I’ve moved ! (a while ago…)

No, I didn’t move out of the house, but I did move to a new blog. A while ago actually.. so I kindly invite you to visit Leenlogs for my travel adventures and other updates!

mobile blogging?

As i’ not taking my laptop with me during my trips this summer, I’m looking for a handy device to blog from my mobile phone. I read articles about MoBlog, but for some reason this app just won’t stop giving me errors when I try to retrieve this blog. If anyone has a better idea, let me know!

New York, the sequel?

How I wish that were true !

No, I’m not going to New York anytime soon, but my parents have just touched American grounds as I’m writing this post. You can’t believe how jealous I am. I must admit, I kind of miss the rush of the big city, the shops on 5th Avenue, walking around in Central Park and seeing all kinds of artists and rollerbladers do their thing.. phooh! Maybe I should start putting money aside to book a flight somewhere next year.

I had a little insight in my parents schedule, and they’re visiting a basketball game at Madison Square Garden, going to a show, having dinner on the Hudson river whilst enjoying the view of the Lady of Liberty.. I really wished I could come with them, but unfortunately, I have some obligatory courses I have to attend, and papers to write.I hope they will at least bring me a little souvenir! I’ll keep you posted…

In the meantime, I’m home alone with my brother, so that opens some perspectives too! Party Party Party?

Travel update

As a new year’s resolution for next month, I might try and update my blog more often, as I really miss writing about what’s happening in my life.  Since Italy, I’ve been quite busy, and didn’t really have the time to give you guys some updates.

The last blog was about my trip to Italy in August. All I can say about that trip is that it was a great deal of fun. I’ll always have good memories of bottles of Limskaya, (romantic) nights at the beach, blond beachboys and a lot of cool kids. I thought it was going to be my last trip this summer, but I was wrong…

As some of you might know, I’m currently studying to get an extra Bachelor’s degree in Logistics Management. One of the transportmodi we’re learning about is Shortsea Shipping. This is an upcoming way of transporting goods in Europe. To avoid congestion on the road and save the environment, you put your goods on a vessel to bring it as close to destination as possible. And what better way to learn about Shortsea Shipping, than to go on a little boattrip yourself? Well, that’s exactly what we did. at the end of September, we took a plain to Barcelona, to go on a RoRo Ferry from there to Rome (or one of its nearest ports : Civitavecchia) and back. of course we had the time to visit both cities. It was the first time that I’ve been to Barcelona, but I might plan on going back there in a couple of months. I already saw Rome about 4 years ago, when we were on a trip through Italy. It was nice to be back though.. it’s always beautiful to see the Colloseum, the Forum Romanum, the Panthenon, Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain (which I also saw in Las Vegas, by the way )

A part from a weekend in the Ardennes with my parents and brother, I dind’t really do anything interesting. Next semester I’ll have plenty of time to plan some trips, so that’s kind of a good reason to look forward to the new year..

If I find the time , then  I’ll put some pictures online from last trips..

A Presto, Cesenatico

Yep, that’s the destination of my next trip. I will be entertaining some 16-17 year olds from Kazou, also known as the famous ‘CM’ – summer camps! I surely hope the sun will be present too, as my tan from France- Las Vegas – Florida is already fading.. and above that, it will be nice to be out of the country again! I’m kind of getting addicted to all the traveling…

Summer update

As promised, a little update on my travel adventures!

First on the list was France. A friend asked if I wanted to do the cooking for his scouting group while they went on a 10-day hiking trip around Limoges. I was crazy enough to say yes, and ended up spending almost 2 weeks with 13 guys. Quite an adventure if you ask me. We mostly pitched our tents somewhere on a field, and once in a hunting area. Since most fields don’t have a sanitary department, we crashed some camping areas in the neighboorhood too. The weather was nice, the boys (mostly) liked the food, and some of them even got quite attached to my female deodorant. unfortunately, the hiking trip soon turned into a hitch hiking trip for the boys, but we managed to put a spoke in their wheels a couple of times. We also visited Oradour-sur-Glane, a city that was completely burned down during the second World War by German Nazis. The bad part? They burned down the wrong Oradour. Mistakes happen!

to summarize : it was a lot of fun. Or in Inventive Mustang’s words: ‘het is oké, het is oké, het is oké bij de Saint-B!’

Homecoming

Do you think about me now and them? ’cause I’m going home again.. This song just popped into my head this morning, as I heard it already quite a lot the last days, especially in the AE stores in the neighbourhood..

Yes, the day that I have to pack my bags – squeeze everything in it, sit, lay and jump on to get them closed – has arrived! Tomorrow, at around noon, some people will be very happy to see me standing there in Zaventem.

I finished up my work here, and went out for a last time yesterday. I had to show my ID to get a drink for the last time.. I shared a room with Elke for the last time (No offence, I liked having a roommate, but I think I prefer having my own room) I will have seen deer in the front yard for the last time (I even got to feed some baby deer yesterday night.. Very, very cute :p), and probably, I will have watched Anime for the last time with the twins too. It won’t be the last time that I go to NY though, because that’s a city that unconsciously finds a little place in your heart, makes you fall in love with it, and almost obliges you to come back some day..

Anyway, see you guys tomorrow? Homecoming Party at my place?

Last American Days…

As all stories come to an end, so is my American adventure. If there aren’t too many storms, and Lufthansa doesn’t plan a strike (as they intend to do, I heard) , I will be back on Belgian grounds Friday 20Th, somewhere around 13u local time. Hopefully I manage to find some space in my backpack to bring the sun along with me..

We had good times here, but we also had less good times..

Last weekend was a weekend to spend mostly at the Heukels Residence. We catched up on some work, had some fun with the twins… Sunday was a bit of an ‘Off-Day’ as we had some differences of opinion at the house. Martine decided to drop us somewhere at a Church Festival, where she signed us up as volunteers. Ah well, it got us out of the house at least, and the work wasn’t that hard. In no time I was responsible for the department ‘face-painting’, where I joyfully painted flowers, hearts, ladybugs, spiders and beetles on little kids’ faces. Never knew I was actually good at that. Seeing that we didn’t have any transportation back home, we stayed for the clearance, received a water melon for all our hard work and waited and waited for Martine to come pick us up again. After refusing 17 other offers from people who offered to take us home, she finally arrived and we were just in time in the car, as lightning and thunder filled the air. We have thunderstorms or cooling rains about every night, due to the very good weather during the day, so that’s kind of a comfort for the stressy situation here..

Many of you will say that I’m crazy for saying that I’m looking forward to coming home again, as this blog only gives you an insight on my weekends here. As some of you might know, the last weeks at the house weren’t exactly the merriest ones, so it’ll be nice to come home to a stress-free environment, have tons of things to look forward to… France, Italy, Germany, Lesse-river and Bram’s Pool : Here I come

I hope you guys enjoyed reading my blog, didn’t get too jealous seeing the pictures and stuff. For those of you who will miss reading my American adventures: My last update will be on Thursday probably, as I’m trying to persuade the Heukels to let us go to NY one last time, to say our goodbyes and buy some more souvenirs.. I also might give you guys some travel reports on my upcoming trips as well, so feel free to visit my blog during summer vacation!

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas…

But I realized that you would just keep nagging for some details on my trip to the city that never sleeps, Sin City, or just the city I’d like to call ‘Las Vegas’. I’m sure I made some of you guys very jealous with my last post, and all I can say is: you’ll even get more jealous when you read this report!

It all started very early in the morning, when we got up at 4 AM to be in time to catch our 7 AM flight. Going to Florida cost us $100 in overweight luggage, thus after shifting some clothes from one suitcase to another (some of us like to take half of their closet with them when they go on a weekend trip, and no it’s not me ), we were all set to go to the airport. No running to the gate this time, we even had plenty of time to stop at Dunkin’s for a yummy chocolate glazed Donut or stare at the planes for a while. The weather was nice too, so we could see a lot when looking out of the airplane windows. We saw Rocky Mountains covered with snow, a lonely road going through a death valley and even a little piece of the Grand Canyons. Some of the passengers already started building a party on the plane, and the little whiskey bottles were brought in constantly. I never saw so many people standing in the aisle during a flight, even though it was a bit of an eventful one. Somewhere around the middle, we had an enormous air hole, and suddenly the partying and yelling was replaced by silence and people quietly sitting in their seats. Lucky for us, we had a good couple of pilots, and after some shakes and bumps, we saw the Hoover dam, the lake and ‘finally’, the Strip. Amazing as it was seen from it the air, it would get even more amazing once we set foot on the ground

Vegas atmosphere already starts at the very gate you land. The noise of slot machines welcomes you when leaving the airplane, and from there on, it doesn’t stop. We thought that Florida was very hot, but it was nothing compared to the boiling dry heat that overcomes you when going outside. A little bus took us to the end of the strip, where we checked in in Circus Circus, and immediately changed into bikini’s and shorts. Indeed, not the Strip, but the pool was our primary destination. A nice refreshing dip in a shark and manatee-free pool was the highlight of our afternoon. After enjoying a nice Watermelon Daiquiri, some sun and an other lifeguard every 30 minutes, we decided to get ready for some casino-exploring, all-you-can-eat-dinners, and the long awaited arrival of our Floridian companion. Normally, Eline was going to land 15 minutes after us, but she accidently switched the AM and PM flight, only to arrive a bit after midnight. But if you think we went straight to bed then, you’re wrong! After dusk is somewhat the perfect time to explore the strip. Still warm enough to wear almost nothing, and a lot of lights, excitement and people to see. The first casino we visited was the Venetian, where you can take a gondola that sails you right into their mall. Once there, you can’t see if it’s day or night, as a nice cloudy sky lightens the small Venetian alleys. You can see Palazzo D’oro, Piazza San Marco, Ponte dei Sospiri.. A nice little foretaste for this summer, as I’ll be visiting Venice for the 3^rd time already. Another great casino is Caesar’s Palace, where you can find the Trevi fountains, the Colloseum and a lot of Roman Palazzo’s. The Venetian and Caesar’s Palace are some of the bigger Casino’s of the strip, so you could say that Italy is well represented… We also stopped for some drinks at Margarita Ville, saw some bands play live here and there, and stopped at some famous places like Treasure Island, Casino Royale and the local Mc Donald’s. After seeing enough lights and hearing enough slot machines, we decided to call it a day and went to our nice little Circus Circus bed.

The next day started of a bit the same. We slept a bit later, took a little brunch and went straight to the pool. Another cloudless day, and mercury was rising to unknown heights. We switched the pool for Adventuredome, a very large indoor amusement park located in our very hotel, where they happen to have the largest indoor rollercoaster, which we immediately had to try. Eline and I were on the front row, Elke and Laurens behind me. I have never heard so much screaming in my life! We also took our chance at the Slot machines. When in the neighborhood, you should definitely try the Midas Touch Slot Machine in Circus Circus. A nice little old lady was trying her look at this big slot machine, and thought it would be fine if Eline and Laurens just put their coins in because she wasn’t exactly in a lucky mood. Eline put her coin in the machine, took the handle for a swing, and coins just started rolling out. You should’ve seen the old ladies face, as she was already standing there for 10 minutes, getting nothing out of it. It got even worse when Laurens also decided to empty the slot machine. She cursed and cursed while both of them went to cash their profit in nice green dollar bills. I didn’t get lucky though, but there’s a saying that if you don’t have luck playing games… Oh well

On our way back to the hotel after some shopping, we also scored some VIP tickets to Pure, a nice nightclub at Caesar’s Palace. So we all dressed up again, and left at about 11 to stretch our legs to some funky music. The waiting line was still pretty long, but we got in for free, so that was a nice compensation to the high prized drinks over there (no good drinks under 17$, at least if you want to drink something else than ‘dishwatery’ beer). You could compare Pure with Culture Club (only way better), and with a Loungy bar on the roof of Caesar’s Palace, where you can overlook the strip while sipping a wine and dancing to the beat. Elke almost immediately had an admirer, and a girl fell completely in love with Laurens and his outfit. We all had a good time out, and got at the hotel late enough to have a long lie-in the next day.

Because sitting at the pool gets a bit boring after a while, we decided to go shopping (what else to do with 3 girls and a male shopping addict?) Elke and I each bought a very lovely Alyn Paige NY dress, and even Laurens didn’t leave the building empty handed.. Now we all had the perfect outfit for our next night out on the Strip. We also had to stop at the local Abercrombie, where some of us where couldn’t resist buying that one cute top in clearance, the cool shorts… After a quick dive in the pool, we got all dressed up again. Our place to be for tonight was the Wynn, one of the newer Casino’s on the strip, and considered as one of the best places to stay. Too bad our bank account didn’t allow us that, but a friend over in Long Valley his nephew played one of the main characters in one of the musicals there, and he got us 2 for 1 tickets, which is always a welcome bonus.

Sir Galahad got us some very nice seats not to far from the stage, and we enjoyed “Spamalot”, a bit of a parody of “The Quest for the Holy Grail”, one of my favorite Monty Python movies. Mr. Cleese himself was only present in the voice of God, but I must say, I haven’t laughed like then in a long time! The Knights of Ni, Tim the Enchanter, a soon-to-be-dismembered Black Knight, a peasant named Dennis, the French taunters and a rather dangerous killer rabbit had us all cracking up in our seats..

After the musical, sir Galahad (aka Mika Duncan) gave us a little private tour backstage, where we saw some dressing rooms, the stage, some of the attributes from the show.. Another once in a lifetime opportunity!

The night was still young, so we started out with some drinks at Blush, the loungy club at the Wynn. Laurens was having a very generous mood, as he bought bubbles for all of us. There was a nice atmosphere, but a little to calm for us, so we went to Caesar’s Palace again to discover some of the other nightclubs there. Our initial plan was to go to Poetry, but as there were more people leaving than entering when we got there, we decided to make a change of plans and go to the Bank instead. With our nice dresses and suits on, we didn’t have any problem getting in, and even passed a great load of people who were already waiting there for a while. They say nice outfits and good looks get you everywhere, and in Las Vegas this is more than true! There was a bit of a foam party going on, and especially in the beginning of the night the music was great. Elke had another admirer, and if it weren’t for Laurens, I would’ve never gotten rid of some London dude constantly trying to grab my hand to move me up to the bar. I guess that under the saying ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’, a lot of people just don’t hesitate to take their chances. Too bad for them, I ain’t that easy

The next day we decided to discover the other part of the strip. Bellagio, NY NY with it’s impressive rollercoaster (even better than the one we have over at our hotel), Brooklyn Bridge and the big skyscrapers, Paris Paris (because everything’s just sexier in Paris) with its Eiffel tower and other famous buildings, MGM Grand that includes the biggest bronze statue (of a lion) in the western world, and some very alive lions in the lobby .. every one of them impressive in its own way. They also had a nice Coca Cola Ville, and an M&M store that could easily compete with the one here on Times Square.. We enjoyed the nice water spectacle of the Bellagio Fountains, and kept being amazed by every step we took.

The last night was started with a lot of rosé wine, and Laurens trying to make friends with all other hotel guests in our block, just to find a bottle opener. Some surprising news from a friend back in Belgium, a funky photo shoot on Eline’s new suitcase, and a little pre party in the room were the warm-up. A nice dinner with a crazy waiter and some more rosé wine later, I didn’t feel like walking up and down the strip again, especially because it was already after midnight and we didn’t plan on really going out . So television was my friend that evening. (Crazy as it might be, one of the only times that we watch television is when we’re away for the weekend, or when we were at Eline’s den in Florida (where we saw the whole ANTL season in half a day)

After getting up again and making our suitcase, we decided to take a last hop into the water where some annoying French snobs were acting like they were King of the Pool, with their little loud iPod docks (which actually had some nice music on it) and lofty behavior. I guess they just didn’t have anywhere else to go, because they certainly didn’t look 21, and weren’t allowed in clubs or casino’s. but what’s the point in coming to Las Vegas without being allowed into the two best things they have to offer?

All in all, it was certainly the cherry on the cake when it comes to our little trips around America. At least now I already have a bit of a tan to make all of you brain drained students a bit jealous! for more pictures, you can also check my picasa account. just click the link on the right hand site of the blog.

Cheers!

The last (but certainly not the least) trip

Well guys and girls, You won’t be hearing much from me this weekend, as I’m off to Las Vegas in a couple of hours.. Lot’s of fun, spectacle, sun and sloth machines are awaiting me! I’ll be staying at Circus Circus, but we’ll try and visit some of the other hotels on the strip too. City that never sleeps, Here I come!