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4 ülke gezdi Okumaya devam et
  • GezginIngolds in Europe
    Gün 14

    Riding the fast lane

    3 Mart 2023, Fransa ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    Big day sightseeing today!
    Started the day with a bike tour around the city. 3 hours of riding (about 12kms) on the roads of Paris. Tour guide Audrey stayed up the front the whole time and had a ball. She handled the riding and instruction beautifully. We threw Miss Olive on a tandem bike with Nick, because we didn’t think our hearts could take letting Olive loose on the roads in Paris by herself. France isn’t ready for that yet. She had a BALL. The entire tour could hear her chatting and singing away along the streets. Nick was a little less charmed… being unable to get away from her nattering 😄.
    The Eiffel Tower was on our ‘to do’ itinerary… it was… somewhat difficult! Our first attempt failed (half way through the security line we were told the top was closed temporarily due to maintenance, assured it would be open again in 15 mins). We waited in the ticket line (yep- as long as you would imagine) for the next 30+ mins and still no top open… decided to return later when it was open (it was such a spectacular rare blue sky day).
    Took a Cruise down the Seine river (beautiful, but Olive’s resilience was waning and she decided she didn’t like boats… I’ll let you fill in the blanks of that story…).
    So we decided we hadn’t punished ourselves enough today, and returned to the Eiffel Tower around dusk for a second attempt. Success! Top wad open! Stood in the ticket line (luckily a briefer line this time) aaaand half way through a big red sign flashes up with words I now officially hate ‘Sommet Ferme’ 🙄🙄 ‘top closed’. Due to capacity. Dear Gertrude heavens above. Making lemonade out of lemons. So we made it to the 2nd level. And it was spectacular. My love- mostly hate relationship with heights again waved it’s hand, but the beautiful sunset over Paris, the tower being lit up and catching the first glittering lights for the night together was truly magical. It was breathtakingly cold, and we didn’t last up there long (we did for once let the girls slowly explore the gift shop- it was heated!), but after all of the hassle it really was worth it. A beautiful way to end the day and a very special memory for us all.
    Very tired little girls with a huge bike ride and over 18000 steps. Certainly working for those daily eclairs!    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • GezginIngolds in Europe
    1
    Gün 13

    Paris… oui!

    2 Mart 2023, Fransa ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    Another cross country train journey (on the Thalys this time) to the heart of Paris. We arrived mid afternoon to gorgeous skies and witnessed an even more gorgeous sunset over the Seine.
    Our hotel is a small beautiful old 6 story building situated in Saint Germaine. We have one of the 2 top loft rooms, with a view of the Eiffel Tower from one side, and a view of Notre- Dame on the other side… what a little bit (a lot) of research can do when you are Nick booking accommodation 😜.
    The girls have little beds under gable windows that look out to the Eiffel Tower. We couldn’t feel more quintessentially in Paris if we tried! (OK… so we did try)- we headed to the nearest patisserie and ordered chocolate eclairs (in very bad French- which is totally endearing if you are a 7 and 9 year old… they already have the stern French wrapped around their little fingers with ‘bonjour madame’ ‘merci monsieur’ in impressively articulate French compared with their parents… who sound more like ‘Mer-cee’).
    Audrey has decided that she will put a limit on herself of maximum 5 eclairs a day (her face in the photo after her first bite says it all), and Olive has decided she would like to move here. Even without stepping foot in a cheese (Fromages) shop yet.
    The girls have been talking about the art installation on Louis Vuitton building since they saw photos a couple of months ago- and they spotted the colourful dots from our hotel window… so we also had to find the building where they stood proudly infront and sang loudly ‘I could have my Gucci on… I could wear my Louis Vuitton…’ (thank you Meghan Trainor… that song has been the soundtrack to our holiday 🙄). Sooo… yes… our little kangaroos are standing out here in Paris 🤣    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • GezginIngolds in Europe
    Gün 12

    Spring in our step

    1 Mart 2023, Belçika ⋅ 🌙 2 °C

    First day of spring here and the weather turned it on. Bright blue skies for miles. We took full advantage and climbed to the top of the bell tower- 366 steps! It was windy, and tiny, and queasy-inducing for me… but the view was beautiful. It is the second tallest brick man made structure in Europe (beaten only by the cathedral in Cologne- the first place I ever experienced a gripping fear of heights… today was ironically the second…) there are 47 bells in the bell tower, and they seem to chime constantly. They used to be a way for the townsfolk to know what time of day it was (a different chime for wake up, start of the work day, lunchtime etc).
    We dragged the girls through a couple of beautiful churches and a Cathedral that was jaw dropping (it’s hard to appreciate how amazing these buildings are when you have seen 748 other spectacular churches in the last 10 days…) but the girls lit another candle. There is a lot of talk over here about the war, and how unsettled things seem. A lot of white ribbons on doors- signifying the want of peace. It’s a stark contrast to how idilic it all feels to us.
    We went to a very small but significant church here in Bruges, that holds the relic for a supposed piece of parchment with Christ’s blood on it. For a couple of hours each day that display the relic in a vacuum tube and you can walk past and have a look. The whole atmosphere, whether you are religious or not, is quite humbling, and feels like a very sacred space. The girls were fascinated, and asked lots of very intelligent questions that we could not answer (future Google time needed…)
    We finished off the day with another religious experience- the brewery museum. A very well done interactive museum that even the girls enjoyed. Auds got her photo on the big screen in the accompanying pub (a blurry photo will be attached 😄) and the man told us the legal age to drink beer here is 16! (All other alcohol 18…).
    A traditional dinner of Flemish stew, rabbit and a fish stew (all waaaY better than they sound). We will be sad to leave here tomorrow. It is utterly beautiful.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • GezginIngolds in Europe
    1
    Gün 11

    Brugges… oh my heart

    28 Şubat 2023, Belçika ⋅ 🌙 1 °C

    Oh Brugge…. It is every bit as beautiful as I had imagined. My pictures actually really don’t do it justice. It’s magic- like in an old fairytale… cobblestone streets, and gingerbread houses, and horse drawn carriages clip clopping down the centuries old streets. Thee bitter ice cold wind creeping around the corner, but warm tea rooms and castle like hotels sanctuaries from the cold, blue skies.
    And two little girls with big smiles and very rosy cheeks.
    We arrived to the last flurry of unexpected snow, and a big blue sky emerged. Our hotel is beautiful. It is like a castle, and the girls have a loft room- their beds nestled amongst the rafters (literally). I will get more photos of the hotel tomorrow; but it is one of the most special places we have ever stayed.
    Bruges is a UNESCO world heritage site. People still live in original housing from the time of Napoleons reign. The locals speak Flemish (and we have picked up a few Flemish words- the kids love to say ‘Hallo’ and ‘Dank Je Wel’ (thank you) to everybody they meet, as it is often greeted with a surprised and very enthusiastic return greeting).
    Audrey has FINALLY dropped her cockney English accent (that took hold on the first day in England) but Olive has decided she loves the way the French speak, and insists on saying most of her English words in a slight French accent (along with many French words we often don’t understand). We are now called ‘mumma and father’ by her 😳🥴🤣).
    We toured the city today both by boat through the canals and by horse drawn cart (our horses name aptly was Napoleon). We will explore the city more tomorrow.
    I’ve decided we should move here and open a cafe. I’m sure everyone at home would be OK with that 😜. We saw a few divine places along the canal for sale today. I’m sure they are going cheap. The girls can teach us Flemish and French 😉
    This should be on everyone’s bucket list. It is a very special little part of the world 💖    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • GezginIngolds in Europe
    1
    Gün 10

    Manneken-what?! And more photos

    27 Şubat 2023, Belçika ⋅ 🌙 2 °C
  • GezginIngolds in Europe
    Gün 10

    Chocolate and frites

    27 Şubat 2023, Belçika ⋅ 🌙 2 °C

    Today’s weather forecast; -4 to 4 degrees. But the most spectacular blue skies. We walked past a digital thermometer, where Nick read 9 degrees. I had to correct him that infact it said 0.9 degrees. That ‘point’ made a VERY big difference! 🥶 had our thermals on under the clothes for the first time, and the girls bought super thick scarves.
    Today we wandered the city of Brussels, sampling all the things it’s famous for; beautiful churches, waffles, chocolate, frites and the very famous statue of a little boy urinating ‘manneken-pis’. This 55 cm bronze statue draws crowds from all over Europe, where people come to watch the little guy wee, and on special occasions gets dressed up in costumes significant to local festivities.
    After turning a corner on our walking journey, we came across a huge crowd, accompanied by a brass band… and the little guy dressed up in… well… we aren’t sure what. He certainly looked festive…… very Mardi-gras worthy?!
    Plenty of phallic references lined the streets and shop windows for the next 3 or 4 blocks. Much of the girls initial surprise and suppressed giggles turned into raucous laughter at all the little weeing penis statues everywhere. With that cultural learning opportunity 😜, we decided to offer a more… wholesome… visit to a few of the local churches/ cathedrals. They are IMPRESSIVE (the architecture word won’t be mentioned… but IMPRESSIVE). The girls lit a candle to think about those less fortunate (and we have seen a lot of that on our travels) and reflect on how fortunate we are, standing in a beautiful place half way across the world from home.
    We continued our culinary journey with (hand on heart) the best chips (frites) we have even eaten, and wandered around looking at the beautiful shops with the most special window displays. They all look like glittering little cookie cutter displays from a perfectly wrapped sweetshop from 1950’s Europe. We all chose a couple of beautifully hand made chocolates each, and (to the girls delight) were just as delicious and magical as they looked! The girls learnt the lesson of quality over quantity!
    We finished our day with a trip to a quirky ‘illusion’ house, where we had fun with trippy illusions and take some pretty great photos.
    Nick finished his day as a very happy man with a big plate of mussels (another Belgium must ticked off) literally smothered in garlic and butter (will work on cholesterol once holiday is over…). He said to tell you pa that they were horrible and you wouldn’t have wanted to try them 😉😉😉
    The girls have just fallen asleep after they were literally jumping off walls and laughing hysterically at nothing…. I think the chocolate here is STRONG… might ease up on it tomorrow……
    Off to Bruges for a couple of nights tomorrow- really excited and hoping this will be as special as we have seen in pics.
    Until tomorrow… (5kg heavier…)    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • GezginIngolds in Europe
    Gün 9

    You’re a star… on the eurostar

    26 Şubat 2023, Belçika ⋅ 🌙 2 °C

    Woke up to sunny London skies and the prospect of a new country to explore.
    It was a day of travel; a journey; an adventure. No, not really, it was just a day of travel. 4 suitcases, 2 backpacks, 2 different tubes, St Pancras international terminal (that was heaving with people) the super efficient Eurostar across the channel and one local train before we lugged the suitcases, backpacks and kids to our hotel in Brussels. Definitely glad to have gotten here, but really can’t complain- the whole thing was pretty seamless.
    The Eurostar was SO efficient. Just on 2 hours from London to Brussels, including a quick stop in France to offload some people. Cruising at roughly 335 Km/hr the channel tunnel was over before we really knew what had happened.
    Got into Brussels around 4pm (with a time zone change). We are staying just off Grand Place, so we wandered around the cobblestone streets, admired the gorgeous buildings (ahem…), eyed off many of the chocolate shops (and went in to sample one…) and after dinner popped downstairs to the Waffle House and overdid our first try with way too many toppings… 😄
    Even the air smells sweet here (no, literally, it smells like waffles and fries wafting through the streets).
    When Nick and I visited here BK (before kids) we had our first taste of croquettes in a quirky little stand up seafood/wine stand. He has talked about this fond memory so
    Many times over the years- and we found it again tonight!! We must have thrown some coins in some special fountain once to be able to come back and experience it again. He was one happy guy.
    The girls are quietly snoring, no doubt dreaming of the chocolate they will consume tomorrow…    Okumaya devam et

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