Reflecting on the trip

 

 

We have been back in NZ for 9 days now. I've had a few days to reflect on our adventure.

During the trip we've had so many ask what the highlight of our trip was so far. It is a question that seemed impossible to answer. There were so many highlights!! Here are a few:

In Paris we had the freshest, yummiest baguette while walking around the Notre Dame.

 

 

In the Loire Valley I loved the light through the trees...the view from our cabin in a campground.

 

 

I  thought the caves in Proumeyssac, Dordogne were spectacular. The best caves I've ever been in.

 

My favourite sunset was the one over the lake at La Rive.

 

 

Climbing up the biggest sand dune in Europe was lots of fun.

 

 

 

Driving up a windy road through the clouds with some glimpses of the snowy Pyrenees was pretty cool...

 

 

We didn't see much in Spain, but I liked Arc de Bara and the town of Roc de Sant Gaieta.

 

 

I would've loved to spend a bit more time looking at this Arena in Nimes, but our time was very limited. Instead we had a beautiful evening at Pont du Gard.

 

 

  

 I loved driving through the vineyards in the Barolo region in Italy. It was just so pretty!

 

 

 And then came the special day going over Susten Pass in Switzerland. An amazing day filled with sunshine and snow...

 

 

 

 

The colour of Lake Brienz was unreal.

 

 

 

The Aar River had the same colour.

 

We didn't spend much time in Germany. My favourites were the pretty buildings in Horb and Calw.

I enjoyed the Dutch humour on the signs at Beekse Bergen.

 

 

Seeing a cheetah up close is always a treat. 

 

The giraffes 'cleaning' our car made the trip through the Safari Park so unique.

 

 

Everything about Blue Grape Cottage in Belgium was amazing...the bike riding, donkey riding, donkey walking, etc, etc....

Even the sunsets were amazing.

 

Ghent was the surprisingly beautiful.

 

 

We spent lots of time in London and did plenty, the highlights for me: going up the London Eye, finally going to Madame Tussauds, Wimbledon and spending time at the Tour de France Fan Park.

 

It was very special spending a few short days with my parents in London.

Another beautiful sunset in the local park...

 

 

And then there was LEGOLAND where 'Everything was Awesome'. All 3 times.

 

 

We had a nice day in Bournemouth and Weymouth.

 

 

 

And then there were the castles, cathedrals, manor houses, halls and abbeys. Thanks to our NZHPT Card we went to all these amazing places for free.

 

 

 

 

We had the most amazing view from the hill above Monmouth in Wales

.

 

 

 We were very fortunate to have such a beautiful day for crossing the channel.

 I love the White Cliffs of Dover.

 

 

 

We hardly did anything during our last week in Europe as it was cold and miserable. We did manage to go and have a look at the church in Breda.

 

An amazing view from friends' apartment in Zaandam. No wonder we hardly went anywhere when we visited them.

After a flight to Abu Dhabi and getting lost trying to find our hotel, it was nice to have a view like this:

These are just a few of the things that stood out for me.

 

I am so glad that I did this blog and that we could share this amazing adventure with all our friends and family.  

 

 

Would we do it again? Yes, definately!! Maybe next year...

 

Would we recommend taking children along? Yes!!( If you go for almost 4 months, you can't really leave them home.) We've travelled quite a bit before kids, but it is so much more fun with them. Some days were hard, but most of the time we enjoyed each others company.

We are really fortunate that we had this opportunity to do this as a family.

 

And this is it....Our European Adventure completed. We move back into our house tomorrow.

 

 

PS. I quite liked recording our family adventure in this way and might attempt keeping a blogging diary for our day to day life.  Have a look at motuplace.blogspot.com in a few weeks time..