We started building a new festive Lego set recently – the Family Christmas Tree #41843, 3,171 pieces. Don’t you just love the brightly coloured packaging? Nathan told me that newer Lego sets – particularly sets themed around various festive periods – are now designed to be stored in their packaging, so it seems they’re putting more effort into the packaging these days. The box is very sturdy as well!
The set consists of 24 bags of Lego, which obviously isn’t a coincidence. We sorted them out and placed them back in the box neatly organised before we even started building the set. The bags took a lot of counter space in the kitchen!
I used the Lego app on my iPad for the time first time and followed the instructions on the screen instead of resorting to the traditional instruction booklet, because we also tried out the ‘Build Together’ mode for the first time. That was an interesting experience, because at times the instructions seemed to be all over the place, jumping rather haphazardly from one section to another, but I got the hang of it in the end.
We’ve now completed 17 out of the 24 bags in this set – Nathan has done the majority of them. I can’t wait to show you what the finished set looks like! We have plenty of other new festive Lego sets to build as well, so stay tuned for further festive Lego updates.
On Saturday 8th we drove to Lincoln to celebrate Nathan’s 33rd birthday there, which is an annual tradition for us already. We spent some of our very first days together in Lincoln in 2012, and the city will always hold a special place in our hearts. After several days of dull, rainy weather, the skies cleared up nicely on Saturday morning, and we were even treated to some sunshine later on the day.
We also decided to take our Lego figurines with us for some nice on-location photos, which is something that we will most likely do for every trip moving forward. Don’t we look lovely against the cathedral backdrop? I’m on the right, obviously. The camera and the red attire are quite a giveaway.
I love the architecture of Lincoln cathedral – it is definitely one of my favourite Gothic cathedrals that I’ve had the pleasure to visit. I always end up wandering around the cathedral for hours during every Lincoln visit, photographing every corner of the building. This was also the first time I took my new Canon Powershot V1 out with me to see how well it handles as a photography camera even though it is obviously primarily focused on videography – turns out I was not disappointed! The extra-wide lens certainly does the cathedral justice, especially on a day like this.
We also ventured inside the cathedral, which is something we haven’t done in quite a long time. You can visit the nave and the main cathedral area for free, and by purchasing a ticket you also get access to the Exhibition Gallery and Discovery Centre.
The cathedral is particularly famous for its experimental and asymmetrical vaults – the vault design differs noticeably between the nave, aisles, choir, and chapels. This feature on its own is enough to keep someone as interested in gothic architecture as me engaged for hours!
Just as we were leaving the cathedral, the sunset fading into the dusk began casting some spectacular rays on the main façade of the building, and I was there to photograph every moment of it. Now that I’m thinking about it, I should probably do another Lincoln photo dump cost, considering how many photos I took that day (hundreds!).
We also visited a number of shops, including Goodies of Lincoln, which is always a staple of every single one of our Lincoln visits. It’s a traditional sweets shop at the bottom of the historic Steep Hill, selling all sorts of sugary treats, both traditional and modern. I always get some liquorice-banana monkeys, which probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but from my perspective that’s pretty much two of my most favourite flavours combined. What’s not to like?
After strolling around the city for hours we finally checked into our hotel, freshened up and then left for our dinner reservation at a lovely Italian restaurant called Gino’s near the cathedral. The scrumptious garlic bread and the local pollo colosseo are also annual Lincoln traditions for us. By the way, if you think the cathedral looks impressive in daylight, wait until you see it at night!
While we were walking back down the hill towards our hotel, we stopped at this one particular lookout point that overlooks the city, because we always do – watching the city at night there is one of my first memories together with Nathan.
By the way, this was the first post on my brand new blog – hope you enjoyed it. I’ve always wanted to start a blog, and this feels like the perfect moment to start one. Stay tuned for more updates coming soon! Like I already mentioned above, I took so many great photos during this trip that I feel almost obligated to publish more of them here….
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