Stiemerheide Hotel Genk

... A few photos later I was heading back and thought maybe I could eat a little dessert, I was just in luck as one of the waffle stands was still open although it was after 9 and everything was closing, "I'm sorry I only speak English." My opening gambit with all Dutch storekeepers.
"No problem I speak English for you!" Came the enthusiastic reply.
"Thanks, uh the Cherry one looks good."
"Yes, is very nice, first I warm it for you and ...

... a massive downpour which I barely got out of. This actually made me hopeful as I thought it might be blowing itself out - and so it proved.
Thus it was about 10.15am under clearing skies and some bright sunshine that I headed out of Valkenswaard, armed with a map... I still had some trouble finding the right road but I managed to get on to it with the help of a woman and her snarling dogs. :-) I was at the Belgian border in short order and had my first ...

... the day in Eindhoven so when I finally reached the suburbs it first find an internet cafe, (asked some guy - he seemed uncertain but then gave me perfect directions. FOund a hostel in Valkenswaard which was about another 9km but it was on the way to the border so it was in the right direction. Arrived, checked in - all looked good...

...Which makes it all the more bizarre why I suddenly had a bout of homesickness. Thoughts of family and friends, what I am ...

... to play Oware, the African game I brought with me from Ghana. After a delicious stroganoff stew lunch, I went for a wander to the apartment complex pool, had a bit of a swim (the day was 22 degrees celcius or so), then lay in the sun writing my journal.

On Monday of this week, I left early to catch my flight to Belgium. Before I left Australia, I was informed by the Chinese embassy that it was too early to get a visa for China, since they are only valid for 2 months, and I ...

... quite close to my head but I got used to it. I even got to ride Maud's horse and after a few laps of bouncing around like a fool I kind of got the hang of it! We heard Hugo and Maud practice in the local band one evening and on Tuesday we got to see Twan's school. It was nice to be in such a lovely town and out of the big cities. Bike riding through the woods and around Boukoul was a great change from walking! Going down into the mine in Valkenburg was very ...

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.

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 ...

The main reason I had decided to come to Holland in March was to celebrate my Tante Welmoed's 80th birthday with her. My cousin Judith did pretty much all of the planning and it was a fabulous party!

The guest began arriving at about noon and included friends of Welmoed's as well as lots of family. Of course Welmoed ...

... used to simple Italian foodstuffs; lunchtime saw Cheryl take me to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet which cost only €7 a head, while dinner-time me and Cheryl made a joint-discovery in an expensive-looking restaurant where the set menu only came to €20 but was truly superb - adding in a bit extra for an extra course of champagne and strawberry mousse between starters and the mains at only €3.50 plus wine, we felt like we had treated ourselves very ...

... 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 ...

... natuurlijk een jaar lang niet zien. Ik vraag me nu al af hoe het gaat zijn als ik terugkom. Vooral naar studiekeuzes van vrienden, hoe mijn broers en zussen er gaan uitzien over een jaar, ...

Ik ben er dus volledig klaar voor. Koffer is gepakt (en ik hoop dat ik ook alles bij heb) en zit niet over de maximum limiet van het gewicht. Moet je ook kunnen: een jaar weggaan en maar 20 kg meenemen. Al zou ik het liefst met al mijn hebben en houden ...