Hotel Restaurant Terrasse Gaudi Valkenburg

... section which was through a separate set of glass doors. I sat down and had a pipe while I drank my water. Shortly after this I was joined by a couple who sat across from me and struck up a conversation (I think it was Dutch). I stoked another pipe and, not knowing the protocol in a coffee shop I did what we do in the UK - if you are smoking with peeps u don't know, pass it round. Both abstained (pipes are notoriously unpopular but I hate tobacco ...

... speeds, and gears, that have been hitherto unreached since the panniers went on. The Belgian countryside sped by and it was pleasant enough a few thatched cottages and MANY quaint bars. No pictures though - I was on a mission!
The map proved to be a great success and just knowing more than a couple of place names and their relative loctaions was priceless. Meanwhile, I decided it was time to get brushing up the Francais and the "Learn in your Car" went on ...

... considering your application, possibly...'

So, short of diverting through Hong Kong and getting very little time in the UK as a result, and spending a whole lot more money only to possibly still not get a visa, my only apparent option was to courier my passport home to the waiting Courtney, who would get my visa express there and send it back. Upon leaving Spain, I resolved to do this upon arrival in Belgium, since I would have 2 weeks in that country to wait for my passport ...

... old house, and a few other local sights. We stopped by the stables and said hello to Maud's horse as well as riding past the kids' schools. It was quite sunny so we stopped for lunch at a cafe and ate outdoors looking at the river. I let Hugo choose what I should eat and so I experienced 'Frikandel' - a kind of deep fried sausage. I asked what was in it but they refused to tell me until after I ate it. Suffice to say I felt as if I could get home at a brisk ...

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

... They told us we were at the highest point in Belgium, which was somewhere in the Nature Park.

We decided to call it a day for the roadbook, and make a detour to just get into Luxembourg for fuel, and to make sure we 'did' all the countries.

Looking back that detour cost us some time, but did mean we visited Luxembourg, even if it was too dark to see it.

... haben wir gelernt, zB Impro-Schach. 32 lebende Figuren, und jedesmal, wenn eine angegriffen wird, gibt es einen Wettstreit, den nur einer ueberlebt. Moegliche Felder: Die meisten Woerter zu einem Thema in 20 Sekunden; Pantomime mit seinem Team, oder auch Liederraten; die beste theatralische Erklaerung zu einem Wort... das letzte musste ich beim Endduell machen (ich war der schwarze Koenig) und habe mit meiner Beschreibung zu gratouiller als ...

... only English speaking country in central America? What is the most Northern desert in the world? How many men walked on the moon?" If you can answer any of these, then you should have been with us. We would have won and would have received a free beer each. Oh, but you needed to remember songs from bands like the Jackson 5, Talk Talk, Celine Dion, Obscure Beatles, and Alice Cooper (only women bleed). That was truly our weak link! One of the guys at 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’s centre.

We rested on our sore rear-ends for the evening at an Indonesian restaurant. Another of the drawbacks I’ve found about living in Europe is the lack of good South-East Asian food but ...

... 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