Well, you may remember that I mentioned a miniscule break in York in my last post? okay? well previous to that Steve and I went on a full blown minibreak to the wonderful city of Bruges! gasp! so many people over the years have said to me 'you really must go to Bruges it's the sort of place you would love' and guess what ? I went and I did! we managed to get a two for one ferry break, two nights on the ferry so just leave your stuff in the cabin, a free coach trip to the city and one long day in Bruges, all for about £100, bargain, eh? We had a lovely meal on the ship in Langan's Brasserie and were very pleased to realise the ship didn't dock until 9 am so could have a lie in, (bit different to Amsterdam where you have to be up early)

 Of course even abroad I can't resist being an idiot!you can see from the pictures that the houses are just lovely it's like being in Grimms tales or something.

 There were a lot of official residences  and rather grand offices. the city centre was very relaxed though and we had the most brilliant time scouting around. In fact it was a very lovely time and a brilliant end to 2011 which has been a very challenging and upsetting year.But 2012 is a fresh start and what better way than with a picture of our brilliant new sculpture on the marine drive in Scarborough

His name is Freddie Gilroy and he has already become a massive hit with everyone, he is huge and amazing to see. That's what I call 'art for the people'. He was originally on loan from the artist but a very generous lady (who writes a weekly column suggesting interesting walks around the town for the local paper) called Maureen Robinson donated her life savings to buy him for the town, so Freddie is ours to keep!   If you come to Scarborough make sure you go visit him!