Ibis Leuven

... from Belgium, not from France, as many think), an Asterix (that IS french) and a french version of Stephen King's "The Shining" (one of my favorites). Speaking of Tintin, we also visited the Belgian Comic Museum which was quite interesting and a lot of fun, seeing the history of this very important Belgian industry.

Then, for a special treat, I was able to go with Nadine to see a play for free! Since she ...

... on a certain amount of rock music in a village called Werchter. Lyndsey and Tom have drifted off to a brief sleep, and John is fighting it by use of his ipod. We are sitting at the train station in Leuven waiting for the first train back to Brussels , due at 5.33. The station is packed full of people who look like homeless students, all with the intention of fighting to get on the 5.33 from Leuven ...

... drain and you wonder if god exists...Australia's candidate, Kate, who I used to work with at the Belgian Beer Cafe in Perth did extremely well but somehow was pipped by New Zealand. The New Zealander was also very good, but made a silly mistake, which should have cost her a lot of points. The guy from Ukraine was also excellent and got a place. In the end it was New Zealand first, Ukraine second and Australia third. Jipped. We got completely ...

... We stopped for ice cream on our way to the pool and then spent the next three hours frolicking in the water. The kids had a blast. We brought sand toys so they were able to play with buckets and shovels and we had a great time tossing a ball around. Eliza started to fall apart and somehow at 4:30 I was able to get her to take a nap in the stroller. A little after 6pm we got out of the pool and got dressed and went to the ...

... evening, after splitting off for a few necessities (hostel check-ins, pizza, etc.), we met back up in the main square of the town for the Vlaanderenzingt ("Flanders Sings") festival. To adequately describe this festival would be very difficult. Picture a karaoke bar. Then multiply the size of the karaoke bar by about a thousand. Now situate that bar outdoors in the middle of a beautiful town square with historic buildings. Add a stage with a choir singing into ...

Day 2 Technically could be the Day 1 as it is the first full day we have spent in Leuven. Wow. Started off quite slow. Abigail was the first awake around 9am but she cuddled in bed with us for a while. I got up and got her some breakfast. Every meal is a little new and different, which luckily in these two short days they have found to be quite fun. This morning it was waffles (just prepackaged ones that are more like donuts and thus don't require ...

... London, the group got bigger before we headed back to join Mathilde at the café on Place Jourdan. I wanted to get things at Colruyt still, but it was too late. So I went to welcome the guests of the meeting who were keeping on arriving. The meeting was great and success, more than 50 members turned out and some really cool people. A lot of new faces and new members as well. We even had someone of above 60 year old and also a family coming. It was well diversified. The owner of ...

Back in Leuven!! And it is actually raining at the moment! My prayers have been answered. HAHA Today was a very lazy day. I slept-in & recovered from the two tumultuous days in Amsterdam -- Though I still have been pretty woozy throughout today. I think that I was pretty dehydrated from the heat ...

As always, I've started planning. There are actually 3 things to work out before leaving : 1) how will I get there ? 2) where will I stay ? 3) what will I do there ? 1) How will I get there ? Because I only have 14 days, I decided to take a plane. I know of some super Lithuanian Hitchhikers who manage to go from Vilnius to Brussels in less than 48 hours, but I'm taking the luxurious way and flying from ...

It's twenty-four hours back to Brussels, train passing nameless cities through the night. At some early point the Euro police come on and check us out, but after that it’s just cruise and snooze. Finally we get in to Brussels, from which I’ll catch a cheap bus north across the sea, but that’s tomorrow. I go check out the biggest Muslim area ...