Travel Tips

Early November was yet another highlight. I spend the weekend in one of my favorite places: Edinburgh. I spend the weekend with one of my best VT friends: Suet. We went to a concert of one of my favorite singers: Tracy Chapman. We also had a fabulous dinner at a great restaurant in Leith. We went to a memorabilia fair where I met the actor who played C3P0 in Star Wars. And even better we had great fun watching the fireworks at Guy Fawkes Night.

In October I went to my very first tennis tournament, and had an absolute blast. It was an "oldies" event with such stars as Jim Courier, Goran Ivanisevic and the amazing John McEnroe. I had really good seats and it was just amazing seeing my old heroes in real life.

In October I followed my favorite band, Texas, in England for 3 of their concerts. Not only did I go to the concerts, I also visited the sound check, met the band backstage and went to the afterparty. A dream come true !!! I also had a mini meeting with Jo104 in London, and got to see some of Manchester.

My last sci fi convention in Germany was a Star Trek convention in early October. I had a great time again meeting all the actors and getting their autographs. I am now the proud owner of a Next Generation cast picture that is signed, in person, by 3 out of 7 main cast members.

The last weekend of September was my last Dutch film fair of the year. I got to meet some great actors such as main stars from Star Trek, The A-Team and Star Wars. Too bad it was the last of the year though.

I started a new year at uni in September. It was great to see all my class mates again. And even better this year I started studying Chinese. It's such a fun course to fo, and I love the history and culture lessons as well. Ni Hao.

Before my first week back at uni, I went to a film fair again. And yet again I had a great time meeting all the actors and talking to them. Erika Eleniak was such a sweetie, and pregnant too. Another great addition to my autograph collection.

In August I organised my second VT meeting in Maastricht, and it was a huge success. There were about 30 VT members there, and even more people if you add family and friends. It was so great to see some of the old faces again and some others for the first time.

Mid August had yet another great weekend for me. I went to Belgium for the weekend for a very special reason. It was the weekend of Marktrock, a festival in the city of Leuven. And the headlining act on Saturday was my absolute favorite band Texas. I had been a fan for 8 years and hadn't seen them in 4. At the festival I met up with some fellow fans from all over the world and we had an absolute blast. It was an amazing concert. Other bands I saw that weekend include Human League.

In July and August I went on a 2 week holiday to Malta and again had an amazing time. Absolute highlights were the religious village festas with lots of music and fireworks. I went to three of these festivities
and still couldn't get enough. Other highlights include the beautiful silent city of Mdina, the historic Hypogeum temple and the Blue Grotto.

I went to Bruges in July for a weekend, for one reason only. To see one of my favorite singers, Lauryn Hill. I couldn not believe she was doing concerts in Europe when I heard the news, as she had not released any new material in years. The concert was amazing, my 2 scool friends and I got real close to the stage. She ven sang a few of the old Fugees songs. A great concert by a great singer.

In July I had the opportunity to witness an Alice Cooper concert as a photographer. Later my photos were published. The concert was amazing, but even better was the fact that I could combine two of my passions, music and photography.

The last weekend of June was a great one, I spent it in London ! I went to a huge movie fair and met some of my favorite actors from Star Trek, Lord of the Rings and Buffy among others. I also went to a free event in Leicester square where I saw performances of several musicals including my favorite Chicago. That same afternoon I went to a store signing of an actual James Bond, Mr George Lazenby. And in the evening I saw a play by my favorite author Agatha Christie, The Mousetrap. And in between I went to the Dali Museum, as he is one of my favorite painters.

The end of June meant the end of my second year in Uni. And I must say I was rather pleased. I managed to pass almost all of my exams and projects, having failed only 1 out of a good 30 or so. But hey, I can do a re-sit exam next year, so no worries.

In mid June I had a really exciting VT meeting with VTer Syllou. We went to the monkey zoo !!! It was such great fun walking around in the park with monkeys all around you !

In the first week of June I went to a great arts festival in Holland. It always features lots of great musicians, theatre, movies and other kinds of art. Highlight for this year was a performance by one of my favorite singers, Ozark henry, from Belgium.

In the second weekend of May I went to another Dutch Film Fair where I met some of my favorite actors such as Anthony Stewart Head who plays Giles in Buffy, and most importantly Prime Minister in Little Britain. He even signed my Little Britain DVD with P.M. !!! What a great man.

I spent the first weekend of May in Bonn, germany with a friend of mine. The main reason of our stay was a Star Trek convention. This wasn't just a sad thing, it was one of the biggest in the world with over 4000 guests. And they had some big names there such as Kevin Sorbo who played Hercules and the great Leanord Nimoy who portrayed Spock in the orginal Star Trek series. That weekend also brought us a lot of firework at the annual Rhine in Flames celebration.

In the last days of April, I went to London for the weekend with a friend of mine. There we also met up with VT member Suet. We had a great weekend of eating out and shopping. But the absolute highlight was a West End performance of Stomp. Those guys were just amazing.

On Easter sunday I went to a local film fair. There I met several actors and got their autographs. This fair is James Bond and Star Wars related, so I met quite a few actors of these movies. I had a great time talking to Caroline Munro, Gerald Home and Michael Sheard. Sadly a few months later Mr Sheard passed away. I'm glad to have met you. Godspeed.

Early March I had the chance to be a photographer at the concert of The Presidents of the USA. I was really thrilled when I heard I could go to see them. I really loved them when I was a teenager. And yes, the show was amazing. They really were very funny and had a lot of energy.