Crowne Plaza Maastricht

... that is Denmark (25% GST amongst other taxes!!!), it had some nice-looking pubs and eating places too.<br><br>On Thursday morning I said goodbye to Emil, had breakfast with Claus and Louisa, and Claus dropped me at the the train to Copenhagen. Once there I had about 3 hours to spare before I had to be at the airport for my flight to Spain, and so I stowed my luggage in lockers at the train station, found a map and went on a zooming 2-hour bolt around Copenhagen. What a wonderful city ...

During our stay in Spa we had the most scary, horrible, unpleasant experience ever in a restaurant.<br><br>The restaurant to avoid is "Le Bouchon Gourmand", the owner does not hesitate to insult customers, lock them into the restaurant if there is a dispute on the bill, and claim more money than is due. <br><br>See more on www.bouchon-gourmand.blogspot.com

After popping into and out of Germany, we were now back in Belgium. It was beginning to get a bit dark, and we still had at least 200 miles left to drive.<br><br>Gaz's motor was struggling, and threatening to overheat, so we stopped to let it cool down.<br><br>With the vehicles all decorated with stickers, we attracted a bit of attention, and a Belgian couple took our ...

Once in Elsloo, we stopped to find postcards (having completely missed the observations again), only to find that the only card shop was closed that afternoon.<br><br>Up the road a bit, and Kieran was dropping a card into the door of a Landy enthusiast they had met on the recce. The guy turned up at that moment, and so we were invited in for a refreshing cold drink. The Landyprikkers overtook us at that point, and went on their way. We then ...

Dutch frat boys may possibly constitute the most hilarious subculture I've ever witnessed. Dressed in their tight Euro club garb (designer jeans, double popped polo shirts or tight button-ups with the top open), these defenders of the lost art of nepotism, old money and douchebaggery have arguably more in common with their American counterparts than their other non-frat ...

... eating so much fatty foods...I don't know how they stay so skinnny! The weather here has been fairly decent...a couple rainy days, a couple chilly days...but nothing comparable to good ol' SD. The nightlife here is constantly keeping us busy...and I have a feeling it is going to be difficult for me to come back to the states as a minor again :) This issue though is something I think my parents might be favorable for :) I ...

... on to Maastricht. It's doesn't take long - probably less than half an hour. We park near the old city center but are told by a kind local that we are parking in a taxi zone and will be towed. Gary takes off to park elsewhere while we go sit on a bench in the center, soaking up the sights and sounds. We wander around the old city center a bit, watching a marching band, visiting ...

... find a shop to buy some dutch goodies to bring back to England (peanut butter, stroopwaffels, frietsaus, saté saus). I did some pictures of the city and riverside before coming back home when it was dark and getting more chilly. Maarten had started to cook and it looked wonderfully tasty! It was lasagna and couscous... wow (it was actually wonderfully delicious!) I helped with cleaning a bit the dishes before the ...

... it must be said that after riding over 50km in the day it was not a comfortable finish to proceedings, our numb bums not appreciating leaving the smooth bitumen roads for the cobbled streets of Maastricht&#8217;s centre. <br><br>We rested on our sore rear-ends for the evening at an Indonesian restaurant. Another of the drawbacks I&#8217;ve found about living in Europe is the lack of good South-East Asian food but ...

Dit is de start van een nieuw leven! Een jaar lang weg uit de omgeving die voor mij gedurende 18 jaar zo bekend is geworden. Die bekende omgeving ga ik nu verlaten en ga nieuwe horizonten opzoeken. Spannend? Eng? Ik denk een beetje van beiden. Maar dat wil niet zeggen dat ik het niet meer zie zitten.<br><br>De laatste dagen zijn hier wel wat vreemd geweest, de dag komt ook zo dichtbij. Afscheidsfeestje is geweest voor vrienden en familie. Want ik ga ...