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European Adventures

April - May 2024
An open-ended adventure by Jodie Read more
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  • TravelerEuropean Adventures
    Day 6

    King's Day

    April 27 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    When we first booked Amsterdam we were looking at Tulip Season and had absolutely no idea that we had also booked during King's Day.

    What a crazy and surreal experience! We thought Kings Night was nuts - well today is next level.

    It started out a bit rainy but cleared to blue skies! I have never seen so much orange in my life! Thousands of people absolutely everywhere and the canals were packed with boats.

    It also seems anyone can just sell literally anything. There was second hand clothing stores, food stalls, wine stalls, all sorts of food stalls, beer cans directly from supermarket trolleys………anything goes!

    People even charge anywhere from €1 - €5 to use their toilets too.

    The entire city is also doof doofing techno music. Dance parties every few metres both on land and on the boats.

    We are so lucky to have been here to witness/experience this day. It has been awesome!! 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Adventures
    Day 7

    Travel to Belgium

    April 28 in Belgium ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    We started the day by visiting the Van Gogh museum which was pretty cool. None of us realised he was only 37 when he died, and he shot himself……...he achieved so much in his short, troubled life.

    We have also finally figured out the trams after an anxious/hilarious incident where we couldn’t get off and missed two stops 😂😂 It was quite the public spectacle.

    We’ve loved every minute of Amsterdam and saw so much in the time we were here. Fancy being here for both tulip season and Kings Day. We are so incredibly lucky.

    Our first Eurostar has been a success too! We found our seats and connections and the train guard was very impressed that we had activated our passes correctly too.
    3 hours later and we arrived at our gorgeous hotel in Bruges. The rooms are gorgeous and we have a fair bit more space than we did in the hostel which isn’t hard (although we actually really enjoyed our time there).

    What an enchanting place Brugge is!! Holy moly, everywhere we turn is another photo opportunity. Cobbled streets, gorgeous shops (half of which are chocolatiers) and beautiful restaurants and bars.
    After a delightful dinner we decided to do a horse and cart ride around town!

    The clippety clop of the horses on the cobblestones just added to the whole experience.
    We stopped part way for the horses to rest, eat and drink whilst we had a bit of a wander near the old convent.
    More canals and flowers and lights and just…….magical and extremely picturesque. A brilliant start to our adventures here.    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Adventures
    Day 8

    Beautiful Brugge

    April 29 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Blue skies and 18°C so no puffers or singlets for us today!!
    We had breakfast in the town square, Belgium waffles - so scrumptious. Light & crispy and very moreish.

    We met our guide for our walking tour and off we trotted to find out loads of interesting facts and history of Bruges. We explored “chocolate street” which had over 70 chocolate shops as well as the old convent, beautiful bridges, canals and statues of significant people including the guy who brought the decimal point to Belgium. We also saw what was supposedly a vial of Jesus’ blood in a very old cathedral 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

    Afterwards we went chocolate & meringue shopping and were in absolute heaven.
    😋😋😋😋
    Bags and bellies full we sat for an afternoon wine in the town square to rest our feet and watch the world go by; all the while pinching ourselves that we are altogether in such a gorgeous part of the world.

    We finished the afternoon with a drink (Belgian Beers for some, wine for others) as we waved to boats on the banks of the canal🍻 🍻
    This is the life!!!    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Adventures
    Day 9

    Paris - a lifelong dream

    April 30 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We left our 16th century hotel in Bruge this morning and got an Uber to the train station. We travelled to Brussels then on to Paris

    As soon we walked out of the train station we were in love!! The buildings, the French signs, gorgeous flowers on loads of restaurants, the language, oooooh la la!!

    The traffic was INSANE but we arrived at our hotel and checked in. The location is fabulous.

    We decided to meander over to the Eiffel Tower, window shopping as we walked. A quick lunch stop with some delectable French cuisine and then we arrived.

    We rounded our last corner and there she was; absolutely stunning and surrounded by so much greenery. It was so overwhelming and there may have been a few tears. I can't believe i am here!

    Whilst awaiting our time to go to the summit, we sat at a cafe and enjoyed a French Kiss. Then Julie, Di and I headed over to the tower and took even more photos before it was finally our turn to take the lift up the very top.

    We were incredibly lucky to dodge the rain and were just mesmerised by the sight of Paris from above. With twinkling lights as far as we could see, the views were simply magic. We spotted The Arc de Triomph, Seine River, Pantheon and so much more.

    Bucket list items are being ticked off at a rate of knots!! This is a day I will never forget, and I am truly grateful to be here with my very best friends 💛    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Adventures
    Day 11

    Arc de Triomphe & Louvre

    May 2 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Up early again today and we had a nice breakfast in the hotel before heading out on a short walk to the Louvre.

    We had a guided tour booked for the Louvre this morning and were a bit nervous when we saw the monstrous queue! It snaked around the pyramid and out of the courtyard. BUT, luckily we knew a secret entrance and only had about a dozen people ahead of us so we walked straight in.

    Once again we had a fabulous guide who brought a bunch of the famous artworks to life by explaining their meanings and origins. We saw the Mona Lisa (which was actually bigger than I had expected), Venus de Milo, The Winged Victory of Samothrace (suspected to be the inspiration for the Nike symbol) and loads more. It really does make a difference to have a guide when you have no idea about art.

    Afterwards we strolled through the Jardin de Tuileries which would be absolutely gorgeous on a warmer/sunny day.

    There is loads of preparation for the Olympics everywhere we turn - temporary stadiums and roadworks etc. I reckon it will be crazy in a couple of months because the traffic is already madness.

    We did some window shopping as we strolled up the Champs Élysées, as the most expensive shopping street in the world, it Waa quite the experience. The Louis Vuitton shop is a suitcase. Bizarre, but very cool.

    Once we arrived st the Arc de Triomphe, we successfully talked ourselves into getting the lift rather than walking up the 300ish stairs (thank goodness).
    Unfortunately it was raining but we still loved the views. The tree lined streets that fan out from the Arc de Triomphe are simply stunning. The traffic from above however, is crazy!!!

    We found a lovely little restaurant and enjoyed a meal and cocktail before doing a bit of souvenir shopping and heading home after another jam packed day.

    One more full day to explore this beautiful city    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Adventures
    Day 13

    Travelling across France

    Yesterday in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    After being stood up by our friendly Uber driver from last night, we had a bit of a panic when we couldn’t snag a driver to get us the station but, voila! we made it……..

    We gad a very fast and scenic journey through the French countryside. We travelled 500km in 1 hour 20 minutes. You do the sums, it was very fast! Then we arrived in Strasbourg - like a town from Beauty and the Beast or Shrek.

    Our hotel is on the corner of the town square and we were greeted with all sorts of music, a market and some mini tennis games.

    We had crepes for lunch sitting in the shadow of the massively tall and intricate cathedral, Strasbourg's Notre Dame, and did a bit of people watching too.

    This town smells like gingerbread and has Hansel & Gretel vibes everywhere!

    There’s a definite German influence here yet everyone speaks French. I guess that is all explained in the history of Strasbourg.

    The boat cruise was awesome! The history of Strasbourg is fascinating but a bit of a highlight was going through a loch. We had to rise 2.8 metres and it was so wow. What a cool experience!

    Stories of life in the Middle Ages are so gruesome - the slaughterhouse bridges, the execution towers the public squares where beheadings happened, the bridge where people were put in cages and lowered into the river until they drowned - interesting, but so morbid.

    A lovely dinner was followed with an evening walk then off to bed to rest up for tomorrow's adventures    Read more

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