Canals

Some frantic packing this morning and a very early planned departure time for the airport meant we were a bit stressed leaving. Ok, I was a bit stressed leaving. First, there was TallGirl's fish to deposit with a neighbour. The planned fishsitter was still in bed, so we left him in another house instead (with promises from that neighbour that they wouldn't let the cat eat Mendel... Then the form for TallGirl's school photos to drop off at, hopefully, the right address and, finally a search for somewhere to leave the rubbish bin that I had put in the back of the car, but forgotten to put in the bin at the end of the road...

The flight was fine but, being KLM, meant it was a smaller plane than we're used to and the extra twisting and turning on take-off left TallGirl feeling decidedly dodgy. She took the sensible option and slept for the rest of the flight - somehow managing not to be sick.

When Mr B finally found us at the airport (my, it's a big place) we dumped our bags in a locker and caught a train into town. Mr B, being the 'local' had the map and was guiding us to the bike hire shop we'd chosen for our first activity. On the way we passed this chap stopping for a chat with a pal, and a demonstration about something we didn't understand but which seemed to involve a lot of beer, smoking and LOUD music (wow don't I sound old).

It was around about this point that I began to have my doubts about our general direction and started trying to sneak looks at the map over Mr B's shoulder. When he declared very firmly that the map we found on the street with a "You are Here" arrow was wrong, that I realised we were not where we thought... Surprisingly enough the bike hire shop was also not where we thought it ought to be.

To head off a certain fight in a burgeoning rain storm we ducked into a nearby pizza restaurant and had a fab meal. CarbBoy causing much amusement by asking for tea with his pizza (he was suitably impressed when they brought out a case of fancy teas for him to choose from, he was less impressed by the lack of milk).

With the rain thumping down when we left, we took a taxi to the station. The bus from the airport to the hotel had already gone, so it was a slightly damp grumpy group of four that waited for the next one. However, the hotel was warm and luxurious, and I think I was asleep by about 9.30pm!