Trip Report How Many Countries Can You Visit in Two Weeks?! - DLRP and more! TR LINK!!!! Pg. 20!!

[jecskc]

I cannot believe it but we have 30 days until we leave for Europe.
I am so excited.
Can't wait to see the whole family and off course tour Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and England.

You must be Danielle's mom. I can't wait to read about this trip. I talked to my DH this evening and showed him all of the photos. Lots of good memories for us. We want to go back !!! Have some Belgium chocolate for us !!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I totally missed this !! I finally paid attention to your signature and found the link !! I already told you this, but I got engaged in Belgium. DH was starting up a chemical plant in the Netherlands, so I went over for a visit. He had his own villa in Brielle, Netherlands. Beautiful place. My visit was very short (8 days), but we spent two days in Brugge and it was amazing.

All of your photos bring back all of those memories. It was just so gorgeous and there is soooo much history. You never really realize how YOUNG America is until you travel to Europe.

I loved everything about the area. The tulips, the architecture, the cheese, the chocolate, and the pottery. We actually traveled to Gouda and Edam, where they make the famous cheese. I bought some wooden shoes (or clogs as they call them) along the way. We went to the actual Deflt pottery factory and bought several tiles and souvenirs there. My whole master bathroom is decorated in blue an white with all of these little pieces of pottery in there. We went to see the tulip garden in Keukenhof. Gorgeous!!

The chocolate (said in a hushed and reverent tone) is nirvana. The. Best. Chocolate. EVER. I still have dreams about it. Oh we got some little lace souvenirs as well.

Anyway, DH bought my engagement ring in Belgium. A blue diamond with small white ones surrounding it. I just recently got it made into a pendant because some of the little white diamonds were falling out. He of course replaced it with another more amazing ring, which I love. It was very romantic to get engaged there. We had a little carriage ride and he asked on one of the quiet little side streets. Very nice and romantic.

I bet you are beyond excited about your trip. How wonderful that you will get to experience that with your mother. That is very special. I can't wait to see more photos of DLRP as well. DH and I need to look into going back over there. We didn't have nearly enough time there. He spent 4 months there and did so much more than I did, but still he was working a lot and didn't get to see enough.

I can't wait to read about your adventures !!

You are so right that you don't realize how young America is until you visit Europe. When we visited in 2010, when I walked off the Metro and up the stairs to the Louvre, I had to take a minute, because it was all so overwhelming. I love the fact that fact that it's so old, that's my favorite thing.

That's awesome that your engagement ring came from Belgium. My mom's Grandfather was a diamond cutter, and my grandmother actually lived in South Africa for a few years because he had to move there for his work.

Wow how fantastic to be able to tell people how and where you got engaged. As a child I went to Keukenhof every year with my parents for the tulip festivals. You have to post a picture of all the Delft that you have. I have one piece that my mother gave me that is older than I am. I also purchased a few pieces online. I love Delft it is so beautiful. I am hoping to buy a few more pieces to bring back.

I love the Delft items. So pretty. I have to buy some. Remind me.

The Delft I have are just the souvenir tiles, wooden shoes and vases. I love them though. We bought some art prints from a street vender in Brugge that I absolutely treasure. All of our photos are the 1998 pre-digital variety, so I would have to scan them to share. We have a lot though.

Oh and DH corrected me. He had a villa in Hellevoetsluis and not Brielle. But Brielle was near by.

We just loved Keukenhof. All of those masses of bright color were just gorgeous. And, of course, I loved all of the Windmills.

I love Windmills too! We visited Holland, Michigan (I know, not the same), but they had a Windmill too, which is awesome.

I cannot believe it but we have 30 days until we leave for Europe.
I am so excited.
Can't wait to see the whole family and off course tour Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and England.

I can't wait either. I can't believe it's so close.

You must be Danielle's mom. I can't wait to read about this trip. I talked to my DH this evening and showed him all of the photos. Lots of good memories for us. We want to go back !!! Have some Belgium chocolate for us !!!

Haha, yup, that's my mom. We will have plenty of chocolate for you.

 

[kmg148]

I love that there is someone else out there who travels a mile a minute, fitting in as much as possible! My family tells me others like me don't exist!

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

You must be Danielle's mom. I can't wait to read about this trip. I talked to my DH this evening and showed him all of the photos. Lots of good memories for us. We want to go back !!! Have some Belgium chocolate for us !!!

I am Danielle's mom. I will have some Belgian chocolate for sure. I can't wait for some waffles either. Hope that sometime you will be able to go back also. I know that Danielle and my DH will want to go again after this trip. There is so much more to do than we will be able to in 2 weeks so we have to return

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

You are so right that you don't realize how young America is until you visit Europe. When we visited in 2010, when I walked off the Metro and up the stairs to the Louvre, I had to take a minute, because it was all so overwhelming. I love the fact that fact that it's so old, that's my favorite thing.

That's awesome that your engagement ring came from Belgium. My mom's Grandfather was a diamond cutter, and my grandmother actually lived in South Africa for a few years because he had to move there for his work.

So glad you mentioned that I forgot to. My paternal grandfather was also in the diamond business. Both my grandfathers knew a lot about diamonds. I have a ring that my grandfather made for my mom. One of a kind. Antwerp is off course a diamond center.

I will remind you to buy some Delft.
I plan on bringing as much chocolate back as I can. Maybe we can leave some clothes behind to give us more room

 

[LookinUp]

What fun to find your PTR, so full of good things for the soul, like family history and chocolate. You are so lucky to be able to share such an incredible experience with your parents.
One of your early posts reminded me of meeting a friend's family the first time I visited Belgium. I generally spoke English with him, French with his mom, and my inelegant-but-functional German with some of his friends, but I did not speak a word of Flemish. That had his 6YO sister in awe: She had never met a grown-up who "couldn't speak!" Yup, 3 languages count for nothing if they're not hers!
Thanks for stirring so many wonderful memories. I'm excited to see more of your plans!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I love that there is someone else out there who travels a mile a minute, fitting in as much as possible! My family tells me others like me don't exist!

Oh yes, there are always people like us. Whenever I go somewhere I've never been before, I try to fit in as much as physically possible.

So glad you mentioned that I forgot to. My paternal grandfather was also in the diamond business. Both my grandfathers knew a lot about diamonds. I have a ring that my grandfather made for my mom. One of a kind. Antwerp is off course a diamond center.

I will remind you to buy some Delft.
I plan on bringing as much chocolate back as I can. Maybe we can leave some clothes behind to give us more room

I am not leaving behind any clothes. I planned on buying some and bringing them back.

What fun to find your PTR, so full of good things for the soul, like family history and chocolate. You are so lucky to be able to share such an incredible experience with your parents.
One of your early posts reminded me of meeting a friend's family the first time I visited Belgium. I generally spoke English with him, French with his mom, and my inelegant-but-functional German with some of his friends, but I did not speak a word of Flemish. That had his 6YO sister in awe: She had never met a grown-up who "couldn't speak!" Yup, 3 languages count for nothing if they're not hers!
Thanks for stirring so many wonderful memories. I'm excited to see more of your plans!

Little ones are always so funny. That's a great story. My French is terribly poor and I speak no German, so it's just Flemish for me.

I'm glad that I could bring up some good memories for you.

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

The majority of my family is multi-lingual. it was a normal thing in our family. My dad spoke fluent German, French, English and off course Flemish(Dutch). My mom didn't speak German but could understand it pretty well. All of my cousins speak several languages also.

 

[kmg148]

Oh yes, there are always people like us. Whenever I go somewhere I've never been before, I try to fit in as much as physically possible.

Me too!! I'm going to Paris for a day and a half and I want to see everything possible in both parks and Notre Dame and at least see the Eiffel Tower, even if it's at a distance!

 

[TinksThree]

I think I am finally caught up! I had to go back a month!

Amsterdam: The cheese......I love cheese!!! I would be in heaven!! And then Anne Frank's hideaway house! I totally forgot she was in the Netherlands! I have always been awed by her story!

Belgium...okay all of your plans are totally making me rethink where I want my first trip to Europe to be!!

It is getting close isn't it!!!

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

Me too!! I'm going to Paris for a day and a half and I want to see everything possible in both parks and Notre Dame and at least see the Eiffel Tower, even if it's at a distance!

For sure you have to see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame and Disney Paris. If you are staying at Disney Paris the train is right there to take you to Paris. We had a great time getting around. We even went to Versailles and visited my family in Belgium all in one week. Looking back now I have no idea how we did so much in such a short time.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Me too!! I'm going to Paris for a day and a half and I want to see everything possible in both parks and Notre Dame and at least see the Eiffel Tower, even if it's at a distance!

We did a lot in the short time we were there last time. The biggest recommendation that I have is to study the metro map carefully. You can logically build our your day, because a lot of the lines are closely related. It's all dependent on what side of the Seine you're going to be on. Our first day we were on one side. So, we went to the Louvre, then the Champs Elysees, and the Arc de Triomphe, which were all on the same line. The next day we went to Notre Dame, Versailles, and the Eiffel Tower, which were on the same line on the other side of the Seine.

I think I am finally caught up! I had to go back a month!

Amsterdam: The cheese......I love cheese!!! I would be in heaven!! And then Anne Frank's hideaway house! I totally forgot she was in the Netherlands! I have always been awed by her story!

Belgium...okay all of your plans are totally making me rethink where I want my first trip to Europe to be!!

It is getting close isn't it!!!

I have to do that with other TR's all the time!

I love cheese. I have been avoiding it for sure on my current eating regime, but I'm not going to anymore.

I forgot about Anne Franks house being in the Netherlands too. I was very excited when I saw it.

You would love Belgium! It's such a well rounded and diverse country. You get the best of a lot of things, but people often forget about it.

For sure you have to see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame and Disney Paris. If you are staying at Disney Paris the train is right there to take you to Paris. We had a great time getting around. We even went to Versailles and visited my family in Belgium all in one week. Looking back now I have no idea how we did so much in such a short time.

I have no idea either! It was crazy how we did that. It's because I was a task master, telling you all where to go and how fast.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Well, London is the special attraction on this trip. It wasn’t on the list for us to visit when we were originally planning this trip, but if you read my original post regarding where we are flying into, you know that we’re going through London. So, what better to do than to add two days in London to the end of the trip? There are so many things that I want to do in London, and I know for a fact that two days is not going to be enough time. But I will try. Oh yes, I will try.

St. Pancras station

This is the train station where we are taking the train to Belgium, and back to London from Belgium.

This train station looks huge and they have absolutely everything you can imagine in it. One the way to Belgium, we are going to have to spend a few hours there, and from what I can tell, we’ll be more than busy while we’re there.

When we arrive in London on the way back from Belgium, we’ll be checking in at our hotel in Bloomsbury.

The Harlingford Hotel

The one thing that I noticed about London when I was researching for a hotel was that they are expensive! Like, crazy. I had to remember to take into consideration the exchange fees of GBP vs USD. This one was very reasonable and got a pretty good rating on Fodor’s, so it was a go. It’s a traditional bed and breakfast. I love that those are all over London. The owners converted three row houses into one. They also have a dog and a cat that live in the hotel. That’s so cool.

Where are we going to visit? Where do I begin?! I’m going to list everything that interests me. I have no guarantee that we’ll make it to all of them. Hahaha.

The London Eye

I want to be able to get great aerial shots of London while we’re there. I can guarantee you that my mom will not go on it though. She is very afraid of heights. She said she’d try, but I would never force her.

Buckingham Palace

I just hope the Queen is at home. You also can’t miss these guys.

And I will be that person. I will get in their faces and try to get a smirk. I will very likely epically fail.

Kensington Garden

We all know that London is known for both gardens and parks. So we’d have to make sure we’d have to visit a few.

Parliament Square

This is another thing that I wouldn’t be able to go all the way to London and not visit. Parliament, Big Ben. Touristy I know, but you know what? We’re all tourists people!

Tower of London

Tower Green, which is part of the Tower of London, was the place of execution of nobility. Henry the VIII wives Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard were executed there. Depressing, I know, but still fascinating.

Victoria and Albert Museum

This museum was recommended to me by a co-worker of mine, and he felt it was superior to the British museum. It’s a museum of decorative arts and there is a dress collection which I would LOVE to see.

Harrods

I have to buy something from Harrods. I can’t go all the way to London and not come home with something from Harrods. Although I know I’m going to have to buy the cheapest thing that I can find. LOL.

I am sure there are plenty of other things to do, and I guarantee you that as I go, I will be distracted by so many things. Oh oh, but of course I’m going to have to stop at a Fish and Chips place. HELLO! Chippies…..yum yum.

I know I’ll also have to stop at a pub, to get myself some bangers and mash.

I can’t believe the trip is so close. 26 days!!!!!!

 

[marDgreen88]

26 days?? Wow, that is extremely soon!

I'm just really jealous that you get to go to London. That's just awesome. I mean, yeah, some of that stuff is touristy but it's also quintessential London stuff that you HAVE to see. It's just LONDON. I know it's ridiculous but some of this stuff reminds me of the Friends episode in London for Ross' "WEDDING" haha. I can't help it.

Speaking of Big Ben... I read today that they are CHANGING HIS NAME. I'm actually a little upset even though it literally affects me in no way.

 

[wdwgirl03]

OMG, I love the London pictures. For a while we talked about going there for the Olympics but then we saw the prices... Man, it does look really neat there!

 

[Queenofallthings]

OMG, I get so excited reading the updates and the pictures.....WOW....cannot believe you are down to 26 days

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

26 days?! Wow it really IS so close!

London looks amazing! I can't wait to read about this trip!!

 

[therussells08]

26 days! That's so close! Well, I guess you're down to 25 now! EEP! Even more exciting!!

Wow, all of that stuff in London is gorgeous! I'm jealous!

Haha I would totally be that person too who would dance around and try to make the guard guys smile. Okay, I know they're called something other than "guard guys" but I'm having a brain fart and I can't think of what it is right now...oops.

 

[IheartDDuck]

26 days?? Wow, that is extremely soon!

I'm just really jealous that you get to go to London. That's just awesome. I mean, yeah, some of that stuff is touristy but it's also quintessential London stuff that you HAVE to see. It's just LONDON. I know it's ridiculous but some of this stuff reminds me of the Friends episode in London for Ross' "WEDDING" haha. I can't help it.

Speaking of Big Ben... I read today that they are CHANGING HIS NAME. I'm actually a little upset even though it literally affects me in no way.

I know, I can't believe it's so close!

OMG, the Friends London episode. LOL. I have to get my series out now and start watching them again.

You know, I heard about the Big Ben thing. I think it's kind of cool that they're naming it after Queen Elizabeth. I also read that it's technically called "clock tower", and that Big Ben was an unofficial name that people called it. The things you learn when you go looking.

OMG, I love the London pictures. For a while we talked about going there for the Olympics but then we saw the prices... Man, it does look really neat there!

When I was pricing which hotel we would be staying at, the hotel prices were "regular" and "Olympics". I hate to see what the Olympics prices were.

OMG, I get so excited reading the updates and the pictures.....WOW....cannot believe you are down to 26 days

I can't believe it either! I hope you guys had a great trip, I can't wait to hear all about it.

26 days?! Wow it really IS so close!

London looks amazing! I can't wait to read about this trip!!

I can't wait to actually go on it. I keep talking about it, and I just want the next few weeks to go by really quickly.

26 days! That's so close! Well, I guess you're down to 25 now! EEP! Even more exciting!!

Wow, all of that stuff in London is gorgeous! I'm jealous!

Haha I would totally be that person too who would dance around and try to make the guard guys smile. Okay, I know they're called something other than "guard guys" but I'm having a brain fart and I can't think of what it is right now...oops.

You know, I would totally call them the Guard Guys. I could go up to them and say "hey, guard guys, Joni says hi!", and then do a little .

 

[Merida]

Oh wow, your trip is so soon!

First (most important) GO TO VICTORIA AND ALBERT'S (the museum, not the Disney restaurant). I LOVE that museum. Easily one of my favorite museums EVER (I have a list). Way better displays than the British Museum; I don't really like the British Museum because of how they "acquired" a lot of the exhibits (as much as I love the Elgin marbles...). The V&A jewellery collection is also pretty neat!

Okay, back to going more chronologically...

Can you use DVC points at DLP? Or what points were you using? I'm trying to convince my boyfriend that a perfect birthday present would be one of Adventures by Disney France trips followed up with some time at Disneyland Paris in the Disneyland Hotel. Expensive, but that castle is just so pretty! I love how they really played up the whimsy in DLP.

My mother brought home a pair of (child sized) wooden shoes from her trip to the Netherlands; I loved those shoes SO much and was heartbroken when I outgrew them!

Totally stealing all your suggestions for touring this area, especially anything involving Tintin. I read all the Tintin books when I was a kid (haven't seen the movie yet!) and it would be so cool to see him in a museum!

There's a whole section in Harrods with tourist-y sort of souvenirs and most of them are relatively inexpensive (we spent a lot of time there!). When I was in London, we lived off of pub food and Pret a Manger - there was nothing else both cheap and decent!

I didn't really like the London Eye; it's a good Ferris wheel but there were so many lines to get on it! Kind of disappointing for the amount of time (and money) invested in the experience.