Travel

Sixteen days after leaving home, we’re now on our way back to Antwerp. After Croatia, we’ve driven through Slovenia, Italy, Austra and Switzerland, arriving in France to meet up with my parents for a few days. France offered us the typical vineyards and chateaux. What, next to the good company, will stick with me the most is the High Alpine road in Austria. We paid 34 euros to be allowed on the road, but the surroundings of that piece of asphalt are extraordinary. The drive is rough, maybe even more so coming down than going up. No wonder car manufacturers use it to test drive their close to production-ready prototypes. ...

Leaving Plitvice behind us, we crossed the country heading for the sea. We didn’t need to cover a lot of distance, to discover how diverse the Croatian landscape and climate is. In only two hours we went from the cold, foggy lakes and waterfalls to green meadows to dusty mountains to sunbathing coasts. We followed the coastline for a little while, strolling through old coast towns, eating seafood, drinking something cold. Driving up North and more inland, we spent two days in Motovun, a picturesque town high on a mountain. ...

The next morning we woke up to another rainy day. We caught up with the rain in Austria and we have been following it ever since. Or the other way around. Even the locals can’t seem to stop talking about how much rain is falling. Between showers, we were able to hike the Vintgar trail. The one hour hike takes you along dangerous rapid waters, bringing you to a big waterfall. If I ever wondered how J.R.R. Tolkien came up with inspiration for his famous novels, now I have a good idea. ...

With the Belgian ‘Summer’ ending, we are exploring South Eastern Europe. This trip will take us through Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. On Saturday, we stopped in Stuttgart to complete our list of visits to the three most popular European sports car museums, after visiting Lamborghini and Ferrari two years ago: the Porsche museum. In my teens, my affinity to fast cars was ignited by spending rainy afternoons at one of my best friends’s, attempting to crush each other’s track records playing Need For Speed Porsche Unleashed. The brand has succeeded in making its way into my subconscious early on. It would still be a Porsche I’d buy today, if I would have too much money to spend. ...

Last night, I returned from Vilnius, after seven intensive days of Buildstuff. After a few long months, I was looking forward to be influenced and inspired by concepts and experiences strange to my day-to-day job - surrounded by people hungry to build better software. Because of the diversity of the program, the high level of the speakers and the presence of some familiar DDD-community faces, my expectations were easily met. Also, the location and low rates for tickets, transport and beer make it a very reasonable investment. ...

Over the weekend, we visited the Czech Republic for the third time (one and two). It’s mostly chance that sends us that way every time though. This time, we were invited by friends to accompany them in staying over at their family’s house - who made it their job to lead guided tours through Prague. We left Thursday right after work, hoping to get there in eight hours. A decent traffic jam, a missed exit, and some bad map reading decided otherwise; it added three hours to the trip. ...

After seventeen days, 2000 miles (3220km), seven states, eight national parks and fifteen motels, our second USA road trip has come to an end. Inspired, and with new insights, we’re leaving for Belgium in the morning. Along the way, we documented our journey in these posts: To Live & Die in L.A Fireworks, Tequila and Silvertown Blues She said yes! Stairway to heaven The long highway The road goes on forever Thanks for reading! When I return, I’ll get back to more technical writing. ...

We didn’t get to see a lot of Salt Lake City. Before heading to Idaho Falls, we hung around at the mall, feasted on Sushi, and bought new hiking shoes since ours literally fell apart. Since Idaho Falls just served as a launching point to Yellowstone, we filled the hole in our schedule with a date night; we had BBQ and went to see WorldWar Z. After another long drive the next day, we exchanged the dirt for greener scenery. We drove through Grand Teton, to get to of one our last and most anticipated destinations; Yellowstone National Park. We spent two days here, in which we drove across the extensive volcanic area, stopping at all popular attractions (geysers, pools, waterfalls…), spotting and stalking wildlife on the way. ...

We’re past halfway our trip and we need to make headway if we want to stay on schedule and reach Yellowstone by Sunday. Long, but pleasant drives; if you’re used to Belgian traffic. Yesterday we visited Capitol Reef National Park. We originally planned on doing the Hickman Bridge Trail, but apparently there had recently been a big rock fall, blocking access at the trailhead. As an alternative we did the Narrows trail at Grand Wash Road, which was carved by a stream ages ago and is now still sometimes victim to flashfloods. Afterwards, we followed the scenic route, which made us zigzag between big boulders, on- and off-road. ...

These last two days have been rather tiring. Yesterday we drove up to Bryce Canyon, where we did the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop hike, which was only 3 miles (5km) but was rather strenuous because the trail takes you all the way down and all the way up again. Today we followed the advice of the kind lady at the visitor center and hiked along Calfs Creek. It was a 6 miles (10km) round trip through loose sand in over 100°F (38°C), but halfway you’re rewarded with a stunningly beautiful waterfall and a refreshing dip in the basin. Driving up there, we got to witness the grandeur of the Utah plateau. When we finally got back to the air conditioned car, we made a detour to see the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument. ...