Rhineland, Germany & Ghent, Belgium

A bar in the town we stayed at

View of the hills of Rhineland from the cruise

The vineyard of Rhineland!

One of the many castles on the Rhine.

Morgan & I at dinner.


My amazing Belgium waffle.

The 12th century cathedral in Ghent



So this is very belated but here nonetheless...

For the May Bank Holiday in the U.K., one of my roommates Morgan and I decided to take a trip to Rhineland Germany.

We began our adventures by getting on a coach bus and traveling to the English coastal town of Dover. From there we jumped on a ferry to Calais, France. The ferry was very upscale with 4 restaurants, a play center for kids and a shop. For what was only an hour long trip, I couldn't help but think of how the Europeans thought Americans were extravagant!!

Following the ferry ride, the tour group got back on the bus and continued the drive to Germany. On the way, we stopped at a very small shack of a place for a bite to eat in Belgium. This was an experience that I will never forget as the employees didn't speak a lick of English. In fact, I still don't know what they spoke--our bus driver told us they speak Flemish and German in Belgium. Nobody on the bus could translate the menu. When everybody saw fries on the back, people pointed and ordered them. I think everybody on the tour bus ordered french fries because we had no idea what else to order. I had never experienced something like that and it is something that I will never take for granted again. The language barrier made me feel incredibly handicapped--however, it definitely made me a more humble person.

Finally we arrived in the land of the Rhine River which was something straight out of a post card or "The Sound of Music". With its green hills, winding river and Medieval castles, I knew it was going to be a great weekend. That night we had a dinner at the hotel as well as a 2-hour open bar filled with German wines and beer.

The next day, we woke up for a 2 hour cruise on the Rhine River. It was simply stunning--pictures and descriptions simply don't do it justice. Following that, we went to another town in Rhineland for a wine tasting. There, we tried 3 white wines in a building that was owned by the family for over 400 years. In between each tasting we ate a huge German pretzel in order to neutralize the taste and cleanse our palettes for the next wine. It was a great experience in which we also learned a ton about the different wines and what goes into making them.

The next day we left to go back to London. However, we were fortunate that the trip was not completely over as we stopped in the city of Ghent, Belgium for 3 hours on the way back. Morgan and I were determined to try Belgium waffles and were lucky to find a place that still had them available in the afternoon. Mine had a scoop of vanilla ice cream and Belgian hot fudge! It was mouth-watering to say the least. Ghent was an amazing, historical city with great, high-end shopping. Who knew Belgium rivaled the likes of London and Milan?!? Morgan and I also took a tour up a 14th century cathedral. We walked up a narrow, winding staircase to get to the top where we were able to get an awesome view of the city.

All in all, it was a great holiday weekend. I wasn't planning to visit Germany, but Rhineland was a beautiful place and a great way to get out of the hustle and bustle of London for a few days.

Pictures are above---as you probably figured out! : )

Much love from acros the Pond!