Ana and Olivier around Europe

Here are the pictures:

For Italia
Voir photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivieritalie1

For Slovenia
Voir photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierslovenie


For Croatia
Voir photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaoliviercroatie


For Montenegro
Voir photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaoliviermontenegro

For Albania
Voir photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivieralbanie

For Israel
Voir photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierisrael
Voir photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierisrael1

For Greece
Voir photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaoliviergrece
Voir photos:
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaoliviergrece1


For Turkey
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierturquie/


Bulgaria
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierblgarie/

For Roumania
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierroumanie/


For Hungary
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierhongrie/


For Slovakia
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierslovaquie/

For Czech Republic
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaoliviertcheque/

For Germany
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierallemagne/


For Poland
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierpologne/

For Lithuania
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierlituanie/

For Latvia
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierlettonie/

For Estonia
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierestonie/

For Finland
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierfinlande/



For Norway
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaoliviernorvege/

http://community.webshots.com/user/anaoliviernorvege1/


For Sweden
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaoliviersuede/
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaoliviersuede1/


For Denmark
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierdanemark/

For the Nederlands
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierpaysbas/

For Belgium
http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivierbelgique/




And we are in Istanbul. Once again really different but really good.

And a real short week in Bulgaria. We did not go to Spfia but headed fot the Black Sea


Then Roumania. Nice at first because totally different from western Europe. Poor and back to 19th century. But then the roads are pretty bad, it is dirty as well.

Then Hungria. Quite nice. Specialy Budapest.

Then a short week in Slovakia, nice little mountains but a litle capital.

Then Prague where we met friends. great (rowing on the river right in the city center, roller skating and ice hockey games). Then back to Poland where i visited Auschwitz.

Then Berlin and Dresden. Berlin is quite a good city with amazing buildings. Dresden is great as well as they rebuild the city center the way it was before the bombs

Then Poland for 5 days. 3 in warsaw. Great city and finally 2 days with friends of friends. We stayed in a family experiencing polish tradition.


And then the Baltic countries. One week in each. First Estonia, then Latvia and finally Lithuania. The main towns are getting very modern with big shopping centers and buildings. But in the villages we can still see the life of th soviet area. A big contrast between cities and villages.

Then Finland for 2 weeks. Lots of forests. We got to know a bit more about the Sami people from Lapland. We even bought reindeer skin. Then the lake region and finally Helsinki


We entered Norway on the 26th of July and left it on the 25th of August. A full month in the very long country. we spent 2 weeks along the fjords of Norway. Amazing sceneries. We even managed to swim a few times. Then we headed north in the Same country that is Lapland. We saw a lot of reindeers. We went very north. Great experience on the roads. The Lofoten islands as well for 5 days where we went for 4hours in outer sea to see spermwhales. Very expensive country especially petrol and food.

We spent 3 weeks in Sweden. After the big bridge between Denmark and Sweden, we went along the south coast. Nice sceneries of farmland and coast line. then 5 days in Stockholm. GReat city, full of island. We took a specil pass so we visited a lot of museums, did small cruises. We really enjoyed that city. Then we headed north to have a look at the countryside. Lots of forests, red wood houses. Really nice. A great lake in the middle of the country then south till Goteborg. Then north along the coast till Norway. Weather was really hot so we swan everyday either in fjords or in the sea.



So after a week in Belgium. We headed on to the Nederlands. Another week there. Very flat. Beautiful landscapes along the canals. Very quiet sometimes but very relaxing. One afternoon in Amsterdam. And we went north till Germany. Just 2 days there and a quick stop in Hamburg. Then on to Denmark for nearly 2 weeks. We went all the way to the north of Denmark. Also flat but a lot more agricultural. 2 days in Copenhagen and then Sweden.

Life in the van is going really well. We eat twice a day. We brought a lot of food from France because the food in the Nordic countries is really expensive. Sometimes we travel 50ks, sometimes 300. The van is easy to drive. Petrol is quite expensive though. We always sleep for free on parking in the town and outside of them. We've never been disturbed so far.
It is true that we could spend longer in each country as there is of course a lot to see but we need to go forward especially in the north of Europe.

Tuesday 17th of June.
A lot has happened in a month.
The van's got a name: Happy Days 2.
It is now totally finished and it's great to live in.
We spent a week saying good bye to the family.
Then we headed for Belgium: Tournai, Namur, Brusells, Bruges, the coast, Antwerpen.
Great and very relaxing to just to nothing all day except eat, walk, sleep, being on the net.
Life in the van is really good; We just sleep in quiet area, and we sleep very well. We cook inside.
We are now in the south of the Netherlands.

Tuesday 12th of may.
Another hard weekend of work in order to get the van insulated. A lot has been done inside the van so we can pack our things. It just needs now a bit of paint and curtains.

Monday 28th of April.
The van is now repaired mechanically. This weekend we started the insulation part. A lot of job but it will really nice at the end.

Thursday 27th of march.

And once again I am an uncle. My sister just gave birth to a baby boy called Titouan.

A few things changed for the van:
it is now rather cleaned. It took a while but it is a lot nicer to sit down on cleaner seats.
we plan to put a window (very expensive but necessary)
we bought a futon (sofa and bed)
we kno who will take care of the mechanics, who will work on the inside and so on.

We should be ready to leave as planned but a lot of things need to be done in the next two months.

Still waiting for nicknames for the van.



Hello to you, friends around the world.

This blog is for you.

So after our trips in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia and New Zealand, South America) we decided that it was time to visit our good old Europe.

Just a quick reminder about this last year:
We arrived just a year ago now from our last trip in South America. We've been living since then with Ana's parents, just outside Paris. Ana is a receptionist in a small hotel. And I am giving english lessons.

This trip has been planned for quite a while now. The idea is to travel North from Paris till the North Cape via the coast line of Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland; Then head south till Greece via the Baltic countries, Poland, and Eastern Europe And to finish with Spain and Portugal.

And we wanted to travel again in a van, just as we did in Kiwi land.

We are leaving around the beginning of June with no real date to finish. As lond as we have money, we will travel.

So we started to buy a few things. And we spent big already as we bought our van last week. We now need to clean it because the previous owner was a pig. We also need to prepare it in order to live inside.

Here are the first pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/anaolivier


As some of you may know, in our recent trips, we organised a very interesting contest.
We decided to do it again. Just answer the easy questions and you will win great prizes.

So here comes your first opportunity to win a prize:

Find a nickname for our van.

All the answers will be checked.

We'll keep you posted as often as we can.

Cheers