AU REVOIR

Jeg kan ikke fortælle jer, hvor godt det er at være hjemme. Tro mig, turen var fantastisk, men jeg endte med at savne min familie. Og værste var, at jeg var væk på min mors fødselsdag.

M og jeg snakkede sammen om turens opture og nedturer på vores lange tur hjem. Han sagde, at han havde elsket den måde, vi aldrig var i vores egen komfort zone og aldrig vidste, at hvis vi var sikker eller ej. Og jeg kan kun give ham ret, det var som en sejr at tage til en by som havde været så udsat og alligevel opføre sig normalt. Dog ville jeg også ærligt fortælle, at for mig var det en endnu større sejr, at kunne leve i en by, hvor de snakker fransk og alligevel kommunikere med dem på både fransk og engelsk.

//I can not tell you how good it is to be home. Believe me, the trip was great, but I ended up missing my family. And the worst thing was that I was away on my mother’s birthday.

M and I talked about the trip ups and downs on our long trip home. He said he had loved the way we never were in our own comfort zone and never knew if we were safe or not. And I can only agree with him, it felt like a victory to go around in a city that had been so exposed and yet behave normally. However, I honestly feel that for me it was an even greater victory, to live in a city where they speak French and still communicate with them in both French and English.

M og jeg boede ved M’s tante og onkel, der begge arbejder i Bruxelles. Oprindeligt var det ikke meningen, at de skulle tilbringe den første dag med os, men på grund af angrebene, fik de ikke lov til at tage på arbejde. Vi tog derfor ud til Louvain-la-Neuve, hvor M og jeg tog på Musée Hergé (Tintin museet). Vi tilbragte det meste af dagen i Louvain-la-Neuve, og fandt en italiensk restaurant i en af side gaderne, hvor vi spiste vores middag.

Den følgende dag tog vi  til Fort Breendonk, nær Mechelen. En meget stor borg, som er bedst kendt for sin rolle som en nazistisk fangelejr under den tyske besættelse af Belgien under Anden Verdenskrig. Efter en kold og trist oplevelse, gik vi til en lille restaurant ved siden af Fort Breendonk. Og da vi var færdige turen tog til Atomium, og M og jeg fik et godt syn over Belgien.

M and I stayed at his uncle and aunt, who both work there. Originally, it was not meant that they had to spend the first day with us, but because of the attacks they were not allowed to work. We therefore took out to Louvain-la-Neuve, where M and I went to the Musée Hergé (The Tintin museum). We spent most of the day in Louvain-la-Neuve, and found an Italian restaurant in one of the side streets where we ate our dinner – lovely place.

The following day we went with M’s aunt and uncle to Fort Breendonk, near Mechelen. A very large castle, which is best known for its role as a Nazi prison camp during the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. After that cold and sad experience, we went to a small restaurant next to the Fort Breendonk. And when we had finished the tour took to the Atomium , and M and I got a good sight over Belgium.

M’s tante og onkel tog til Frankrig fredag morgen, hvilket betød M og jeg havde huset for os selv og måtte finde vores vej ind til byen. Den første del af dagen gik med film på sofaen. Og som dagen skred frem bevægede vi os mod byen, hvor en bus kunne tage os til Grand Place. Vi gjorde også dette dagene efter. Den dag vi tog hjem bragte vi vores kufferter med in til byen. Grundet angrebene havde M og jeg ikke mulighed for at komme hjem med fly; selvom vi havde kæmpet en kamp for at komme i kontakt med det belgiske rejsebureau og dansk. Vi fandt heldigvis en bus, der kørte til Düsseldorf, et tog fra Düsseldorf til Hamborg, et tog fra Hamborg til Flensborg, og et tog fra Flensborg til Danmark. Turen tog i alt 15 timer, og M og jeg måtte sidde på en togstation i Düsseldorf fra 23:30 til 03:35.

Da vi kom hjem, var vi begge meget træt. Men min familie alle stod klar til at omfavne og byde os velkomne, så søvn måtte vente. Efter et par timer med familien, fik vi vores chance for at sove, som vi havde ventet på; og hvis det ikke allerede var godt,  min lille, næsten 8 måneder gammel niece, komme også sov med os.

Jeg kan ikke sige andet end, at det er utrolig godt til at være hjemme. Og rart at endelig at få set familie igen, før M og jeg går til London på studietur på mandag.

 

M’s aunt and uncle went to France on Friday morning, which meant M and I had the house to ourselves and had to find our way into town. The first part of the day passed with movies on the couch. and as the day progressed we moved toward the city, where a bus could take us to the Grand Place. We did this the days after as well. The day we went home we brought our suitcases. Due the attacks M and I had not able to come home by flight; even though we had fought a battle to get in touch with the Belgian travel agency and Danish. We fortunately found a bus that drove to Düsseldorf, a train from Düsseldorf to Hamburg train from Hamburg to Flensburg, and trains from Flensburg to Denmark. The trip took a total of 15 hours and M and I had to sit on a train station in Dusseldorf 23:30 to 03:35.

When we got home, we were both very tired. But my family all stood ready to hug and greet us, so sleep had to wait. After a few hours with the family we got our chance to sleep we had been waiting for; and if it were not good already my little, almost 8 months old niece also slept with us.

I can not say other than that it’s incredibly good to be home. And nice to finally have seen the family again, before M and I go to London on a study trip on Monday.

The pictures are from the area where we lived.