That Time I Did a 28-Day European Bus Tour — Part 15 (Bruges then back to London)
This article will cover the final day of the tour and the rest of my time in London
Welcome back. Here is a link to Part 14 of my story, in case you haven’t read it:
It’s the final day of the tour. We had our official “farewell” dinner in Amsterdam, but most of us are heading back to London together.
If I wasn’t clear earlier, some of us did the full 28 days and some did a shorter tour that was part of the bigger tour, because that’s how these tour companies work, in my experience.
Anyway, the itinerary for today is:
- Take the tour bus to Bruges (Belgium)
- Arrive mid-morning and spend a few hours in Bruges
- In the afternoon, take the bus to Calais (France)
- Take the ferry to Dover (England)
- Take a different Topdeck tour bus back to where we started in London
- Say goodbye to the group, have some dinner and do whatever we want for the rest of the day
So as usual, we got up, went through our usual morning routine and got on the bus. We rode the bus to Bruges, which would have taken roughly three hours.
Bruges seemed like a nice city to visit. I don’t think I had heard of it before I did this trip, but I think it is fairly well-known. I remember buying some Belgian chocolate and I remember going to whatever the Belgian version of a fish and chip shop was (apparently it’s called a friterie).
Fun fact: French fries were apparently invented in Belgium. But despite the name, they’re mostly seen as American. At least in my country, they are. I mean, we have them but I think the Americans introduced them here.
We wandered around Bruges, exploring, eating and shopping. Then we headed back to the bus. Here are some pictures I took while I was there:
Then we took the bus back to Calais, caught the ferry back to Dover, then rode the bus back to London.
I can’t remember anything noteworthy about the journey. The ferry was nice but it didn’t take long to arrive at its destination.
We arrived in London in the early evening if I recall. We got off the bus, grabbed our bags and said our goodbyes. I checked back into the Clink hostel for one more night. I most likely went somewhere for dinner and I can’t remember what else I did that night. Probably not much.
The next morning, I got up and spent the day wandering around London again. I took a few pictures, walked into some places, had some food and drinks (I didn’t drink coffee in those days but I did drink tea and hot chocolate) and eventually I went back to the hostel. Here are a few pictures I took while in London:
Then when it was time I took the train to Heathrow Airport, checked in, had some dinner at the airport and waited for my flight to leave. Then I flew back to Sydney via Hong Kong.
It was a very long journey. It must have been at least 23 hours, including the stopover. If you’ve ever been to Australia, you would know that it takes a long time to get to, because it’s so isolated. There’s a reason why England sent their convicts there (and in case you’re wondering, I do have convict ancestors; I did grow up in Tasmania after all).
Then I finally landed in Sydney, went through border security (which is not usually an enjoyable experience; we actually have a TV show about this) then grabbed our luggage.
Then my next step was to use the internet to book a coach bus to Canberra (I don’t think I had pre-booked one) and then wait for it to leave. The bus ride was over three hours. Then when I arrived in Canberra, I called my housemate (roommate if you’re American) to pick me up.
When I got home, I think I did unpack my suitcase and did some washing. And eventually went to bed. It was around 3 pm if I recall. Then I woke up around midnight, had some dinner that my housemate had left for me (he was good like that) and then I stayed up.
I got stuck in that sleep cycle for a few days because of jet lag. I think I allowed myself about three days to rest before going back to work. Then I sort of forced myself to go to bed at a “normal” time. I think I still got up around 5 am (I’ve never really been a 5 am person) but eventually, I shifted back to my normal sleep schedule.
And so concludes the story of my Europe trip. I had a great time. I probably wouldn’t do another trip quite like this one. There’s a lot of Europe I would like to go back and see more of one day.
I did revisit Europe in 2017. Well, not continental Europe. I flew back to London, did a 14-day tour around the UK and Ireland (same company but this tour was less party-oriented, which to me was a good thing) and then spend a further nine days in London (so I’ve pretty well seen all the highlights of London now). It was an expensive trip (I think it ended up being more expensive than my first Europe trip, despite being shorter) but I have no regrets.
I also did a Vietnam-Cambodia tour in late 2014, which lasted for about three weeks. That was great too.
Where to next? I haven’t decided yet. I haven’t been overseas in over five years now. In the last few years, most of my money has been spent on my house.
That being said, I’m currently into hiking and a friend and I are considering hiking the Inca Trail one day (once we’ve built up our fitness levels a bit). Personally, I’m keen on it. It’s good to have goals like that.
Adrienne Beaumont recently said that travelling gave her a purpose in life. I would say that that is completely understandable. Although I think it’s more about having a hobby. This can be travelling, but it doesn’t have to be. Something in your life aside from work and family life that you love and fulfils you.
Although if you’re passionate about your job, your home and your family and you feel like that’s all you need in your life, then that’s okay too. But I believe it helps greatly to have a hobby.
I would like to do more travelling before I die (although I’m 35, so hopefully that won’t be for a long time… but one never knows what could happen).
I would like to revisit Europe some time. There’s so much more to see.
I would also like to visit the USA and Canada. Or New Zealand. Or Japan. An African safari could also be fun.
I’d also like to see more of my own country. I’ve actually never been to the Australian Outback (i.e. the desert). This is not uncommon for Australians. It’s a big country.
Honestly though, I could write a long list of places I would like to visit someday. I don’t expect to go to them all though.
Thank you for following me over the past few months as I wrote about this trip. I have enjoyed sharing my story with you. As I may have mentioned, I didn’t realise at first how long it was going to end up being.
If you enjoyed my story and want to read my other stories click on the link here.
Thanks for reading,
Gary
