Eindhoven

It's been rather a hectic week and a half, hence why I am only just updating the blog now.  Time seems to move faster here in Duisburg than anywhere else on the planet.  I can't believe it's nearly October, and only two weeks until our first half term of the year!  Time flies when your having fun, and are exhausted running after children all day!

The Sunday before last was where I left you in my last post.  Uncle Chris was over from Switzerland on business and we met up for dinner in the evening.  We went to a lovely Italian restaurant on the inland harbour.  I had pesto gnocci, which was delicious but so huge, I took half of it home and had it for lunch the next day.  It was great to see my uncle and it kept off my homesickness that was just starting to creep in for both of us last week.  Mum is visiting us this weekend, so it kept me going until I see Mum, which I am so excited about!

Last weekend we went to Eindhoven in the Netherlands.  Here in Duisburg we are really close to the border with the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg, so it is easy to hop on a train and be in a different country in an hour.  This is a bit of a novelty for us coming from the UK where you have to fly everywhere!  So, on Thursday night we decided that we fancied a weekend away, just the two of us, and on Friday after work we were on a train heading to Eindhoven.  Eindhoven is a historic town that is home to Philips technologies (lightbulbs, rasors, TVs, cutting edge tech, you name it, Philips have something to do with it).  They have a great museum on Philips technologies in Eindhoven, so we headed there on Saturday morning, after a restful night in the lovely Park Inn hotel.  It's not a museum I would have picked myself, but Matt wanted to go there, and I actually learnt a lot and really enjoyed myself.  The giant casette and record are from the museum.

Above in Eindhoven Cathedral and below is a cafe in the middle of an enormous park that we went for a walk in on Sunday.  The weather was beautiful, and perfect for a stroll and a spot of mini golf (or midget golf as it is hilariously called here).  We always have a wager on mini golf, and this time was no different.  I never ever win anything, so my prize was an enormous one.  Matt (far more likely to win) only asked for the new playstation FIFA game if he won.  Suffice to say, the impossible happened, and so I will soon be the proud owner of a brand new sewing machine, courtesy of my lovely husband. :-D

These were the bikes outside Eindhoven station... just some of them.  Everyone has bikes here, and it is even more bike friendly than Germany, which is saying something!