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A week later!

8/22/2016

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It´s been over a week since we both got home from our european trip.
I have worked quite much the recent week, as I had a six day work week, working all weekend.

How do I feel? I must admit that, in a way, it feels good to be home, and have a sense of reality, but then again I want to go on another adventure! So of course, being a traveler, I am thinking about my next trip, on where I want to go. I haven´t decided anything yet, but Australia has been on my mind.
I have bought a new phone as well, got a Samsung, as my 4-year-old phone got broken when we were in Prague. 

You might ask, which country/city has been the most fun? What was the best moment of the whole trip?

Well, it´s some hard questions, seeing Chernobyl again is always quite a feeling, going to the firing range outside of Prague was amazing, and just seeing Johan doing it as well was well beyond amazing! During this trip, I checked off three places of my bucket list on places I wanted to go, Normandy, Arnhem and Chateau De Noisy/Miranda, So that´s always nice! Of the three, Chateau De Noisy was the most satisfying, as I tried to go there once before and failed, so succeeding on doing it now was just amazing! Arnhem and Normandy was interesting to see though!

I will keep you posted on where and when my next trip will be!
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Home!

8/15/2016

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Hello!
We came home on Sunday (read 14th of August) after a long day of cancelled flights, missed flights and troubles with our bags! Let me tell the story.

We were supposed to start our travels from Brussels on Saturday, by going to Copenhagen during the evening and having layover there, but when we got to the airport and waiting for our flight (having checked in our bags and everything), we see, with 20 minutes to go before the gate opens, that the flight to Copenhagen has been cancelled!

So we get to the flight desk, which says that we have to get our bags, and go to the ticketing desk, so we could have our flight rebooked.
We grabbed our bags and went to the desk, which rebooked us to fly to Berlin, and later on to Stockholm and Umeå.
We noticed that we had little time in Arlanda, just 45minutes between landing from Berlin and getting to our domestic flight to Umeå. We noticed we had three different companies during this trip, Brussels Airlines to Berlin, AirBerlin to Stockholm and SAS to Umeå.

When we checked in our bags in Brussels, we only got the boarding pass to Berlin, while the bags would go all the way, according to the tags, and we asked why we got just one boarding pass, and got the answer that Brussels airlines doesn´t have a check in deal with AirBerlin, so we had to get another Boarding pass in Berlin.
The flight to Berlin went good, and we went in line to get our boarding pass to Stockholm, and the lady at the desk went "- Where´s the bags?", which we responded "- the tags said the bags goes all the way", which the lady at the desk grudgingly checked in the bags as well.
We got our Boarding pass, which said only to Stockholm, which made me suspicious, and when we get to our gate, we see that it´s over 20 minutes late (remember we only had 45min between our flights in Stockholm), and I thought that we are going to miss our connecting flight to Umeå. When we landed in Stockholm, my thoughts were correct as we missed the check in and missed our flights to Umeå. We talked to SAS on what we were going to do. They sent us to AirBerlin, as they were late, and we went to Terminal 2 (as we landed there, and domestic flights are in Terminal 4) and talked to AirBerlin, which said it was SAS problem, but they were decent enough to call SAS and got us to the next available flight to Umeå at 17.45.
We go back to terminal 4 and get our Boarding passes for the flight, and wondered what will happen to our bags, as they were checked in all the way. SAS told us that they didn´t have a check in deal with AirBerlin either, and if we wouldn´t miss our flight, we still had to grab our bags and check them in again, and since we missed our flight, we had time and go grab our bags and checked them in again, which means that we had to go back to Terminal 2 and get them to Terminal 4 and check them in again (imagine doing that and go through security in 45 minutes?).
After everything is settled we had over 1.5 hours to kill, so I changed some currency to swedish kronors. And later on, we went through security and got to our flight, which finally went on time, and we finally got home and got our bags on time!
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Last Day Ever!

8/12/2016

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Hello!
Just realised that it´s our last whole day in Brussels, and the last day of trip, before heading back home to Sweden!
We started the day by chilling to about 11, then walked to The Palace of Justice, which have an awesome view of the city. We then walked to Brussel park, seeing a few other palaces on the way.
We then walked to Grand Market place, where we had some Eclairs, and when I tried to find somewhere to sit, I lost Johan for a bit, but we found each other and took a sit, and the eclairs were amazing!
After that we decided to head back, and chill at the hotel, and around 5, we went to Pizza hut and had a pizza, I took one made for 3 people, I managed to eat 7/8 of it.
​And now we are at the hotel, still full from the food, we have to take a shower before packing the bags for tomorrow.
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Chateau De Noisy!

8/11/2016

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I did it! I finally did it! Let me tell you the story!
We woke up at 7am, eating some breakfast, and having to use the bathroom. We arrived at the translation at 8.30, buying our train tickets to Gendron-Celles. We had to switch trains at Namur and Dinant.
We jumped on the train at 8.45, which became delayed during the trip so we arrived behind schedule in Namur, but it didn´t really matter, as we had half an hour in Namur to take the train to Dinant. We got on the train, and switched trains again in Dinant to get to Gendron - Celles.
We arrived in Gendron-Celles at 11.30, and started our walk to Chateau De Noisy, which is a run down castle which has it roots during the 19th century, and is on my bucket list. we followed the main road, and after an half hour, we saw another castle, Chateau De Veves, which coincidently has the same owners as the castle we are going to.
Just after seeing De Veves, we do see Chateau De Noisy in the distance, a tower over the treeline.
Earlier, we got the advice not going through the front gates, so we looked for a way by the road to get in.
Johan started to have some doubts, but eventually we found a path, having a green gate, which we found a way through, and we started to trek through the woods.
After 20 minutes in the woods, we saw that we were close to the castle, so we looked for a guard, which we didn´t see, and we headed inside. 
We had a look around, seeing the kitchen, and I found a way to the clocktower, which Johan had to miss, because of the lack of mobility, as I don´t want to risk him getting hurt, because of the lack of flooring. but it had an amazing view.
We tried to find the bathroom, which is supposed to be a sight, but we decided to head back. We talked about paying the village of Celles a visit, but it started to rain a little bit, as we arrived at the train station, it started to piss down.
And realising me missed the train by an half an hour, which made us wait over an hour for the next train. So we waited patiently, and the trip back went smoothly, and we arrived back in Brussel close to 19.00. After the train ride we went to the hotel, dumped our bags and went to grab something to eat, at Pizza hut. Which took forever, forever to order, forever to get the food, and forever to get the desserts, which they apparently forgot!
​
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A tired, rainy day!

8/10/2016

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We are still kinda exhausted form yesterdays walk, so we woke up at 9am, and chilled to 11.
We then walked to the botanical garden, seeing a lot of clouds. we did see a few things on the way the martyrs square.
After the botanical garden, we went to Congress square, and having something to eat, we had some pasta, Johan had a thing he always grabs Pasta Carbonara.
During our lunch, it started to rain, so we walked to Brussel Park, having a quick look, before walking back. We did walk close to grand Market Place amongst other places. We then bought some supplies for our planned trip to Celles tomorrow!
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Arriving in Brussels and a day trip to Bastogne!

8/9/2016

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Hello! I know i am late with my blog updates, but here we go!
Yesterday we woke up at 8am to eat breakfast and finish up our packing before leaving the hostel at 10.
We walked to Central Station and took the train to Schiphol Airport. Were we checked in our bags and went through Security, where the reacted to my computer battery.
After some waiting we got through, and checked out the airport merchandise. I bought some sandwiches and some water.
The plane were 10 minutes late (lifted 13.50), which went smooth. 
We landed on time and took the train to Zuidstation, which is close to our hotel, and there´s a circus in town, which disoriented me, as usually I know my streets.
After we checked in, we went for a walk, seeing Mannekin Pis and Grand Market Place, where we had something to eat, some meatballs and fries.
​After that we bought some supplies for our trip to Bastogne.

Trip to Bastogne!

Today we woke up at 7.30, having time to wake up and go to the bathroom before heading out to Zuidstation to go to Bastogne. The train left at 9.33 and we switched from a train to a bus in Libramont.
We arrived in Bastogne at 13.00, so we walked into a Museum (the 101st airborne museum). Afterwards we decided to walk to Foy, which took over an hour.

What´s in Foy you might ask? There are remnants of the foxholes where the soldiers dug themselves down during the war, which was cool to see. 
So we walked back, and decided to head back to Brussels. so we took the bus back to Libramont, and the train back to Brussels.
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Last day in Amsterdam and 3 weeks on the go!

8/7/2016

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Hello!
We had a relaxing day today, the only big walk we did was going to a park kinda close to the Heineken Brewery and back. Johan had to wash some mor clothes (why he didn´t do all of it at once the first time, is beyond me), after that we chilled in the room for a bit, before having something to eat and took a small walk around the area.
After that we had a chat with our dorm mates, and it became a crowd, which was awesome, after they left, we packed our stuff for tomorrow and are going to have an early evening before heading to Brussels tomorrow, our last stop of our trip. Can´t imagine it´s been 3 weeks already! Time just flies by, when you have a lot to see and do!
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Having a nice day yesterday!

8/7/2016

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Hey, I know I´m late with my writing, but here we go!
We woke up around 9am, eating breakfast, and chilled for a bit. We then went to a cigar shop, that a friend of mine recommended, I bought 2, to have when i´m celebrating my 30th birthday!
My brother wanted to go to Anne Frank house, so we walked over there, but apparently they have changed it up, and from 9.30 to 15.30 you have to buy tickets online, which we of course didn´t.
So we went for a walk to the botanic gardens and Artis Zoo, before heading back to Anne Frank house. We decided to stand in line to get in, which took over 1 hour, but it was worth it! It was my third time there, and the first time for my brother.
After that we chilled in the room for a bit, having some food, I had a huge nachos plate, and afterwards we walked to Westerpark.

And this morning I have had to go to the bathroom three times in 1 hour, damn nachos!
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Arnhem!

8/6/2016

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Hello!
I am late with the post about our trip to Arnhem.
Yesterday we woke up and ate some breakfast, and took a train to Arnhem 10.30, and it took an hour to arrive.
Knowing nothing about the city, we walked around almost aimlessly, seeing Airborneplein, and walked towards the centre of town seeing a lot of beautiful towers amongst other things.
We did see a liquor store, that had a lot of different things that people who like might enjoy!
We decided to head towards Amsterdam around 15.00 and did see a park on the way back to the train station.
​We took train home and chilled for the rest of the day!
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Checking out Amsterdam!

8/4/2016

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After a hard night, as we live in a "Party" street, the noise disturbed our night for a bit, and we woke up at 9.30, almost missing breakfast.
After breakfast we chilled in bed until about 11, were we walked to Dam Square, and from there down to the Heineken Brewery. Someone asked us for directions to Rijksmuseum, which we decided to go to as well.
​After Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum was very close by. 
From Van Gogh Museum, we walk to Vondelipark, where we had a break, in which I had a cheesecake.
After to goodness, we walked home via Leidesplan, as it started to rain. When we got back, we checked a nearby Laundrymat, which was available, so we took our dirty clothes and made them clean!
When we got back to the hotel, we chatted with some awesome australians, before getting something to eat at the nearby bar!
We let the food sink in for a bit, before having walk to nieuwmarket square.
​Tomorrow we are planning to head to Arnhem.
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Arriving in Amsterdam!

8/3/2016

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Hello Everybody! We have now arrived in Amsterdam!
The day started with a sleep in, woke up around 9am, in which we packed our stuff and checked out about 10am. We ordered a shuttle to the airport.
When I was going through my email, I got a mail that the flight was canceled, and we got a new flight.
The original plan was going straight to Amsterdam, but the flight was changed to going to Amsterdam via Geneva (Switzerland).
When we arrived at the airport, i had an idea about trying to get our money back for our train tickets, because we had to take train from Berlin to Paris, as our Flight was cancelled, but when we talked to the airline, they said that we had to do it online! For fucks sake!

So we skipped it for now, and checked in our bags and went through security in a breeze.
While waiting for our flight, I looked into how to do get our money back on the internet, seeing a lot of people trying to do the same thing! someone got hold of Airfrance through twitter, which I have now as well.
Me being hungry as well, I bought some sandwiches and bottle of water to have on the plane, and the flight to Geneva went fine, but they had a security check again, and I was´t allowed to have my water, even thought bought it on an airport!
Strange!
But I grudgingly accepted it, and because we had a hour to our next flight, we went directly to our gate, and I tried to get to the internet to check our progress with airfrance, but couldn´t go on the internet.
So we chilled in the airport until our flight lifted, and it went smoothly.
We landed and got our bag, we took the train to Amsterdam, so We thought, we took a train that stopped at Rotterdam, before heading back ti the airport and to Amsterdam! Costing us an hour!
But we finally arrived in Amsterdam and got to the hotel quickly, checking in, and took a walk seeing the Old Church!
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Last rainy day in Paris!

8/2/2016

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Hello!
Today we took a sleep in, as we had a long day yesterday!

We did walk to Luxembourg Gardens and another garden relatively close by. After that we walked to the bastille monument!
We walk out from the hotel by 11am, and came back around 3pm, which was decent, is drizzled the whole time.
We went to grab something to eat around 5pm, We did try some frog legs, which tasted like chicken! after that we had a dessert and Johan wanted to buy an souvenir from Paris. After that we have chilled in the hotel. 
We are going to take the subway to the airport tomorrow and try to get our money back for our train ride from Berlin to Paris from Air France, since they cancelled our flight!
Tomorrow we are heading to Amsterdam!
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Bayeux and Normandie!

8/2/2016

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We went there yesterday!
Yesterday started early, waking up at 6.30 to have a chill start, as the taxi arrived at 7.45am.
We ate some breakfast, had a bathroom break before going to the lobby, we grabbed the taxi to St Lazare train station, arriving at 8am. We bought the tickets, we first tried a ticket machine which could´t find bayeux, so we went to a real ticket person and bought them (120 euros for both having a return trip as well).
The train left at 8.43, so we waited for the train for a bit, and off we went!
The train went to Caen, and there we had 10min to switch trains to Bayeux, finally arriving at Bayeux at 11.18.
We decided to head for Normandie right away and the bus for the beaches left at 11.40, so we took a bathroom break and bought our bus tickets. We then grabbed the bus and arrived at Omaha beach and the American cemetery, where over 10.000 soldiers lay. I must admit it felt surreal, seeing it with my own eyes. As the cemetery lays on a cliff we could see the beaches. 

We walked around for a bit, taking it all in, and then we tried to find a way down to the beaches, but decided it was far off, so we decided to go to a few museums, the Overlord museum and Big Red One museum. The Overlord museum was good, but The Big Red One was very small and not worth 5 euros.
After that we decided to head back to Bayeux, so we took the bus back to town. This was about 4pm and our train left at 8pm, so we tried to get back on an earlier train, but it cost more, so we decided to look around town, seeing a old church and seeing other beautiful buildings.
We found a crepes restaurant, so we went in there and grabbed some food, I had a ham and cheese crepe with Nutella and banana dessert, while Johan had a hot dog crepes with a random dessert that had the waiter flambéed the dessert, which was awesome!

After that we walked around the town even more, before heading back to the train station and messing around a little bit.
The train ride back went straight to Paris St Lazare and we were tired as hell during the train ride. it went smoothly though.
We took a taxi back to the hotel and went to sleep kinda quickly!
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    Peter

    I will write a blog about my travels.

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