Home, sweet, Home
After a very early start last Thursday from Genk, Greg and I caught a number of trains to the airport in Brussels (Frans, you're right - that 4 minute changeover time for trains in Leuven is not enough - we made the train by the skin of our teeth!) for the short flight to London. Time for a bit of shopping at Harrods before we met up with Marg for the longer flight to Hong Kong and then Melbourne. A quick stock up on alcohol at the duty free shop in Melbourne before we came through customs, and a short visit by Tracey to the quarantine officer (cheese and chocolates!), but we eventually came out on the home side to be picked up by Mum and Dad.
Some of us slept OK that first night, and we had a reasonably quiet day on Saturday, catching up on washing, and welcoming the animals home! Marg and I enjoyed some sunshine in the backyard (on the coldest January day in 7 years - but after the -6C temperatures of late last week in Belgium, it felt practically tropical!) to convince our bodies it was daytime. That night my parents cooked us a lovely welcome home meal and we shared stories and showed our photos.
After another night of broken sleep, we slowly awoke to Sunday morning. In the afternoon, it was time to take Marg back to the airport for her short final leg home to Launceston. We caught up with some friends for a BBQ, before another quiet night at home in preparation for the return to the work.
Yes, the holiday is well and truly over!!
Thanks to everyone who contributed to our trip - we thoroughly enjoyed the very special family wedding, and it was great to meet new people and catch up with old acquantainces. A very special time for both Greg and I.
Some Belgian photos
Some of the better, or more interestings shots from our time in Belgium.
The first is the market place in Brugge.
The second is me with Elke and Bjorn's youngest daughter, Laure.
The third is of two chilly Aussies outside a homely looking castle not far from Genk (where it was so cold the moat was frozen!)
And the fourth is of Greg with our kind hostess, Maggy!
Some English photos
Here's a few of the better photos we took during our travels in southern England.
The first is of Stourhead House gardens - this was the location for the B&B/pub we stayed at before and during the wedding.
The second is of Corfe Castle and it's surrounds, in Dorset.
The third, is the view from the Isle of Portland, a very southern bit of coastline.
The fourth is presumably instantly recognizable as Stonehenge
The fifth is the photographers attempts at being artistic, from the Tower of London.
Belgian beer, food...and what about the weather?!
It's getting colder here in Belgium....they're forecasting snow for this week and given that it is cold enough now that it could be kinda cool to play in the snow, knowing our luck it won't snow until Thursday when we leave! Today we went to Bruge - the Venice of the North - and did a few toursity things which was pretty good. Tonight we are staying with my former host sister, Elke, near Gent, and are just planning our day tomorrow - maybe Paris, maybe Brussels, or maybe another country nearby?!
It's been great to catch up with everyone and my Dutch is coming back to me - after our first day here I even dreamt in Dutch that night! My former hometown of Genk is undergoing a few changes which has been interesting to see - esepcially the new cinema in the old coal mine, which we got to check out last night when we went to the movies with Frans and Maggy (don't worry, the film was in English - just with Dutch subtitles!)
We could put some more photos up but they all look a bit grey as it has been cold and raining, and besides, we'll be home by the end of the week so you can see them all then!
Photos!
Greetings from Belgium! It's good to be back in the old country, drinking Belgian beer and catching up with everyone! We finally made it on the Eurostar after the bad storms in Europe yeterday, which cancelled all the Eurostar services last night, so there were twenty zillion people trying to get on the trains this morning! Anyway, finally made it to here and are staying with Els & Steven tonight. Unfortunately, the weather dampened our day in London yesterday but we still managed to see a lot and spent the night with Matt (Scott's brother).
Anyway, here's some wedding photos:
In order:
- the bride & groom in church
- the reception marquee
- Tracey, Greg and Ruth
- the bridal couple dancing
- US!
Wedding Belles
Finally, we have made it to connected location and can update you all on the past few days in the Old Country!
Well, the biggest event was the wedding on Saturday. The weather wasn't at it's best but this is England, and they say it's good luck if it rains on your wedding day! The service was at 4pm in a very quaint, tiny church in the middle of farmland! It didn't rain as Eleanor made her way down the aisle or as she and Stu emerged as Mr and Mrs Mallett! It was a lovely service conducted by her uncle who was very funny, which helped lighten the mood as the whole congretation was conscious of the fact that it should have been her father marrying them (he passed away in 2005). For the girls reading this, my pink outfit was fine in the church, and I was warm enough, although glad of the lining and the jacket sleeves! Greg also looked very suave in his new suit.
The reception was only 1km away in a marquee in the grounds of family friends of Eleanor. It was a gorgeous home, and the marquee was very well set up - very fancy in fact. We were greeted by mulled wine, which was highly appropriate on a cool English winter evening! Mingling, speeches, photos, the meal, dancing etc all followed until the bride changed into her red going away outfit (I loved it!) and they left at about midnight. We headed back to our pub shortly after for some much needed sleep! It was a great day, all very well planned and it all went off very well.
So, on the Thursday we arrived at Heathrow, and Greg's brother Doug met us at the airport and amazingly managed to fit all our luggage into his hire car! We drove down to Somerset, past Stonehenge (very close to our B&B) and set up home for the next few nights in a tiny place called Stourton. That night was Stu's buck's night so Greg headed off to that. They went to a pub called the Malet Arms (wrong spelling, but still very appropriate!) and had a meal before heading back to where Stu used to live for a poker night with plenty of drinking. Needless to say, poor Greg, after a 24 hour flight, didn't last too long and was offered a bed until the others were redy to come back! Meanwhile, us girls were the sole inhabitants at our pub but we had a great meal too.
Friday morning was started with a good English cooked breakfast, and then we all (Doug, Ruth, Marg and us) headed into Salisbury. We did the cathederal for the tourists amongst us, had a spot of shopping, had lunch and then headed to the reception venue to assist a little with the setting up. That night was a meeting of the families at a very quaint (I use that word a lot, but it is sooo appropriate!) pub and was a great night.
Saturday morning we went for a walk around the gardens of the place we were staying at (as it seems, do half of England on a weekend!) before getting ready for the wedding.
Sunday was a bit slow in the morning but then we had a lunch for close friends at the pub we were staying at before everyone went their separate directions: Marg went to stay with Eleanor's mum, Doug and Ruth headed to London as they fly home tonight, and we headed to Bournemouth to stay in Eleanor's flat.
So today, we hired a car and set about exploring this neck of England. It is very interesting, and pretty so we think we'll be able to fill the next couple of days before heading up to London.
Sorry there aren't any photos this posting - I should be able to remedy that once we hit Belgium on Friday.
Happy New Year!
2007 is here! We celebrated the transition from 2006 to 2007 quietly, with some friends, a BBQ and plenty of drink. After the thunderstorms that evening, and limited sleep, we spent the first day of the new year relaxing on our boat at Lake Nagambie, with a picnic lunch and soaking up the sun! Aaaahhhh!
Christmas was wonderful. For us, it really started on the Saturday night when my friend Julie and I hosted the annual Julie and Tracey Christmas Party. This was the 10th occasion of the full traditional Christmas Party we host for our friends, with spectacular food, great decorations and of course, presents! It was another superb night with so much laughter it's a wonder the neighbours didn't call the police for disturbing the peace!
On Christmas Day, we opened presents at home and then went to Mum and Dad's for lots of good food and wine. An unseasonably cold day - we even had the heater on - but very relaxed and capped off with a long phone conversation to my brother in Thailand!
Now, it's only just on a week until we leave for the UK and Belgium. It's getting very exciting, as we work out what to pack, and make travel plans. Greg's mum arrives to us on Sunday so she and I have to hit the shops on Monday to buy her an outfit for the wedding, but once that's in hand, we'll be all set to board that Qantas jumbo next Wednesday!
So the next posting will be from shores far from here - and hopefully filled with exciting tales!
