Paul On A Course Again, & A Bit of Fun!

Paul was on another course this week, an intensive medical training course.  So early Sunday evening we headed to a hotel near Amsterdam airport for the week, the Ramada Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

Paul did try to get me on the course but to no avail.  Amongst other things he learnt how to stitch up Sponge Bob and bananas, etc.

Paul going for blonde first.

We also attempted to dye our metallic silver.

During the first stage we bleached our hair but it didn't work out too well because the previous dye colour we had in didn't come completely out so there was a bit of an orange/red tinge to our hair.

We put the metallic silver on later but unfortunately it didn't take.  Oops...

Er.... the blonding session didn't strip out the colour properly...

During the middle of the week Paul's sister, Gwenny, picked me up from the hotel and we spent a couple of hours at Elysium Wellness Resort, floating in the brine pool, or relaxing in the quiet room where music is played while you lie reclined in the water, etc; and we had a therapy session as well - some sort of massage.  It was very nice.  Paul joined us later, after his course day had finished and at the end of the evening Gwenny went home and Paul and I went back to the hotel.

My hair has gone a yellowy/orangy/red colour....

Unfortunately the chlorine in the water didn't do our hair any favours.  We should have allowed time for the dye to settle before going swimming - our hair looked even worse!  We did have another dye to cover up (chestnut) any mistakes but didn't use it because our hair needs to rest.

Paul's course finished around midday and on the way back to Rijsbergen we went to Zoetemeer to see Gwenny during her lunch break.  There is a hair dressing supply shop not far from where she works so we picked up some more hair bleach to try to bleach out silver dyeing efforts.  After that we met up with Gwenny for a bite to eat at one of the local cafés.

Now for metallic silver - which didn't really work at
all and looked worse after swimming at the spa!

Back at Paul's mum's place we unpacked, had dinner and then we did another bleach session.  The outcome is much better, more lighter blond and white rather than orange. I think we can live with the bleached look for the next 3 weeks or so!

Spa day and a countryside drive.

Paul was on a course this past week so his sister, Gwenny, and I met up on Wednesday went to a Elysium Wellness Resort/spa.

It was pointless that Gwenny and I went in 2 cars to go to the spa so I drove to Gwenny's house to fetch her and then we could go to the spa together.  Getting to her house in Zoetermeer wasn't a problem but I got a wee bit stressed out from the traffic getting there.  Also the satnav took me via a route that I didn't recognise so I thought I was lost (which was rubbish of course).  I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally started to recognise where I was.

Whilst at the spa Gwenny and I had a lovely massage - it was so good that we almost fell asleep.  It was a matter of "can you let me stay here fore a couple more hours?" - but of course we didn't.  Instead we made most of the day, going for a swim, going to a sauna, jacuzzi and more.  By the time left I felt almost 'legless' - very relaxed!

I got Gwenny to drive us back to her place and then I would drive back the rest of the way to Rijsbergen.  As we were passing a traffic light and turning left into a dual carriage road the car suddenly 'died'.  There was not a peep from the engine.  Quick as a flash Gwenny hit the hazard light button before trying the car's ignition.  Fortunately the car started after a 2 or so tries.  Whew!  We got back to Gwenny's house but we were worried that the car might stop again altogether so I had strict instructions to telephone Gwenny if the car broke down; and she would come out to fetch me or get a recovery vehicle sent out to me.  Fortunately the car behaved herself and I had no problems getting back to Rijsbergen.  I sent Gwenny a message though to say that I had arrived.

Today's route, more or less.

Today we took a drive to Monschau in western Germany, near the Belgian border.  Paul's mum mum came with us to get out of the house and have a change of scenery.  There have been reports of snow but not where we were so it was a good time to see a bit of snow.  We took a nice winding route, trying to avoid some of the motorways.  It was getting quite late by the time we got to Monschau so we didn't get out and wander through the town.  It is a bit of a pity because the centre of town is still in the old medieval style.  I'm looking forward to visiting and exploring Monschau properly another day, if all goes well.  Unfortunately we didn't stop to take photographs during our drive - the scenery was very pretty.

Keeping busy; and a spa day.

This week we have kept ourselves busy.  Apart from looking at a campervan or two we have been starting to sort Paul's room out at his mum's place;  i.e. doing a bit of a clear-out and taking some things to the second hand shop, others to the recycling centre or tip.  The rest of the things he wants to keep will eventually be boxed and put into storage.

Two days later we needed a bit of down-time and a break so we headed to Elysium Wellness
Resort/spa (https://www.elysium.nl/) for the day.  First thing we made a beeline for was the outside warm salt water flotation pool where we floated and soaked for ages.  After that we spent time in the jacuzzis, indoor pool, one of the steam rooms and more.  We had a light meal in the evening followed by another flotation session before heading out into the cold to the car.  The car battery was dead.  Paul forgot to

Cave-themed pool with 'waterfall' to sit under to pound away
back and neck tension. (Picture from the internet.)

switch car lights off ...  We had jumper leads but no way of starting the car.  We had a choice of telephoning Paul's sister for help or asking for help.

Eventually Paul managed to find someone in the car park who was just leaving who was willing to drive her car over to us so that we could jump start the car.  The woman sat in her car, out of the cold (wise lass!), while her husband and Paul sorted out the technicalities of setting up the jumper leads.  After a few coughs, our car reluctantly started; we said our goodbyes to the couple and were able to set off back to Rijsbergen.

Tomorrow we will be preparing to go for a short 2 day trip to France.  We bring household items stored in France over to the Netherlands so that everything will be in one storage place rather than spread out in different countries.  So Paul has booked a trailer box and we should be able to collect it tomorrow afternoon.  We hope that it will be big enough to fit everything in!

PHOTOGRAPHS

Please note that these photographs of Elysium are off the internet as guests are not allowed to take photographs while there.

Sauna

Salt flotation pool (picture from the internet)

Indoor relaxation pool (gentle music is played over loudspeakers)

One of the indoor pools

One of the outdoor saunas

Inside a sauna

Bits and Bobs.

Time has flown by since we left England. Our trip to the Netherlands had a few hiccups - we missed check-in deadline for the chunnel by 5 minutes and had to wait ages for the next one due to delays.  We finally got to France and steamed nicely along until we got to Antwerp where we got stuck in a traffic jam on the outskirts.  So we changed route and decided to go through Antwerp.  It was a mistake because initially we sped along nicely then got stuck in traffic trying to go through the tunnel under the river.  That held us up further and we were late back at Paul's mum's (Betty) place.  Better late than never though.

We had intended to do a World Naked Bike Ride in Amsterdam but the weather forecast was chilly and unsettled so we decided not to go.  The day after that, Sunday, we were due to go on a guided walk through the mud flats during low tide.  Once again the weather was chilly and unsettled so we didn't go.

This week Paul has been on a course for work in Almere, staying at a purpose built hotel.  I've been staying with Betty but met up with Gwenny, my sister-in-law, on Tuesday to go to a lovely health spa on the outskirts of Rotterdam (https://www.elysium.nl/).  We had a few relaxing hours floating in the high density salt pool, swimming in one of the pools, going into the Jacuzzis, and more.  It is a lovely place with a huge choice of indoor and outdoor facilities as well as treatments and places to eat.  We left around 11pm absolutely tired out but feeling great.

The rest of the week was relaxing enough but I was tired - I missed Paul's presence tremendously and didn't sleep well.

Paul got back from his course today, later than expected.  Traffic was very bad not only due to people going home from work but also due to some of the Dutch schools having broken up today and and people are heading off on their holidays.  He finally made it back home, only to rush out again to fetch a hired trailer.  I went with him.  The initial trailer Paul hired was a bit small for our needs due incorrect size measurements on the company's website.  It has since been amended.  Anyway we finally got a suitably big enough trailer with a ramp on it.  It is very long so Paul had to be careful when taking going around corners or around roundabouts.  It was too long to drive it onto the driveway next to Betty's house so Paul ended up parking the car and the trailer partway on the pavement along the roadside.

Tomorrow we have a long day ahead of us - we are heading to France for a few days.