Well hello again dear reader. I am now safely back in the bosom of Glittering St George, laundry done and groceries bought after my mini break to Amsterdam to see Depeche Mode.

What an absolutely amazing time I have had. And I know you will be beyond thrilled to know there is ANOTHER video. This time a compilation no less. And rather than my usual 1m 5s blockbuster - this one is a shade over nine minutes. So just think of it as three Eurovision entries and a bit of info on Talinn. Or perhaps a fifth of a Spin class, or maybe even 4% of the film Titanic - so really its not that much of a commitment. Treat yourself…

So this is kind of a summary - picking up on bits I skated over on my previous social updates.

If you haven’t been to Amsterdam - I definitely recommend it. About an hours flight from Bristol International. So be prepared to NOT have a £745 ham and cheese toastie. And there’s simply GALLONS of stuff to see and do. Some great museums (book in advance - I forgot, and could only gaze in to the gift shop) - but the buildings are amazing, so just seeing them is quite the treat.

Most people speak English. Which was a great help for me. As Hello, Thank you and goodbye ain’t buttering no parsnips if you get in a kerfuffle at the metro station. EG - when I was making one journey - Apple Maps said to go Centraal station. But on the M52 line - the end stations are Noord and Suid, and I had no idea which direction was north or south. I suppose that serves me right from my previous ‘over confident’ declaration about the metro all having sensible station names linked to where they are, rather than the rather vague ‘George’s V’ in Paris (it’s on the Champs Elysee, Arc de Triomphe end. Opposite Groupe Publicis. Near my favourite hotel if you’re interested). And there’s a surprising number of stations with the word Amstel in it - just adding to my wide-eyed Brit abroad tourist persona.

I should have realised the hotel buffet breakfast would be more ‘selection of cold meats and cheeses’ than all the sausages and hash browns. At least there was an omelette operative cranking them out to order and thankfully “a bit of everything please” seems to do the trick. And you cant go wrong with a bit of yogurt and fruit to set you up day of traipsing around seeing the sights. And a decent breakfast may go some way to explain why all the Dutch are thin and attractive in their skinny slacks and gilet tops.

Oh - I should add - on one of my jaunts out and about (and I guess this is typical of me) I unwittingly stumbled in to the red light area. On a religious bank holiday (Ascension Day) of all days. Still at least it was a nice day so the sex workers were warm. And I exited sharply as one would imagine.

So the main event. The concert. What an experience. I loved it. Unlike a woman on my row, who bustled past me (I was on the aisle seat) in a rush - with one of her two friends trailing after her, who apologised for her mate saying she wasn’t well. Vertigo. Wasn’t a fan of how high up we were. After a few mins friend reappeared, so I asked if her friend was recovered - and she kinda said no. A bit later during the support act (Cold Cave from LA apparently) both friends went past me to check on the ill one. Then two mins before the Mode came on stage it was clear that they’d dumped the ill one and come back to see the concert themselves. Of the vertigo sufferer? Well I didn’t see her again.

The set list was MASSIVE - well in fairness I first saw them when I was about 14/15 - so forty years ago - so they have been going for a while! All the favourites. Plenty of opportunity for the crowd to sing and dance - and I’ve tried to reflect that in the video. It’s quite emosh when you’re singing with 17,000 others. For health and safety purposes there was no dancing whilst holding phone recording - similarly there is no singing from me whilst video is on. And remember the sound may be a bit rubbish as its on my phone. The overall event production was fantastic. I was blown away by the lights and imagery. In fairness, you will see from the shots that I was quite far back, so the band were just tiny dots. Thank goodness for those screens - I would have looked ridiculous with my opera glasses! Plus I think I still have an aching core from arm waving in Never Let Me Down Again. And I was also a bit hoarse after going wooooooooooah ohhh in Just Can’t Get Enough - or that could have been the pricey beers. I know! Me drinking! Imagine?!

Well dear reader I will let you watch the video without me waffling on any longer. Enjoy!