It was the first time I went to Belgium and this was also the first time I'd be spending it away with my boyfriend (Nigel). There was 5 of us travelling to Belgium and we stayed at his cousins' house. I must say a massive thank you my Nigel's family, friends and relatives for being absolutely amazing!
Monday 17th June 2013 - Bonjour Belgium!
We caught the train from Kings Cross St. Pancras. The train ride was about 2 hours but it didn't feel that long. I was trying to watch a movie on my phone and managed to watch half of it. I spent most of the journey just admiring the outside view and lying in my boyfriends arms in disbelief that I was actually going to spend a week away with my boyfriend! We arrived at Belgium around 5pm and was greeted with my boyfriend's cousin, Kevin and his girlfriend, Arnie. We took a train to their house and it was very hot on the train. It was a little surreal I was in Belgium but a nice feeling. We arrived at the house and I met the rest of his family. We exchanged greetings and was welcomed into their house. I sat in the kitchen with the girls and talked while the boys went to the supermarket to buy the food for dinner. It was lovely. When the guys came back, the cooking began. I didn't take part with the cooking but helped clearing up as I didn't know quite what I was doing. They cooked a lovely meal and it was a delicious! We then unpacked and I was sharing a room with Nigel and his friend Earl. I felt so bad yet so good that I had a double bed! It was comfy too! However, the first night was a bit of a struggle to sleep. I couldn't sleep and neither did anyone else had much sleep.. Maybe it was getting used to new surroundings and the fact it was quite hot with no breeze.
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| Belgium 2013 |
Monday 17th June 2013 - Bonjour Belgium!
We caught the train from Kings Cross St. Pancras. The train ride was about 2 hours but it didn't feel that long. I was trying to watch a movie on my phone and managed to watch half of it. I spent most of the journey just admiring the outside view and lying in my boyfriends arms in disbelief that I was actually going to spend a week away with my boyfriend! We arrived at Belgium around 5pm and was greeted with my boyfriend's cousin, Kevin and his girlfriend, Arnie. We took a train to their house and it was very hot on the train. It was a little surreal I was in Belgium but a nice feeling. We arrived at the house and I met the rest of his family. We exchanged greetings and was welcomed into their house. I sat in the kitchen with the girls and talked while the boys went to the supermarket to buy the food for dinner. It was lovely. When the guys came back, the cooking began. I didn't take part with the cooking but helped clearing up as I didn't know quite what I was doing. They cooked a lovely meal and it was a delicious! We then unpacked and I was sharing a room with Nigel and his friend Earl. I felt so bad yet so good that I had a double bed! It was comfy too! However, the first night was a bit of a struggle to sleep. I couldn't sleep and neither did anyone else had much sleep.. Maybe it was getting used to new surroundings and the fact it was quite hot with no breeze.
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| Belgium |
Tuesday 18th June 2013 - Walibi Theme Park
I woke up with little sleep but was very excited as we was going to a theme park today and it was 30 degrees and sunny! When I woke up, breakfast was served. It was amazing! I couldn't believe the cooking standards! Not long after, we headed to the train station and headed to Walibi Theme Park. It was such a fun day! The queues for the rides wasn't too bad and maybe a couple of them were slightly longer but overall, it was ok. The first roller coaster, Nigel decided to go on too despite his fears for roller coasters. I was very proud of him! I went on most of the scary rides which still did not give me that fear I'm searching for in roller coasters so I guess I still need to go to Six Flags in America! We went on a lot of the rides and I had such a great time. It was a lovely fun day out. It really was.
I woke up with little sleep but was very excited as we was going to a theme park today and it was 30 degrees and sunny! When I woke up, breakfast was served. It was amazing! I couldn't believe the cooking standards! Not long after, we headed to the train station and headed to Walibi Theme Park. It was such a fun day! The queues for the rides wasn't too bad and maybe a couple of them were slightly longer but overall, it was ok. The first roller coaster, Nigel decided to go on too despite his fears for roller coasters. I was very proud of him! I went on most of the scary rides which still did not give me that fear I'm searching for in roller coasters so I guess I still need to go to Six Flags in America! We went on a lot of the rides and I had such a great time. It was a lovely fun day out. It really was.
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| Vampire Roller Coaster |
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| Walibi Spontaneous Pose Snaps! |
Today we headed out to Brussels, half of us travelled by car and the other half by train. We toured around Brussels and Arnie kindly pointed out the landmarks and told us about Brussels. We stopped off at Hard Rock Cafe for some lunch. I wasn't feeling that hungry as breakfast filled me up but somehow I managed to finish my burger! I ordered the classic which was really good! After the meal we sat in Grand Place, where we was surrounded by tall buildings. We took some pictures and chilled for a bit before heading for some frozen yoghurt at Chill Box. It was good but I thought PinkBerry was better as they offer more choice! After Chill Box, we headed around Brussels for more tourist action and just strolling around Brussels. It was really nice to do that with nothing on my mind. It was quite warm though. As evening approached, we headed to Nigel's uncles' house. He had been ill recently and so they went to see him. I met more of his family and I was confused with all the people, names and faces. I didn't know who was who! It was nice though. We ate a little bit of food. I was so full but I ate some salad. It was a cosy flat but it was very warm. We then headed to the park and chilled. We drank a shot of JD's with coke and did this in turns and had quite a few rounds. I could feel quite tipsy. I was fine but was a little affected which surprised me a lot as I would have thought I would have been much worse! It was a lovely evening. It was about to rain and it was good timing as we was leaving. We left the park around 10pm and Kevin drove us home. Within about half an hour, I was feeling very tired. We got back home around 11pm and I showered and KO'd. It was one of the best night's sleeps I have had in a while! Awesome day.
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| Hard Rock Cafe - Starters to share. |
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| Hard Rock Cafe - Classic Burger |
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| Grand Place, Brussels |
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| Chill Box - Frozen Yoghurt |
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| Touring around Brussels |
Thursday 20th June 2013 - Antwerp
We headed to Antwerp today and did some shopping. It was a lovely place with a lot of the high street shops you'd find in London. It was rainy at first but the weather soon brightened up. We went to eat at a place called Keyser which had some delicious burgers and chips! It was really good! We went back home to chill and had Sushi for dinner. I was trying to teach everyone how to use chopsticks but everyone kind of knew anyway. It was good fun.
We headed to Antwerp today and did some shopping. It was a lovely place with a lot of the high street shops you'd find in London. It was rainy at first but the weather soon brightened up. We went to eat at a place called Keyser which had some delicious burgers and chips! It was really good! We went back home to chill and had Sushi for dinner. I was trying to teach everyone how to use chopsticks but everyone kind of knew anyway. It was good fun.
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| Antwerp Station |
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| Mall of some sort |
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| Streets lined with shops |
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| On the train |
Friday 21st June 2013 - Korean BBQ, Waffles, Bowling, Autonim
We headed back to Brussels today and we visited the Manneken Pis. This is an artistic icon of Brussels. We also visited the woman statue similar to this. After that, we
went to have a Korean BBQ called Chez Kimchi. It was very good. We walked about for a little while and then stopped off for some Belgium waffles! I can not describe how yummy they were! I had strawberries and Nutella on mine, little did I know they actually just give you a Nutella to spread yourself! Lesson learnt! After that we walked somewhere and went bowling! It was great fun. I managed to get a couple of strikes but also managed to swing the ball backwards haha! Which I don't think I have ever done! But hey, first time for everything! It was really nice atmosphere, good music, quiet place, top floor. So much fun!
We went back to the house and chilled for a bit. A few of us went to see the Autonim by car and it looked really cool! We then headed to Arnie's house which was like a mansion. It was a lovely home. We headed back to the house after and ate and got ready for clubbing. We changed and dressed for clubbing which was quite exciting. I haven't been in a long time, never been clubbing in another country and certainly haven't been with my boyfriend, so the experience was exciting. We had pre drinks tequila shots before the club. I had a few but again, surprisingly I did not feel too bad! We got on the last train which was around midnight and the plan was to come back on the first train. We made it to the train station, everyone a little tipsy but more tired than anything else! It had been a long day. We arrived at the club where we ordered more drinks and had vodka with redbull. It was a crazy night. They played some good tunes and I got very tipsy/drunk. I remember everything of course but it was having that care free attitude. I drank a bit too much had felt so tired at one point where I just fell asleep in my boyfriends arms. He stayed awake to keep me safe. I woke up later still a bit tipsy but not feeling sick or too bad. Just tired with a small headache. It was this time when half of us noticed that some of us got a little drunk and things got out of hand. We sat outside to chill for a bit to get some fresh air. It was probably around 3/4am. I had nothing on me so I had no sense of time. Some threw up, some KO'd and some went crazy. So Earl and Kevin had to help calm Chris down as he was very hyper and went running away on his own and he must have been feeling invincible to be running on roads at speed. At this time I was just resting on the table outside the club and avoiding anyone who was throwing up. I was started to feel cold too but it wasn't too bad. We decided to try and walk it off and headed to the Grand Place again. We sat at the edges of the buildings and waited. We heard the train was going to be delayed by half an hour! We had to kill around two hours or so. It was here when Chris ran around and was quite drunk. Let's just say a fight was about to break out. I could see other drunks within the square and police. Everything that was happening seemed quite surreal. I got scared for the safety of my boyfriend and this instinct to protect him kicked in which came to a surprise. I saw a side of Nigel that I have never seen. He was actually mad, it didn't scare me as much, more made me see his fiery side. A short while later, we separated Nigel and Chris because Chris was just becoming too verbally abusive and we didn't want the situation to escalate. I stayed with Nigel and he apologised to me but I definitely did not see why he did that. It wasn't his fault and he just wanted to protect his family but alcohol has different effect on everyone and emotions were high. It would have been better if it didn't end like this but it was an experience and one I will not forget. The wait for the first train seemed so long. The sky even started to brighten up and we headed into the train station. We sat about on the floor of the station while waiting for the time to pass. I had an headache and just wanted to KO on the bed. After what felt like a million years, we got on the train with Chris and Nigel still separated. The journey back was ok and as we got in, I took some Ibuprofen and headed to bed. I slept like a baby. What a night!
We headed back to Brussels today and we visited the Manneken Pis. This is an artistic icon of Brussels. We also visited the woman statue similar to this. After that, we
went to have a Korean BBQ called Chez Kimchi. It was very good. We walked about for a little while and then stopped off for some Belgium waffles! I can not describe how yummy they were! I had strawberries and Nutella on mine, little did I know they actually just give you a Nutella to spread yourself! Lesson learnt! After that we walked somewhere and went bowling! It was great fun. I managed to get a couple of strikes but also managed to swing the ball backwards haha! Which I don't think I have ever done! But hey, first time for everything! It was really nice atmosphere, good music, quiet place, top floor. So much fun!
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| Manneken Pis |
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| Lady version |
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| Cheers! Korean BBQ |
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| Bowling |
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| Bowling |
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| Belgium Waffles - Amazing. |
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| Be dot |
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| Atomium |
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| Clubbing |
Saturday 22nd June 2013 - Chilling
After a crazy night last night, the mood this morning was a little quiet. Not sure who remembered what, who did what.. it was rather one of those 'the morning after the night before' moments. So we had breakfast together like we do and we got ready to go to a BBQ at another one of their relatives homes. We had to pack an overnight bag as we were staying there. It was a cosy home and quite nice but very hot! We stopped off at the supermarket where I managed to buy all my chocolates! We didn't actually take park in cooking the BBQ but we did help eat it! It was very good. Scrumptious! After food, we chilled. I took a nap, some played PlayStation and others did whatever they did. In the evening half of them did a drinking session with shisha. The Londoners kind of took a step back after what happened yesterday. But it was nice. We chilled, ate some cherries, used the wifi and before bed, they did karaoke. It was a good way to fall asleep to music! I managed to sleep fine too.
After a crazy night last night, the mood this morning was a little quiet. Not sure who remembered what, who did what.. it was rather one of those 'the morning after the night before' moments. So we had breakfast together like we do and we got ready to go to a BBQ at another one of their relatives homes. We had to pack an overnight bag as we were staying there. It was a cosy home and quite nice but very hot! We stopped off at the supermarket where I managed to buy all my chocolates! We didn't actually take park in cooking the BBQ but we did help eat it! It was very good. Scrumptious! After food, we chilled. I took a nap, some played PlayStation and others did whatever they did. In the evening half of them did a drinking session with shisha. The Londoners kind of took a step back after what happened yesterday. But it was nice. We chilled, ate some cherries, used the wifi and before bed, they did karaoke. It was a good way to fall asleep to music! I managed to sleep fine too.
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| Chilling |
Sunday 23rd June 2013 - Bye Bye!
How 6 days went so fast, I do not know!! Today was a day of chilling and packing. It took me like a day to pack for Belgium and literally 10 minutes to pack back for London. Everyone was tired from the trip but it had been a really good trip. I absolutely had a good time! I loved it. We made our way to the train station and it was time for goodbyes. We was on the train and soon arrived back in London. It was weird coming back but also quite good. I'll miss Belgium but definitely have loads of memories from it! I was so glad I agreed to go!
How 6 days went so fast, I do not know!! Today was a day of chilling and packing. It took me like a day to pack for Belgium and literally 10 minutes to pack back for London. Everyone was tired from the trip but it had been a really good trip. I absolutely had a good time! I loved it. We made our way to the train station and it was time for goodbyes. We was on the train and soon arrived back in London. It was weird coming back but also quite good. I'll miss Belgium but definitely have loads of memories from it! I was so glad I agreed to go!
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| Back to London on Eurostar |
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| This holiday was better than I expected. I fell deeper for the guy that stole my heart 6 months ago. |
