the car and down to Oban. Oban we checked out the distillery though we did visit the one on Skye too but was too late for the tour. (Brought the scotch anyway though). Oban was ok but not nearly as lovely at stuff we had driven through. We stayed the night there and then headed out the next morning to Glasgow. On the way we stoped at ancient standing stones outside Oban, very cool and almost got run over but some flighter jet which scared the hell out of Timothy and I. Needless to say Timothy was very unhappy about the whole thing. It was so low we could practically see the up the pilots nose :P

We went to Glasgow from here to see the cathedral but alas the holiday was over for Timothy. Five days is his limit and he decided to have a bit of a melt down and so we drove straight to the airport. But it was a lovely time by all. I will add other pics soon.

Friends

Thank you to Graham and Megan for visiting. We had a lovely time and it was so wonderful to see them again. We wish them well on their trip back to Australia as they come to then end of this adventure. They now face the new adventure of finding a place to stay and start a new life again in Sydney. We wish them luck and look forward to hearing their tales.

Here are a few pics from their visit. We went around Cambridge, looked in Kings and had tasty treats at the pub called Blue Lion

Swimming

Timothy is going to be a water baby I think and he got to swim with his little girlfriend also, the Lovely Alice. A bit of trivia for you, Alice in the pic is so named after her great grandmother (I think it is) Alice of Alice springs of who her grandfather discovered the spring and called it after his wife. Cool Huh.

Out and about with Nona

Well Nona has made it here safely and of course she lands running. Her first day we are out and about with Timothy at a picnic in the University Botantical gardens in Cambridge. We had lunch with friends of mine with there little bubs. Then it was off to some light shopping and home for the evening. The second Day we went to a national trust property called Ickworth. It had a great old manor whichh as a cafe in it. We naturally had to stop and sample the sweeties :P We then did a walk on the land to spot the deer and squirels and then took a tour of the house, very groovy, no pics allowed though.

here is Nona in the botantical garden with Timothy and then in cafe at Ickworth


Ben with Boy


It was home again for a quick rest before back into Cambridge to see Shakespere in the Trinity College gardens and have picnic dinner. Was excellent as usual.

here is Timothy cooling down for a rest



The cast


Today we just went to church in our village and then we are resting for the remainer of the day. Dinner will be pepper steak with fresh veggies from the garden.