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Ian StewartIan Stewart
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traveled in 51 countries Read more
  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Day 93

    England: Oakhill Road and HOME!

    October 12, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    The last time packing Olaf and the final time driving him on our trip. With England turning to its Old Faithful of cold, grey drizzle to serenade us home, one couldn't help but wonder if the gods were echoing our sentiment and mourning the end of our trip. However, rather than being glum and miserable, it was also a good time to reflect on how amazing this trip had been and a trip that we will both be talking about for ages! For both Emz and I, this trip was an absolute winner! We learnt a lot about ourselves, each other, the countries we visited and the world itself (aided by the numerous podcasts we did in the car). We are now engaged and the fact that we arrived home together after spending +-23hrs a day (1 hour off for when Emz went running) together for the last 3 months, should hopefully be testament to our relationship for the future. I love you Emz and it wouldn't have been the same without you!❤️

    As great as the trip was, it was also nice to arrive back at our flat where we were happy to see that all was -mostly- in 1 piece (especially Nats' painting which survived 3 months apart unscathed). Nothing can take away the joy one feels on seeing the familiarity that is their home. I finally have a fan to fall asleep to and Emz has access to a washing machine 24/7.

    For those interested, here are some of the trip stats and what were our highlights:

    🇿🇦: 18 countries visited (11 new to me, 10 for Emz)
    🚗: 11 825km driven
    🥾: 208km hiking
    ⬆️: 6386m elevation gain whilst hiking!!
    🚴: 96km cycling
    🏃🏃‍♀️: A LOT of running (Emz more than me)
    🇫🇷: Best all-round country (France)
    🇫🇷🇱🇹🇵🇱🇮🇹: Favourite meals (France/Lithuania/Poland/Italy)
    💍🚴🥾🇳🇴🧖🇫🇮 : Our favourite experiences (getting engaged/all days we cycled/hiking in Norway/Sauna'ring in Finland)
    🏙️🇩🇰🇱🇹: Copenhagen and Vilnius, our favourite capital cities
    🌇: Bouillon, our favourite town
    🏕️🇸🇪: favourite camping experience (1st wild camping in Sweden)
    🇩🇪🇩🇰: Best hostels (Lubeck and Copenhagen)
    🇫🇷🇮🇹🇪🇪🇫🇮: best airbnbs (Nice+Verdun/Chiavari/Talinn/Finnish countryside)
    🇳🇴🇱🇻: worst airbnbs (Oslo and Latvian countryside)
    🇭🇺🇳🇴: unfriendliest people (Hungary, Norway (latter more aloof))
    🇮🇹🇫🇷: friendliest people (Italy, France)

    And that's pretty much it! It's been an incredible trip and thank you to those that took the time to read this! Thanks once again to Emz for an amazing trip and here's to many more in the future! Over and out. ❤️    Read more

  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Day 91

    England: Spalding

    October 10, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    It was with sad hearts that we crossed the English channel and back onto Mud Island after what had been such an incredible time spent in continental Europe. We came back to the UK 2 days early from our allowed 90 day visa waiver in Europe. This was so that we are allowed to go back into Europe for 2 days for a weekend trip away should need be within the next 6 months. Or, more pertinently and **hopefully**, the Bokke progress through the QFs of the RWC and then there is the option to go back to France to watch either a semi final or final or both.🇿🇦
    Since we were back in the UK early, we couldn't go home as our flat was still being subletted, so we decided to visit Rocky and Helen. These are friends who we had visited right at the start of our trip, so it seemed only fitting to stop at their place again for 2 nights. Even though it was on school nights for them, we still had a lekker 'welcome back' braai and a few glasses of champagne and wine to celebrate our engagement. It was a lekker couple of days and only a fitting end to our trip.☺️    Read more

  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Day 90

    France: Boulogne Sur Mer.

    October 9, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Our last night in continental Europe!😭 We stayed in this sleepy little town for our last night in continental Europe before catching the ferry early the next morning. We went out to a local seafood restaurant where we had the local cuisine of 'moules et frites' (mussels and chips). Whoever said French portion sizes were small got it wrong on this occasion! This was the most mussels I think either of us had ever eaten! I reckon each bucket must've contained +-100 mussels! Emz and myself couldn't even finish the chips or the mussels. It was a lovely evening though as we analysed our trip and went through all the highlights and lowlights of it. Sadly only 3 nights left before we were to be back home in London.😫Read more

  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
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    Day 89

    Belgium: Bouillon and Dinant

    October 8, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    The abovementioned towns are 2 towns I'd been to before and they were so lovely I wanted to show them off to Emma and revisit them. They didn't disappoint! Bouillon was one of the prettiest towns we visited on our travels! Especially with the start of the Autumn colours. It has just about everything...a quaint town by a river, nice hikes nearby, a castle and lovely little restaurants along the river. Dinant is a similar town and also is filled with charm. That evening we had a lovely meal at a small little restaurant where we had a red wine fondue which was a first for both of us. This is where a wine stock is used in the fondue instead of the more conventional cheese or oil.Read more

  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Day 88

    France: Verdun

    October 7, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    After the delights of wine tasting, it was back to visiting some of the dark history of Europe of which this continent is sadly riddled with. Verdun, of course, was one of the bloodiest, most devastating battles on the Western Front of WW1. We went to the Verdun memorial which showed how the war played out in this area from both the Allied and the German perspectives. Once again, one is reminded of the senselessness of war - particularly this war- and the high losses of human life. This area was so heavily shelled by artillery fire, that the village of Fleury-devant-Duoumont (which changed hands between the allies and the Germans no less than 16 times!) Was completely flattened! All that remained of the village were stone markers indicating what used to stand in its place eg baker, blacksmith etc. The artillery fire was so heavy in this area, that the landscape is still pockmarked like a spotty teenagers face. And this is after 105 years since the war ended!
    We also visited Fort Duoumont which was one of the strategic strongholds for the area as well as the memorial cemetery. All so sad once again to see the tragic loss of life.
    On a happier note, we stayed in a lovely Airbnb in the town where Odile, our elderly host, was super accomodating and we had a lovely chat via a translating app with her over breakfast. She really confirmed the friendliness of the French as what we had experienced on our trip thus far.    Read more

  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
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    Day 87

    France: Beaune in Burgundy

    October 6, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    It was time to do something we hadn't done to date on the trip and go to an area famous for its wine-tasting. The town of Beaune is centrally located in the Burgundy region of France and is one of the most famous wine regions in the world! We decided to start our stay off here by doing something classy and going to a fine dining French restaurant where we had a 5 course meal all paired with wine. It was absolutely delicious! (Photos are in the post below as this app wouldn't allow me to put all the photos together in this post). It was our most expensive meal of the trip at €150, but was totally worth it and was a treat for the twilight stages of our trip.
    The next day we had one of our favourite days of the trip. We rented bicycles and cycled through the villages of this wine growing region and sampled a glass of their produce at each village. It was a fantastic day! We ended up cycling 55km in total which was quite a distance for some non-regular cyclists. This time on the bike led to the only drawback of the day, our sore bums! However, waddling around like John Wayne for the next 2 days was a worthy price to pay for the day we had!☺️    Read more

  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Day 84–86

    France: Prapoutel

    October 3, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    From the preAlps, it was off to the actual Alps we went! We went to a little ski town known as Prapoutel. Being out of season, it was super peaceful here and a much needed couple of days rest after our 3 days of jolling with our friends. The place was very quiet and it was interesting to see a ski resort without snow! The place had some lovely trails though which Emz took full advantage of with her running. We also played another game of Scrabble. Emz was a bit off form though and it allowed me to get back to winning ways after 3 consecutive losses to her. Overall, a pleasant stay in this seasonal village.Read more

  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Day 84

    France: Brianconnet

    October 3, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    It was just a quick overnight stay in this little sleepy hollow. A tiny little village at the top of one of the mountains in what is known as the 'preAlps'. A cute little place with amazing views! We woke up to sheep being herded through the village which was an unusual sight and we were both miraculously better from our ailments of the day before.☺️Read more

  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Day 82

    France: Marseille and the BOKKE!🇿🇦

    October 1, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    The next day it was time to head to Marseille and watch the Mighty Bokke play against Tonga! The spectacle didn't disappoint! South African fans were everywhere and we got to meet up with Dev/Jordie/Kev McMahon; Rob Frames and his gf Katie; Luke/Cat; and Russy (a friend from London). It was a lekker game and a lekker jol! The night ended quite blurrily with the staple Turkish Doner Kebab at about 2am. The next day our Airbnb looked like an ICU ward. Well at least for myself and Al. Stricken with nausea and a pulsating headache, it was difficult to put my finger on the exact cause for this malady. I'd adequately hydrated myself the previous day with 10 pints of beer and eaten food throughout the day.🤔 Must've been the Doner Kebab then. Anyways, after what was the most expensive orange juice we've all ever had (€6 per a glass!😳), we headed back along the French Riviera to take Al and Caity back to Nice airport. It was on this drive that Emz became quite nauseous. Car sickness or maybe she'd caught the same contagion as me?🤔 Who knows.🤷🏻‍♂️. After having our last swim in the sea - probably for the year- it was with heavy hearts that we dropped Al and Caity off at the airport. It was a lovely 3 days spent with them and something we've missed on our trip is spending time with our friends.Read more

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