Traveling

My sweet home country.

During the years, I have visited a lot of beautiful things in my country, ranging from the coast to the Ardennes, e.g. the caves of Hannes, the Coo falls, inclined plane of Ronquieres,...

Favorite hotel: Hotel Val de l'Our (Burg-Reuland)

• Went there a few times to do some shopping, mostly in the southern area ("Sluis").
• 23 June 1998: A one day business trip to Middelburg.
• 22-24 September 2000: Spent a weekend in Amsterdam, the capital city, with 6 good friends. We stayed in a youth hostel and had a lot of fun!

• Also went shopping there during some small trips in my childhood.
• 5-9, 19-25 June Two small business trips to Windhof, including one touristic daytrip in search of castles... finally arriving in Arlon (Belgium).

• 17-19 May 1993: Schooltravel to Paris, the capital city.
• 17-19 July 1995: Went to Paris again, and this time I also visited the very beautiful castle of Versailles, together with my mom.
• 26-28 July 1996: A trip to the holy Lourdes with my mom.
• 5-8 May 2005: Birthday gift travel to the Alsace wine route. Visits to Molsheim, Mutzig (one night in L'Ours de Mutzig), Dambach-la-Ville to stay two nights at a wine farmer, Haut-Koenigsbourg (castle), Montagne des Singes, Ramstein-Ortenbourg (castle ruins).
• 16-23 May 2010: Boarded together with my mom the huge ship MSC Splendida for a very nice cruise on the Mediterranean Sea with every day a stop and an excursion on land, in order: Marseille (France)(departure), Barcelona (Spain), Tunis (Tunisia), Valletta (Malta), Messina (Italy, Sicily), Rome (Italy) and Genoa (Italy).
• 16-20 September 2010: Visit to the small but beautiful Aix-en-Provence with a small group of eight friends by TGV. We stayed in a nice hostel La Maison de Carla. We also went to Marseille for a walk in the city and a little boat trip through the Calanques de Marseille to Cassis.

• Some daytrips in my childhood.
• 13-16 September 1999: 3 days in Aachen to attend my first business conference. Because of a railway strike in Belgium, I was allowed to return with the high-speed Thalys train without paying an extra fee. However, this train could only take me to Brussels South station, from which I took a cab -shared with some others who were also stranded in this station- to my home in Ghent.
• 22-24 June 2001: A weekend trip (including friday) to the Moselle valley famous for its delicious white wine. Me and three friends stayed in a youth hostel in the little village Traben-Trarbach. While being in the area, we also visited the very nice town Bernkastel-Kues. And yes... the wines are very delicious! While returning home, we walked through the city of Trier.
• 16-18 November 2001: Another weekend trip (including friday) to the same Moselle valley... This time we stayed in holiday park Himmelberg in Thalfang.
• 22 December 2002: A one day trip to Aachen to visit the Christmas market with some friends.
• 30 October 2004 - 2 November 2004: Another great trip to the Moselle (and Rhine) valley, this time visiting the city of Koblenz (the point where the two rivers join) and a number of small but very beautiful villages along the Rhine valley, e.g. Bacharach where we spent one night in hotel zur Post (again with delicious white wines).
• 29 October - 1 November 2005: City trip to Berlin with three friends. We stayed in a very comfortable appartment in the center of Berlin ("Mitte").
• 10-12 November 2005: Once again to the Moselle valley. This time two friends and I stayed in Trittenheim in "Spieleshof Bollig". We drove along the Moselle from the border between Luxembourg and Germany to just before Koblenz. The wines were once again delicious!
• 17 December 2005: Visit to the Christmas market in Aachen with some friends.
• 9 December 2006: Visit to the Christmas market in Aachen with some friends. We stayed in the nice hotel Am Marschiertor.
• 29 November 2008: Visit to the Christmas market in Aachen with some friends. We stayed in the nice hotel Reichshof.
• 15 December 2012: Visit to the Christmas market in Koln with some friends.

• April 1993: Visited Salzburg, Vienna and Melk during a schooltravel. We had a hell of a time with our class! 

• April 1993: Visited Budapest during the schooltravel to Austria.
• 24 July - 3 August 2004: Trip to Budapest to attend a business conference, and a few days of vacation together with my mom. 

• April 1993: Visited the very romantic Prague during the schooltravel to Austria.

• April 1993: Passed through by bus with an intermediate stop during the schooltravel to Austria.

• March 1998: A weekend to London, the capital city, with 3 friends.

• 25-28 April 1998: Three days to the ancient and very beautiful Rome, the captical city, with my mom. I really enjoyed the visit to the spectacular Colosseum.
• 21-26 September 2002: Business travel to attend a conference in Varenna (nearby the Como lake). On our way there we stayed one night in France and drove through Switzerland, enjoying the sightseeing of the Gothard-pass.
• 16-23 May 2010: Boarded together with my mom the huge ship MSC Splendida for a very nice cruise on the Mediterranean Sea with every day a stop and an excursion on land, in order: Marseille (France)(departure), Barcelona (Spain), Tunis (Tunisia), Valletta (Malta), Messina (Italy, Sicily), Rome (Italy) and Genoa (Italy). In Messina we did a city walk (4 hours) visiting the cathedral and its treasury. In Rome we did a 5 hours city tour by bus and a visit (free time) to the Saint Peter's Square. In Genoa, we did a city walk including the Museum Palazzo Rosso.

• 25-28 April 1998: During my stay in Italy, I also visited Vatican City.

• 13-25 June 2000: 6 days to the ancient Athens, the capital city, followed with 7 days at the beautiful island of Chios to attend a business conference.  

• 6-9 June 2008: 4 days visit to Barcelona with a group of 7 friends in total. Barcelona is a very beautiful and cosy city with very nice buildings and parks. We stayed in the nice hotel Condestable.   
• 16-23 May 2010: Boarded together with my mom the huge ship MSC Splendida for a very nice cruise on the Mediterranean Sea with every day a stop and an excursion on land, in order: Marseille (France)(departure), Barcelona (Spain), Tunis (Tunisia), Valletta (Malta), Messina (Italy, Sicily), Rome (Italy) and Genoa (Italy). In Barcelona, we did a small city tour by bus also visiting the Sagrada Familia and made a walk on the Ramblas, including the market place La Boqueria.
• 24 February - 3 Mars 2011: Relaxed vacation on the small but nevertheless beautiful and varied isle Lanzarote with four girls! Without saying, I had a very good time!

• 2-9 April 2011: Vacation with one of my best friends. First we visited the nice and cosy town Porto (with delicious... Port!) with a day excursion to Braga. Then we went by train to Coimbra (the oldest university in Europe) where we did an excursion to the Roman ruines of the city Conimbriga (with beautiful mosaic floors). Afterwards we continued our train travel to the beautiful and impressive Lisbon (Jeronimos monastery) and the city Sintra (Pena Palace Park and Castle of the Moors).
• 15-23 February 2013: Relaxing vacation on the island Madeira, enjoying the spectacular mountain views, delicious fishes, excellent Madeira wines and good company of some friends. We stayed at the very beautiful Madeira Casa.

• 16-23 May 2010: Boarded together with my mom the huge ship MSC Splendida for a very nice cruise on the Mediterranean Sea with every day a stop and an excursion on land, in order: Marseille (France)(departure), Barcelona (Spain), Tunis (Tunisia), Valletta (Malta), Messina (Italy, Sicily), Rome (Italy) and Genoa (Italy). In Valetta we did a city walk (4 hours) including a visit to the St Johns Co-Cathedral and a walk in the old Mdina.

• Three weeks in 1986: First trip to visit some relatives in Leamington and Toronto (both in the province Ontario) together with my parents. We travelled with the car through lot of beautiful places in Ontario, including the Niagara falls, Wasaga beach, Indian reservation,...
• Three weeks in 1990: Second trip to the relatives in Leamington and Toronto, and also a one week trip to some other relatives in Vancouver (British Columbia). There, I had the opportunity to fly with a small airplane, sitting next to the pilot and holding the controls a few seconds myself!
• 21-29 July 2001: Attending the IFSA/NAFIPS conference on fuzzy logic in beautiful Vancouver (British Columbia).
• 24 May - 14 June 2012: Visiting my Canadian relatives again (finally) with one of my best friends. After spending some time with the family, we rented a car to make a little tour on the east coast, Toronto (e.g. CN Tower), Leamington (e.g. Point Pelee), Niagara (e.g. the Falls and Maid of the Mist boat tour), Midland (e.g. Saint Marie among the Hurons), Huntsville (e.g. Algonquin Park), Parry Sound (e.g. 30000 islands boat tour), Sudbury (e.g. Nicle Mines), Manitoulin island (e.g. First Nations reserves) and Tobermory (e.g. Bruce Peninsula Park).

• 1986, 1990: A few daytrips during my first two stays in Canada (primarily Detroit and Boston).
• 29 July - 5 August 2001: A cruise to beautiful Alaska after my third vacation in Canada.  
• 10-25 May 2002: Vacation in the paradise of Honolulu (Hawaii) at Waikiki beach after attending a business conference. There it was possible to make a commercial tour in a submarine.

• 5-29 October 2007: Visit with two good friends to the remains of the Maya-empire (Cancun, Valladolid, Chichen Itza, Merida, Celestun, Uxmal, Kabah, Palenque, Bonampak, Yaxchillah, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Monte Bello, Tulum, Paamul).

• 5-29 October 2007: During our trip to Mexico, we also went three days to Guatemala to visit the very impressive Maya ruines of Tikal.

• 21-26 September 2002: On our way to Italy to attend a conference, we drove through Switzerland enjoying the sightseeing of the Gothard-pass.   

• 28 June - 7 July 2003: Business trip and short vacation in Istanbul.

• 17-28 June 2004: Visit of the ancient Egyptian culture together with a good female friend. First, we stayed two days in Cairo to visit the impressive piramides and the large collection of treasures in the Egyptian museum, then we have flown to Luxor to embark on a cruise to Aswan with excursions to Edfu, Kom Ombo and Abu Simbel.

• 24 October 2009 - 1 November 2009: Visit of three out of the four "king's cities": Fez, Meknes (with the ruines of the ancient Roman city Volubilis) and Marrakech, and also the port city Essaouira, with some good friends.   Friendly people, good company, nice cities with cousy markets and beautiful decorations inside the buildings, delicious couscous and tajines,... a perfect vacation!
• 7-14 October 2011: One week vacation in Marrakech with one of my best friends. Besides visiting Marrakech, we also did day excursions to the beautiful Ourika valley and spectacular Ouzoud waterfalls.

• 16-23 May 2010: Boarded together with my mom the huge ship MSC Splendida for a very nice cruise on the Mediterranean Sea with every day a stop and an excursion on land, in order: Marseille (France)(departure), Barcelona (Spain), Tunis (Tunisia), Valletta (Malta), Messina (Italy, Sicily), Rome (Italy) and Genoa (Italy). In Tunis we visited the beautiful Roman ruines of Carthage and the old Medina of Tunis.