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Europe Trip!
  • Joshua Ford-King
  • Sarah Eddleston

Europe Trip!

Going over to Europe to see Sarah’s sister and my family! Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 14, 2024
  • Europe Trip!

    International departures gate in Melbs!

    January 14, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    First plane was a success! We got lost trying to find the unmissable food court but ah well, here come the big one!

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    Arrived in Italy!

    January 16, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C

    We arrived! As soon as we hopped off the plane we got our luggage and found our train to Roma Termini. Sarah fell asleep again 😴 we walked to our air bnb where me met Valeria who is super nice :) we went for din dins at a little place called Osteria il Riposto where I had the lasagne and Sare had the ravioli! quick shower, then zzzzzz
    When we hopped up for brekkie downstairs at a little breakfast bar called Bar il Palchetto. Yum!    Read more

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    Roaming Rome

    January 16, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    Today was our first big day in Rome! After brekkie we headed towards the Colosseum where we met our tour guide! We headed off to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, and then finally the Colosseum itself! Amazing amazing amazing. The we stopped off for lunch at a restaurant called La Base where I had some creamy penne and Sarah had some pizza! After that we decide to wander down to the Pantheon where we had some gelato! (Rare for me, but hey, when in Rome) then we walked all the way to Trastevere where we explored some more and had dinner. One taxi ride later and we were back at the air bnb. ZzzzzRead more

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    Last day in Rome :(

    January 17, 2024 in Vatican City ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Our last day roaming rome :( we started off by going to the Spanish Steps which had…wait for it…a bunch of steps. Then we made our way over to the Trevi Fountain which was absolutely gorgeous. We also witnessed a proposal which went successfully so yay for them! At that point the fountain was my absolute favourite thing about Rome (soon defeated by something else…) Afterwards we headed to the Piazza Navona which was also beautiful! Big square with lots of shops and cobblestone. Thennnn we headed off to the smallest country in the world! Vatican City was absolutely spectacular. We headed to the Sistine Chapel and wowzers. To say it was jaw dropping would be an understatement. I suddenly have a new appreciation for art and Michelangelo. Unfortunately we couldn’t take photos inside but wow it quickly became my favourite. Then we headed to St Peter’s Basillica which was HUGE. To see Peter’s grave and see La Pieta (also Michelangelo!) in person was incredible. At that point it was pretty gloomy and getting late so we headed back to the air bnb for some rest before Gregory’s Jazz Club! We got there a bit early so we just had some drinks at the bar. One aperol spritz and I was in happy land. We experienced the best hospitality we’ve had so far, and met some nice people from the UK! The show started pretty late so we only stuck around for a little bit. It was a jazz trio with trumpet, drums, and bass! These Rome guys can PLAY. As much as we wanted to stick around we had to call it a night because of an early start the next morning. We walked back to the air bnb but unfortunately for us we accidentally detoured and accidentally got some gelato and accidentally ate it but ah well, these things happen. As soon as we were back zzzzzzRead more

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    Venice and the reunion

    January 18, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Today was the day! We hopped up, went down to brekkie and then we did our final clean up and pack to go to Venice! Our train was scheduled to leave at 10:22am and we got there at around 10:15. When we got there, we could not find where we were supposed to go at all. We asked around and eventually a security guard told us where to go. At this point it was 10:20 and he said we wouldn’t make it. We RAN as fast as we could and when we thought to give up, we saw the train still there and somehow we managed to get on. We got an announcement on the train saying there was an electrical issue or something which is why it was delayed. Never. Again. Anyway 6 hours on a train later and we arrived in Venice! Now this whole time I had Sarah believing that Alice was arriving around an hour after we’d arrive. (Dear reader - she was already at our air bnb) I also had Sarah believing that my mum wanted a whole bunch of videos of the air bnb to see what it looked like (just an excuse to record the reaction hehe) anyway we got one more train which got us into walking distance of the air bnb. When we got there we explored the place, and I very subtly tried to get Sarah to go into the bathroom. She thought the door to the bathroom might have been where our hosts were living so she didn’t want to open the door. I convinced her to open the door to which she saw a random person in the bathtub with the lights off - she absolutely thought it was the air bnb host - after turning on the lights she realised! Most gullible award goes to Sarah. After the reunion, we wandered the streets of Venice and had some dinner! Then back to the bnb zzzzzRead more

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    Rainy Venice day!

    January 19, 2024 in Italy ⋅ 🌬 6 °C

    We woke up and it was gondola day! It was absolutely freezing and super windy and rainy - not the ideal time to be in a small boat. We walked to St Mark's Campanile where we looked around some shops and had some much needed coffee. Then we met up with our gondola tour guide. We walked around the streets of Venice for a bit learning a bit of history about the place and then we reached the gondolas! It was quite the opposite of any standard photo of the Venice canal, but the experience was still pretty nice. We walked around a bit before stopping for lunch. I decided I needed a break from pizza and pasta so I had a peppercorn steak with veggies! Very good, but nowhere close to steak at home. Because of the weather, we chilled (literally) back at the air bnb for a bit before going out again to the Rialto bridge. Now THAT was a good view. We walked around looking at a few markets and stalls, then we went to a mini supermarket to get some ham and bread for dinner. Can’t go wrong. Bnb time again and zzzzRead more

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    Last day in Venice!

    January 20, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C

    Ahhh today the weather was nicer! We spent most of the day just walking around the parts of Venice we didn’t really see much. We visited the San Marco Square which had a bunch of cool restaurants and shops, and this is where I had some spaghetti and clams! (Side thought - it is surprisingly rare to see spaghetti bolognaise anywhere in Italy but spaghetti with clams are EVERYWHERE) after a bit more walking and shopping it was time to go to Vivaldi’s church to see the famous 4 Seasons! Wowee that was special. I’ve never experienced something like that, where the venue felt so important, and the audience felt so moved. Might just have to ditch jazz. After that, we got some last minute snacks at the supermarket and headed home. ZzzzzRead more

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    Lyon time!

    January 21, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Nothing like a 5am start! We got up, ready to head to our bus station around a 15 minute walk away. Too early for this :( anyway we hopped on a bus and around 20 minutes later we arrived at the Marco Polo Airport! Our flight was at 8:30 and we go there at around 6. We walked around a bunch just waiting for our flight to start boarding and then kablam, boarding time! It was such a small plane and the flight took just over an hour. When we arrived in Lyon we caught a train to central Lyon and tried to find a luggage storage place. We found one that was around a 40 minute walk but when we got there it was permanently closed. Thanks google. We were also starving so we had to drag our luggage everywhere we went to go for food - which was annoyingly difficult, especially on a Sunday - we ended up finding a sushi train which was good! Anyway we chilled there for a bit before the air bnb hosts let us leave our luggage. Then we went on a little stroll to the Saint Jean Baptiste Basillica where along the way we saw the most police officers all in riot gear ever. There was a big protest going on and yeah wow it was kinda scary. Anyway we then went to the supermarket to get some frozen pizza and chippies before going home and having a chill dinner at home night. ZzzzRead more

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    Full day in Lyon

    January 22, 2024 in France ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Today we woke up and were feeling hungry. We decided to go to a nice little bakery called Bakery Albon. I don’t know what the French do to their croissants, but I would like the rest of the world to learn. Then it was museum time! We went to Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, which was humongous and seemed like it went on foreverrr. It was pretty shnazzy though! Afterwards we had lunch at this bistro place. I had a burger and learned that the French do NOT cook their meat anywhere near enough, ah well. Then we stopped off at a bakery again to experience French pastry goodness again :) we chilled back at the air bnb before heading out to a Lebanese restaurant yummmm (except the fly I found in my drink oops) anyway eat eat walk walk sleep sleep zzzzRead more

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    Last day in Lyon!

    January 23, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Last day in Lyon! We had to check out at 11:00AM and our train was at 5:20PM, which meant we had to carry our luggage everywhere - not ideal. After some much needed yogurt for breakfast we headed off to a nearby laundromat to do some drying woooo! Then we wandered to a burrito place where we had some - you guessed it - burritos. Very fast foody but did the job. We chilled there for a while because we didn’t wanna drag our luggage aimlessly for ages, but then we went on a walk to a park called Parc de Tête which was gorgeous! I now want a pet goose. After chilling there for a bit, we made our way to the train station where we had to wait a bit longer to know which gate to go to. Coffee and apple juice later, we hopped on our train to Paris! 2 hour train means Emily in Paris which means new tv show to binge! We hopped off our train and caught another one which would get us close to our air bnb. After making ourselves at home, we went to a Mexican place called El Tequila which was fantabulous. Back home and zzzzRead more

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    DISNEYLAND PARIS WOOOO

    January 24, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    AHHH DISNEYLAND DAY WOOOO! We got up nice and early to catch a bus which would take us to our train station which conveniently has a train that goes directly to Disneyland. Although we got a little lost but then some security guard saw Ali’s Mickey Mouse ears and pointed us in the right direction. It was a pretty big train ride, around 40 minutes or so, but the view along the way was nice and I was super excited. When we got there, I was surprised at how busy it was - being not very busy. Like there were still a ton of people but nowhere near as many as I had thought. Anyway we showed our tickets and there we were! In Disneyland park and seeing the cool castle. No time to take it all in. Must get on rides. We started off on a small, family-friendly Pinocchio ride, and then went on a similar Peter Pan ride. Both very good :) then I somehow convinced Sarah to go on the Indiana Jones ride (big scary one) and after expecting to be killed, she enjoyed it! Then we decided to go to a Star Wars 4D cinema which was very very cool, made me a little dizzy though. We stopped off at some of the cafes and restaurants to have some lunch. I had some pork ribs mmmm we kept on touring around and we went in a haunted house which honestly didn’t feel that haunted. Oo! And then we went on a little boat ride around the park which was very cruisey. We went to get some crepes and strawberry skewers before hopping on the train which also takes you around the park! It was getting pretty late and close to the time of the parade so Sarah and I started lining up for the other big scary ride which was called big thunder mountain. Line was very very long and we almost missed the parade, but wowee that was worth it. One of the best rides I’ve been on. Then it was parade time! The parade music went HARD. It was pretty shnazzy seeing a bunch of kids so amazed by it all :) then after the parade we got some more food whilst we waited for the magic Disney fireworks show. Holy moly that was actually jaw-dropping. Like I’ve never been that attached to Disney and I don’t know much about any of the characters but THAT was so cool. Afterwards the place turned into a stampede of people trying to get to the exit and when we finally made it out we hopped on our train home. ZzzzRead more

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    Eiffel Tower day!

    January 25, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Okay okay time to go see the big tower. We hopped up and went on a train that conveniently led straight to the Eiffel Tower, were we had some brekkie at a nearby cafe. I had a croque monsieur (glorified toastie) which was so so good. Oo! And a latte. Thennn we saw the thing in person! Honestly it was about as big as I’d expected it to be, but it was so much wider than I thought. We climbed up so so many stairs and the view was astonishing. Like, all of Hobart could’ve fit into that view. After spending a bit more time there we climbed back down and it was cruise time! Not the best weather for it but it was still pretty cool. Makes you realise that Paris is big. After the cruise we went to an Italian restaurant near the Eiffel Tower while we waited for it to light up and sparkle. I had one of the best pizza’s of my LIFE that was sensational. Mushrooms make everything better. We walked back to the Eiffel Tower just in time to see it sparkle! Very pretty :) then we had a big walk to Caveau de la Huchette - one of Paris’ most famous jazz clubs. We watched the Bert De Kort All Stars who were super good, they played mostly trad jazz but what surprised me the most was how many people were there and the fact that there was a mosh pit at a JAZZ GIG. We were at the back so we couldn’t really see much but one aperol spritz and I was on the dance floor. What a good time. We went back home at like 12:30am and straight away zzzzRead more

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    Big pyramid and arch day!

    January 26, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Pyramid timeeee! We started our day by catching a few trains to the Louvre where we stumbled across the BEST bakery in Paris I’m convinced. I would buy endless baguettes from this place. After eating way more than we should have, we went to the louvre museum and optimistically we thought we’d see most of the place, but oh boy we were so wrong. We were there for about 5 hours and covered 1 of the 5 floors oops. My two favourites were the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. We figured out way too late that you need many many days to cover everything. Non stop art and sculptures everywhere = getting quite lost. Anyway after we somehow found our way out we went to the same bakery again before catching a train to the Arc de Triomphe. It was a super nice evening to go there and it felt the most like what I expected France to be in the first place. After walking around a bit we caught the train back to our air bnb and then walked to the Mexican restaurant where we had dinner a few nights before. Equally as good as the time before. Then we walked back and watched Tangled (first time for me) which pleasantly surprised me! We packed up our stuff, ready for another travel day in the morning and zzzzzRead more

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    Spain time!

    January 27, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Bye Ali :( We got up for an early start and a day of travel and said our goodbyes. We went to the Charles de Gaulle airport via train and accidentally went to the wrong terminal oops so then we trained to the right terminal. Checked in, security, blah blah blah and then took a bus to the plane. Our flight was a little delayed and we only had one hour of layover in Madrid so it was a little stressy. Anyway we took off, landed all safe and well but had to run to our next flight to Santander! We made it yayyy and then took off again and landed safely. The whole family greeted us! :) they took us to our little hotel to unpack and then we took bus to their house for dinner. It was so good to have home cooked food for the first time in so long and it was amazing! We caught up for the first time in 5 years, looked through some old photos and then went back to the hotel. ZzzzRead more

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    Full day in Santander!

    January 28, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Our first big day in Santander! Today was the 18th anniversary of my auntie and uncle’s wedding so we visited the palace where they were married. Apparently I was there and I was 2 years old but unfortunately my memory isn’t that great :( We walked along the beach (which was so sunny and perfect - Santander doesn’t know what winter is) and had some lunch. Then we then went to a village in the middle of nowhere where the wedding reception was! It was originally a hotel 20 years ago but had since closed down. When we got there we were told we weren’t allowed in but when my auntie told them they were there 18 years ago he was more than happy to let us in! Apparently he was there for the party as well! Afterwards we visited a medieval castle turned into a small village/museum which was cool, but the most exciting part was when we bought some cookies from some nuns. We chilled back at the hotel before going to a fancy place for dinner. The waiter accidentally spilled red wine on my white jumper and my steak was still mooing, but apart from that, so so good. We went back home and then zzzzRead more

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    Uncle’s birthday!

    January 29, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today was a much needed rest day. We spent a lot of the day inside our hotel watching Emily in Paris before heading out for a walk along the beach. Again, convinced Santander doesn’t do winter right. Originally we had set out to do some clothes shopping but all of the shops were super far away in the centre of town so that was a no-go. Today was also a special day because it was Jeroen’s birthday!! After the beach we headed to the family’s house where we had spaghetti bolognaise for dinner and cake of course. There was a surprise visit from Lidia’s (my auntie) family who I’d all met before when I was super young so couldn’t really remember them. But it was so good to see them again and catch up on life and stuff! We stayed there pretty late before getting dropped back at the hotel. ZzzzRead more

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    Chill day time

    January 30, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Another pretty chill day today! Originally we had planned to go into the city but didn’t get around to it. I hung out with Eduardo for a bit and played Mario party (I won for the record) Then it was lunch time! We had pasta salad which I think was a first for me? Anyway AMAZING. After lunch I was introduced to “siesta” which is a nap after lunch - very normal in Spain. Tassie, please take notes. I was asleep for about 3 hours (one and only photo for today oops) and then it was dinner time! We had chicken and roast veggies - probably the most similar to home dish we’ve had so far and ahh it was so good. A very intense scrabble game between Sarah and I (I won that too hehe) and back to the hotel zzzzzzzRead more

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    Santander city time!

    January 31, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Town time! Eduardo took us into the city centre of Santander. He met us at our hotel and then we bussed into town. At first we looked for this churro place which he really likes but turns out it was closed on Wednesdays :( but no problemo we found another place pretty quickly and WOW San Churro step up your game please. They were so simple and they came with a hot choccy which was literally just chocolate. Melted. So simple but so good. Then we went to this little place famous for its juices and we had a blueberry lemonade. Someone tell boost juice about this please. We strolled around the city, and Eduardo showed us all the hot spots. Oo! And there were these chairs by the beach where we just laid down for about an hour and it was everything we needed. We did a bit of shopping, a bit of looking, a bit of everything! Then we went to this place for lunch and we had these things called pinchos! Literally just random things on bread but they were so so good. Will be trying this back at home. Then we went back to the family’s house to chill out (another siesta was had) and have dinner. Then at around 8 we went to go watch Eduardo’s choir rehearsal where they sung that one song from Moana (no idea what it’s called but I’m sure you’ve heard it before) and wow they sound so good. Then back to the hotel and zzzzRead more

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    Town time 2.0

    February 1, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Town time again! Sarah and I hopped up and went into town to go shopping. But before that, you already KNOW we went to get some more churros. This time we also got rabas (squid) AND pancakes as well. When in Spain I guess? Anyway then we went to a whole bunch of places - mainly op-shops - to look for some cool Spanish clothes and stuff. I didn’t find much (although, clothes shopping isn’t really my forte) but Sarah found a cool top! I was gonna go look for a shnazzy Spanish belt but they were all pretty pricey. We ended up bussing back to the family’s house and just playing a whole bunch of board games before dinner. We played chess, scrabble, scattergries, and a cool game called dixit! Did I win all of them? You betcha. (Dear reader, no I did not but shhh) then it was dinner time where we had takeaway Chinese food. Very very good. By that time it was getting pretty late so it was back to the hotel and straight to bed. ZzzzzRead more

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    Bye Spain :( Hello Belgium!

    February 2, 2024 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Our final day in Spain :(((( Lidia (my auntie) picked us up from the hotel for checkout and then we went to the lighthouse for a little walk! The view was absolutely stunning, as was the weather (again) We had some brekkie at the cafe close to the lighthouse before walking around to a nice park where I apparently have been 10 years ago! After a bit of walking, we headed to the family’s house where we had leftovers for lunch and played a few other board games before it was time to head off to the airport :( we exchanged some gifts before saying goodbye to Eduardo and Julio (my cousins) Jeroen and Lidia drove us to the airport and then said goodbye to us at security. Tears were shed :( a few moments later and we were on the plane to Madrid. Anddd we landed! An hour wait in Madrid means maccas comparison time. Chips: exactly the same. Nuggets: definitely have chicken salt or something on them here. Anyway much needed. Then one more flight and we were in Brussels woooo! We caught a train to Brussels central and then walked to our air bnb. ZzzzRead more

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    Full Belgium day!

    February 3, 2024 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    As soon as we woke up we explored Brussels a bit. We stopped off for a croissant before going to the Grand Place! I forgot how cool this place is. We set off on an adventure to find one of Belgium’s iconic statues - Manneken Piss. Yes that is the actual name. Anyway having a waffle could NOT wait any longer so we walked to the closest waffle stand (they were everywhere) and kablam instant happiness and nostalgia. My inner child was healed. Then we made our way back to Brussels Central train station where we caught a train to Antwerp central! It was around an hour on the train, but a train to Antwerp means local Dutch speakers! It was so weird having conversations in a different language with strangers. But yeah! Then we arrived to the most stunning train station ever before making our way to Ina’s (my step grandmother) house. So so good to see her for the first time in ages! We also saw Jonathan (my uncle) and Opa Jan! (My grandpa) We caught up, did introductions, blah blah blah. Then we started doing a puzzle which was fun! We had dinner shortly after. We had rice, chicken, veggies…all the good stuff. We chatted a bit more before heading to bed. Oo! And I introduced Sarah to Money Heist (if you haven’t watched it, go do yourself a favour) zzzzzRead more

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    Exploring Antwerp!

    February 4, 2024 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Exploring time! We really wanted to get to a cool church today but it was rather far away from where we were staying. But we persisted! We caught a bus that got us to Antwerp central station and then the plan WAS to catch another one that’d get us within walking distance to the church. However once we got on this bus we looked on google maps and quickly realised it was going the opposite way. Did we get on the right bus on the wrong side of the road? Absolutely. Were we annoyed and confused? Sure thing. Anyway then we waited for another bus that’d get us there as well. We had to wait quite a bit, all the while we are getting later and later for this church. So this bus finally arrives and we wave for it to stop and it. Drives. Past. Not cool. So then we persisted even more and decided to rent bikes and and just cycle the way there. Way quicker, way more fun. No idea why we didn’t just do that in the first place! Ah well church was fun! And the people were so so nice. Afterwards we decided to stick with bikes from then onwards and went to the Meir - a big shopping street where we spent a lot of our time…wait for it…shopping. We went to a whole bunch of clothes shops and recreated a photo from back in 2019! Sarah had her fist waffle from Antwerp and it did not disappoint. We went to a cool bistro place for lunch and I had fristi for the first time in so long. My inner child was again healed. It was getting pretty late so we headed back to Opa Jan’s house for dinner (via bike of course) His friend Allal was there too and he made this super yummy chicken with sauce and veggies thing mmmmm we stuck around for a bit of a chat before heading back to Ina’s for bed. ZzzzzRead more

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    EFTELING!

    February 5, 2024 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    EFTELING DAY WOOOOOO!! Man I cannot express how long I’ve been waiting for this day. We got up super early and I went to a bakery to get some bread rolls, then I went back home and we made some sandwiches! (Pro tip for amusement parks: sandwiches taste better than bankruptcy) we headed off to Antwerp Central Station where we caught our first train to Breda. Kachow new country unlocked! We were in the Netherlands. We waited a smidge in Breda for the next train which took us to Tilburg. This was a super pleasant place to be! We still had a while before the bus to the Efteling so we sat down at a cafe close by and had a coffee. This was such a cool cafe with super nice people :) anyway then it was time for the final bus!! Ah there’s nothing like seeing the entrance to the Efteling in person. As soon as we hopped off the bus we rushed straight in. We started off by doing the most logical thing: doing the scariest ride there. I was clearly enjoying it more than Sarah hehe, but we survived! Afterwards we basically strolled through the entire park doing basically everything. There’s way too much to say about the whole day so I’ll just go with highlights. The sprookjesboss (fairytale forest) is magical, droomvlucht (dream flight) is magical, poffertjes (baby pancakes) are magical, and the water show was magical. If you ever get the chance, please go to the Efteling, I promise you won’t regret it. Anyway a lot of trains and patience later and we were finally back home. Again way too much to say for one day, but zzzzzRead more

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