Groteslurf

Next update : Tomorrowland and some other festivals during mid summer Since last year voted as best dance festival in the world. The 180000 tickets sold out in minutes for the second year in a row. I even had to buy overpriced tickets on the secondary market, but it was so worth the money. Some people compare Tomorrowland with the Efteling meets dance music And I totally agree with that statement Tons of fireworks Thousands of happy people +/- 15 different stages, even underground Great friends Amazing settings Amazing DJ's Over the top theming Info desk In the ferriswheel Had a rough night ... Techno stage Hey, de Efteling !!! While there isn't any bridge like this in the Efteling, it does remind me a lot of the Efteling Wanna play some poker ? Café d'Anvers stage oh yeah, there were people of over 200 different countries at the festival, more than the Olympic Games !! So awesome Soooo beautiful See you next year Tomorrowland Let's see what else I attended last summer : Casa Blanca festival. A 4 days free entrance festival We went on Thursday because the Human League was there one of my favorite bands in the eighties. They are still very popular because it was very crowded in front of the stage Whole the way till the back, the place was packed And their concert was really good Hope to see them live again soon My crazy friends Drink sleep rave repeat : Cirque@ttaque. Another free entrance festival in my home town It's a great festival with a lot of things to do for the kids during daytime Last festival we went to last summer : Laundry Day. A festival which started out some 15 years ago in one of Antwerp's fashion streets. A few hundreds of people attended the first edition. Nowadays it's a mega one day festival with about 70000 people Yeah .... Baccardi Yeah ..... BEER !!! In fact the festival is WAY too crowded but we manage to have a great time every time we go there. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. Weird people at Laundry Day More weird people I seem to have the gift to go to outdoor festivals and have awesome weather. Seriously, we have quite a rainy climate out here. I went to more than 25 festivals in the last 3 years and NEVER had a day of bad weather. Maybe I shouldn't have said this out loud ... Last picture of my festival summer. Next up : Bobbejaanland

Iron man -Black Sabbath

De Efteling, Walibi Holland for the above reasons. If you have limited time and your hotel is in Amsterdam or Rotterdam, you may be interested in combining Duinrel and Drievliet in 1 day. If you decide to go to Toverland, you might consider combining it with Moviepark Germany and maybe also Plopsacoo and/or Bobbejaanland. For these 4 parks you'll need 3 days. If you stay in the west of Belgium, you have to go to Plopsaland. When you have ample time and don't mind drving a longer drive, Europapark which can be combined with Holidaypark and a few rides on Ringracer.

I remember - Deadmau5 & Kaskade. What a song !!!

Shortly after Vilnius, I took my kids to Technopolis, about 25 miles from where I live. Our intention that day, was going to Bobbejaanland. We have been at the parking of Bobbejaanland but the parking was so packed that we had to park behind the actual park. When we left the car, it started to rain so easy decision to jump back into the car and drive to Technopolis in stead, as this is a fully indoor park. It's actually not a themepark but more a discovery center mainly for kids. The day after, sun was going to shine, so my youngest daughter and I decided to have a themepark day and visit 3 parks in 1 day. Airbike The usual suspects Hom nom nom My youngest daughter showing here most suspicious face Give me fuel Live on stage .... It's such a great place for kids. She loves you, yeah yeah yeah Blowing bubbles I believe I can fly Entrance Best pizza in town Toverland. My second visit since their new park area opened. Previous time was a private evening event earlier this year at invitation of Toverland. It's my favorite park within 1 hour driving from where I live The new area is really great The new rapids Waiting row of the rapids. I really like that they make their waiting rows nicer than the usual waiting areas My daughter and I While not the longest nor wettest rapids, I actually really like the ride Their new roller coaster. I don't like the controlled twisting though. It's a real great addition to the park. Next park of the day was Dippidoe park. It's a small themepark near Eindhoven. There are 2 coasters of which I unfortunately didn't take any pictures but if you look on the first page of this thread, you can find the link to a more extensive report of my previous visit to Dippidoe park. (page 16) Oh, I do have a picture of one of the rollercoasters it seems I just love parks with a lake McDonald slide Third stop of the day : Megaspeelstad. It actually is a place for kids where you wouldn't go to as adults only. In fact, it would be quite weird going there without kids. But hey, the place holds 2 credits ... and i had my daughter with me She had tons of fun I've seen this before earlier that day in Toverland Some of the rides are quite ghetto But my daughter was having a blast Weird, but gotta love plastic dinosaurs in a petting zoo Fun fun fun More fun fun fun Ghetto lounge bar Theming Inside area First credit Second credit, but we arrived too late and it was already closed. We rode it a few years ago, so no big problem. Self operating rides And more fun fun fun i love these rides Final overview. Next update : Tomorrowland. The best dance festival of the world.

Forever young - Alphaville

Somebody's eyes - Karla Bonoff

Tsunami -Dvbbs

Barracuda by Heart

We're gonna make it - Twisted Sister

I've never seen the movie, so don't know the plot, but is it Brokeback mountain ?

Absolutely

Hint : Xanadu

Yanga sports water at the fitness center this evening

Ok, I'm not that creative, nor is english my mothertongue, but I give it a go. A media tycoon dies lonely in an Olivia Newton John movieset in Florida with ELO music in the background.

Shawshank redemption ?

I wanna be your boyfriend - The Ramones

What lies beneath ?

Diet Red Bull (or Red Bull light as it's called here)

And it's closed on weekdays now till the Xmas season if I'm not mistaken. There should be a clear calendar on their website

ok, here's the vid I promised. Count the blondes and post your totals [youtu_be]http://youtu.be/luFD4YxkUUo[/youtu_be]

Vilnius, Lithuania : I never imagined going on holiday here. I knew it is the capital of Lithuania, but it sounded very eastern european, not really a perfect holiday destination. Until my brother-in-law told me about the place last year. After some research my friend and I decided to give it a go past summer. And what an extremely lovely place it turned out to be : very western, excellent hotel, a lot of historic things to see in the old city (the old city is Unesco world heritage btw) , excellent restaurants, cheap food and drinks, amazing bars and nightlife, .... and the girls, wow wow wow, it was like we ended up in the Playboy mansion. Not kidding, if you'll ever be so lucky to go to Vilnius, you will know what i'm talking about. It's doesn't to justice to how great this place is, but in the next post, I'll put a short video online of a random bar we were and I filmed a 360°. I wonder who will be able to count all the blonds in that 30 seconds In any case, I had tons more fun than I had in DLP. You will notice that from the amount of comments I have to tell. If you compare that with my report of DLP ..... Enjoy the pictures View from my hotel room. According to several websites like booking.com, tripadvisor, ..., we had chosen the best hotel of Vilnius. The hotel is in the old city. The old city is not that big. You walk in 15 minutes from the one end to the other. There are some 50 different churches in the old city. And every church is unique. I'm normally not that into visiting or even looking at churches, but the one in Vilnius are really great to explore. The lounge of our hotel The assortment of whiskey in the hotel The company I work for has offices everywhere so there's also one in Vilnius. My usual contact was so nice showing us around in the nearby places.The first evening he and his girlfriend took us to Trakai. The Shakespeare Hotel, our home for 6 nights We ate the local dish, Kibinai. Really great food. The place was sooooo damn nice There is also this castle. Isn't it a beauty ? After a great night, we ended up exhausted in our hotel. I found this in the minibar and I had a party on my own in my room Panoramic view from the hill Breakfast à la carte in the hotel We went to do some running the next morning and ran up the nearby hill for some nice views. The new city of Vilnius The television tower where the 'January Events' happened : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_Events_(Lithuania) Vilnius old city One of the 50 churches Vilnius Cathedral Vilnius Library Random building The Naris river Another church Excellent food at the La Bohème restaurant Buddha bar Another church. When Napoleon saw this one, he wanted to pick it up and plant it down in France Cathedral place The hotel had free bikes for us to explore the city by bike Inside the cathedral Wedding in progress Vilnius old city is really nice and safe to walk around One morning i took a walk a bit further away out of the city and found this 'unsafe' place Great lunch salad Because the food was so great in La Bohème, we decided to eat at the same place the next evening My colleague Donatas in the middle We met up with my colleague and he showed us some great bars. Most of the evening, we spent at Paparazzi Great vibe I just love the food there Oh yeah, almost forgot this picture. This is a bank during daytime; During nighttime, it's a ....... casino !!!!!! I swear, i'm not joking. It's really a bank and casino at the same time !! Next morning there was a short thunder storm and one of the trees inside the french embassy decided to do the wall and hit a car Main shopping street on a Saturday afternoon Where is all the traffic ?? And one small statue makes Vilnius rock : Frank Zappa Zappa doesn't have any bond with Vilnius whatsoever but a local group of artist made this tribute statue in honor of Zappa. Sunset at Naris river We had dinner on Saturday at the Skybar in the new city. It's on the 22nd floor of a hotel and the view is simply amazing Amazing, no ? Great bar, great food, great music Sky bar entrance/exit We then headed up to the Tarantino nightclub. It really had the Tarantino movie vibe. Because there wasn't a real crowd, we headed up to Pabo Latino at the other side of the street. I'm not the biggest fan of latino music, and luckily they didn't only play latino music. It was one of the best nights I ever had. This place is absolutely awesome and amazing. There a inside room, but during summer the outside part is THE place to be. You have to see it in person to understand the awesomeness of the place. The best nightclub I have ever been to. The video I will post is shot in this place. My friend and I already talked about going back for a weekend only for this place. Another random church And another one Town hall Great italian restaurants Considering the traffic, it's really hard to believe you're in a capital Disneyland It's such a nice place Portobello bar Salento bar. The only nightclub open every single evening Story time : we came in, ordered our drinks and I went to the restroom. I returned from the restroom only 3 minutes after we entered the bar and my friend Michael was on the dance floor with about 7 blond girls dancing the night away. I was like : how long did I stay in that restroom ???? Vilnius University Our last evening and my colleague invited us at his parents place, some 20 miles outside Vilnius. We made a quick stop at one of the former capitals of Lithuania (don't remember the name of the place, sorry). Stunning views I've never read it, but this place is described very thoroughly in Tolstoy's War & Peace I was told Look at the size of the trees. You can see people underneath the trees A non Vilnius church So we were invited at my colleague's parents home. Something like that can go both ways : either it's terribly inconvenient and awkward, or it's a great evening. Turned out to be the latter. It was the most awesome night we could have imagined. The parents didn't speak any english, but with some home-brewed alcohol, the father managed to 'understand' us. Such amazing and friendly people, we had the best night. The prepared a buffet of local specialties from the village and the food was just awesome My friend was a bit cold and was offered a russian coat a night I will forever remember If you ever have the chance to go to Vilnius .... just do it. I'm seriously considering a post Scandi trip add on to Vilnius.

I like the idea, though I prefer the usual TR's and read it at my own pace. I too had difficulties reading the longer comments. But it will be a good way to reach the Youtube followers. I very much like the Vine parts. I immediately was thinking about using iMovie for a clip like this, but I realize it's not that easy combining movies and pics into an iMovie clip.

Disneyland Paris. The first time I visited DLP back in opening year, I was blown away by the sense for details, the attractions, shops & restaurants, the vibe in the park, .... Every other park seemed like not worth while to visit any longer. The past 8-9 years, by visiting a lot more parks in Europe and the US, and at the same time, the quality of DLP going down year by year, DLP is not even in my Parks Top 25 any longer. The park seems always overcrowded, they hand out too many fast passes, not too many new attractions, the hotels need refurbishment, unfriendly cast members, ... the resort isn't what it used to be anymore. This said, we went to DLP for another visit, with an open mind and ready to have a good time. And although we had a better time than during our last visit, it will take another few years until we go again. Even the new attraction next year will not make me go again next year, or maybe I will, if I win a free stay My sister and youngest daughter with some random ducks The wait for the tram tour was surprisingly short My youngest daughter's first ride ever on the tram tour. During all previous visits, the wait was an hour so we didn't ride anymore since she was born. Going Underground I like this ride We stayed in the New Port Bay Hotel, on the Admiral Floor : it REALLY needs refurbishment. Fireworks as could be seen from the hotel The weather was excellent Top ride of the resort imo Bay area at nights We still like to shop at Disney but there isn't that much new to find the last few years. Love this view We ate at the Rainforest Café. Another bay area view and another one DLP 20 years At least the castle is good We had a fun stay.

Time for an update. Before reaching my next theme park visit report, here are some short reports of things i did in between. As some might know, I really like electronic dance music since a year or 2. We visited a lot of festivals last summer. End of June we were at Sunrise festival. A smaller sized festival some 30 miles from where I live. Beginning of July, my kids, my wife and I visited Mini-Europe in Brussels and on our way home, we made a short stop at Fort van Breendonk which was a concentration camp during and after WWII. The next day, we went shopping in CentrO in Oberhausen, Germany. But not without a few rides on the nearby alpine coaster and a visit to the new Legoland Discovery Center in CentrO. Last pics in this report are from the XO festival in Holland. Next update will be Disneyland Paris Sunrise festival : Of course, it's the same like in an amusement park, the earlier you arrive, the more fun you have. Hardstyle stage My friend going nuts Picture from the main stage (from the Sunrise Festival website) Another one from the official website I just love the festival setting Fire's goooooood Finnebassen, my favorite deep house DJ/producer me Solomun stage Solomun @ work We had an awesome day at the festival Mini-Europe : all miniature buildings of every country in the E.C. Here's Vilnius in Lithuania. I would see the real building a few days later on. Mini-Europe is near the Atomium landmark in Brussels Giant killer pigeon invasion Grand place in Brussels Ben and Big Ben My daughter, the Eifeltower and the Atomium in one picture My youngest daughter seen through the Paris' Triumph Arch Spain Berlin On our way home, we made a quick stop at the Fort of Breendonk It was a concentration camp during and after WOII When you're standing there and realize people where shot here, it makes me think really hard about life. Alpine Coaster in Oberhausen is short, but when you're nearby a must-do of course We rode it each 5 times. Great stop. Lego Land Discoverycenter Not really worth while but we had fun Yep, I'm a Darth Vader nerd XO dancemusic festival in Eindhoven, Holland We had VIP tickets so we had access to the VIP stages and lounge. Excellent views and spacious Main stage was a little bit busier Bench for giants Oh yeah, and we had ample alcohol In the lounge The weather was amazing And more alcohol and more and more and more and more ..... Eating after too much alcohol My friend picked up a random sign And ended up with the sign behind Solomun I just love festivals with a lake Lounge beach bar Too much alcohol and more alcohol But he didn't know how to consume it We had an awesome day. Next up DLP