Strictly niceness rooftop session

One of those super hot summer nights, refreshing drinks, music, best company, intriguing conversations and lots of fun… Need I say more?

Ghent – Laissez les bons temps roulez!

People told me, I had to go and see Bruges but Ghent would be way cooler and I agree!

We were lucky enough not only to walks around and visit Ghent, we also got to experience the Ghent festival called Gentse Feesten. There were stages all over the city, bands playing all kinds of music, people out on the street drinking beer, the city was covered in lights and fire installations – simply amazing!!

Fire installation

main stage

three beautiful soul divas ❤

peace and quiet

In Bruges

As a foreigner in Belgium visiting Bruges is a must. Everyone told me it’s very pretty but even more touristy. And that’s what it is. Walking around in Bruges almost feels like walking around in an outdoor museum and I don’t mean that in a bad way. There are cute little medieval houses and churches, framed by the canal, very picturesque. If you’re into carriage rides, Bruges is the place to go. Just foodwise maybe not the best place to go, most of the cafes and restaurants I would consider to be tourist traps (20-25€ for a mediocre meal?) However, that didn’t keep us from having a good time!

Love this grandma puppet sitting in the window!!

The Atomium

The next day we did some sightseeing, obviously. I had never been to see the Atomium myself, it’s not very close to anything and there is nothing else there but some touristy museums. But it had to be done 😉 After a seen that done that, we went back into the city to explore the city centre and to get some sweet overkill Belgian waffles at Maison Dandoy! Good times!

It’s gin and tonic time!

I was very much looking forward to this day!!

My best friend came to visit me in Brussels and we had an amazing time together. I picked her up at Brussels Central Station after work and took her to Châtelain market where we got some delicious street food and a glass of wine. After, we went for fancy gin tonics at De Haus, a really cool place with a huuuuuge gin menu.

De Haus

De Haus

De Haus

Bruxelles, ma belle!

Some impressions of the capital of Europe:

 

Sunny Brussels…

Place Royale

Place Royale

Petit Sablon

Église Notre-Dame du Sablon

Summernights

Parc du Cinquantenaire

Parc du Cinquantenaire

 

Brussels by night…

Grand-Place

Palais de Bruxelles

Really, guys?? 😀

Saint Géry

 

Peculiar details…

 

Doors of Brussels…

Doors of Brussels

Doors of Brussels

Doors of Brussels

Doors of Brussels

Doors of Brussels

 

Czech Street Party

Different people told me separately about the Czech Street Party and I must admit, it was really fun 🙂

They had different stands for each region with free food trials, free beer and Czech liquor. Also very interesting music and then there was this guy who advertised the amazing Mendel University  in Brno. Apparently they have their own brewery and make their own wine 😀 Check it out! Amazing guy, we asked him for a photo after his speech

Mendel University fovever!!

I was super afraid we would fall 😀

 

Exploring Antwerp

One good thing about Brussels is that almost every other destination in Belgium is just a one hour train ride away. On the weekends the ticket price for a return trip is 50% off – so I thought, why not go to Antwerp just for the day?

 

Antwerp Central Station

Antwerp Central Station

The famous castle of Antwerp

…hidden passages…

Antwerp Central Station

City Hall

Antwerp Cathedral

…tiny backyards…

really loved this piece of art

Beautiful botanical garden

Beautiful botanical garden

Restaurant in a hidden passage

I did one of the free walking tours to learn some things about the history of Antwerp and mainly to get an overview of the city. I discovered this amazing food truck market where I enjoyed a delicious Quesadilla right at the waterfront:

Veggie-Quesadilla

DC at its best…

…and now it’s time to say goodbye 😦

I’m back in Germany and this project has come to it’s end. I hope you enjoyed reading all my bullshit and if you have you might get the feeling for why I’m super sad that I had to leave. It’s been one of the best summers of my life, I met so many great people who shared all these amazing experiences with me and to whom I will always be grateful!

This is my DC:

Jazz in the Garden ❤

Mount Pleasant nights

Driving through DC

The steps from the Exorcist

Geogetown Canal

Hanging with the ladies 🙂

Georgetown Waterfront Sunset Cinema

Georgetown Waterfront Sunset Cinema

DC nights

Air or Space??

Hangover breakfast at Ben’s Chili Bowln Diner

Watching Hillary’s convention speech

Fellow at the zoo

Chilling elegantly

One last selfie… No tears!!

This artwork shall promote awareness for keeping the ocean clean

The everyday view from our porch

Representing Germany at an EU meeting 🙂

 

#PorchTimes

#GeorgetownCanal

#GeorgetownCanal

#DCwaterfront

#DCwaterfront

#DCwaterfront

#OurBar

#DCmetro

So the porch is just in front of my house, we sit there all the time, have a drink or coffee in the mornings.

The bar (second last picture) is called “The Raven”. It’s the place to go here in Mount Pleasant where I live. It’s just next to the laundrymat, one reason why we go there quite some times 😉

The DC-metro-picture gives you an impression of the troubles they have with the DC metro all the time. It has not been taken care of for quite a while and there are fires in the tunnels every week… I try to avoid it whenever I can.