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Vacation 2010 - Part 2: Brussels, Metz, Home
After part 1 last week which was about our stay and adventures in the Netherlands the first week. Here the second and final part of our nice vacation, this second week we left the Netherlands for a few days.
Friday 13th of August 2010
After test driving Arnold's old white Volvo for a couple of days already we were convinced enough to take the old-timer with us on our roadtrip. First destination Brussels, Belgium. With our fuel tank full of petrol we went on our way. We had some plans to go stop and visit some places on our way, but at Zwolle it already became apparent that the crowded roads and road constructions didn't allow us to do this at all. We agreed with our host to be on a certain time in Brussels and to be sure we reached her place on time we didn't have the time to visit some castles/ruins on our way. With some minor breaks to stretch the legs roughly every 2 hours, we were on our way. At Tilburg exit road constructions hit us again and we got sent to Eindhoven instead. From there we took small roads in an almost straight line to Brussels. It may sound like a major detour but we (or at least I) didn't want to go over the 'normal' highway to avoid major traffic jams. This paid off well because the highway between Antwerpen and Brussels had major issues on multiple places and getting into Brussels due to an accident and other stupidities.
We had a 90 minutes to spend before we agreed to arrive in the end and decided to go to Tervuren. I hear you wondering. What the hell is there to do in Tervuren. Well there is the Royal museum of Central Africa which has a huge garden and after a long tiring drive having a refreshing walk doesn't hurt a man. After an hour we continued our way into Brussels. Pfff what to say about driving in Brussels. I'm happy I didn't get hit by a car or I hit an pedestrian. It requires a totally different set of driving skills to find your way there. Luckily Krista knows Brussels very well and guided me without any major problems to our hosts place. But for me it was a victory for my driving skills even though some other drivers driving 'in my trunk' would argue with this statement.
Later in the evening we met up with other friends of Krista (Our host is also her friend from Brussels) in Brussels for dinner. I had there a ham with mustard sauce and the ham was so big that I really can't see a ham anymore until Christmas. The food was really good and also Krista's friends were really kind. After finishing up the main course in this restaurant, we went to the African area where we had some deep fried plantain banana with Ginger mango juice for desert. There was a lot of ginger in the drink and your whole body immediately responded to it. But it was really good in a way. After sitting there for a while we went back for a night of sleep after a long day.
Saturday 14th of August 2010
We spent the night on a 1,5 person air mattress, but slept reasonably well under those circumstances. This Saturday we spent mostly exploring the city and checking out some places Krista liked and doing some shopping. There was some flower art on the big square and we went to a chocolate place for some nice hot chocolate. I had some raspberry powder and South American cacao in my hot chocolate. A bit strange but pretty good in the end. We also went to a design exhibition in an old electricity plant near the 'vismarkt'. We cheated our way inside as students and watched the design process and the eventual result of multiple objects from talented young designers. Quite interesting.
In the evening we cooked and dined for our host and afterwards we went with her barhopping in the city center. Starting at the Delirium bar, where Krista finally could drink some proper kriek. After that our host took us to a nice hidden pub near the Delirium bar where I had some Kwak beer, which you had to drink a bit carefully because the shape of the glass would cause a beer flood if you drink it too fast. Nice strong tasting beer though. When that bar closed we found a seat outside on a terrace at another bar where we had some other beers and some toasted bread. We witnessed a short but heavy rain fall while sitting dry under the sun screen. When we decided to hit home the rain had luckily already stopped again. We took the taxi back to our host's place. In the taxi I was really wondering if I had a life insurance or not, because OMG that driver ignored most of the traffic signs and speed limits. But oh well we got back to our beds fast and we survived it without any clothes tearing (Dutch saying).
Sunday 15th of August 2010
Sunday was all about the market at 'Midi/Zuid'. We had to go there in the morning already not to miss out on the Maroccan morning pancakes. I had the vegetables pancake and the pancake with cheese and honey. It was really good, very very tasty, even though the hygiene department would have their point of view on the preparation of the pan cakes. We had a nice walk still in the area and went to visit a flea market on another square somewhere in the neighborhood. Dropped by some of the bars Krista was hanging out during her time in the Belgium capitol. In the afternoon we took the train to Wavre to visit two other friends of Krista.
In the evening there was a Jam session at our hosts place and most of the friends we met on Friday were there as well. We had a great time hitting the percussion instruments and the atmosphere was really nice. The next day was about driving more south again on our way to Metz, France, so we packed our stuff and went to bed quite early to be ready for the next stage of our trip.
Monday 16th of August 2010
So as said, we left early in the morning, thanked our wonderful host and friend and went on our way. Our road trip first lead us to the capital of Luxembourg, Luxembourg. There we found a parking garage and spend the afternoon having some lunch at an Italian restaurant and doing some minor sightseeing. After we found our car back, we continued our road trip to our final destination of the next three days, Metz. We had a minor traffic jam somewhere half way the 60km to Metz, but everything went quite smooth.
We followed the instructions the hotel had provided us, but somehow we got somewhere totally different and in the wrong direction. After just turning the car and driving back following Metz center signs we got in the neighborhood. However driving through the small streets of the city center we still didn't manage to find the hotel. We knew the hotel was suppose to be close to the main cathedral but no clue in which direction. After looking around for a while we managed to find the right hotel.
We checked in, put the car in the garage and inspected our room. The first room had a wet floor, so after a question about this at the reception desk we got the room next door which didn't have this problem. The room was nice enough for the price and it had a bathroom with bath. Nice! In the evening, after chilling out a bit, we went to the city center of Metz by foot and tried to find a nice restaurant that was still serving some affordable food. We happen to find only 1 restaurant at a big square. The salads we had were big, fresh and tasting very good and the service was also really good. The French know what good food is. We had a little annoyance that evening though, when I wanted to get some money out of the ATM machine a guy was pretending to withdraw some cash as well (Pretending for sure because he was doing that the whole night every time someone else went to withdraw some money). I guess his task was to figure out your code. Some older dude a bit further was also part in their little scheme. Really annoying, but besides that and thanks to Krista's evil eye look nothing happened to us.
Tuesday 17th of August 2010
We went to buy our breakfast at the supermarket in the city center. Trying out most of the sweet buns from the bakery section. We dropped by the tourist information to see what there was to do on a rainy and chilly day in Metz and surroundings. After our breakfast we decided to take the car from the garage and had a little tour around Metz. The goal was to find some wine areas and a farm that would sell the stuff. Little did we know that the first challenge was to get out of Metz without using the highway. We seen many residential areas (also the 'not-so-nice' ones) but after 40 minutes we found a way out and entered suburbia. On our trip along the river southwards and back up on the other side of the river, we found one grapes and apples farm. We pulled over our car and went exploring. We came across a friendly old lady, but she didn't speak any language we could understand. We assumed they didn't sell any wine there but we were allowed to take some pictures and then she left us alone there.
The roads were hilly and we saw some Roman aqueducts and stuff. I drove my first u-turns in hilly area in a car (and managed well, even though Krista thought I was driving too fast). The area was also full of war history. I think the first world war was fought heavily in the area and now and then some monuments and memorial places could be spotted. Once returned to the hotel we were quite hungry and in the morning we spotted an interesting looking Lebanese restaurant. So quite hungry + interesting looking restaurant is a good match. We went to the Lebanese restaurant and we were their first guests of the evening. The waiter was really kind and advised us to take a tour of tastes similar to Tapas with small dishes from the region. First the cold dishes, followed by the warm dishes afterwards. To celebrate the success of our vacation we ordered a bottle of Lebanese white wine with it. It was delicious. The food was tasting really well, the wine was excellent and I stuffed myself so full on that deliciousness that we shared the, once again delicious, desert. We had to take an evening walk to belly-out a bit and a while later we went for a cold drink to another restaurant.
This restaurant was not for the labor men and women. It was a crowded, expensive, service oriented, luxurious restaurant and it showed when we ordered two diet cokes from the waitress and she came back to give us indeed two glasses of diet coke, an extra jug of diet coke and four crackers with some mustard butter on it. Nice surprise but fancy Finnish prices (4EUR per coke). We went back to the hotel to get some sleep because the next day would be the toughest road trip day of our holiday. Unfortunately Krista got some food poisoning during the night. I didn't have any trouble with the food and we ate mostly the same stuff. Really annoying especially with an 8 hours car drive ahead.
Wednesday 18th of August 2010
Krista was feeling OK enough to dare the journey back to the Netherlands, so we checked out from the hotel in the morning and started our longest roadtrip. Via Luxembourg (where the gas prices are ridiculously cheap) and Liege/Luik, where we had a little stop to eat and buy some great Belgian chocolate, back to the north of the Netherlands. The trip was challenging because of the road constructions around Liege and the fog/rain/clouds blocking every sight further than 30 meters. But we managed to be early enough in Sneek where we picked up Arnold from his work. We had some Italian food for dinner together and with the three of us we continued to my sister's place near to Amsterdam. Because we were flying from Amsterdam on the next day this was the most convenient.
We thanked Arnold for borrowing his car to us and waved him goodbye on his journey back home. At my sister's place we played some games together before hitting the sack for a good night of sleep. While packing our stuff, to prepare ourselves for the flight, we found out that all the cheese we bought from the farm a week earlier had gone bad. Not only were those cheeses a gift for many people in Finland, even we didn't have the opportunity to eat a single piece of it. Really really sad and I'm still not over it. When I think back about this moment I still feel really sad.
Thursday 19th of August 2010
The last day of our vacation trip. After quick breakfast and final packing we went together with my sister to the airport by train. We dropped off our luggage, had some lunch together at the airport. Said goodbye to my sister and went through customs. Our flight was nicely on time and without complications we arrived a couple of hours later at Helsinki/Vantaa Airport.
To conclude quickly... We had a great vacation and want to thank all the people who made that possible. The annoyances we came across during our holiday couldn't beat the overall good feeling about this holiday. No matter if it was some criminal activity at the ATM, the lousy weather in Metz or the food poisoning, overall it was just a very pleasant and mentally relaxing vacation break. It was the first vacation of us together. You hear so often that being on vacation together is a killer for most relationships. But none of that for us and I'm really happy about that.
So this is it for now about my/our vacation. Feel free to comment on something if you feel like it. You know I would like it, but no pressure. Soon the normal daily life 'complaining' about work blogs are there so be happy you could read something totally different now. It's a long one but you really managed to reach the end. Congratulations and stay healthy, safe and in peace.
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