A Perfect Place for a Hash...

When we saw the announcement that the Brussels Manneken Piss Hash was hosting a Zombie Hash, we were somewhat intrigued. When we found out that it would be held in the abandoned village of Doel, Belgium, we quickly registered and arranged a lift.

Turns out that Doel, located in the shadow of the nearby nuclear power plant, was slated for demolition starting in 2008 so that the Port of Antwerp could be enlargened.

As you can see, most of the buildings are boarded up. However, there are still some residents who refuse to relocate, making Doel essentially a ghost town.

Although this photo makes it look the village was deserted, there were actually a lot of tourists exploring the closed city, walking along the Scheldt River and eating at the two restaurants. We ate dinner after the hash in the restaurant attached to the windmill shown above.

Halloween Hash in Utrecht...

On Halloween, the Amsterdam Hash gathered in Utrecht for a special trail. Opee was in Switzerland, so I went alone dressed as a pirate. Hare Robb, the creepy angel, had previously worked as a tour guide for a company that gave historical walking tours. Not only did he lay a great trail, but we had many spooky story stops which were awesome.

He took us into parts of the historic center that I didn’t know existed.

This photo turned out especially eerie as at this particular spot Robb told us the true story of a murder that took place in that house. Supposedly the ghost can still be heard (although all we heard was the loud tolling of the church bells), but instead it looks like she tried to make an appearance in our photo.

There was also some scary stories about how people used to fall while climbing a rope up Dom Tower, the Netherland’s tallest church tower, built in 1382. I still haven’t managed to climb the tower, but definitely plan to take the stairs when I do.

UEA Broad...

On our last day, we took a walk around the lake at UEA, which is called the UEA Broad.

The views were lovely as we looked back toward the Ziggurats,

A nice visit, the first of many.

Nightlife...

One evening we went out for an Indian dinner and to see the new James Bond movie, which Veronica and I really liked but Ashlynn thought was too predictable.

The girls managed to share the bed to take a nap.

One evening they invited some of Veronica’s flatmates around for a Disney movie night. Everyone thought that Ashlynn was older than just 15, which made her happy.

One night the girls went to Ultimate Frisbee and then to the pub on campus with the team. I went out to dinner by myself to Grosvenor Fish Bar, the number one restaurant in Norwich on Tripadvisor; not only was the fish ‘n chips excellent, but the seating downstairs in an old war bunker was very cool. Afterwards I went to see the touring version of The Shawshank Redemption from London‘s National Theatre, which was excellent.

Visiting Veronica...

I’m now so far behind on my entries that we’ve actually been to visit Veronica yet again, but you’ll have to wait to hear about that second trip until later...

During October break, Ashlynn and I took the ferry over to England to visit Veronica. Ashlynn was deeply disappointed when she realized that she couldn’t run to hug Veronica at the train station because we had to go through the turnstile together. Our first stop was at The Waffle House. I’ve never been a huge waffle fan, but really loved having scrambled eggs and smoked salmon served on top of a waffle.

Our next stop was UEA where Ashlynn was excited to see Veronica’s room for the first time.

She quickly made herself at home! In fact, she spent the three nights sleeping on the floor of Veronica’s room.

I clearly didn’t need to book such a large room at nearby Arrandale Lodge, but I did enjoy my lovely room.

I had a fair amount of time to myself as I was a bit of a third wheel. Thrilled to see the girls thoroughly enjoying spending time together. I mostly saw them when they wanted me to pay for something. Luckily I really like Norwich and found ways to occupy myself.

First Month in Norwich...

Veronica doesn’t seem to have her camera permanently attached to her hip anymore, but she still finds time to take some cool shots. Here is the main shopping district in Norwich...

....and the Royal Arcade.

This was her favorite street for fall colors...

...and here is the lake on campus in the fog.

Partying in England...

Veronica’s first month at uni was quite eventful. She took the Megabus down to London to celebrate Adelina’s 19th birthday. They met up with a few guys from the BSN that are also studying in London and partied until the wee hours of the morning. Veronica said the cycle ride back at 4:30 a.m. to Adelina’s school was both thrilling and scary.

She really enjoyed exploring the Shoreditch area of East London. She also thought it was very cool to go to a hidden bar that is accessed through an old refrigerator inside of a pub.

Back at school, the partying continued as documented here at this party for freshers (aka freshmen)...

...to partying with Jake, one of her flatmates,...

...and partying with the Ultimate Frisbee team.