Holland

I feel very happy with myself today. Got up reasonably early, spent whole day tidying and cleaning my room and did laundry! And when I say I tidied my room, I mean I threw loads of things away, and actually cleaned and dusted and vacuumed (even under the bed!!). So I think now I have nothing to do but to let you guys in on how I spent last week in The Netherlands. Here goes:
Sunday:
I went to work, then made my housemate drive me to the airport where a grumpy stewardess told me I had to pay extra (£15!!) if I wanted extra legroom. I declined graciously. Sat next to an English woman with baby and five-year-old boy who were surprisingly pleasant throughout the flight. The boy was both Dutch and English, and extremely cute. When I got out of arrivals, I managed not to cry when I hugged my mum. We went home and I ate some pigeon her boyfriend had made. Went to sleep.
Monday:
MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! Turned 22. Me and my mum spent about an hour (seriously) finding an outfit to wear for me, because what I had planned originally didn't look very nice and I wanted to wear my new skirt. Then we went to Almere, to see my aunt, uncle, two cousins and grandparents from my mum's side. It was good, except that my grandfather is now quite obviously unhealthy and sleeps a lot. But we had fun, and I went back to Amsterdam feeling happy and loved, if a little bit worried.
Tuesday:
Didn't do much. Watched awesome documentary on Johnny Cash my mum taped for me ages ago. (btw, Lizzy, Cash played in the Viper Room in the 90s for his big comeback!). My aunt came over for dinner and gave me a hideous present. We had fun.
Wednesday:
Went to see my father's parents in the afternoon. As I was walking from the bus stop to their house, a group of little boys asked me if I could free this fish they had caught from the hook in his mouth. I couldn't, but someone came along with a pair of scissors so I left in the knowledge the fish would die without a hook in his mouth. Lucky fish, eh? Had fun with my grandparents, talked a lot about my bro and his brand new son, because my nan is quite angry about the whole situation, which I could write and entire blog about (but I won't), let alone part of a post. At about 6, I went to my uncle's for dinner, and met my mum there as well. My uncle has a new place, so it was nice to see it and him! Gave me an awesome present; a whisk in the shape of a squid.
Thursday:
Went to the beach on my own. It was great. Took some really nice pictures I would post here if I knew how to.
Friday:
Went shopping with my female best friend in Amsterdam, then we went to my male best friend's house together and went for dinner in a yummy restaurant.
Saturday:
Got up ridiculously early to catch the bus to the trainstation to get the train to the airport to get the plane back to England. When we got to the bus stop, at 7:30 AM, it was surrounded by young people (mostly 18-year-olds) getting the bus to the trainstation after this big rave thing that had been going on the night before. Me and my mum were not amused. We were standing, me trying to ignore the guy next to me chatting up the girl next to me, when one of the sitting guys puked on me. Well, on one of my white trainers and part of my jeans, the rest went all over the floor. Managed to wipe most of it when we got out of the bus. Rest of the day not worth mentioning, although it was amazing how many annoying businessmen were on the flight! Oh, and again, a grumpy stewardess told me the legroom story.
All in all, a very good week.