The next place on Mum's agenda was the Lakes District, with just Mum and I. Rob and I had gone with Anne and Matt in late November and it was beautiful but pretty cold so I was looking forward to seeing it in summer (sort of the end of summer anyway...). When I booked the tickets by some quirk it was cheaper to get First Class tickets on the train there than standard ones, which was pretty exciting. We got a free cooked breakfast and drinks and felt very classy. When we got to Windermere we decided to go and drop our bags off at our inn and then go exploring. The place we were staying was very quaint and the manager was very friendly and welcoming. After a nice chat with the man we went off and browsed all of the shops in Windermere, scoping out a place to eat at later on.One of the shops we looked at was a designer dress recycling place where mum found a lovely skirt, which she ummed and ahhed about for a while (and eventually decided to buy it just before we had to catch our train home!) I also bought a nice skirt.
We walked down to Bowness after that and had a look at the lake. I was quite keen to buy a good outdoor rain jacket as it was not warm and the wind was quite strong. The towns in the Lake District are full of outdoor shops so I was able to find a good jacket that I was grateful for later. We walked back to Windermere and had dinner in a little cafe. I was not well pleased with my meal though as I ordered lamb shanks but they had no mashed potatoes so I had to get them with chips. It's just not the same! Mum got fish which she was happy with. Then we got sticky toffee pudding and lemon meringue pie for dessert and shared them. The sticky toffee pudding was amazing but the lemon meringue pie was a bit average.
The next day I had organised a Beatrix Potter trip before we caught the train home. We got picked up then driven out through Yewdale Valley to Coniston water. From here we went on a lake cruise, and the guide pointed out where on the lake the ill-fated Donald Campbell had broken the water speed record and then fatally crashed Bluebird. He also showed us what places Beatrix Potter had lived in. After the cruise, our next stop was Hawkshead, a medieval village that had a little Beatrix Potter museum that Mum had a look around in. We had lunch at a cute cafe with amazing huge bap rolls (I had salmon and cream cheese and Mum had Wensleydale cheese and chutney). All of the seats has blankets that you could put over your knees or round your shoulders if you were chilly. We then stopped at Tarn Hows (Tarns are bodies of water that are shaped like tear drops). It is a very popular beauty spot and there were lots of people picnicking and taking photos.
We were hurried back into the van, then we drove up the incredibly narrow road to Hilltop, getting stuck once or twice when we encountered traffic in the opposite direction. The rule is that smaller yields to bigger, so we had a heart-stopping journey in reverse at one point when we were up against a coach, with everyone peering nervously out of the window down the sheer cliff face we were teetering along. When we finally got to Hilltop, most people had bought tickets to go inside the house, but we decided not to.
It was quite a lovely day, and we enjoyed looking around the garden that she had based so many of her books around. There was even a Mr MacGregor and some Peter Rabbits.We saw the place she really lived (across the road), and learnt about the types of sheep in the area (Swaledales and Herdwick).
It was a really good tour that was good value for money, I thought. They dropped us back with plenty of time to spare, so we went and sat a a cafe called The Lighthouse, and I had one of the yummiest desserts I've ever had - a warm chocolate fudge cake with gooey icing.
The day after Windermere we were off to Amsterdam.
We got a plane then took the rail into the city. Our hotel was supposed to be quite easy to find but that didn't stop me wandering round like an idiot going the wrong way for about an hour. Finally we got there, and found that they had given our twin room away, so we had a double instead. I was annoyed at the principle of the thing so argued until we got upgraded to a super-king room. It was gorgeous, with one of those great poofy duvets, and the bed was massive so we probably each had more room than we would have had in two single beds!
We wandered round, taking in some of the sights, and found a cute little place to have dinner that seemed to be pretty authentic Dutch. I got the best "bangers and mash" I'd ever tasted (not called that, obviously!) and Mum got fish.
On Saturday we soon realised it was going to be a scorcher. We decided to do a couple of tours, and booked a combo with a canal boat and a countryside tour.
We started with the boat, and had a nice look around the city from the perspective of the canals. The houses are all wonky and on a lean because of the instability of the ground. We learnt some interesting things, like that every house has a gable hook that they use to hoist up furniture through the windows.
After our boat ride and a yummy vegetarian falafel pita bread for lunch, we had a bit of time to look through the shopping parts of town, where we saw a massive line for an ice cream shop. We couldn't resist getting one of obviously the best ice creams around, and so lined up for an 80 cent(!) piece of creamy heaven. It was time to meet for our tour by this time. We nearly melted while we were waiting for the bus to arrive to pick us up, but finally we were on board. Unfortunately the heat had done me in and I couldn't stay awake for all the facts about dykes we learnt on the way... I did manage to get a good idea of how they lay things out though - the farmland is beautiful with all the canals bordering the fields. Our first stop was a Cheese factory village, where we learnt about cheese making and saw lots of windmills. 
We then stopped at another village where there was a big fair on, where we were due to take a boat ride over to an old fishing village. We had a bit of spare time so we wandered round admiring all the cute Dutch houses, then we met up and hopped on the boat to head over to the fishing village. The houses are all traditionally green and black, due to using natural ingredients in the paints, such as grass and dirt pigment. Our next stop was a clog factory, where we got a demonstration on clog making. By the time we got back to town, we were starving, so we found a bistro and had mussels. Then we had a look around town - there were loads of quite seedy places around. I imagine it would take some know-how to know where to go.
It was a contrast on Sunday - rainy and a bit chilly. We had planned to go to the Anne Frank museum early to avoid the crowds, so we got there about 9 and there was only a tiny line. The museum was fantastic. It was amazing to think it was that very house that that poor family hid in, all that time. And the bedrooms and everything are all still there, pretty much as they were, but without the furniture. The museum was a real highlight of our trip. We walked to the famous flower market afterwards, then had a couple of monstrous sandwiches at a cafe for lunch - reportedly Mum's sandwich was one of her favourite meals of the trip. After having a bit more of a look around the shops, we hopped on a train back to the airport. One safety tip about Amsterdam for people that haven't been: Watch out for bikes!The next day I went to work and Mum went on a tour by herself to Warwick castle, Stratford and Stonehenge.
Our next stop was Cornwall. We flew to Newquay early Tuesday morning. It was a scary flight - it was very rainy and windy, and the plane was wobbling and lurching all over the place. We stayed at a B&B called Bedlam House, with a lovely owner and really trendy and comfortable twin room. We went shopping, and bought a couple of things each, then for lunch we had to have a Cornish Pasty! We went for a massive long walk after lunch, along the cliff tops and beach. Although it was windy, the sun came out and the view was gorgeous. For dinner we had fish and chips at cute cafe, followed by a really yummy home-made lemon meringue pie.It was only a short visit to Cornwall - the next day, after a bit more of a wander round Newquay, with some more shopping, and some Cornish ice-cream, we taxied back to the airport and got our flight to Bristol. There we caught a quick train to Bath. We stayed at a Holiday Inn, which was very basic but had everything we needed. We decided to go to the Thermal Spas that night and had a lovely relaxing time.
On Thursday we explored the Roman Baths, after doing a great walking tour of Bath.
In the evening it was time for our train back to London.
Our Eurostar to Paris was the next evening. We decided to squeeze in Camden during the day. Mum loved the markets. We wandered around and bought cupcakes and had devine 15 minute massages. I also took her into Cyberdog and she was suitably impressed.
Once we got to Paris, we followed the theme of our trips abroad and got lost again trying to find our hotel. We asked a teenager working in a dairy and he was absolutely lovely, asking all the other customers in the shop for help, so he sent us on our way with us having a much better idea of where we were going. The hotel was a funny wee one, and the tiny just-fit-2-in-at-a-squeeze lift had Mum in fits of laughter.
We then went to see Louvre, but decided that we did not really have time to make going in worthwhile. I showed mum the Pont des Arts, and we walked along the Seine. We made our way to the Eiffel Tower, but we decided not to go up it. Instead we crossed over to the jardin du Trocadero, and dangled our feet in the fountains and lay on the grass in the shade. Once we'd had enough of that, we walked to the arc du Triomph, then down Champs Elysees. We found a place for dinner that was near the hotel, and had snails for an entree, after which I had tasty duck (Mum had fish as usual). We were too tired to do much else, so went back to the hotel, and because there was nothing on in English, I watched Titanic on the German channel.
On Sunday our mission was to do the Catacombs. Fortunately it was raining so it was a perfect thing to do. Unfortunately everyone else thought the same thing so we had a bit of a wait in the queue first. Once we got down there though it was phenomenal. Such an eerie but peaceful place. In case you don't know what they are - they are a series of underground tunnels that have been filled with the bones of millions of Parisians.. http://www.catacombes-de-paris.fr/english.htm.
After we emerged from the darkness we decided to check out Notre Dame. While we were waiting in (another) queue, we were entertained by this man feeding the birds. It is hard to make out from the picture but he had about 20 birds fluttering onto his hands. Notre Damn was beautiful, and when we emerged it was sunny, which was nice! Unfortunately it didn't stay warm and so we popped into the mall under the Louvre (pretty much the only shops open in Paris on a Sunday) and had a look around. After that there was only time for a bit of dinner before we had to make our way to Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar home.
On Monday I went to work, while mum pottered around and got her stuff sorted. I had bought tickets to Spelbound, the gymnastics troop that won the 2010 Britain's Got Talent, so we went to that on Monday night with Mum, Rob and Jen. There were other acts involved as well, including Michael Collings, also of BGT fame, and it was a really good night all in all.
We wanted to get as much more of London in as we could, so on Tuesday Mum and I did Soho, and Monument, and had afternoon tea at the Hilton Doubletree in Covent Garden.
On Wednesday we went to Harrods with Rob, and happily it was early enough on a weekday that there were hardly any tourists around. I had bought tickets for Billy Elliot that night for me and Mum, and it was an amazing show, definitely one of the best ones. Mum said she enjoyed it more than Phantom! It was our last night. On Thursday I went with Mum to Heathrow and she was off to Milan for her next leg of her trip - a cruise around the Mediterranean.
Friday, was back to work and normal life... Difficult.
We had tickets for the Comedy Tree on Saturday night with Jen and Alicia though, so that was a good diversion.
On Sunday I went and had a Gel nail manicure and pedicure with Jen (which was good, but not the best and neatest job ever, and unfortunately they didn't last too long) and then I went and saw a movie with Mon.
The next weekend I had the BVA Conference, and also Nick and Sarah were in London, before they were due to head back to NZ. We met up with them on the Saturday, and went to GBK at Westfield. Unfortunately Remy wasn't very well, but we still got some cuddles in.
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