Weekend in Berlin at Christoph's

Last weekend, I visited Christoph Oesterheld in Berlin where he is currently studying. We mainly walked around town so I could feel the atmosphere of this special city. In deed, Berlin was heavily bombed during the second World War and then was "scarred" by the Wall. The thing is that now, they are building new stuff (or old looking new stuff) everywhere and it's really interesting...and a bit surrealistic as well!!

Christoph in his spacious appartement!A monument right in the middle of the former No Man's Land between Western and Eastern Germany.

A piece of the Wall

Famous Checkpoint Charlie Christoph walking around the Holocaust monument: a very impressive succession of huge blocks of concrete aligned on a hilly square.

The most impressive thing about Berlin is the diversity of the buildings. You can find a Classical building of the 18th century standing next to a modern skyscraper and facing a "russian-all-in-concrete"type of building!

Posing if front of the Brandeburg gate.

Thanks Christoph for the excellent weekend, the great parties and the "guided tours", it was great seeing you:)

Hiking in Montana, Switzerland

Just after I came back from Croatia, I went to Montana, a small village in Valais, Switzerland. I was invited there by two friends - Vanessa and Nathalie Vivario - whose grandparents own an appartement there. It was a "girls only" week and the plan was to do walk and hike in the surrounding mountains.


The team from left to right: Nath, Alexia Iwens, Vanessa and myself.


Vanessa and I studied physiotherapy together and when we graduated, we went to Nepal for three months to work as volunteers in a Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Center. We also went on a three weeks trek in the Annapurnas. That's were we got the idea of going on "hiking holidays" again...

After a pretty steep climb...

The scenery wasn't too bad...

Jo and Brigitte's 30th Wedding Anniversary

On the 23rd of April 1977, my parents got married... As 30 years of mariage is quite something, my sisters and I decided we should celebrate. So we organized a family weekend on the 17th, 18th and 19th of August in the South of Belgium (Ardennes) because that's were the wedding took place. Our first stop was a pic-nic on the grounds of the castle of Aigremont were they had the reception.

Then we continued our "pilgrimage" and stopped at the Val d'Or Hotel where they spent their wedding night before going on honeymoon to the United States.

We spent a couple of hours in Durbuy (the smallest town in Belgium!!) and then we went to the cottage we had rented for the weekend where we had a nice supper and played games.

On Saturday the 18th, we went down the Ourthe River on kayaks. Of course Julie and Daisy managed to end up in the water and my Dad had to go and rescue them, poor little things!!...

Walking in the country (Daisy and Julie are definitely better with feet than paddles!) On Sunday the 19th, we went walking in the "Fagnes" which is a beautiful swampy area in the South of the country.
Congrats again to the happy couple!!!

Holiday in Croatia

Wednesday, July 18th at Brussels International Airport. Sebastien and I were waiting to board our plane to Split, Croatia. The temperature in Brussels was about 20°C so we were looking forward to our arrival in the hot croatian climate (35°C all day long).


On the 19th of July, we headed to Plitvice National Park. The Park is composed of 16 turquoise lakes which are linked by a series of waterfalls and cascades. The site was proclaimed a world heritage site by Unesco in 1979. It is a most beautiful place to walk around on wooden footbridges. The water is so clear you can see all the fish and plants. It is a real pity the fragile ecosystem doesn't allow swimming...

July 20th. We took a ferry to Hvar island and stayed there for a couple of nights. We visited the beautiful and and medieval villages around the island, swam in beautiful creeks, tried the local food and wine, etc.


There are only a few sand beaches in Croatia, usually it's just rocks or sometimes pebble beaches. This, added to the fact that the locals just love sunbathing, makes the coast packed with people during the high season.


Enjoying the view from the city medieval fortress after a pretty tough climb...

July 23rd. Visit of Korcula town on Korcula Island. The town has got typical round defensive towers and compact cluster of red-roofed houses. It is a really peaceful place to walk around.

July 24th. Orebic Town on Peljesac Peninsula. The town is known for the beautiful and luxurious houses built by prosperous retired sea captains. It is also famous for its beaches (a couple of sandy ones!!) so we enjoyed a bit of lazing in the sun.

It's lovely to swim in the sea when it's so hot but beware of the sea urchins!! (That explains why it always took us about 10 minutes to figure out a way of getting into the sea on a urchin free basis!!)

The Opel Corsa we rented to go around the country...


July 25th and 26th. Visit of Dubrovnik and its surroundings. View of the medieval city center.

The clock tower dominates a square at the end of "Placa", the main street.


View on the roofs of the city from the top of the city walls. Although they were bombed during the civil war in 1991, the houses were rebuilt just as they were before with the help of Unesco and the international community.

Visit of Cavtat, a little town about 15km from Dubrovnik. The marina was full of luxurious and splendid sailboats, yachts,etc... Our favourite was the "Only Now", we spent about 1hour watching it and its crew until it finally left...

July26th. Drive back to Split.
The Diocletian Palace

The "Loggia"

July 27th. Our last day. We decided to stay in Trogir which is a small town close to the airport. It's much cosier than Split and its awful surroundings loaded with "Russian style" buildings.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon at My Grand Parents'

The weather was (finally) nice yesterday so with Julie (my sister), we decided to pay a little visit to our grand parents who live about 1h drive from Brussels. Our Grand Mother (Grany) is the best cook ever, so we had a very nice meal and then spent some time chatting and sunbathing on the terrace. Our Aunt Patricia was there as well.

While the Ladies were gossiping outside, my Grand Dad stayed inside because he loves watching "Le tour de France" on television. It's a very famous bicycle race that takes place every summer. Personnally I find it dull and boring but according to him, it's full of suspense and the sceneries are wonderful (that I believe!).