Day 134, 135, 136 and 137 - Chillaxing

Not much point doing separate entries for each of these days.  Pretty much did the same thing, caught up on washing, downloading photos, the blog, gardening, cooking, catching up on news with Olly, planning the next 6 weeks of travels, food shopping.....just what I needed, some chillaxing time. 

On the first day the weather was brilliant.  Luckily Olly was working from home and it was a pretty quiet day for her so we headed out to a pub called The Mill for lunch - it was a lovely location, so it was heaven sitting in the sunshine having a salad and glass of wine.  England is glorious when the sun is out!

The next couple of days Olly and I alternated cooking dinner, or cooked together.  One night we made gourmet hamburgers, and another pizza - which included making the base.  A couple of the tradies were working on the roof so we used them as guinea pigs to try out the pizza and improve each pizza we made.  I also made my first ever cheese cake!  We were very proud of our efforts, and Pat and Yvie enjoyed it as well.

Day 133 - Farewell Belgium and Harry

Woke up with a funny stomach - Koen and Choc the same.  Must've been the African we ate the previous night for dinner.  We went out for breakfast, then Choc and I headed for the movies to go and see the final Harry Potter movie.  I really enjoyed it!  Both of us were happy that it was not a 3D movie as the snake would've really scared us.

I can't believe it is time to move on again...the trip around Europe has really been an incredible journey.  I will have the best memories.  Choc was gorgeous and drove me to meet the Eurostar train - closest train station was Lille France.  At one stage I was getting worried as the English immigration officer was asking me a lot of questions about returning to the UK...it turned out she was just fascinated by my travels and the places I have been to.  I suppose it isn't every day they have a 40 year old backpacker who is travelling the world for 6 months.

Back in the UK, and I made my way from London to my second home - Farnham.  I need a couple of days to recharge before I then make the most of my last weeks in the UK.  Can't believe how much Olly and Pat's garden has grown whilst I have been away!!!  The past 6 weeks are a bit of a blur.

Day 130, 131 and 132 - Gent and Gentse Feesten

Just to change the pace abit, I have decided to combine 3 days into one.  Some highlights of these 3 days were:

1. Sleepins - not up before about 9am each day but needed as out fairly late most nights
2. Tour de France - never been into it before, but really enjoyed watching it and learning the ins and outs from Koen (don't tell Dan and Herbie!)  It wasn't just that Cadel was doing well, it was also seeing the landscape, and not being bored silly by English speaking commentators - they spoke Flemish.  Also a great advantage that it was at reasonable times through the day, rather than having to stay up late at night
3. Belgian beer - Choc, Koen and I were going to write out a list of all the beers I tasted, but it never happened.  Lets just say that Koen was pleased with my efforts, and there weren't many I didn't like - one cherry one I really couldn't drink but the rest were pretty good.  We visited some excellent pubs - so many with a lovely atmosphere.  I would love to go back to Gent when it isn't festival time to enjoy them even more.
4. Jenever - flavoured gin, my fav is vanilla (a lot like a vanilla flavoured baileys)
5. Gentse Feesten - the festival is great!  There is just so much to see - people of all ages out drinking, eating, watching bands, street performers, etc.  The festival goes for 10 days during the summer holidays.  Gent is a uni town but the uni students have gone home for the summer.  The first festival was held in 1843, so it has a very long history, then in 1943 was resurected to the current format - altough now on a lot larger scale. 
6. Shopping - there is a big sale on in Belgium, that goes over the period of a month.  We had a look around, and I was thrilled to (ignore this bit guys as you won't understand) buy new bras as the ones I have after months of travelling and handwashing, were falling to bits and did not really enhance my assets (if you know what I mean!).  Also bought a couple of souvenirs and a little present for myself - thanks Choc for all the fab advice!  You can help me spend my money anytime :-)
7. Great food - especially one beef casserole type dish, and Koen's home-made bread.  We had African one night - it tasted great but did not sit well in the stomach for any of us.

Francois, Choc and Koen

One of the many beers I tried

Jenever - vanilla flavour

Entrance to Pol's bar where we get his famous Jenever

Pub across from Choc and Koen

Men's urinal - found on a lot of street corners.  Most surprising thing is that over some of them they have a sign indicating it is for both sexes - not certain how women would do it though!!

The only thing disappointing about my time in Belgium was that most times when we left the apartment, it rained.  Bit of a shock to the system coming from brilliant sunshine and mid 30 temperatures in Croatia to wet Belgium, where the temp rarely got over 20.

Day 129 - Castles are damp cold things, would never want to live in one!

The Panorama Hotel, our accommodation for the night, served the most amazing breakfast!  There was juice, coffee, pastries, bread, ham, cheese, yoghurt, cereals, fruit, make your own pancakes and the best part was a contraption like a deep fryer, filled with hot water, that you could lower an egg into!!!  Beside it was the old egg timers - one for a minute, one for 3 min, and the other for 5 min.  It was brilliant, my munchkins would love it!!

Choc and I then waddled down through the town one side, crossed over the river, then made our way up the streets to the Castle.  We wandered around for a couple of hours, and even got to watch a falconers demonstration (no idea why called a falconer when he also had an owl, eagle and buzzard-type birds).  Any how, look and see....

View of castle and town from our hotel

Our hotel is up the top - Panorama Hotel

I have no idea why anyone would want to live in a castle during those times...possibly no one did want to live there but had to.  It is cold, damp, and that is in the middle of summer!  Fascinating thing about this castle is that apart from being close to the river, there is an underground spring that continually provides water.  The torture room was really grusome.

We wandered around town, had a hot chocolate then hit the road for Gent.  We did pass through a little town along the way that the Lonely Planet said was quaint, small and white-washed.  It was sort of quaint, extremely small, but only one white-washed building so the details weren't exactly correct.

We arrived back at Choc and Koen's place late afternoon.  Koen went to the Gent Festival that night but Choc and I decided to skip it, instead hiring Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1), as we both want to see part 2 on at the movies.

Day 128 - more bubbles then an incredible castle

After another lovely french breakfast we checked out of our accommodation, and hit the road.  First stop was Billiecart-Salmon for a tasting, but alas no one was available to do this.  We decided to go for a drive towards Reims, and on the way stopped in at this tiny champagne house.  The owner (part-owner) was still in his overalls but happily took them off and opened a couple of bottles of bubbles for us to try. Choc and I bought a couple of bottles as it was good, but also because the man was so lovely and from one of the smaller places that would not get as many visitors as the bigger champagne houses.

We took off and drove to Reims, a big town, to check out a couple of champagne houses there, including Mumm.  Unfortunately it was closed for siesta (jolly ridiculous concept if you ask me!), so we headed instead to the city centre and visited the Reim Cathedral which was a lovely building.

Magnificent house we passed along the way

It was then time to leave France, and head back into Belgium.  

Choc had booked a nights accommodation in Bouillon, which is just over the border and site of an amazing chateau on a high ridge overlooking the Semois River.  The fortress harks back to the 8th century, whilst the castle was built in 988.  Our hotel has an amazing view across to the castle and the town below.  We arrived late in the afternoon so unpacked our bags and went down to the town for a couple of beers.

Choc has been to the hotel before, and others she knew, so suggested we have dinner there.  The meal was fabulous, lamb chops with a cous cous side dish.  We also had a great bottle of wine - we were told that it was produced only by women so thought it was appropriate for the occasion.

Day 127 - Bubbles

I love the French breakfast, small dishes of yoghurt and fruit, jams, croissants and other pastries, fruit juice and coffee.  Great way to start the day.

Choc and I then headed of to do some explorations of the champagne region, and some tastings.  Choc has been to this area before so that helped.  Unfortunately the rain followed us from Belgium, and it wasn't very warm so that was a little disappointing.

First stop on the agenda was Mercier champagne house.  It is one of the bigger ones, but also has a fascinating history.  The popularity of the brand over the years was due to the self-promotion of the founder Eugene Mercier (1847).  He used a number of publicity stunts, including building the biggest wine barrel (160,000 litres) that was transported to the local show all those years ago - requiring houses to be knocked down to make way etc.  Nowdays the Mercier family still owns the champagne house, and have a laser-guided train that takes people on a tour of the cellars below.  It was fun but also really informative.  Best part was the 3 glasses of champers at the end with the guy telling us the differences between each.

To sober up (not really, it was only 3 glasses), Choc and I wandered along the main street of Epernay past the various other champagne houses.  The buildings in themselves were gorgeous.  Most of the champagne houses I did not know but was really pleased to see a statue of the following fellow:

We had lunch in Epernay in a little cafe (most of the shops were closed for siesta), then jumped back in the car and headed to Herbert Beaufort in Bouzy, a champagne house that Choc has been to before.  Their champagne is lovely, so Choc stocked up to take back to Belgium, and I got a bottle for myself.

We would've liked to have visited more places but some of the champagne houses weren't open or closed for an extended period over lunch (3 hours) so we weren't in time for a tasting.

We went for a drive around the region:

then headed back to Epernay (not many other places open) for a couple of beers, then dinner.  I don't know how the French keep their figures when they eat such rich food!  The meal was good, traditionally French.

We didn't get back to our accommodation til about 9pm that night so overall, it was a long but fun day.

Day 126 - off to sample Champagne!

Still raining!  We hung out in the apartment and watched sport on tv all morning, then headed to a local Greek restaurant for a feast for lunch.  As soon as we walked out the door it just hosed down so all of us had very wet feet by the time we made it 50 meters up the road!

In the afternoon we focused on packing and sorting ourselves out.  Koen is staying in Belgium as he has to work, Al is catching the Eurostar train to London and Choc and I are going to France.  Choc dropped Al off in Lille to catch her train, and then we continued on to a little town just outside of Epernay, to our accommodation.  We arrived at the guest house about 8pm, and had a lovely huge room.  The house is owned by a French couple who have extremely limited French so just as well Choc knows some (she works in the french part of Belgium and Koen has fluent french), and is located overlooking a canal.  A number of canal boats were pulled up out the front - obviously the way a number of people get around the area and they have bicycles on the boats so they can ride around the towns.

Choc and I had brought with us a picnic of cheeses, foie gras and bread so had a little picnic on the bank of the canal, and then went for a wander around the town - doesn't take long as it is small, whilst we still had day light.  One champagne house we passed I knew of Billiecart-Salmon, so we will see if we can pop in for a tasting.  We managed to find out way through vineyards up to the highest point of the town where there was a statue of the Virgin Mary.  Fabulous view from the top.  By this stage it was 10pm, getting dark and time for bed so we wandered back for our beauty sleep.

Day 125 - Rain rain go away

We all had a big sleep in.  Al and I went off to buy pastries for breakfast, achieved this but I also bought a pair of shoes!  Belgium have only a couple of sales a year and everything is heavily discounted.  Yipeee!!

After lunch we lay around in the apartment as it was misty rain then us girls decided to hit the shops - unfortunately along the way there was quite a bit of rain so we didn't really go too far.  It is a pity about the weather as it is the official opening of the Gentse Feesten today with a parade and all.  People were still out with their umbrellas and raincoats though, and lining the streets.  For us the parade just meant getting really wet - not just a little damp so we skipped it.

We sloshed our way back to the apartment, had an afternoon snack of Belgian cheeses, foie gras and champers, then dressed up for dinner out.  Choc and Koen had picked a lovely restaurant in the former fish market and the meal was excellent - the others all had muscles, I had a great steak.  We then wandered around to a famous bar here that sells Jeneva's - flavoured gin.  There are so many flavours, ranging from vanilla, to mocha, various fruits, even cactus.  If it wasn't so wet maybe we would've stayed out later but it was not to be.

Day 124 - From sun and beach to beer and music

Farewell Croatia! Today we are flying out to Belgium – I must admit I am looking forward to cooler weather as it has been so incredibly hot. We headed to the beach early for a final swim, had showers, packed, got pastries from the supermarket for breakfast then had the usual coffee.

The owner of the apartments we were staying in drove us to the airport – he is such a lovely man, loves rock and roll music, and was full of information on the local area. Happy to give anyone his details if you intend on coming to Dubrovnik and don’t want to stay in the main city (which I strongly suggest would be a good move).

Plan from here is to go to Belgium, stay with friends Choc and Koen in Ghent for the weekend and to visit the Ghent Festival (Angus and Julia Stone tonight, dinner tomorrow night), drop Al at the train Sunday afternoon then Choc and I are going to the champagne region of France for a couple of days (Koen unfortunately has to work). From there, nothing is definite yet but I want to see a little of Belgium before heading back to London. I then have about 4 weeks to catch up with people and see places in the UK eg Lakes District, Pam in Oxford, Newforest, Camden Market, then head to Asia on 18^th August. I have only 8 weeks of my trip left – although I would love to see friends and family, and sleep in my own bed, I struggle with the idea of going home.     

We flew from Dubrovnik to Zagreb (capital of Croatia) on a little plan, disembarked, went through customs, then boarded the same plane!  We were getting on board and watching our backpacks be loaded on a the same time.  We arrived in Brussels at about 5.30pm and Choc was there to greet us.  We then had about an hours trip to Gent (English spell it Ghent), and greeted Koen.  We had a bottle of champers to celebrate our arrival, had a chat then changed and headed to Gentse Feesten (festival that goes for 10 days, with the official opening the next day.  There is a lot of music, performers, alcohol and food - especially muscles, to be had). 

I had my first official Belgian beer in Belgium, and really enjoyed it. We sat outside and had something to eat and a few drinks before heading into a tent to watch Angus and Julia Stone (siblings from Perth who I think are great singers, songwriters and musicians).  To start off with the crowd was fairly small but later on into the event I looked back to see the tent was crowded and they all seemed to enjoy the gig - especially Julia's performance.  It was a great night, and we ended up staggering back to Choc and Koen's, past Hooker Street (prostitution is legal in Belgium), at about 2am.  What an introduction to the country!!

Our concert wrist passes, Jacobs Creek sparkling - in Belgium!, and Belgian beer

Asian rice, fries with mayonaise and mussels

Day 123 - Cruising the islands

Two days left in Croatia. As we didn’t get the ferry time or the opportunities to visit islands during our trip to date, Al and I booked ourselves on a tour of the Elifiti Islands – there are 7 islands in total, 3 are inhabited. We met our boat at 9.30am, which took off up the coast to Dubrovnik to pick up other passengers. There were probably about 50 of us in total. I started off sitting up the top to get the sun and a good view for photos but it just got too hot so joined Al downstairs in the shade up the front of the boat.

First stop was Kolocep Island, then Lopud Island. Both are small enough to walk around but not in the 45 min we had for each. We must’ve been running late cause we were initially told we would spend an hour on each island. We only got time for a swim at both places but the water is so magnificent, we were happy. There were a number of boats following the same route so we saw familiar faces along the way.

I cracked it with a couple of tourists whilst we were on the boat. They would come up to the front to smoke, and after flicking ash that landed on the people behind them, they then proceeded to flick their cigarette butts into the water. I couldn’t help myself, and told them off! I think I got my message across, despite the fact they didn’t appear to speak English, and they then used a can to dispose of the butts. One for me! I had a go at another passenger later in the trip too so you can safely say I didn’t make friends of this lot but some other people smiled so I think they appreciated my comments and agreed with me.

Lunch was grilled fish and salad – quite disappointing and hard to eat as there was just so much salt added. Oh well, the bread was good.

The last island we visited was Sipan that had a lovely feel to it. If I was going back to Dubrovnik, I would definitely look at staying on this island for a couple of days. Al and I had a wander around, looking in a couple of shops, and churches, until we found this old garden that was badly in need of work. It looked quite old, and there were the most amazing trees – absolutely huge pine trees, palms, rhododendrons, etc. I would love to take a year off work and spend the year helping to restore this place (just not in the middle of summer!) There were a number of columns dotted around the place and statues, so I imagine that awhile ago it was a really lovely place – and could be again.

We had a swim on Sipan as well – crystal clear water despite it being a bit rougher than the other places we swam at. I am REALLY going to miss swimming every day – it has been fantastic for the mind and the body.

We arrived back at Srebreno and headed straight for the cafe below our apartment. The guys behind the bar know us now, we don’t even need to order – coffee in the morning, beers in the afternoon. I have really enjoyed the Croatian beer and feel as if I am now ready to take on the Belgian beer.

Dinner was at the same restaurant we had been to the 2 previous nights, and we were really pleased that we had our same waitress – Sandra. She is lovely, and every recommendation she has made in relation to food has been spot on. Srebreno Restaurant servers amazing food, especially seafood, and the service was fabulous. I had salmon linguini again – couldn’t resist as it was so good the previous time. White wine was great also.

Day 122 - Dubrovnik old city and a truck load of sweat

Up early to explore Dubrovnik old city.  After coffee we caught the bus into town and were there not long after 8am.  We want to do as much as we can before it gets too hot.

We hit the Dubrovnik city walls first, and walked up and down all 1940 meters - great exercise as loads of stairs.  The view inside and out of the old city, harbour and neighbouring islands is spectacular.  The city walls include five forts and 16 towers and bastions.  By the end of the walk we were sweating bucket loads.  We then wandered the streets, exploring the various churches, monasteries, fountains, bell towers, old Pharmacy (founded in 1317) and laneways.  I was blown away with how beautiful it is, expecially as it was extensively damaged in the 1991/2 war.  I really recommend you come some time (if you haven't been already), but maybe not in the peak summer season to avoid the heat and throng of tourists.

We checked out a photography exhibition at War Photo Limited, that I thought was really powerful.  A number of photographers have captured images from recent wars, including in the former Yugoslavia.

We caught a boat from Dubrovnik back to the town where our apartment is, thinking it would be cooler than bus travel but it really wasn't the case.  Anyway, back in Srebreno, we had a beer then went to the beach for a swim before dinner.  Tonight Al and I shared grilled fish, calamari and the vegetable dish they serve (a mix of potato, zucchini and leek but cooked beautifully so it was still retained a lot of moisture therefore being a lot less filling than traditional mashed potato).