Day Fifty-Four: End.

This morning we had to get up early to get on the ferry, but all we had to do was drive around and through the checkpoints and then line up for a while and wait to get on. Then we went on the ferry which was cool, we could actually see stuff this time unlike last time when it was totally the middle of the night! For ages it was just sea but then we could see the 'white cliffs of Dover' which I had always wanted to do.

We had some breakfast on the boat, just tuna baguettes, but there was too much mayo for me. We also had cups of tea for the first time in so long since we hadn't taken any with us on the trip, it was so good! When we got to Dover we had to wait to get off and then go and find the station to meet Mum and Malcolm. First we went to the bus station but that didn't seem right so then we went to the train station to wait there. When we met them we went and had coffee at a cafe there (Mum and Malcolm were heading over to Europe that night) and then went for lunch at the pub across the road.

At the pub I got a big breakfast because I hadn't had anything like that in Europe and I miss brunch! It came with toast, egg, bacon, sauage, beans, black pudding, tomato and hash browns, all for 4 pounds, so much food! I gave the black pudding to Malcolm, I don't think I could bring myself to try that, gross. Quentin got peas, pie and chips. The pie was really yum and he got about a million chips but the peas were no good. No big loss though! We couldn't finish all the food although we gave it a good shot. I love pub food.

After lunch we drove up the country to Quentin's aunty and uncles house at Banbury where they kindly said we could stay for a few days while we looked for a flat in London. We wanted to come and drop off all our stuff (not that it is that much) before dropping off the van so that we didn't have to take it all with us on the train. Their village is super cute and old like most English places. There is a little pub we went past which is hundreds of years old, maybe we will go to it while we are here.

Anyway I think this is where I will end the blog because all that happens now is that we drop the van back and start looking for work! We also need a place to live so I will get back to looking for flats and jobs now. I hope everyone has enjoyed the blog, and that I didn't bore you too much!

View of Dover

I'm on a boat! (again)

Day Fifty-Three: In Bruges

This morning we had planned to go and get Belgian waffles for breakfast since we were in Belgium so we headed into Bruges and had a look around. There were a lot of places open, like cafe's and stuff but they all seemed to sell waffles and pancakes only from 2-5.30, super weird, I don't know why that is the time for waffles. Anyway we went into a different place and got some other stuff for breakfast, I had a chicken wrap and Quentin got vege pizza and croque monsieur (which we probably should have had in France, and is a ham and cheese toastie) and we shared this pastry which looks like a samosa but isn't. They have them everywhere here and with all different stuff in but this one had some kind of berries and was yum.

After that we went and looked around the town some more and also went into this super old church which was really cool. They had some tombs there that they had only found in the 1990s which is pretty crazy! We walked further into the town and found a big square where all sorts of stuff was going on. Heaps of people were going on horse and carriage rides around the place, and you could go on boat rides in the canal too. They had a big bell tower there which Quentin said was from the movie (I fell asleep in it twice so I can't remember it) but we didn't go up because there was a mega line and it smelt bad there.

In this town there are soooo many chocolate shops, lace shops and beer shops! We saw them everywhere, I don't know if people buy that much lace or not? Anyway before we left we thought we better try the waffles even though we weren't hungry so we found a place that did only waffles so it wasn't stuck in the timeframe that everyone else was. We got one with chocolate and chantilly cream and it was so extreme. It seems like they cook masses of sugar into the middle of the waffle and then when you add melted chocolate and cream it is a bit over the top! But we have tried it now anyway. It was yum but for about 2 bites and then it is just sickly.

After that we headed back over the border and into France to find the ferry terminal where we planned to stay the night since we were getting the 8am ferry and you have to be there around 6.30am I think. We drove to Dunkirk and then realised that the ferry place was actually further on so we went and found it. There wasn't really anything there like shops or anything so we went back to the town and got some salads for dinner and some snacks before we went back.

We just hung out in the ferry area for the evening, there were a lot of other campers there as well, maybe getting the sailings in the night or the same morning one as us. They had showers there as well which was cool, although the pressure was so exteme I thought it might take my skin off! I think because it was near the sea it wasn't as hot as everywhere else which was awesome, I could actually sleep properly! Totally sad that the trip is almost over though :(

Inside a sweet church

Stained glass rules!

In the square

More of the square - love these buildings!

At the canals

Waffles! Super rich.

Day Fifty-Two: Belgium sightseeing - old and new

This morning I didn't wake up until 11am! I think that is basically the latest I have slept this whole time. I went and got us some coffee and pastries for breakfast from the petrol station (which has a cafe inside) but I didn't know what I was getting since it is in Dutch. It turned out that one pastry was filled with cheese and one had a sausage inside. The cheese one was better but the sausage was pretty good too. We had them with some mayo (called fritesauce here because they always put it on their frites), some curry ketchup (which was actually really yum) and some mustard which was just normal. Good breakfast.

After that we got on the way to Antwerp which was about an hour away from where we had stopped. It didn't seem like that big of a city even though it is the second biggest in Belgium but maybe it was just because of the area we were in. There are some really awesome old buildings there, and a massive cathedral which is really cool too. We were going to go in but didn't have any cash at that point so we had to go find an ATM. It seemed like there was some kind of festival going on because we saw a parade of people all dressed up in old timey clothes and they had some guys setting up to do archery in the square and there were heaps of musicians around as well.

After we walked around the town for awhile we found an ATM so we went to get lunch. We went to a kebab place and got a mixed plate to share which came with chicken, beef, kebab meat, chips, salad, corn and sauce. It was probably the first time we had eaten proper meat (ie not McDonalds or sausage or something) in years. It was yum but I don't think I will miss it when we go back to being veges. I am actually looking forward to it! After lunch we walked through a bit more of the town and found an awesome shop with all different kinds of beer so we went in and got some so we can try them later. We got 4 kinds and two are ones which are brewed by monks, awesome.

Now we are on our way to Ghent which is apparently a cool old medieval town. When we got to Ghent we were really confused because heaps of streets were blocked off and we couldn't get around very well. We found a park and walked into the centre and then we realised that we were in the middle of a massive festival/fair of some kind, it was crazy. They had heaps of food and drink stalls (even one with Jacobs Creek wine) and heaps of performances going on. They had stages with bands and also street performers. There were a bunch of people dressed up like monkeys in a cage and one got out and ran away and was chased by people dressed as cops.

Anyway we had a good look around there, it seemed like it would be a really cool thing to go to if you were staying around there, I think it would have gone on all night. But all the things like the churches and castles and stuff which we would have otherwise looked at were closed. Oh well. We also saw probably the first vegetarian food stalls we had seen on this trip! Too bad we weren't hungry. After Ghent we planned to find somewhere close to stay but it turned out that Bruges (tomorrow's destination) wasn't that far away so we ended up staying near there.

Cathedral in Antwerp

Festival in Ghent

Cool old building in Antwerp

Monkey people

In Ghent

Castle in Ghent