Until next time!

New York, London, Milan, Paris ... Amsterdam?

While the major fashion cities are currently gearing up for one of the biggest events to grace any fashionistas Liberty printed diary - two weeks ago Amsterdam also slipped on a pair of skyscraper heels, chic winter coat and best nonchalant street style smile for its very own fashion week.

So fetch.

To be fair, Amsterdam is ALWAYS 'Street Style' ready and the stylish Amsterdammers I encounter on a regular basis leave me in no doubt that an Amsterdam fashion week is long over due. Although not very well known, Amsterdam fashion week held it's own among the heavy-weight cities with stunning catwalk shows and an interesting set of off-schedule events.

I attended one of the off-schedule events which was held on an ice skating rink, a recipe for disaster right? So what happened? Obviously the models fell flat on their faces numerous times and one woman on skates glided elegantly up the 'runway' - only to end up accidentally sliding into a split, slicing the foot of another model who was sharing the runway with her. BLOOD EVERYWHERE.





NAHT.

The dramatics didn't quite go down like that, but yes there was drama! The show started with two statuesque models being carefully brought out onto the make-shift ice runway and after being made to stand on two separate platforms the show could begin.

Bright multicoloured lights began illuminating the icy floor, while the grand looking Rijks Museum was lit up in the background - creating a gorgeous back drop for the show and also dashing any previous doubts about the location. Professional skaters dressed in the designers clothing skated beautifully around the models, showcasing the collection in a more interesting way.



The show finished with the ice skaters taking a bow together and then leading the scantily clad (and clearly part Abominable Snowman) models back off of the ice. On one of the coldest January nights I've experienced in the city, those models proved to the real MVP's of the night.

Yup my butthead and I finally ventured to one of the many beaches that exist in the Netherlands! When I was first told of the beaches "just outside of Amsterdam" I smiled politely but thought '...It's probably just Dutch Margate'.

Don't get me wrong, many a fun time is to be had in Margate or Brighton or Hastings and all of the other seaside towns. But if you're going to reach into your vocabulary for the word 'beach', you're bringing forth images of St Lucia, Malaysia, Hawaii etc. ...and you're telling me this exists in the Netherlands?



Yes I did think they were exaggerating. However once we arrived in zandvoort aan zee; the sun was blazing in the bluest sky ever, on my first Friday off in nearly a month and there was sandy beach as far as the eye can see (which is far-ish).



It was gorgeous! I wasn't in Dutch Margate, I was in Bali.

To tone down the exaggerations a little ... it kind of WAS Dutch Margate. There was still fish and chips and buckets and spades - but it was alongside a chic-ish looking beach side restaurant and stylishly dressed beach compadres (beautifully illustrated by the men sat behind me). People on their paddle boards in the sea and actual boats, youguise, I just never expected to find this here. 

Also apparently Bloemendaal beach, which is only 10 mins away (by tram) is even better. It's a shame that we made this beachy discovery in what ended up being the final weekend of summer. Never mind ay, here are more pictures:

Writing a 'J' and 'A' in the sand

Getting eaten by Dr Zoidberg and then pretending to be Dr Zoidberg

Farewell photo at the end of the day. We'll be back next year!

P.S. If the title doesn't make any sense to you please allow me to cleanse your ear drums

Family

Friends

Some have made an effort to stay in touch, others haven't. You do start to see the people who were only around out of convenience rather than an actual need to have them in your life. I've got to admit that I don't feel too negative about this, for obvious reasons and also just because, that's life!

Personal Growth

My butthead took me for my birthday and it was a lorrrt of fun. Paris has always been the only other city I would consider living in forever (besides London) and this trip reaffirmed that for me again! Here are a few of the pictures, not all because uploading pictures on blogspot is such a ball ache. The pictures are also not in a coherent order but strap in for the raahd anyway.

We've both been to Paris before and done loads of touristy things so we strolled around a bit and did a few different things that we hadn't done before. We managed dinner on the Seine, a tour of Paris on the Seine, a Fafi exhibition, an 80's graffiti exhibition, a BMX bike riding competition, we went to see Sacre Couer, ate a lot of food, walked around Monmarche a lot and a few other things. Sighhh, tek meh bark.