Hotel Brasserie Vroenhof Valkenburg

... but it got a conversation started. They spoke excellent English and we talked about things from his house being repossessed, to my adventure, to her climbing (which was of note because she was in a wheelchair).
After 40 minutes or so I said goodbye and headed off as I needed to get back and make my bed before my room-mate went to bed if poss to avoid disturbing her. It was now about 830 and I decided I could take a few more photos on the ...

... at 23 euros (I can't keep this up forever) but it was for a good cause. I stowed my bike and headed up to the room. My new roommate was a girl who was doing an Intership in Eindhoven but here for an exam tomorrow. We chatted briefly but I was making a beeline for the shower and she left while I was in there.
I got ready and was out of the door by 530 armed with an intent to remodel my luggage solutions and perhaps grab some food (I still hadn't tried anything Dutch).

... Whilst I had very little time there, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and found myself desperately wanting to return to explore this little alley or that little shop, or this other part of the city one day - either that or wishing that my own Danish prince would walk round the corner and suggest I stay to be shown the city in more detail! ;) Every now and then you find a city where you feel instantly comfortable, and where you would be only too happy to stay longer, perhaps even not ...

... left Holland to avoid going to work in the mines and after experiencing the working conditions these coal miners were exposed to every day we can understand why.
On Sunday we relaxed for the day; Whitney went with Maud and Peter to ride the horse whileI stayed home with the boys and played ps3 and soccer on the trampoline. :) Renee and his wife Ricarda came over for a visit during the day and we met their son Tim. That evening we went to the ...

During our stay in Spa we had the most scary, horrible, unpleasant experience ever in a restaurant.

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.

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.

Gaz's motor was struggling, and threatening to overheat, so we stopped to let it cool down.

With the vehicles all decorated with stickers, we attracted a bit of attention, and a Belgian couple took our ...

... on with their day.... Our first stop in Eupen was to tour the Parliament of the German-speaking community in Belgium (Eupen is the capital of the German speaking community). It was kinda cool seeing in the offices and stuff but still somewhat boring. After this we went on a city tour which sucked because it was pouring the whole time and I was wearing a dress :( But later that day we saw the best ...

Hello all~ I do not have much to write today....I have a really bad cold and just took some cold medicine so in about fifteen minutes I will be out cold! I can already feel my head clouding over. I have some new pictures to share. Most of them are from last night. We had our Opening Dinner. It was very nice, they had a nice meal prepared a lot of fish dishes. I tried smoked salmon with ...

... small cursory road sign confirmed we had crossed into Belgium. It was an absolute pleasure to ride along the flat bike lanes attached to each and every road, a far cry from the stress and angst of riding alongside vehicle traffic in Australia, and we kept going for a good 25km or so to the town of Genk.

Genk itself was a fairly non-descript place, but when in a local supermarket we were each able to ...

... je moest het maar iets nodig hebben en het thuis hebben laten liggen.

Maar zo, ik vertrek! Ik ga genieten van mijn jaar in het buitenland, aan het strand, tussen de palmbomen, de blauwe zee. Zoals ik het opnoem lijkt het wel een droomvakantie. Maar vergeet niet: de nieuwe taal, nieuwe mensen, nieuwe gewoonten, nieuwe omgeving, ... Hier lijkt het een avontuur dat ik absoluut niet wil vergeten.

Later meer.

Groetjes Stefanie