• Dre Duvendack Visk
  • Dre Duvendack Visk

European Adventures

Feel free to follow along as I spend two weeks in Europe. Les mer
  • Reisens start
    25. mai 2023
  • Airport... Round 1!

    25. mai 2023, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    I already overpaid on a portable charger and breakfast... But the employee at the tech place gave me the employee discount (did I mention we bonded over our memories of MySpace?) and the chef from the diner made my bacon perfectly crispy. 🥹🥓 I even found a seat next to a phone charger. 😍Les mer

  • An ungodly layover

    25. mai 2023, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Just landed at the Newark Airport for a 4.5 hour layover... Scratch that... We are 30 minutes early... For a 5 hour layover. The ride was smooth at the beginning and I caught some decent Zzzs in an upright position with this playlist I found a week or so ago.

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/07fouBE2kZPmv…

    Probably top 5 worst experiences of turbulence but honestly, it was a good alarm clock so I'm not mad.

    A few thoughts that popped up into my head during the flight:

    "Why are you wearing a full tuxedo at 10am on a Thursday?"
    "Wow... His eyelashes are so beautiful."
    "Stanley Tucci really looks like a hotdog."

    No. Alcohol was not served on this flight.
    Les mer

  • Forno Magico

    25. mai 2023, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    I was told "pizza is great but service is terrible." Well, can't wait to see what's in store. 🍕😂

  • Just landed in Belgium!

    26. mai 2023, Belgia ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    I survived the flight! Woohoo!

    Food was surprisingly good and (I think) I ate quinoa for the first time. 😂 Here's a picture of the dinner that was served.

    I passed the time with two comedy specials and some sleep. I watched the comedy specials below and the Atsuko one was making me laugh throughout the flight. Highly recommend!

    - Miz Cracker: Here I Stand
    - Atsuko Okatsuka: The Intruder

    I was sitting next to a couple that wouldn't stop making out and groping each other. Not the way I saw this flight going. 😂
    Les mer

  • Operation Get the Pets' Approval

    26. mai 2023, Belgia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Howdy!

    I got through customs with only mild embarrassment for my pronunciation of French-named cities. Success!

    While we were on the 1-hour journey from the Brussel's Airport to her home, we had some really serious discussions take place. Discussions such as:
    -The impact on taste because of the peanut butter to chocolate ratio in various types of Reese's. 🥜🍫
    -The mutual discovery that the graffitied "GTA" everywhere was not for Grand Theft Auto enthusiasts, but actually a Belgian graffiti crew named Grand Theft Aerosol (Thank you, Reddit!).🏎️🚗🚓
    -The fact that Lucie feels her cats are distinguishable because one has more white than black and the other has more black than white... Whereas I feel the most distinguishing factor is in fact that one has 3 legs and the other has 4.😹

    Just a bit ago I made it to Lucie and Charlotte's house in Charleroi.

    While here for less than half an hour I have already managed to scare her Bernese Mountain Dog (and both cats), lock myself in the bathroom, and confuse a school sign next door saying "ecole" with "ecoli".
    Enjoy this collection of emojis to describe the eventfulness thus far.
    😱🐶🐈🚽🔒🏫🎒🥬🥗

    Operation Get the Pets' Approval - Failed. 🚫

    Operation Get Pets' Approval Enough to Not Get Attacked - Achieved. 💅🏆💯🥇
    Les mer

  • Grocery Shopping

    26. mai 2023, Belgia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Visited Colruyt for groceries today. It reminded me of grocery shopping in Hawaii (but not nearly as expensive).

    It was cool to see some of the same brands that I'm used to but with different names / styles of logo. It was really nifty to see so much fresh food and free samples.

    I learned that the drinking age for beer is 16 and 18 for spirits, Americans are weird for refrigerating milk, and the multi-packs of things in plastic wraps can be suggestions but you pay for the individual items inside.

    They give you money back for recycling your glass bottles of some Belgian beers like how Oberweis does the glass bottled milk.
    Les mer

  • Finished the day at The Huggy's Bar

    27. mai 2023, Belgia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Finished our day in Namur at The Huggy's Bar for burgers and beer (sorry... The burger didn't last long enough to be in the photo). Here's the menu!
    https://huggysbar.com/fr/carte/

    One of the burgers was called the Davy Crockett Burger... And we never figured out why.

    Across the street was a store that decided to choose violence with their choice of font (the disgraced Comic Sans).
    Les mer

  • Germany photo dump

    28. mai 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    -Firstly, I'm sorry mom. We were on the Autobahn! ... Secondly, "The Autobahn" apparently isn't a specific place ... But German for "highway". OOPS. Thirdly, we only did this so I could get a screenshot. We didn't stay this speed.

    -I don't know what that old building is but it was pretty so I took a picture.

    -For the chalking of different countries, if you were from that country, you put a coin on it. There were 3 or 4 of them.

    -Some guy made the portrait super quickly!

    -Some music posters for you.

    -Saw this guy wearing a shirt that said "DO NOT REMOVE PHOTO FROM THIS SHIRT" and I couldn't tell if it was meant to be ironic or not. 😂

    -The picture of us three is while we were ending our City Scavenger Hunt and a screenshot of our "prize". I didn't believe what it said.... So I tried it and was disappointed in myself. 😂

    -The remaining pictures are from the Basilica of St. Ursula... I was sad that there weren't the bones visible but I guess that would be a bit too morbid for the general public. We still took pictures of what we could see!

    -Some guy was doing bubbles! Love that.

    -A woman was playing beautiful music on this instrument that resembled a xylophone.

    Willow (dog) is SO EXHAUSTED. It was a long, long day.

    Lessons of the day:

    -Carry cash. The parking garage will be the source of many angry people today because we found out the hard way no card was accepted. 😅 Charlotte was a champ and hustled to an ATM. Did I mention that you have to PAY to use the bathrooms?! My bladder is very angry with me.

    -Learn some basic German before going there because they don't give a crap about translating for tourists even in tourist areas. 😂

    -Wear close-toed shoes (I did!) and even consider little shoes for your doggo. There was an obnoxious amount of shattered glass EVERYWHERE. You'd think they were trying to cut off the toes of their enemies.

    -Coca-Cola in Germany is... Eh.

    -People in Cologne (Köln) like the French but everyone else hates them.

    -Almost everyone and their mother is a chain smoker here. 😅 All ages, all races, all body shapes, all professions.
    Les mer

  • On our way to Paris

    29. mai 2023, Belgia ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Are you even a tourist if you don't run after the train? Lucie helped me fulfill this dream. 🤣 Not on purpose though.

    There's also a woman next to us who is hardcore praying (out loud) as if she is asking for forgiveness on behalf of all humanity.

    Lucie said "It must be her first time, I guess."

    *This photo is dedicated to my mom because she insisted I take more pictures of myself*
    Les mer

  • Pt. 1 of Paris

    29. mai 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    So far:

    -Lucie (and the police) think I got conned but is it even a con if you knew they were lying and you bought them food anyways? 😅 Okay, maybe.

    -We visited Moulin Rouge and wow... There are so many sex shops around it.

    -We went on a train, a bus, and the RER (similar to a subway but still smelled like literal sewage).

    -THERE ARE ALMOST ZERO ATMs AND THE ONE WE FOUND HAD A MINIMUM WITHDRAWAL OF 50 EURO!

    -We saw the Paris Opera.

    -We saw the Lafayette Gallery and the ceiling was AMAZING... But hot dang I can't afford anything in there (including the bathrooms).

    -We saw the Arc de Triomphe.

    -Now we are at Casa Luca, an Italian restaurant that had a bathroom I could use in the basement if we ate lunch.
    Les mer

  • Champs-Élysées

    29. mai 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Photos captured are random storefronts or cool things I saw on Champs-Élysées (famous street), some additional Tuileries Garden photos, a super creepy moving mannequin that Louis Vuitton had, and a video I forgot to upload earlier of the RER.Les mer

  • The Louvre

    29. mai 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Wowza! The Louvre would take days to go through if you wanted to see all of the exhibits. We were able to see Venus de Milo, works from Leonardo da Vinci (including the Mona Lisa!), And some beautiful pieces that I couldn't help but associate with my Nana. I took lots more pictures but wanted to keep it short and sweet to some of the most important ones we saw. Lucie and I started off strong but we were barely able to walk at the end and were getting overheated. Thank God I had my portable and electric fan!Les mer

  • Dinner, Giggles, & 2nd Hand Smoke.

    29. mai 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Dinner was delicious. I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat so Lucie and I split a delicious pizza and I got the most authentic rigatoni carbonara I could have ever imaged (Lucie had the 🍔).

    I think sleep deprivation has hit us hard based on how we constantly had the giggles.

    One thing is for sure, you don't get to truly experience the essence of Paris without an obnoxious amount of second-hand smoke. Weak-lunged humans need not apply. 😭😂

    Another thing, I don't think I'll ever get used to waiting so long to order, for food, and to pay the bill. 🥲
    Les mer