If this trip was a sample of what this year will be like, I’m happy. It was easy, we got more than we bargained for and had great weather and beautiful scenery.

We had been worried about driving there, since we don’t have winter tires, but the weather couldn’t have been nicer (for winter, anyway). The drive was smooth and we made a stop in Cologne.

I’m glad I can finally say I’ve been to Cologne. The cathedral is impressive and the Christmas market was super cosy. However, I don’t think it lived up to its popularity. 

We arrived in Bonn in the late afternoon. The hotel gave us an apartment instead of a standard room (yay!), we found a grocery store around the corner and settled ourselves. There were even proper glasses to drink the sparkling wine we had brought along – and I was almost conformed to drinking it from hotel plastic cups, yikes!

On the next day we took nice walks around the city, with a coffee break and lunch to warm up. The stores closed at around 3pm and the streets emptied out, so we walked back to the apartment. Our plan was to stay in, cook dinner and drink champagne, but we still needed to shop. Everything was closed on our way, except for the grocery store around the corner. How lucky!
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This NYE we watched the fireworks from our window.  

On the first day of the year we walked all the way up Drachenfels. It was freezing cold, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. There was a gorgeous castle on the way and a fantastic panoramic view on the top. That ought to set the tone for 2017!

One week before the Fall Holidays we were slightly decided to drive to The Hague and have an easy week. But then we saw a ferry + hotel deal on Travelbird that featured the Downton Abbey castle and were instantly sold. So that’s how we made our way to England for the second time this year.

We visited Windsor on our way to the hotel and I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that it wasn’t more royal. The castle is there, smack in the middle of town, surrounded by gift shops and Asian restaurants. Standard admission costs twenty pounds, so we just walked around it to take pictures. By the way, most landmarks and tourist attractions we have seen in England are ridiculously expensive!

Then we headed to our first ever four-star hotel. It was beautiful! It was just off a city called Basingstoke, which we didn’t actually visit, and it was surrounded by green and silence. It was such a quiet place, with the darkest streets I’ve ever seen.

Next day, we decided to spend the morning in Oxford. If you told university student me that one day I’d be hurrying around those streets, I’d never have believed you. A lot of our course books, dictionaries and other materials came from there and I dreamed of this far, old, fancy place. But travelling has a way of bursting your bubble and nothing is so fancy anymore. Wonderful, of course, but not glamorous and untouchable. I was there and the buildings were very beautiful, there were roadworks and renovation works and a lot of traffic. We had to rush back to our car because we had only paid the parking lot for two hours (I think it cost four pounds, which was the same for one hour in Windsor). I passed by an Oxford University Press store and the classics of English literature, course books and dictionaries brought a surge of nostalgia for student life. At the same time, my present job’s materials also come from there. Funny little feeling, but I couldn’t linger.

Our most expected excursion: Highclere Castle, where they filmed Downton Abbey. It would be closed for visitation, but we read there was a walking path around it, where you could get a good glimpse. First we tried to walk from the pub where we stopped for lunch, to reach the end of the trail and walk our way to the beginning. Busy road, no sidewalks, very unkempt footpath. Then we drove to the castle entrance, so we could have a better idea of what to do. You’re not allowed to park there, so we parked on a side street, walked the path, but no sight of it! It is surrounded by trees and all I could see was the top of the towers. And lots of sheep. 

That night we planned our visit to Bath. Oh, wait, guess what’s on the way? Nothing less than Stonehenge! You must be thinking, “How clueless and unprepared were you?” Yes, yes I was.

We were driving in the middle of nowhere, along fields and farms and saw nothing else for miles, when bam! There it was, on the right side of the road, ancient and mighty, only just a little hidden by fog. Such a thrill! We kept on following the signs until we got to the visitor’s center, which is quite a distance and you can’t even see it from there anymore. From there, buses take you up to the stones and back, but we didn’t want to pay for it. So we drove to a side street, parked and took a stroll. It’s perfectly visible from there, if not super close. But if seeing it is what you want, that’s your option! I not only got to see Stonehenge, but learned something history books and travel websites don’t tell you: there is a huge pig farm across the road from it, ha!  

As we arrived in Bath the fog cleared. We sat for a hot sausage in the center and just as we finished my boyfriend whispered, “Is that George R R Martin?” I looked as the man got up and met his wife (presumably) coming out of a store. Of course it wasn’t him. What would he be doing there in Bath, sitting right next to us, what were the odds? But it looked so much like him – the beard, the glasses, the hat. I was intrigued. They strolled around, we followed. “It’s really him, isn’t it?” I kept saying. But I wasn’t convinced and we missed a chance of having a picture (and maybe a chat?) with this fantastic author.

And so we come to the last day of our trip. One last English breakfast and off we went to Pevensey, where William the Conqueror landed in 1066. Quite a desolate village, but it was good to see the sea and visit a castle for free, for a change. And one more delicious pub meal, at a place with no menu (“If you want to eat, go around the bar and look at the chalk board!”) but lots of friendly seniors.

I also saw a fox for the first time in my life. It was dead on the side of the road. Never have I seen so much road kill!

Finally, we arrived in Dover and grabbed a bite to eat before boarding the ferry. It was awful. My panini was cold, the cheese wasn’t even melted and his was dripping mayonnaise. We had that same unease as the first time we were there and couldn’t help but wonder, “What the heck is wrong with Dover?” 

​To me one of the best things of travel is doing things I’ve never done before. We came across a deal on TravelBird that included ferry tickets and hotel accommodations and jumped right in! It was one of the best holidays we’ve had ​– the farms were vast and neat, the food was delicious (we tried fish and chips by the sea, steak and ale pie at a local pub, English breakfast at the hotel, cottage pie, Sunday roast, scones at the local tea room and of course we had lots of tea!) and the people were super friendly. I was ecstatic to be able to speak English, listen to the radio and watch tv. It had been a while since I’d been to an English speaking country. Plus, we were binge watching Downton Abbey at the time and that gave an extra charm to the trip. 

​Crossing the channel 

​Battle Abbey 

This abbey was built as a memorial to the dead of the 1066 Battle of Hastings, after which William the Conqueror became king of England. If you want to know more, click here.

​A walk in the countryside

​Rochester

​Canterbury

​The White Cliffs of Dover

If you'd like a quiet holiday full of nature and history, this is the one! 

First time in Switzerland. And the best part of the trip was visiting the Mont Blanc. In France.

​Seriously, just look at that beauty:

No, we did not eat fromage fondue or Swiss chocolate.

Because we live in Belgium, you know, best chocolate in the world?

Just kidding, our Swiss francs were only enough to eat actual food. Like half a chicken, salad and the best potatoes for 15 bucks! 

We also went to the opera for the first time and saw Mozart's The Magic Flute on New Year's eve. What an amazing spectacle! 

Do you want a touch of magic in your life? Just add some nature and art. 

How were your holidays? 

A spontaneous road trip to a gorgeous and peaceful place like Bacharach, Germany can do wonders to a controlling soul like mine.

No timetables, no rush, no stress.

Lots of green, birdsong, sunshine, local food and wine.

The valley towns are protected Unesco heritage, unspoiled and authentic. No restaurant chains, no ugly apartment blocks, no traffic, just the old houses, castles and medieval ruins.

Take a quiet break, wherever you are. You know you need it. 

We recommend:

Weingut & Gästehaus Sonnenhof - Bed and Breakfast on a grape farm. It's in Oberheimbach, not far from Bacharach.  
The hilly hiking path! Totally worth the sore muscles. 
Rusticana - inexpensive, tasty meals. 
Kulturia Rheinterrasse - can't find a link, but it's on the main street. Super authentic, good food and friendly service. 
Eiscafe Italia 76 - near Rusticana. Try the Riesling ice cream! 

Destination: Luxembourg.

But why don’t we make a couple of stops first?

Since we were driving down and had no real schedule or hurry to get there, we decided to stop in Bastogne and check out the war sites. There was a very important battle there during World War II. You can read about it here (or watch Band of Brothers like I did).

It’s a small town with a lively center, war museums, monuments and woods dedicated to those who died there. The woods were a nice place for a peaceful picnic, although I thought a lot about all the fighting and dying going on in that forest not so long ago. Madness. I hate wars.

Then we went for a free guided visit of the Barracks where the American Headquarters were. It’s a two-hour tour, which is worth it if you really love history. Our guide spoke English and French and I understood very little of it all – he spoke fast and it was like he stressed all the wrong syllables. He was proud of having met the veterans: “He put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘If you have another war, I’ll come and fight for you again’.” 

It was such a hot day and we had seen on the map that there was a lake on the way, which turned out to be paradise on earth! Lac de la Haute-Sûre is for sure one of the most amazing places I’ve seen in my life. We cooled down, relaxed and kept going. That’s when the gps stopped working and we got ourselves to our hotel in Luxembourg the old-fashioned way: following a map and road signs (pretty bad there, by the way). But I have to admit it’s a beautiful place to be lost in. 

The city itself is not fantastic – we only walked around two evenings and felt like we saw all there is to see. Old center beats new center a thousand times! It’s beautiful, historical and it’s where the good food is. The new center is for stores and overpriced, low-quality restaurants.

On Sunday we drove down to Schengen, where the treaty was signed and the borders of Germany, France and Luxembourg meet. Walking through borders was something I’ve always wanted to do and could finally check off my list. We crossed the bridge and we were in Germany. Then we turned right, walked for about 10 minutes and got to France. How cool is that? Too bad the borders meet on a river, so you can’t actually stand on them.

What I miss about this trip is that we didn’t find a place to eat typical local dishes. On the other hand we were surprised to hear Portuguese all around. There’s even a radio station and tv channels. Watch out, Luxembourg! Those people have a knack for colonizing. 

Is there anything in the world more soothing than the sound of flowing water, or more ingrained as a representation of different histories and cultures than water fountains? Well, perhaps there is, but that still doesn't take away from the beauty and wonder of the variety of fountains found all over the world. 

Fountains can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and almost all of them are quite the sites to see. There's the comedic Mannekin Pis in Brussels, Belgium, which depicts a young boy urinating into a basin bowl and on special occasions serves as a beer fountain. Take the Swarovski Fountain in Innsbruck, Austria, which is the centerpiece of the Swarovski Kristallwelton theme park and is a large, grass-covered head with water flowing elegantly from its mouth. Or how about the Magic Fountain of Monjuic in Barcelona, Spain, which hosts an average of thousands of tourists each and every night for a show of lights, music and performance. So many fountains, so many purposes.

Want to read about more of these fountains? Check out the infographic below, with fun facts provided by Luxe, to learn more about all of the fabulous fountains around the globe that you may have never heard of but will absolutely want to travel to! 

Italy

First, I went to Tuscany with the family for a week. The place really reminded me of home: the hills, the vegetation, the houses and the smells of food, flowers and fruit. It was a “work” week – playing with the children, relaxing by the pool and eating delicious food.

After that, my friend (my host dad’s sister’s Au Pair) and I went to Florence, Rome and Venice. The weather was beautiful, the cities are incredibly charming and needless to say, the food was amazing! Oh, and GELATOS!

We met a solo traveler from the US and toured Florence together.

We joined a couple of friends from Belgium who were also in Rome. We threw our coins in the Fontana di Trevi, saw the Coliseum and lots of other ruins and museums, drank water from the fountains, visited Vatican City.

We didn’t go on a gondola ride in Venice, but we got a free ferry ride + free entrance to the Casino where there was a live singer and piano player and they served us champagne and strawberries.

I could understand a bit of Italian and I loved being called “bella”. Oh, Italy! 

London

As an English graduate, I always dreamed of going to London. I wanted to be where all those writers had been inspired. I wanted to see where the royal family lived. And of course I wanted to see Platform 9 3/4!

It was the first time I surfed someone’s couch via Couchsurfing. It was amazing – he showed us around during the weekend and we had great conversations!

We went to the Nothing Hill fair, rode the London Eye, went on a boat ride on the Thames, saw the Parliament, the Abbey, the Palace and the change of guards, Piccadilly, rode the red double deck bus, went to pubs and had a great time watching people on the street (it was Halloween). 

Porto

Oh, the joy of warm weather in February + speaking my own language! I don’t know if that’s what made Porto one of my favorite cities in the world or if it’s just one of the factors.

Porto has a lot to offer: river, beach, historical city center, modern city center. The food is simply fantastic and cheap (once we got a full meal – salad, stew, potatoes, a drink, dessert and coffee - for 6,50 Euros!).

We visited one of the caves and tasted red and white Porto + we went to a wine festival where there were hundreds of producers’ stands.

The hostel we stayed was THE best I’ve been – nice house, clean, comfortable bedrooms, yummy breakfast and super nice people. We all dressed up and went to the Carnaval parties together!

You can read this and more on Live the Dream and Love the Journey, an ebook about living abroad as an Au Pair. Subscribe and get one in your inbox!

Around this time of the year in 2009 I was getting ready to leave home for the first time. 

Life as I'd always known would be changed forever. 

As I celebrate this date and all that I lived after that I'd like to share my top 3 trips in the US of A, the country that sparkled my wanderlust and was my home and playground for a year and a half. 

Disneyland

It was my first American trip and it was a “must do”. Five days of incredible, magic, fun, dreamy stuff. Everything looked so unreal, I couldn’t stop smiling and thinking “Oh my God, I’m really here”. We would walk around all day and pass out on our beds at night.

We were even invited to participate in the opening ceremony of Hollywood Studios. What a blast! That was my favorite day. Plus, we got the first ride on Rock ‘n Rollercoaster. Alone. Before everyone was allowed in. Teehee! We also got fast passes for the Tower of Terror and rode it twice. Fun, fun, fun! 

Miami

Beach. Party. Beach. Repeat!

We stayed at a cheap hostel a couple of blocks from South Beach. It was beeeeautiful!

We made new friends and drove with them to Key West.

We missed our flight to NJ because of that.

Just another adventure on a fun-filled week.

West Coast

Oooh, yeah! Ca.li.for.nia, baby.

Someone should have told me – in time – that San Francisco was much nicer than L.A. I only spent one day there and I was all by myself, but IT – WAS – AWESOME. The city is beautiful, the piers, Alcatraz, the hills, the bridge. It FEELS good to be there.

L.A is overrated. I found it dirty and a bit boring. I visited the Hollywood sign, Santa Monica beach, the Walk of Fame. The most fun was on my last night there, on West Hollywood (gay dancing clubs, Woohoo!). Maybe my expectations were too high. Or my judgment was clouded by San Francisco + Vegas + The Grand Canyon.

I took a bus tour to the Grand Canyon. It is still THE most amazing thing of nature I have seen in my life. It’s ridonkulously gigantic and gorgeous. It made me feel so small and my problems disappeared. I sat there for a long time reflecting on that and feeling good and light.

We spent two nights in the Sin City. It’s a shame that I was alone, so I didn’t gamble or party. I didn’t really feel like it, though. Vegas is such an absurd city. So bright and colorful and fake.

All in all it was a fantastic time :)

Geraardsbergen is mainly known for three things: De Muur (The wall), their Manneken Pis statue and mattentaarten. The first two didn’t quite interest me. Especially the first one. Especially during one of the windiest days in all of Europe.

De Muur is a very steep hill (berg means mountain in Dutch, so you can assume Geraardsbergen is located in a hilly part of Flanders) cyclists used to go up every year during the Tour of Flanders (De Ronde van Vlaanderen). We walked up and it was very nice: fallen leaves and chestnuts on the ground, trees turning that gorgeous mix of red, orange, yellow and brown.

When we got to the top, the reward: a beautiful panoramic view and a restaurant where we had the famous and exclusive mattentaarten from Geraardsbergen. It’s exclusive because it was granted the Protected Geographical Indication status in 2006, which means they can only be made in Geraardsbergen or in the nearby Lierde.

The pie is basically a pastry shell filled with curdled milk. It doesn’t sound appealing but it is actually very good.

On our way back we saw the Manneken Pis statue, which looks exactly like the one in Brussels and whose origins and age are still controversial. Apparently these two aren’t the only ones and one can’t help but wonder why Belgium has a thing for little naked boys peeing.