Paris.

Another recent trip took Jelle and me to Paris! It had been very long since our last trip to this beautiful city and so we were looking forward to a re-visit very much. Colleagues had been to the city by Thalys train and inspired us to try the same - so we did! And I must say we liked it a lot! We managed to get a special offer in First Class and that's really great travelling! During the trip you have free access to Wifi and they constantly serve you drinks, snacks and between Brussels and Paris even a full cold meal, like in an airplane! We loved it.



In Paris we had picked a very nice luxurious hotel, the Pullman Bercy. The location was not in the center but nevertheless close to the metro and very quiet and convenient. It is located near to a little park in Bercy and next to a small mall that was build in renovated industrial buildings. It was very cozy with lots of restaurants and all the shops and many people, you could hardly tell there's a economic crisis going on... We were very lucky with the weather and enjoyed a nice dinner outside in that mall.
We didn't have specific plans for sightseeing as we both had already been to the city before. We just walked around without plan and enjoyed all the impressions of a fascinating city. Though in the end we came by all the typical sights, like Notre Dame, Champs Elysée, Arc de Triomphe, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur and Eiffel Tower. We made some detours on our walk through one or the other park and also visited some of the many train stations the city has as we always find it interesting to visit stations.
After only two nights our visit ended already and we headed back to Amsterdam, again with the Thalys.
Jelle and I really enjoyed trip and city a lot and plan to go back.

Two trips.

Recently I have taken two trips (again) to Spain. I have been to Madrid alone to visit Dani during Orgullo Gay. It was a very busy visit. Dani met some people on several occasions as he is a very social man. The parade in Madrid is nice, it again seemed to me like one big party of gay and straight people. I liked it. Personally though I think it's too long. It was nice to have the opportunity to meet Javier, one of Dani's dear friends, during this trip for the first time.




The second trip took Jelle and me to Valencia. Sera, Dani's boyfriend, had invited us to visit him and Dani during one weekend. So Jelle and I flew down there and joined the two. It was a very nice, calm and relaxed weekend. Sera and Dani showed us around and Jelle and I truly fell in love with the city! It's beautiful! Everything was perfect: the weather was hot but gorgeous, we had a splendid hotel that Sera had arranged and we truly enjoyed walking around the city and chatting with our friends and absorbing the impressions of sounds and sights of that fascinating city.
Unfortunately we had to leave early as it was a very busy travel weekend and all flights were pretty full. In order to make sure to get home we had to head home early but luckily the flights worked out fine for us. We decided to take a flight with Iberia Regional to Lisbon and from there with TAP to Amsterdam. Especially the TAP flight was very pleasant and despite having a very long return trip it still was interesting as Jelle had never flown them before.

uninspired.

I'm sorry for not posting here lately - but I simply feel empty in the sense that I cannot find the right words to write about what moves me lately, about things that I could share here or whether it makes sense at all to post something here. It did in the past though and I guess it'll still make sense in the future but at the moment I don't really feel inspired. I'm not abandoning it and I also wouldn't call it a break but I simply feel I will only post things that really matter in some way to me rather than littering my blog with boring stuff.
Hugs,
Guido

lilbro's surprise for me!

Me and Dani's gift
Originally uploaded by CruisAir

A few days ago, early morning, I was just up, the door bell rang and the postman had a small package for me: a gift by my beloved lilbro! He had made a book with all the photos of our trip to Japan and he gave it as a gift to me and on that mentioned morning it arrived! Just like that, as a surprise, isn't that fantastic?!

I am so happy, it is really beautiful, thank you so much lilbro! All the wonderful memories come back to my mind and it makes me extremely happy to think of all the good times we had, it was a fantastic trip and this book is a perfect way to remember it and share it with others! Looking at it makes me want to start planning the "sequel" with you lilbro. I wish I could share it here with you, my readers, but one can only really appreciate the efforts he put in it and the beauty of it when taking it in your hands and physically turn the pages.

I have shown it to several colleagues already and they all liked it very much! But their appreciation is nothing compared to mine. I am so proud of my lilbro, of our trip, of the book and I am truly thankful to you for showing me so much of that beautiful country Dani. Without you, I would never have seen all the beauty this country has to offer.

In moments that I feel a bit sad without really having a reason I can think of our trip and look at the book and all the beautiful memories come back and the warmth of love and harmony comes back and wraps around me like the warm blanket that I sometimes need. You haven't told me but I know it's a very special book, a magical gift to me.

Thank you, a thousand kisses and hugs, my beloved lilbro! That's by far never enough to thank you for it, but I hope you accept it as a first down payment on my debt ;)

My trip with Dani to Japan: a video summary by Dani.

Today, I would like to share a video with you. It is very precious to me for several reasons: my lilbro Dani made it and it is a beautiful and stunning summary of our vacation in Japan. In my eyes, he captured the true spirit of our holiday: the harmony between us, how we enjoyed the exotic destination, the beauty of the country and its people, how we had fun, how we laughed, how we enjoyed to discover all the things we came across daily! He managed to put all our excitement and joy into this beautiful short video. When I watch it I do remember all the moments, all beautiful emotions I associate with the images come back and I really do enjoy that. It feels like reliving the holiday with Dani again. I hope you all like it as much as I do. Please enjoy.



Thank you Dani, my beloved lilbro, for making this wonderful video. It's a gem and a wonderful surprise you gave me.

It makes me very happy.