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Legoland Billund – Denmark
When we set off on our roadtrip to Sweden, our sweet Febe turned 8 years old. We thought it would be a great idea to give her two days in Legoland Denmark as a birthday present. We needed a stop along the way to Sweden, and we could make it fit that she was there right on her birthday. It turned out to be a very fun two days for Febe and for us. We have visited quite some themeparks in Belgium and have been to Eurodisney last year. But we can say that nothing beats Legoland. Here’s why! 1. It’s huuuuge! Although it’s only one park, unlike Eurodisney where…
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Museum tip: the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Today Annick had a meeting in Brussels. Since it’s a school holiday, Maarten & Febe decided to hop on the same train and visit one of the nicest museums in Belgium, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. A real mouthfull, but it’s worth a visit. Here’s why! It has the largest European museum hall dedicated to dinosaurs. If you are fascinated by dinosaurs, or simply want to find out more about how they lived, what they fed on or how they looked like, this museum is the place to be. Their large dinosaur hall is about 3000 m² big and the displayed skeletons are impressive (even if you’re not…
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Disneyland Paris for beginners
A visit to Disneyland Paris is a magical thing to do with your children. Even my husband, who is very sceptical about all things Disney, had to admit that the weekend we had there was absolutely fabulous. He even wants to go back when Febe is a little older 😉 With two theme parks, Disneyland and Movie studios, it is best to visit for more than one day. Even smaller children can get the a lot out of their visit. The biggest bonus for us was that Febe, who just reached 1m20, could go on every ride, apart from the Indiana Jones coaster. A lot of fast & serious rides for…
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Gent – the veggie capital of Europe
Gent is in many ways an innovative city. One of these ways is that the city has been supporting and promoting the consumption of less meat. Since 2009 the city supports “Donderdag Veggiedag”, meaning the active promotion of eating vegetarian for (at least) one day in a week. This also means that in all school restaurants and office buildings of the city of Gent no meat is served on Thursdays. This is an enormous step in reducing the consumption of meat and thus saving a little bit of our planet. Gent also has an enormous amount of veggie(friendly) and vegan(friendly) restaurants: 130 restaurants serve vegetarian food, 44 are veganfriendly and…
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Good deed of the day: help a dragon!
Have you ever helped out a dragon? We have! Today we helped out a very cute, little, red dragon find his glasses. His name is Fosfor, and somehow he lost them. If you download the (free!) Ojoo app on your smartphone, and then install the (free) game ‘Where are Fosfor the Dragon’s glasses’ (‘Draakje Fosfor’ in Dutch), you can help him out as well. And discover the beautiful city centre of Gent in the mean time 😉 You start the game at Veerleplein, near the tourist information centre. The game takes you on a walk of about 1,5h around the city and ends…
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Old houses and old stones: the Avebury/Cotswolds combo.
I admit: I have a fascination for old things. Even when I was young, I wanted to become a paleontologist or an archaeologist (I became a biologist instead, which was another of my childhood dreams). I once volunteered at a dinosaur dig in Russia and that was an unforgettable experience. I never practiced any archaeology, though, but it never ceases to fascinate me. When we are planning our travels, I’m the one always nagging about Viking burial mounds, prehistoric towers, Etruscan graves, Roman graveyards and the like. I know Febe (our 6-year-old daughter) is usually not so enthusiastic about these things, but with the proper approach we always find ways to make such visits…
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Searching for dragons in one of the most underestimated museums of Brussels.
Capitals. Aren’t they intriguing? A capital is supposed to be the political and administrative centre of a country, but is it also the cultural centre? Is a capital representative for its country in terms of its artistic, architectural and culinary identity (presuming here that these three aspects are the focus of attention for many travelers)? Probably not, and in some cases capitals aren’t even the principal or most well-known city in a country. Just think about Ankara (Turkey, overshadowed by Istanbul), Rabat (Morocco, left in the shade by Marrakech) and even Madrid (Spain, much less visited than e.g. Barcelona). Nevertheless, I am positive that some capitals are pretty decent as a starting point for the cultural…
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A quick guide to Oxford
When returning from our trip to Wales, we made a stop in Oxford. A good friend of Annick recently moved there to study for a PhD. We went completely unprepared, because Sandra and her friend Peter would show us around. We just knew it was a prestigious university city. It turned out to be a very pleasant surprise: it is a truly stunning city! Let me take you on a quick guide to Oxford… The prestigious colleges Oxford has no less than 38 colleges and 6 private halls. They are responsible for the tutorials and classes for their subjects and are of great importance to the whole student system. You…
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Why Bath deserves your attention
When I was 14, I went to Bath for a language course. I remember the city to be pretty… and since we headed out to Wales last fall, I thought I’d revisit it. Because, after all, the things that mostly caught my eye back then were the pretty English teacher and Dr. Martens boots in all sorts of colours 😉 As a family, we were pretty amazed by what a day in Bath could give us. Here’s why this city deserves your attention: 1. Charlotte Street Car Park Bath is a compact city, as you can see on the map above. Most of the highlights are within walking distance. When…
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Paris is always a good idea
A famous quote by Audrey Hepburn… and one that is very true: Paris is always a good idea. Annick has visited the city in winter, summer and early fall. Maarten and Túrin once joined her, but the other occasions were with work or when she was younger. Having spent a couple of weeks there in total, she knows the city pretty well. Here’s her guide to Paris! To get an idea of the geography, open our public Paris map. You’ll see 4 layers: Paris in a day, in 3 days, in 5 days and tips for shopping and food. You might have to put some layers on to see it…
