Denouement Diaries

Essentially the ramblings of two adults that probably require adult supervision.

As usual, follow along at:

And follow along HERE, of course…

Anyway, let's get into it:

6/7/23 - Day 148: In Bruges

Woke up and rolled out of bed eventually at nearly 9am.
Then headed straight into the old town of Bruges.
Parked in an underground car park and started wandering around looking for some breakfast.
Found an awesome waffle and coffee place, very Belgian, and it was really yummy.
Then we wandered into the main square, went up the Belfort Tower which is one of the main scenes from 'In Bruges'.
Had a look around and then basically just wandered around the town.
We followed some canals, found a little chocolate shop where we got a little box of chocolates that we went and ate in a park.
Got some more coffees and then in the afternoon went back to the car and drove to Casey's Pole Studio just for where she was doing a bit of a practice session.
Then back to the motel for a little while to chill out and have a shower before heading up the road a little ways to a little burger shack where we sat and had dinner.
Watched 'Parks and Rec' in the evening.
Nice little town day.

7/7/23 - Day 149: Netherlands

Travel day.
Checked out and got going.
Should have sorted breakfast first.
Becuase we headed into the Netherlands and through Zeeland. So that I can say I've been to Zeeland AND New Zealand...
Before stopping in Middle Burg for breakfast.
It turned out to be a lovely quiet little town.
And we had some coffees then got going again.
Interesting drive along all the dykes along the North Sea.
We sort of skirted Rotterdam then popped in to the Hague for a look around.
Just parked up in a multi story car park then walked around the centro.
Nice place.
Actually had some Indonesian food for lunch which was yummy - a happy relic of the Dutch East India company presumably...
And apparently the ruling coalition government also fell while we were in The Hague...
Ayway, kept heading north and found our way to Alkmaar, which turned out to be a lovely miniature Amsterdam with beautiful cobbled streets and canals.....and very narrow roads full of cyclists.
Parked in a public carpark while we checked in to the hostel and asked about the best place to park.
Threw some bags in, Casey got changed.
And grabbed a quick coffee in the cobble stoned square along the canal.
Because then we went about 5 minutes out of town to a Pole Class Casey had somehow organised.
Found it very easy.
Back in to town.
Parked in the prescribed parking.
And hunted for some dinner.
Was actually getting a bit late by now so the cafes weren't doing dinner.
So we ended up at a ribs place - which was awesome. Some littel legend running the place guaranteed us his food was the best. And it was pretty good.
Then sleeps.
After watching some 'Eurotrip' of course.

8/7/23 - Day 150: Amsterdam

Had breakfast in the hostel - which was pretty good - after we again learned that Europeans don't really do breakfasts like Australians do.
Afterwards, we had a bit of a look around the Alkmaar centre, then got sorted to head down to Amsterdam for the afternoon.
Drove down easily.
Became terrified of killing a cyclist as I got closer to the centre.
Found a park - paid the price of a limb for it but fine.
Then walked in towards the nice little canals.
Learned that we have really been enjoying staying away from the European summer crowds so far - I am fairly sure this will be our busiest stop.
Wandered, looked at pretty things, had some coffees, got some lollies.
Then ended up at a 'Prostitution Museum' which was fitting for the town, I suppose. And actually very interesting.
We had some lunch afterwards, during which I ordered a completely random and wrong italian bread dish thing for Casey.
And then we went to a raunchy Amsterdam show.
During the intermission of which, Casey jumped on the pole. Of course.
Wandered the streets afterwards in to the afternoon.
Grabbed some iced coffees then found the car.
Drove back up to Alkmaar.
And actually went for some more ribs - they were really good.
Had some ice cream along the canals after dinner.
Then finished watching 'Eurotrip'.

9/7/23 - Day 151: Alkmaar --> Mechelen

Travel day.
Checked out of Alkmaar.
Breakfast in the hostel.
Went and had some coffees a street over.
Then took our bags to the car.
The prepaid tag from the hostel worked fine.
Then driving.
Couple of hours.
Servo for some Starbucks iced lattes.
Arrived in to Mechelen in the rain.
Pulled up and jumped into a deserted pub.
And had some schnitzels. Which were excellent.
Check in was open by then so we rolled down the hill to the hotel.
Threw the bags in the room, then had a walk up the road.
Rain had stopped and we found ourselves in a lovely village town.
Up to an old brewery, now a hotel.
And had coffees in their garden
And did a bit planning for the rest of the year.
I might go and do some work for a few weeks when we are back in Bali.
Then chilled in our hotel.
Watched 'Parks and Rec'.
Not really any dinner because of the very late lunch.

10/7/23 - Day 152: Mechelen

Up and had breakfast at that same brewery hotel place.
Then started driving towards Maastricht.
That plan went our the windo when I blew up a tyre...
Basically, it took hours. I had to go through the rental insurance mob so it wasn't even worth changing the tyre myself (don't even know where the spare is kept in a Renault Scenic...)
A tow truck eventually arrived. Lovely Dutch fellow. I drove the car on to the back of the truck. We sat in the car for the ride to a Renault dealership.
Ended up Uber back from Renault to Mechelen. Never saw Maastricht.
Lunch of more more schnitzel was very nice.
Then walked around the parklands in Mechelen.
And had some coffees in the little town in the afternoon.
Then just chilled in the afternoon and did a bit of booking for the next few days in to Switzerland.

11/7/23 - Day 153: Mechelen --> Luxembourg

Travel day.
But first we had to have breakfast then go and get Gustave H.
We realised that our hotel was serving a pretty good breakfast.
So we sort of just wandered in to the dining area and helped ourselves - I'm still not sure if it was included with our room...
And we still had some time to spare for a coffee again at the old brewery on the street.
Where we had a chat about how happy we are to not be worrying about an Australian mortgage right now...
Then we checked out and waited for the Maastricht Taxi that I had booked to arrive.
And the lovely Dutch fellow arrived exactly on time.
So we headed off to the Maastricht Renault again, this time not on the back of a tow truck.
And unfortunately just had to sit around in the dealership for a couple of hours until the tyre was done.
Then we were off.
Got some fuel and snacks and headed towards Luxembourg.
Pretty easy drive.
Then after transiting through Belgium, France and Germany, and another quick snack stop, arrived in Luxembourg.
Which is just beautiful.
Parked up in a little public carpark (and paid for a parking permit thing), for which we would later receive a 24 euro ticket...
And wandered around - looked at the cathedral and walked along some of the old defensive walls.
Grabbed some coffees and chocolates.
Then walked across one of the deep valleys on a foot bridge underneath one of the road bridges.
Back to the car before our time ran out - saw the parking fine...
And shifted over to some off street parking for the evening because Casey had organised a pole class in Luxembourg.
Grabbed some ice coffees beforehand.
Dropped her off.
I chilled at Maccas reading about the history of Luxembourg.
Then when she was finished, we got going towards our accomodationi in Thionville - back in France.
Which was a fairly short drive.
Checked in.
Sleeps.

12/7/23 - Day 154: Luxembourg

Up at a reasonable time actually to have some breakfast at the hotel and get going by 0900..
We basically spent the day up in Luxembourg again.
Short drive in.
Couple of loops around looking for a parking garage.
Parked up and got walking.
Through the lovely parks (which I would later learn is where the fortifications of the city used to be).
Found a lovely art museum which we wandered around - Dominique Lang was the artist being displayed - anyway really nice style.
Then kept going into the old town.
Had some coffees and madeleines.
Then into the Luxembourg History Museum - which was also covered by the same ticket.
Which was fantastic - The Luxembourgish have an ancient history and seem very proud of it (but not nationalistic or ostentatious).
Wandered down into the valley via poking around some of the old fortifications.
Then walked along the creek/river.
Luxembourg may be the prettiest city in Europe. I said it... Soz, Paris.
Back up to the plateau - lots of stairs.
And had some sausages for lunch.
Saw a little chavvy eshay dweeb get tackled by the police - must have robbed a phone.
And strikingly - he looked exactly like our bogan criminals: polo shirt, those particular shoes, bum bag across the chest - what an international culture...
A few more coffees then wandered back to the car with some iced lattes for the road.
Back to our accommondation for a beat then off to Casey's next pole class outside of Thionville - which I later learned is a poor ex-mining town.
Found the pole studio but some mix up meant there was no space for Casey.
So we went and had dinner back near our accomodation.
Some nice Japanese food then ice creams.
Then home and watched 'A Simple Favour' on Netflix.

Stay tuned...