Ibis Mons Centre Gares

... head home as we had planned an early-ish morning the next day, we were going to rent a car (booked online) and drive out to Bruges. So we got up and went off to the Europcar place...and...it was not open...now, cutting a LONG, frustrating story short, we didn't end up getting a car, because it was Sunday, and nothing was open! So after a miserable and annoying morning, we went back to the hotel, had a little nap and then went back ...

I was still distraught from my horrendous hitchhiking experience from the night before, so it didn't really make for a smooth ride. That and I really didn't feel like doing anything. I find it to be a lot easier to ride with minimal rest days... Biking through England, I basically was riding everyday. But ...

As always, I ran a bit out of steam with keeping my travel blog up to  date during the last few days. Although I wasn't really too busy either. I did some sight-seeing, I even went up to Doi Suthep, the temple on the mountain outside Chiang Mai twice (and met Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones - or a very convincing ...

... after that you can rest all you want but during practice we will work. One group will hit, while the other is fielding. He carries a clipboard with notes printed off for each practice and never comes without it. It seems like every practice hes working on things we didnt have success with from our previous game. I thoroughly enjoy practice. I havent been able to say that since ive played summer ball. We always get to compete ...

... my second softball game since being over here. We didnt play a very strong team but it was good practice for us to learn how to work together a little better. Suprisingly i played shortstop and had a blast. I told my coach i didnt want to pitch anymore because shortstop was more fun. Less pressure and more balls hit to you. The last two innings i pitched. We won 7-0. I have a great time playing with the team. They truly just play for the love of the game.

... They walk a mile to eat and then walk a mile or two back to their car. They milk their own cows, cut their own wood( I cut my first piece of wood today...it took me a few tries but i finally got it and what a workout!), wash their dishes, make their own wine, even breed their own hens for eggs. I´ve experienced it firsthand. Its almost upperclass amish life, not that I know how the amish live but i think im close. I very quickly ...

Monday April 9-Tuesday April 10 Caught the train from Amsterdam to Brussels.... honestly not much to say about the place. Everything was closed on Monday. Sarah broke our TV. We couldn't find our museum but rather a nice empty lot. But I did have a rather yummy Argentinean beefsteak in the restaurant in our hotel the one night. Wednesday April 11 We had the pleasure of almost missing our train seeing as it took us ...

... more stabbing. Such an ugly gnome, he was. It was fun to watch but we sympathized with the poor lady who should have called her lawyer and filed for divorce right there. This year's symposium and our 24 hours over, we took going-away pictures and Julie hopped on the train back to Amsterdam at 16.46, exactly 24 hours after her arrival on that same platform. In the evening, when it had warmed up to a comfortable 25 degrees ...

First of all, damn the trip started bad. But to go back a bit in time : June was the exams month, it started in may and continued in June. So it has been a mixed of studies, exam doing some time spend in Leuven either with Leen, at stuk for some open air movies (Monthy Pythons or Im july, The Office...), some visit from Gil or in Brussel for short visit with student colleague and other Erasmus. Luckely I finished quite early in the half of the ...

... suspect, something else during the night. So different from the lovely cheap hotel we had in Toulon, and from the promises in their publicity material. I wonder what the Vincent Van Gogh will be like in Brussels. (Apparently he really did live there at some stage in his career!) We've paid for a night and reserved two more. If we don't like it we can go to Antwerp a day early. We plan to have mainly self-catered meals in Brussels. The hostel has a kitchen and there is a ...