Old Girls Nostalgia

Last weekend I went back to my old university (when I say old I don't mean that old, I only graduated last summer) for an Old Girls Hockey Day and a Red Leicester Reunion night out. The hockey day is a tradition that we try to keep every year, where those from the university hockey club who have graduated return to see all the current students and members of the club, and play a game of hockey.

In recent years the tradition has run a bit dry but this year we managed to have a proper game. The reason for this, other than the fact that we all deeply miss student life and wanted to see our friends, was that it fortunately coincided with the Red Leicester Reunion event. For those of you who didn't go to Leicester, I'll give you a bit of back story. Red Leicester was a student night not so subtly named after the cheese that first started in 2005. Obviously the music played was always cheesy, 90s music that all the old folks dance to at weddings such as 'The Macarena' or dance mat classics like 'Cotton Eye Joe'. Red Leicester was always on a Wednesday, after BUCS sports matches, and accompanied by an outrageous fancy dress outfit.

Well last year, after we graduated, the company that runs student nights at our university (or ex-university) decided to cancel Red Leicester! Nooo I hear you scream, but it's true, it happened. The institution that had been running for 10 years came to an end.  Apparently the first years joining couldn't relate to 90s music.. So instead they replaced it with LetsDisko (if anyone knows why they chose the 'k' speak now or forever hold your peace).

Anyway long story short (or actually long maybe) they decided to bring the night back for a one-time-only event on a Saturday so that all us working people could come and spend our hard earned cash on VKs and Food Factory.

The hockey in the daytime was fantastic! Although we only managed to convince 4 official Old Girls to kit up and come play, we had some great fourth year medics and some strong third years join our side. So we managed a 10 players v 13 players game. It was clear early on that neither side was keen to lose. Also, neither team had a goalie so this made the match a bit controversial, not to mention the umpire for the first half was on our (Old Girls) team.

After conceding a number of goals early on we paused at half time 4-2 down to the current hockey girls. However after a quick refresh we managed to up our standard significantly and some how pull off a 5-5 draw (if I'm honest I think we were very lucky there..) This was quickly followed by a afternoon pub dinner and some drinks, then off to host houses to get ready for the evening event!!

Georga and Grace's amazing retro outfits

In standard ULLHC (Uni of Leic Ladies Hockey Club) style we had a fancy dress theme - it wouldn't have been Red Leicester without one. And in remembrance of the night's beginnings a 90s gym wear theme was chosen. There were some absolutely cracking costumes on display from leopard print leotards to Barbie blue unitards.

Before attending the main event of the evening, we all went for drinks at the Loaded Dog, our traditional pre-Red Leicester pub and current sponsor. This was a nostalgic and fitting start to the evening with the usual hockey chants and games played. For me at least, it felt like we'd never left.

Another excitement was the arrival of some REAL Old Girls. I mean girls who had graduated before the oldest members I knew from the club had even joined! Some girls were talking to us who had graduated in 2007! I was still at school then! It was so nice to see that people who left that long ago still treasured hockey as some of their best moments of university life.

From here on the night played out as expected! There were some crazy events going on in hockey corner (yes we have our own designated space - the bottom left corner of the club dance floor), a lot of VK drinking (sugary, disgusting alcopops which come back to haunt you the next day), unusual dancing and we even managed to break one of the lights at some point but none of that mattered because we were all there, together, having fun.

The next day we were awoken by the harsh reality that we're not 18 any more and hangovers need to be short-lived because we have to be back to full fitness for work on Monday at 9am. The cure? A ceremonial breakfast with the girls who could make it out of bed by 11am followed by a long journey home and an early night.

It was so nice to go back to Leicester, a place where I've had so many great memories. There are rumours that they might do another Red Leicester night next year and I'm undecided whether I'd be interested or not. Being a student is really an incredible experience and probably not one I'm ready to leave behind just yet...

Escapades in Madrid

Part 2 (Read Part 1 on Amsterdam here)

Escapades makes this sound as through I had a wild and crazy time in Madrid but half of what I'm referring to here is the epic journey I went through to get there.

So my flight was booked for 6:30am take off on Saturday (the cheapest ticket of course is at a time no one sane wants to fly). But in order to get there in plenty I've time I had to catch a 4am coach from Stratford, which was a 20 minute walk from my house. This meant getting up at 3am. Well me being me, I decided to go for drinks with my friends on Friday night and didn't get home until midnight, and I still hadn't packed. Now if that doesn't sound like an adventure you should probably stop reading now.

On the plane I got turfed out of my seat by a young girl who was desperate to sit by the window and who has started to create a scene. I quickly admitted defeat and gave up my perfect sleeping position. So with the 4 hours sleep that I managed to scrape together, I turned up in Madrid ready for some chica time with one of my best friends from university, Charlotte (a.k.a Sully).

The three day trip started with brunch at a café aptly named Charlotte (apparently it's a chain in Spain) and was quickly followed by a short siesta. Feeling much revived we set out on a short walk around Madrid and ended up going to a tapas café (just a warning we did a lot of eating and drinking in these three days). Here I tried my first tinto de verano (which is basically like cold red wine with lemonade) yum!

After we'd suitably stocked ourselves up with food and drink, Charlotte gave me a walking tour of all Madrid's most important and well-known sights, like the Royal Palace, the Templo de Debod, the Plaza Mayor, Pueto del Sol and the Plaza de Cibeles (the pictures will help here).

Plaza de España 

Templo de Debod

The Royal Palace

Plaza Mayor

Kilometer 0 - the point from which everywhere in Madrid is measured from

The Statute of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree in Puerta del Sol

Plaza de Cibeles

As you can probably imagine this meant a lot of walking and by the end we had definitely earned more drinks. So we took the Metro back to the area Charlotte lives in and found a bar nearby that was showing the local derby football match Atlético v Real. During this we had what the Spanish call 'copas' which literally translates as spirits but it does actually have a mixer with it. It's served in big wine glasses/tumblers with lots of big ice cubes and is definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

When the game finished and we'd had more than enough copas, we went to the local supermarket and grabbed enough nachos and toppings to feed a hungry family.


The next day started with a bit of a lie in (got to be done on a Sunday). Then we headed out to El Rastro, which is the most popular open air flea market in Madrid. The weather on this day was absolutely amazing and even though it was packed by the time we got there, it was really nice just to stroll around and browse through all the random things they had. We also saw quite a few performers while we were walking around. Everything in Madrid is so so cheap that I ended up buying loads of random stuff - I got some nice floral espadrilles for €15 and this unusual necklace for €2.50. I probably didn't really need to buy anything but it was fun anyway.

The sign reads: give me a theme and I'll write you a poem

By this point we were hungry and thirsty again so we found another café. This one was in the sun and had those shiny metallic tables and chairs which definitely helped boost the sun tan. In fact I actually managed to burn my scalp along my parting - rookie British mistake of course. We weren't really dressed for sunbathing so we decided to head back to Charlotte's, shed a couple of layers, pick up the left over nachos, some sangria and head to the park (Parque del Retiro).

Snacks and new shoes at the park

When we got there the weirdest thing happened. Two guys came and sat near us with their pet rabbit! They were taking their rabbit for a walk! They didn't have a lead or anything. But they just let it loose to hop about even with dogs walking past (good thing my dog doesn't live in Madrid or that rabbit would have been dead in about 5 seconds). This entertained us for quite a long time - although I'm actually not great with animals (in case you didn't know) so I spent a lot of time thinking it was coming for me.

After this week walked around a really pretty pond at the park and this massive glass building (Palacio de Cristal). Annoyingly the sun was going down really quickly so I didn't get any good pictures of the building but I tried.

Monumento Alfonso XII

Palacio de Cristal

Palacio de Cristal

Charlotte is not impressed

Then we met up with one of Charlotte's local friends who took us to a traditional tapas bar. I definitely think I was the only tourist there! Apparently the sign of a good place to eat in Spain is that it has a dirty floor because they don't have time to clean it. Well this place had a pretty damn dirty floor. It was hard not to step on some piece of rubbish or dropped food (this seems to happen a lot because no one sits down to eat tapas). It was quite strange being completely surrounded by everyone speaking Spanish, especially as I can hardly understand any of it, but it was really nice to experience some real Spanish culture.

Tapas

Real Spanish tapas seems to be the weirdest combination of foods, chicken wings with super buttery chips, ham chunks and tomatoes, these small white fish which look like a mix between worms and spaghetti (I did not try them!). Dessert was a weird sort of baked milk thing - I can't remember what it was called - I'm not sure I would try it again. It tasted a bit like a bad crème brûlée.

The business area where Charlotte works.

The next day Charlotte had work unfortunately. I met her for lunch and we went to a place called Montaditos. Montaditos are basically mini baguettes and this chain has over 100 different flavour combinations for fillings. Normally each roll is €1 but on Monday's they're 50c. So we went all out and had 4 each and nachos to share (I starting to get a bit sick of nachos at this point but it was all they had).

Luckily in Spain they get 2 hour lunch breaks, unluckily they have to work until 7pm! So after walking back to Charlotte's work, I went off to explore Madrid with a map she'd lent me. I was trying to find the company I work for's Spanish office. This only took about 15 minutes and I felt I needed to burn off a few more calories so I kept on walking (I was also trying to build up more of a tan). This ended up turning into almost a 2 hour stroll, which I needed the toilet for the last 1.5 hours of (damn bladder).

Grey Spain's Madrid office

Funky artwork by the National Library which I found on my long walk

Sadly after this it was time to pack, shower and get ready to leave at 4am to go straight to work from the airport. Not quite sure how I managed it really but I did.

Landing back in the UK - did I bring the sun back?

Massive massive thank you to Charlotte for having me to stay! It was a great way to use up some of my holiday and chill out. It was really really nice to catch up and see some real Spanish culture. Hopefully I'll be able to visit again some time in the future, maybe even with a group.

The Pig Cup at the park! 

A Modest View of Amsterdam

Dutch poffertjes - they are basically pancake mixture
cooked in a metal cake pop. You have to try them!

In mid-March I went to Amsterdam with my mum for her birthday (hence the modest part) - this trip did not include any of the raucous stuff that normally comes to mind when you first think of Amsterdam. I'm not going to give you a day by day account, partly because I've forgotten a lot of it already and partly because we spent most of the 4 day trip in museums.

This post is going to be part 1 of 2 on trips abroad I've done in the last 6 weeks. I tried to do it all in one but it got way too long. The next post (which I'm planning to have ready for tomorrow) will be about my trip to Madrid last weekend to see Charlotte (a.k.a Sully), a close friend from university who is working out there at the moment. This was also a short trip but we did quite a lot so it definitely justifies having it's own post.

An 'English Breakfast' in Amsterdam..
Chips? Lettuce? 

I should also say that I'm using this is as an opportunity to share some of my photos. I feel like Facebook isn't the right place and with Instagram I would probably fill all my friends' feeds for the day which wouldn't be popular either.

Hopefully this will just be a short, informative read with lots of interesting pics to scroll through.

Canals

Look at all those waterways! That's a lot of bridges..

Well I'm probably going to look pretty stupid saying this but I did not know before I went that Amsterdam is a canal city. Once there I felt it was quite similar to Venice - bridges everywhere and not much traffic at all. Come to think of it I can't remember if there were any cars in Venice but there really aren't many in Amsterdam.

I don't think this city could be any more of a contrast to London. Instead of hustle and bustle with suits and hipsters at every corner, there streets are lined with cafés and bicycles of all kinds. For someone who can't ride a bicycle, I found this a little unnerving. That and the fact that no one seemed to wear a helmet. Amsterdam has cycle lanes built into its roads as well as a tram service that runs through the centre. The reduction in noise pollution as well as normal pollution is just unbelievable. The population difference between London (8.3 mil) to Amsterdam (779 K) obviously makes a big impact. I'm not sure if London could function without it's buses, cabs and cars - there wouldn't be enough Borris bikes for everyone to ride - but I'm just saying it was a really nice change. You could sit outside a café, relax and watch canal boats go past all day. 

The back of Bloemenmarkt (a flower market right in the city centre)

Museums

Outside the world famous Rijksmuseum
 by the iconic I amsterdam sign

I've got to say I was shocked by how many museums there are in Amsterdam. It's such a small city but they've certainly got tourist attractions covered. Perhaps it's because we were tourists but it definitely felt like a place to visit not to live. I actually lost count of how many museums we went in to but I think it was around 12 in total.

The Rijksmuseum is arguably the most famous museum in Amsterdam, even the building itself is outstanding. The British equivalent to this is probably the V & A museum (except it's not free). The museum is split into different periods of history and holds a fantastic number of Dutch artefacts from the Middle Ages to the present day. This is definitely one to look up before you go. You would never be able to see it all properly in one day so make sure you have a plan first. 

A massive academic library sits at one end of the museum

It reminds me of Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast'

Women (not children) in the late 17th and 18th century had these ornate dolls houses built as a declaration of their wealth.

Everyone says you have to see Anne Frank's House but in my opinion it was spoilt by the number of people viewing the exhibition. Everything felt like one massive queue. A queue to get in, a queue around the house and then almost a queue to get out. I'm a somewhat patience character (okay maybe not) but I think a good museum allows you to enjoy the exhibition in your own way and this one certainly didn't. If you're desperate to see it get there first thing (it opens at 9am). 

A highlight for me as a fan of art was the Van Gogh Museum. This was really quite amazing and told you so much more about his life and how he developed his style than the work in the National Gallery in London. Also the museum is hosted inside a really modern but plain building which emphasised the art rather than detracting from it. This is an absolute must for anyone visiting Amsterdam in my opinion. (I wasn't allowed to take pictures though..)

Oude Kerk 

It's hard to get a good picture when it's enclosed by so many buildings.

The only bit of the notorious 'red light district' we did enter in to was to see the Oude Kerk (old church) situated annoyingly in the middle of it. This church is really quite bare and spectacular, and it's really interesting to see how the church has stood the test of time among the immorality surrounding it. If you're feeling brave enough it's definitely worth seeing and there is a really nice café attached (sounds like a spend a lot of time in cafés - who doesn't like tea and cake though?)

Canal Tours

One of the few places you can see 7 bridges all lined up

Finally, I'd definitely recommend doing a canal tour. We bought a pack which had this included and although the cheesy, Americanised audio guide was quite annoying it is definitely the best way to see all the sights and admire all the architecture Amsterdam has to offer.

One last tip, if you're going to go all out with the museums like us, get an I Amsterdam card - the discount is really worth it. 

If you're interested in knowing more about Amsterdam get in touch in the comments section below.

Look out for my 'Escapades in Madrid' post coming next.