CraigBlog

Author: Craig

  • What’s Over There?

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    I had a day where I didn’t feel like doing anything big, so instead I took one of the (free) ferries out to the west a bit, to see what was out there. Turns out to be the NDSM Cultural Centre. Used to be shipbuilding yards, and was eventually redeveloped as an arts & culture…

  • Canal Tour & A New Hotel

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    Something shifted in the vibe of the hostel, or maybe just the dorm, and I’d been having trouble sleeping. One bad night isn’t too bad, but two, with added total obliviousness from the previously OK residents, and I hit my limit; I had not realised the difference & consequences between “small chill hostel with privacy…

  • Microbe Zoo

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    The Microbe Zoo (Artis Micropia) was recommended to me by somebody on the PillowFort social media community, and I’m really glad they did because it was great fun. I followed the wrong canal initially and ended up taking a very roundabout route to get to the place. On the positive side there were nice things…

  • Sunday ( which I’m told was the actual Kingsday, but they observed it on Saturday )

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    The sea of orange disappeared by midday. Maybe earlier, but there was little sign of it by midday. I’d gone to bed a a fairly sensible time, I thought, so I went for a walk in the morning, using my standard “where does this canal go?” system for situations where I don’t really have a…

  • Two Days And A Lot Of Orange

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    There’s not a sane chronology to this one, it’s more impressionistic or categorical; I like to think of it as being like a Van Gogh piece if he had a camera and no talent. Friday was a ‘wandering around’ day. No particular agenda beyond ‘where does this road go?’ or ‘what is that thing over…

  • To Amsterdam via Rotterdam

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    It turned out that a friend from pre-Covid Esri UK days was going to be working in Rotterdam the day I was passing through, so we arranged a meeting spot which turned out to be really easy to find; The big statue of a woman outside Rotterdam Centraal Station. Getting there turned out to be…

  • Toot Toot I’m On A Boat – Aylesbury to the Netherlands

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    Ferry to the Netherlands again; This time I’m spending a smidge over a week in Amsterdam. I could have come up with an itinerary to do more than one city, but … I didn’t want to? Moving between locations is kind of a pain in the arse, and I figure I can do some day…

  • Middlesex v Glamorgan at Lord’s

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    It was Good Friday, and the weather was nice, so some friends who care about cricket went to Lord’s to watch a match. Or maybe the first day of a longer match; I’m not sure, the ticket is unspecific, and I don’t really care enough to ask. Turns out it’s the first day of a…

  • 42 Hours In Manchester

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    Years ago, in a hostel in Edinburgh, an astonishingly annoying guy¹ stated that he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to travel, or go anywhere else, because you could find anything in the world in Manchester. At the time, I thought he was an idiot. Having visited Manchester, and found it to be an interesting…

  • Riding A Little Train

    —

    by

    Craig
    in

    Last full day in Aberystwyth, so I decided to ride the Vale of Rheidol railway. I’d originally intended to go on the 10:00 trip, but at some point I’d turned my alarm off, and by the time I woke up it was clear that the morning trip wasn’t going to be happening, so I had…