After four weeks of going hard, trying to see as much as possible, I am finally in the tail end of the trip.
We have one more night in Brussels and five nights in Amsterdam, which still seems like a lot. But since we’re not on a cruise or a tour, and just on our own, it feels more relaxed.
I really enjoyed the Globus bus tour. There were only 34 of us so we got a chance to get to know people in a more informal way.
There were a wider variety of ages and the group was more diverse than on the river cruise. Plus people were not as highbrow but more down to earth. We didn’t have to get dressed up fancy for meals which was nice.
The bus was a really nice one with wifi and charger outlets for our phones. And an emergency bathroom, just in case.
The only really long day on the bus was from Amsterdam to Luxembourg. They broke it up with three stops but it still felt like a long day. Most people slept for a lot of the time.
Once we hit Luxembourg, it really started to get hectic. Non stop tours with barely enough time to grab lunch or sightsee on our own. We ended up running back to the bus multiple times.
For example, the cemetery visit, tour of Luxembourg, and trip to Trier were all in the same day! We were pooped at the end of that one.
And every day started early (breakfast at seven, on the bus by eight) and went late, often with a traditional dinner in the town. It made for long days and not much sleep. No wonder I’m so tired.
They did an awesome job of accommodating my gluten-free vegetarian diet. At least I got to see all the local food and beer, even if I couldn’t partake. Local food was highly breaded and fried and bland, from what I could see.
But I got to drink plenty of great wine and when we were on our own, we ate Indian and Indonesian and Japanese and Middle Eastern, which more than made up for not eating local.
It’s been nice to have long stretches of time with Boy19. He’s grown and matured so much and has really had a tough time in France. It’s given us a great opportunity to talk to each other and for him to vent about his experiences.
He’s especially talked about his dad. It’s been tough for me not to disparage his father but to simply discuss him but I think I’ve done okay there. And when I haven’t, I’ve always apologized.
I still have hundreds of photos from Bruges and Brussels. It’s going to take hours for me to narrow them down to only ten to post here.
I feel like I have overwhelmed this space with all my travel photos but I have to remember that I’m doing it mostly for me to remember and have something to look back on, just like a journal.
I have really enjoyed all the amazing places I’ve managed to see on this trip and it does enhance it for me to share it with all you guys.
And I still have six days to go.
