About our car, when Europecar upgraded us to a Mercedes Benz
hatchback, I glanced at Danny, stunned. He just winked. That was funny because
we had just been talking a few minutes before about being upgraded. The
positives about this car: it's brand new; it has just 1,200 miles on it.
The engine shuts down every time you stop for a few
moments, saving diesel and it’s comfortable.
But.
There's always a catch. This car is a time bomb. Since we chose not to get the
insurance, we’re liable for anything that happens to it, at a cost of up to
£18,000. And alas, we found a scratch near the back tire when we got onto the
ferry. (That scratch could have been there before we got the car; it looks like
the paint has been scraped off. If I hit something there would have been a dent
there.)
So no driving like we stole it.
But I drove most of the time to Dover, through France and into Belgium. It’s incredibly
awkward driving on the left for the first few moments, especially with all
these roundabouts. Plus, it’s much more difficult if you’re nervous. But after
I relaxed, it was fine. It’s like looking into a mirror, with the steering
wheel on the right side as well. And driving on the highway (motorways) are
just like driving in the states, except the inside lane is the fast lane, as
opposed to the outside lane in the states. But on the motorways there aren’t
any speed limit signs, so I had no idea how fast I should have been driving.
And since I drove in Europe today, imagine having to switch back to driving on the right side of the road, but with the steering wheel on the right side of the car. It's a bit strange. So, we decided to go to Bruges, Belgium for the night and first part of the day. It's a fantastic place to visit so far. But I'm confident in saying neither of us knew anything about Bruges. I didn't even know the language here, until we asked a waiter. The official language in this part of Belgium is Flemish, a dialect of Dutch. But there are a lot of languages spoken here; in fact, one of the waiters we talked to speaks seven languages! We also met a taxi driver who let us follow him to a pet-friendly hotel, after he let us know we weren't supposed to be driving in the square (how are we supposed to know? We don't understand Dutch at all). And another thing about Bruges, there are so many bicycles here! You really have to watch out for cyclists.
So here’s to the adventures of the upcoming week. Plus, we
have Rocky the Bull Terrier riding with us. He has his own pet passport.
12/4 - I can now say I've eaten a waffle in Belgium. There was powdered sugar, butter and chocolate sauce on it, but no syrup. But we spent the first part of the day cruising Bruges and its canals; one of my favorite things I did was take a virtual reality tour of Bruges in the 14th century. There was a part where you flew over the buildings. But it was amazing in that you sit in a small booth, but with the virtual reality goggles and headphones on, you could look all around you, actually turning in your seat, and see whole environments, feel heat and wind.
We met a lady in a souvenir shop who is from England but hasn't been back to the UK for 25 years. She knits all the hats she has in the shop. She likes it much more in Belgium. People here seem more happy, and it looks cleaner here. And there's no stigma attached to bicycles because everyone rides them there.
But being with Rocky can be an adventure in itself. In the city center, there was so much stimulus that rocky was getting stressed. There are horse-drawn carriages, many people and dogs going up and down the streets. He was getting nervous and whining. Plus, he drew attention because, really, how often do you see a bull terrier like this? People took pictures, pointed and asked us about him.
Belgium just looks different from other countries I've been to. I'd like to visit it again some day. But it was time to move on, and we're now in Luxembourg at the moment. It's such a random place to visit, and before today, I knew almost nothing about it. But today we learned the languages are French and German. Driving here, we circled Brussels on the motorway and went for a couple hundred miles. We're beginning to get into the hills, and we can see some large mountains to the south. We have only been here for a few hours, but I can't wait to see Luxembourg City during the day. And on another note, the two of us are sunburned a bit. There's been nothing but sunny skies so far, but we're not used to it having come from cloudy-90-percent-of-the-time England.
And the cool thing about using a car is the fact you don't need to go through border security. There's a simple European Union sign that signifies the change of country line, and it can be missed. We're on an epic adventure in Europe, in total control of wherever we want to go or stop. It's about the journey, not the destination. We're seeing how the land changes across the continent and new, random cities. I think it's pretty funny to think about it: I'm in Luxembourg of all countries! I'm so glad I'm doing this, and with a friend no less.
I have many more pictures and videos. I can show you; just ask.
12/4 - I can now say I've eaten a waffle in Belgium. There was powdered sugar, butter and chocolate sauce on it, but no syrup. But we spent the first part of the day cruising Bruges and its canals; one of my favorite things I did was take a virtual reality tour of Bruges in the 14th century. There was a part where you flew over the buildings. But it was amazing in that you sit in a small booth, but with the virtual reality goggles and headphones on, you could look all around you, actually turning in your seat, and see whole environments, feel heat and wind.
We met a lady in a souvenir shop who is from England but hasn't been back to the UK for 25 years. She knits all the hats she has in the shop. She likes it much more in Belgium. People here seem more happy, and it looks cleaner here. And there's no stigma attached to bicycles because everyone rides them there.
But being with Rocky can be an adventure in itself. In the city center, there was so much stimulus that rocky was getting stressed. There are horse-drawn carriages, many people and dogs going up and down the streets. He was getting nervous and whining. Plus, he drew attention because, really, how often do you see a bull terrier like this? People took pictures, pointed and asked us about him.
Belgium just looks different from other countries I've been to. I'd like to visit it again some day. But it was time to move on, and we're now in Luxembourg at the moment. It's such a random place to visit, and before today, I knew almost nothing about it. But today we learned the languages are French and German. Driving here, we circled Brussels on the motorway and went for a couple hundred miles. We're beginning to get into the hills, and we can see some large mountains to the south. We have only been here for a few hours, but I can't wait to see Luxembourg City during the day. And on another note, the two of us are sunburned a bit. There's been nothing but sunny skies so far, but we're not used to it having come from cloudy-90-percent-of-the-time England.
And the cool thing about using a car is the fact you don't need to go through border security. There's a simple European Union sign that signifies the change of country line, and it can be missed. We're on an epic adventure in Europe, in total control of wherever we want to go or stop. It's about the journey, not the destination. We're seeing how the land changes across the continent and new, random cities. I think it's pretty funny to think about it: I'm in Luxembourg of all countries! I'm so glad I'm doing this, and with a friend no less.
I have many more pictures and videos. I can show you; just ask.
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