Intermania's holiday tales of a summer past

You might not think it with the fantastic weather of the past week, but the new academic year has unfortunately started. To get all the little Intermaatjes through this ordeal, we at the Intermania have decided to bring the holiday back for just a little bit longer by sharing our holiday experiences with you, starting with our very own Board Responsible and amazing Commissioner of Education Arne!

This summer was quite different from previous ones for me. Starting as a fresh board in June, most of us just chilled in the Internaat all summer. I became a master of one-handed table football, as I broke my hand and had to wear a cast for 6 weeks. Luckily this cast was removed the day before I went to Belgium with some friends from my hometown, where we did surprisingly little in the 10 days we were there, but that’s what holidays are for aren’t they? We did do some small hikes in the Ardennes, where I stumbled on a burned down factory, protected by a fence that you could simply walk around. In the mood for some Urbexing (urban exploring) I walked towards the building, promptly ignoring all the warnings about how the building was in danger of collapsing, with the excuse of not speaking French. I managed to snap a few cool pictures, but I did leave quickly, as death by Belgian building did not sound too appealing to me. 

The Intermate vacation was also a highlight of this summer break, we managed to collect over 70 euros in deposit on “halve liters” and enjoyed them thoroughly while sitting in the hot tub. The only slight downside of our luxurious residence in Odiliapeel was the military airbase located just outside, so our relaxing hot tub sessions came with a free side of hearing damaged from fighter jets taking off and landing. Aside from these escapades, I spent most of the holiday in Eindhoven, where our board managed to open the bar for almost every day of the summer break, something I consider a great achievement. All for the wellbeing of our members and more specifically the graduating student, of course. 

Next, Charlotte will share some of her vacation stories:

This year, my summer was packed with four amazing trips. For starters, me and my father kicked of our summer together and decided to visit Ireland as a celebration gift from him to me for graduation high school. Of course, this was already three years ago...but uhm...yeah...COVID...you know. We greatly enjoyed ourselves while walking along the Cliffs of Moher, wandering through the Game of Thrones studios in Belfast and exploring rainy Dublin.

Next up, Liquicity Festival . Although we had our fair bit of rain during the weekend, together with approximately 30 friends from Eindhoven and Delft, from which a few fellow Intermate members, we enjoyed every single minute of it. We danced from dusk to dawn on the best Drum & Bass music. Just like last year, an unforgettable weekend. No surprise I already obtained my ticket for next year ?. 

After such a busy weekend filled with stimulants, it was time for some relaxation. A few days near the beautiful city Limoges did just the trick. Together with 14 other amazing people, I stayed at one of my friends’ family home in the French countryside. Time was forgotten, sunsets were watched, and stories were told each night at a bonfire. I arrived knowing only 2 out of the 14 people and left with loads of new friends after spending some intense and close days with them. 

Well rested, it was time for my final trip. Together with a friend of mine, we packed our bags, placed a car-tent on top of her Skoda, and set off to mesmerizing Sweden. In the span of 10 days, we drove 3000 kilometres through the south of the country, visiting cities like Stockholm, Gotenburg and Lund along the way, while also stopping to have a look at beautiful ruins, walks through nature reserves and an elk (moose) park, where we were able to feed and pet elks. We also took some time to visit Jane from Intermate, while she was working at Nordic Woods. While driving, we enjoyed the breathtaking landscapes, red houses with white accents, and the extremely polite citizens.

Now, Morris will share his fantastic tales of his adventures that he had the past summer.

I visited the beautiful city of Holte this summer. To give you a quick review:  wow it was amazing, would visit again, 10/10. 

Very nice Morris. Lastly, Rens and Maarten both want to share the same day of their holiday. Starting with Maarten's telling of that amazing time.

As described in our last article of last year, I visited Bordeaux at the start of the summer. Together with some friends we stayed for a week at a nice AirBnB in a very small town close to Bordeaux, called Tabanac. The highlight of this holiday was our “man-day” with me, Rik, Rens, and Frank. On this day we planned to explore the center of Bordeaux and visit the wine museum. However, because of some sleeping issues (lees: overmatige alcohol consumptie) not everybody was ready at the time we decided to depart. Therefore, us four ventured out alone and left the stragglers behind to go and experience Bordeaux. Instead of going directly to the wine museum like the others did, we left the tram a few stops earlier and strolled leisurely in its general direction. We discovered possibly the best coffee place in Bordeaux, the one all the locals used; walked through the rain on the quest to get some food; Behaved like children in a playground on a seesaw; and finally visited some churches and learned about Greek column architecture styles while walking along the Garonne towards to wine museum. Despite this seeming like a rather mundane day when going on holiday, we had all decided at the end of the vacation that this day was the best part of the holiday for us. - Maarten

And this is what Rens thought of that day in Bordeaux:

The highlight of my summer is already perfectly described in Maarten's summer recap. But since pictures are worth a thousand words, let me add some: 

-Rens

Well said Rens.

Hopefully with these holiday tales you feel better about having to start studying again. We at Intermania would love to hear your favourite moments of your summer vacation, so don't hesitate to keep one of us from studying by recalling every single detail! We are all very happy to see you back again for another year of fun, so welcome back and good luck!