Entries about christmas

Our final holiday for the year was a weekend in Amsterdam, as my friend Sandy was getting married shortly before Christmas. As the wedding was on Monday 23rd, we decided to make a weekend of the trip as Chris had never been to the Netherlands.

With there being several flights a day, we headed on an early afternoon flight and arrived in the Dutch capital around an hour later. With plenty of time, we took it easy, and after grabbing some dinner popped over to the Westerpark area where an indoor Christmas market was being held - perfect for a cold December evening, before heading back to the hotel for the evening

The following day we headed into the city proper. Having been to Amsterdam 5 times before I knew my way around, but there were a few things I hadn't seen, so we started by visiting the Museumplein, with views of the Rijksmuseum and another Christmas Market.

We then headed into the city itself, past the many canals and the flower market before arriving at Dam Square

We then made our way over to the Red Light District, where Chris got waved at by a lady. After grabbing food, we headed over to the Anne Frank House before finally making our way back to the hotel.

The following day we left the hotel and headed out of the city, as today was the day of the wedding. So far we had been staying at a hotel close to Sloterdijk station, so that it would be central to the airport, the city, and getting to the wedding - none of which being more than a 30 minute train ride away.

After taking the train we arrived in the small town of Castricum, from where we would need a taxi for the last 3km as there was no public transport. On researching prior to the trip it seemed we could just get an Uber when we arrived. However when we turned up this wasn't possible, so we ended up taking a stretched limo taxi for the 5 minute drive.

The wedding was taking place at a hotel just outside the town, and not long after arriving Sandy's parents came over to say hello, after having a nice catch up my friend Roel from the south of the Netherlands also arrived.

After having a quick catch up having not seen each other for over 3 years, it was now time for the wedding to start. We headed into the hall where Sandy's mum, who is a registrar was carrying out the wedding herself.

It was very much the same as a usual wedding, although longer than those I was used to - being full of many life stories and ending around an hour later. However as it was all in Dutch, we didn't know fully what was being discussed, except the lovely, but also slightly embarrassing moment when the language swapped to English to thank us for coming, and everyone else turned round to look at the foreigners!

After the ceremony finished and the couple were married, we then tucked into the wedding cake before mingling, and photos.

Room keys were then handed out as everyone was staying at the hotel overnight, before a half hour breather prior to dinner. It is interesting to see how even though parts of the ceremony are all the same, they take place in a different way!

We then went into dinner where we were sat with Roel once again, and we had another catch up. We weren't sure exactly what was going on and made sure we had our fill on the food before realising that this was only the starter, and more food was coming!

Being a relatively small wedding, we got to spend plenty of time with the happy couple as well, and felt very much part of the day despite an occasional language barrier.

After games, the party started! Sandy, Roel and I all know each other primarily as we are Eurovision fans, and I was pleased to hear some of the songs made the playlist. And even better, everytime one came on the dancefloor cleared, so I had free rein for dancing :D

Just before the party ended we all went outside to create a sprinkler tunnel for the couple to walk through, and then at midnight we had a countdown celebration as it was now 10 years to the day that they had got together.

After a long busy day we went off to bed and the following morning had a breakfast together with all the other guests, who by now we had got to know quite well.

Roel then gave us a lift back to the station and we headed back to the airport and finally home for Christmas.

9am

Larnaca

Getting up in time to grab breakfast, enjoying the beautiful sea view over Larnaca Bay, I eventually made my way down the promenade, past the Christmas decorations, despite it being in the 20s, arriving at Larnaca Fort.

The fort was built in the 14th century, and is now a museum, with history of the architecture of the island, as well as military installations in Larnaca. There are also good views of the coastline of the town, as well as the minaret of the mosque next door.

After taking a look in the shops and buying a few souvenirs, I then headed through the town towards the Salt Lake, located between Larnaca and the airport. Whilst the front of the town is well kept, the back streets appear much more like one expects of Mediterranean towns.

Arriving at the lake, after beating off what seemed like every fly on the island, I walked as far as I could get before my feet sunk too far into the saturated ground, with views of pure white ground stretching for miles ahead.

Arriving back in the town, I took a look around the Marina before heading back to the hotel for some dinner. Once it had got dark I then headed back out to re-explore the town with my camera again in tow, to take some night pictures of the lit up buildings.

Having another relaxing nights sleep, and a final leisurely morning in the town, I eventually made my way over to the modern Larnaca airport for my flight home.

Arriving well in advance of my flight, after getting a few essentials in the shops for the way I home I sat down before being approached by a lady who wanted to "ask a few questions". The lady worked for the Statistical Agency of Cyprus, and was asking tourists questions about their time on the island. Starting with basic questions "how long have you been in Cyprus", "where did you stay?", she eventually moved on the the question "Did you spend any money on clothes or shoes?" - taking a look at my muddy clothes from yesterday's walk to the salt lake, before I had even answered she had already ticked the "No" box! A bit rude, but quite hilarious at the time - I did stink a bit!

The final part of the holiday was the 5 hour flight back on Monarch, which after the inbound flight I had already figured this would be far from pleasurable. Whilst the seats were certainly much more spacious, Monarch had decided that as the plane wasn't going to be used again that evening after landing at Luton, they would instead park up at the hangar, and proceed to only open the front door - meaning people like me who were not paying an extra £30 and stuck at the back had to wait absolutely ages to get off, and on to a bus. Eventually arriving at immigration, which was only half open despite the plethora of staff sitting about, it proceeded to take 45 minutes to clear the airport - without needing to collect a bag - a new record!

Flights excluded, the holiday was certainly one of my favourites. Cyprus is a lovely island with good weather, a lot of history and things to see, as well as a very organised nature and friendly people. The best resort in the Mediterranean, and one I would definitely recommend.

Having only got back from Israel around 2½ weeks earlier, and almost exactly repeating the trip from 2012, I flew out on a Thursday afternoon from Stansted and returned on the Monday night - However this time as I was working, I did a half day in the morning, before driving and parking at the airport, catching my flight and arriving in Bremen in time to join Elena's preparty before the international day party took place in the city. Having arrived less than half an hour before, at the pre party I was already fondly reminded of how fun the Erasmus experience was, being able to catch up with my good friends, meet new people and all under the influence of some booze.

Waking up on Friday I went along with my German friends to a Sushi Bar for Brunch. Here we were joined by Johanna's mother, who coincidentally had come to Bremen the night before and was also leaving on Monday. As they all had class and I had been to Bremen before (obvs), they all thought it would be a great idea for me to give her mother a guided tour of the city. "No problem" I thought, and so we headed off into the city whilst everyone else headed off to class.

However it soon became clear that after two years away, my German had become a little rusty, and Johanna's mother didn't speak the best English. What resulted were hilarious conversations in some sort of English-Germany creole. But as those who have travelled before will know - a language barrier does not stop you having fun! Walking together around the Christmas markets I found out much about Johanna's mother, as she told me all about the farm they own in southern Germany. One of my highlights of our little tour was when we stopped at one of the stalls that was selling candle light covers of various designs. One in particular had a design of sailing ships and lighthouses to which Johanna's mother exclaimed "Urgh, so typisch Norddeutsch"....having experienced as much of Germany as I had, this internal joke reminiscent of England's North-South divide gave me a warm chuckle.

After enjoying a Glühwein after spending several hours in the freezing temperatures, we were eventually rejoined by Johanna and I left to go back to Elena's and get ready for the night - for this was Friday, and therefore the free Mojitos in La Viva were waiting for me!

Getting ready me and Elena clearly didn't read the script, as I went for the professional businessman look, with tieclip in hand, whilst she was there with a big fluffy jacket and rebel hat. Dubbed "Ghettofluff & Businessman" we then recoordinated our outfits a little more and headed for the club. Having waited two years I was finally returning to my favourite nightclub, where not only do Students get free entry, but for the first hour of entry (11-12), Mojitos are given out for free.

Still holding on to my UH ID, I attempted to gain entry as a student, and was successful! Next stop: the free Mojitos. Grabbing three I then sat drinking my free drinks before the inevitable dancing began. Whilst I had clearly matured since my Erasmus experience three years ago, there's still enough party animal in me to enjoy the night - as the dodgy nightclub photos showed.

The following day was a lazier day, with Ingo coming around to eat dinner with us before watching a film. The guys then had to go off for their class meeting at the ÖVB Arena in the city as part of their events management class, where they experienced the Farmer Party, whilst I stayed at the flat and took some much needed rest. On the Sunday we went out to see the Christmas Markets, enjoy more Glühwein, before heading off for cake at Susan's place, whilst on my final day I took a day to see the city by myself whilst everyone else had class. I then rejoined them all one last time before I headed back off to the airport, flew home after a delay and eventually got to bed at 12:30, before going back to work the following morning. Like. A. Pro.

Seeing Bremen once more had reminded me so much of why I loved the city so much. The city itself is beautiful, and is just the right size to explore by foot without getting too bored. It also has a lot of student life, with a mix of foreign students that bring about so much interest and fun. I miss Erasmus!

It was a really long day, getting up at 3:45am to drive to Chingford, and not arriving back home until 1:20am the next morning...but it was a lot of fun! Great to spend some time with some uni guys again as well as see some new places - after all I'd been home for over 4 weeks by this point!! Ironically the weather in England at 5 in the morning was much warmer (about 9˚C) than it was in France for the whole day (about 5˚C).

After driving for just over an hour on the wrong side of the road and singing to Anastacia, we spent the day walking amongst the Christmas Markets, visiting the sights of the city (Cathedral, Fort, Main Square) and going shopping. Having gone to France on a simple day trip it really became noticeable just how different France is to England, despite it being just an hour's ferry away! And don't even get me started on the stinky cheese! My clothes stank of it all day!

So, where to begin? Well I had been working endlessly from the moment I got back to Uni in September until early December, before the final pieces of work for 2012 were being submitted, allowing me to finally rediscover what a weekend is. On the Wednesday night I managed to have a final night out at Uni for 2012 before driving back home the next morning to catch my coach and subsequent plane from Stansted to Bremen. On Thursday 13th, I flew out for my final holiday of the year to the city that I called home for 10 months not too long ago. After waiting for in Luton for 30 minutes in the cold as it was late, the National Express coach eventually turned up only to be full of Espanish! Bringing back 'fond' memories of my Erasmus experience. At Stansted I bought some small prezzies for my German hosts, as well as a Terry's Chocolate Orange to serve as Dinner/Weird English food pressies for the next few days....realising opening on the plane might mean the chocolate was stuck together and could not be eaten, I decided that it would probably be best to try and 'tap' the orange on the concrete of the airport floor - only to find everyone staring at me like a complete weirdo.

I caught the flight to Bremen and upon arriving I decided to see if I could get a nice stamp in my passport - with just 2 stamps after visiting 21 different countries it was looking a little bare...and unlike in Espain, the Germans were happy to oblige and provided me with a sexy stamp - despite the confused reaction when the answer to 'Is this you're first time in Germany?' was 'No. Actually I lived here for a year'.

Meeting me at the airport was one of my German friends, Elena, who had been so kind to let me stay at her place for the weekend. After collecting me, I was driven to the Hochschule where as luck would have it, the Erasmus Christmas Party was taking place that very evening - and so I got to have some free Beer and catch up with a few familiar faces. Afterwards we went back to Anna's place whilst the Germans worked on a presentation for the next day, before finally making it to Elena's apartment, which was located just a few tram stops away from my old house. The next day they had class early, and so I had a lie in before making my way over to the Überseestadt to carry out some filming for my university work at home. Friday was quite a successful day, it started off with taking lots of videos and pictures for university, as well as my first requirement to speak rusty German again. I then walked through much of the Überseestadt, before making my way to the Waterfront shopping centre, where shopping for CDs unavailable at home became my next priority. I then took the tram back to the city centre, on which I bumped into Manon, a French Erasmus student who was also revisiting the city that weekend. Back in the city centre the lovely Christmas Markets were on, which is such a lovely atmosphere, and after taking a look around them I then made my way to the local supermarket to buy dinner for the week - Schnitzel of cause, as well as stock up on my favourite German sweets.

Arriving back at Elena's place I was unlucky in that the hall light had decided to explode, luckily no real damage occurred and after eating dinner some German friends came round for predrinks, where I taught them how to play Irish Snap - after which we made it towards La Viva. Being Friday, students get in for free - however as I was no long studying in Bremen I was quite prepared to pay the €5 entry - but luckily after a mix of blagging, and showing out of date German ID as well as my Hertfordshire ID I managed to get in for free once more. To make my night even better, as I walked in the TV screens were showing a selection of party pictures from weeks gone by - I then noticed on this picture someone I recognised, then as I looked more closely I realised that next to these people I knew, was myself! Ironically wearing the very same shirt I had put on that night. The night was a success, that of cause ended with me doing some dodgy dancing (see pictures for more information).

The next day Elena and co. had class once more, and so I took the opportunity to have a long lie in, which in the end resulted in my sleeping until class ended pretty much. We then all went into the city to see the Christmas markets before making our way back to Elena's house for some drinking and chatting whilst watching the Final of Germany's-Got-No-Talent-Either. Sunday was also very much like Saturday, including Glühwein again, but the evening consisted of me and Ingo going to the cinema to watch The Hobbit, where I also got the opportunity to turn into my dad by telling awful jokes.

My final day in the city was Monday, where I went into the city to do some final Christmas shopping, before packing and going to the airport to make my final way home.

The trip was fantastic, and it was so nice to see my friends and the beautiful city once more.Thank you so much to Elena, Ingo and Anna, as well as everyone else I met/caught up with again, and I hope to see you all again real soon!

That's it for holidays until April at least, but I have already booked my week to Malta in June - See you soon Daniel and co.!

Viel Spaß Kevin.