Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!!!

It's time for the spookiest day of the year, besides exam days and dentist appointments. Today is the day we are actually allowed to dress up, without getting weird looks, go trick or treating, have a ghostly rave party, or whatever people do on Halloween. As a Dutch person I'm only just getting the hang of Halloween. It's not a very big happening here yet, although it's going to be in the future, mark my words! Just look at the generation of my youngest sister for example, she's 14 now and for years she's been interesting in the concept of Halloween, together with her friends she even introduced trick or treat in our neighbourhood and they also throw this fun Halloween party every year. Besides my sisters interest in Halloween there's also the commercial interest in Halloween, for example by theme parks. Throughout Holland theme parks have special Halloween nights where they have longer opening hours, have spooks roaming their grounds creeping out whomever walks past.  

Last year I got the ultimate Halloween experience, at home I carved some pumpkins, but on the 31st of October, the real Halloween night, I was in Brighton. There Halloween is a much bigger thing than over here so it was an amazing experience, although I was slightly afraid of being outside with all the people with their fake blood and axes. And..... that day I also went to see The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire, also known as TATINOF, in Halloween style. I'll never forget Dan as Shrek and Phil as Thor, it truly was an unique TATINOF experience and I loved every bit about it , oh and I cried. Yes that also happened. 

TATINOF

This year however, there was no Brighton, nor a TATINOF show to attend (besides the one now available for purchase on Youtube) (totally not sponsored by the way, just fangirling). No, this year I had to stick to the pumpkin carving and attending a Halloween night at a local theme park. The pumpkin carving was the fun part, well the theme park was not a complete waist either but it was worse than the dressed up people in Brighton as the spooks in the theme park just loved going after me......

Let me explain this a bit more. My friend and I were already in the theme park in the afternoon to, you know, just enjoy the rides and the peacefulness of wandering around the park without constantly being chased by clowns, Romans or horror brides. But then.... dun dun dun, darkness fell upon the park and suddenly it was swarming with spooks. Now I thought I was being smart and prepared here. My strategy was to look the spooks straight in the eye to show them how confident I was and so they hopefully wouldn't start chasing me. But I was wrong, oh so wrong. It didn't work at all, my strategy just backfired right at me. All the spooks were chasing me, not even one of them wanted to chase my friend. Maybe it's a compliment?! Not too confident about that though. Anyway this resulted in a horror bride screaming in my ear, zombie Romans entering my personal space and pointing their spears at mY FLIPPING FACE, clowns beeping their horns in my face and just the general being chased by men with chainsaws. How lovely. I definitely prefer Rory the Roman, when it comes to the Romans that is. (Doctor who reference intended).

Now I did like that day but man the spooks were against me there and for next year I really have to up my confidence and anti spook strategy. So just so you know making eye-contact does NOT WORK.....

So yeah, basically that was my Halloween experience for this year. Yeah 2016 what a blast. For tonight I'm going to meet up with the friend I went to see TATINOF with last year and we're going to watch TATINOF the movie! A much better way of spending Halloween in my opinion, and yes I'm taking tissues!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!! Just five more hours until Christmas though......

ThatDutchGirl96

With the bae, my only friend that day. 

I went to Brighton!!!!!!! (final part)

Hey guys!

Get some tea, a few snacks, wrap a blanket around yourself and prepare for the last part of my Brighton adventure.

On the second day of our Brighton adventure I woke up early, not because I couldn't sleep but because a clan of pigeons was fighting a clan of seagulls right outside our window! So much for a good start of the day. Looking at the date however made me forget all about the bird war going on outside our window. Today was October 31st. Halloween but maybe even more important, the day we were going to see Dan and Phil on their amazing tour is not on fire!!!!

Ever since the day we ordered the tickets it felt kind of unreal. Like a deja vu of some sorts. Even on the day it was actually going to happen I still couldn't comprehend the fact that it was actually going to happen. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

After breakfast we went out for a walk on the beach, explored a bit more of Brighton and did our first proper bit of shopping before returning to the hotel again. Time was running out, TATINOF was coming closer and closer and for some reason I wasn't nervous at all. Neither was I realising that I was actually going to see them today but I already told you that. We queued up about an hour and a half before the doors would open. It wasn't busy yet which was kind of nice. As 18 and 19-year-olds we felt a bit out of place, I think approximately 80% of the people there were 16 and younger. NOT JUDGING THO, JUST AN OBSERVATION! A guy started walking past taking in the phan-art, reason why I was a weird kid stories, internet support group problems and 7 second challenges. Everyone in the queue was really enthusiastic and kind towards one another which was really great. As the only two Dutch people there we did feel a bit out of place though. Indoors we met a nice girl who joined us until we went into the actual theatre and took our seats. The pre-show music was the best ever and the entire theatre was singing along which made me so so happy. 

TATINOF itself was just amazing. It was completely and utterly amazing. The show was perfect, Shrek Dan and Thor Phil were just as I had imagined them to be and in the end I even cried a little. Seeing them live was one of the best moments of my entire life and up to today TATINOF crosses my mind every day. I won't put any spoilers in here but if you get the chance to go and see them on tour please do so! The same goes for when the DVD will be released (they are filming the tour) and you are able to buy it please please do! You will not regret it and might understand why I cried afterwards. 

After TATINOF we were still full of adrenaline and decided to go to the beach again to calm down a bit. We had bought a box of maltesers before the show which got eaten really quickly. The sun set and we still sat on the beach as the skies got darker and time kept ticking away. The Halloween vibes started filling the city and as two Dutch girls from a country where Halloween isn't much of a thing we were kind of excited about Halloween and also really curious to what would be going on tonight. The award for best Halloween costume that night definitely went to the girl that was dressed as trash! You looked awesome and it was like the best thing ever so yeah you go girl! Also the people spending their evening drawing hearts on the side walk you made our day even better and you made the city look super cute and lovely. Shout-out to whoever drew those hearts!

Eventually we missed out on most of the night as we were like super tired and unable to function properly due to all that happened that day. This day was one of the best of my entire life and ended way too quickly. 
And like that the last day of our Brighton adventure came lurking around the corner much too soon. 

So here we are, the last day of our Brighton adventure. The last day of the best time of my life. The last day in a beautiful city with so many things left unexplored. 
The day started with another pigeon vs. seagull war followed by the longest stroll on the beach ever. We decided to turn around once we had passed the colourful beach huts. Some more shopping was done and by 2 pm. it was time to head back to the train station and go back to Holland.  

Brighton you have been so good to us! You were and are absolutely lovely and I'm 100% sure you will see me again one day in the near future! Those three days were the best days of my life and I will never ever forget them. Everyday they cross my mind and every time they do they make me smile. So many memories were made so many pictures were taken and so many unforgettable moments were lived. 

Thank you Charlotte for being in my life and getting me into Youtube in the first place! We've known each other for almost four years now and in those years we have done some crazy things and many more crazy things are to come! Thank you for being my companion on this trip! It was the best thing ever and don't you dare to go back without me!

So yeah, that was it. That's the end of my Brighton adventure which took way too long to write and upload and I'm sorry for all the cheesy bits. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading these posts as much as I enjoyed writing them. I highly recommend you visit Brighton one day if you get the chance.

Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96