A Brussels Photo Post

These are three photos that Andrea sent me from our Brussels trip, which I described in my last post. I'm just posting them here for posterity, more than anything.



Andrea (who was supposed to be napping), snaps me looking at home decor magazines. This was shortly after we left Schinnen in the morning.



Exploring all the various and colorful choices at La Cure Gourmande. Eventually, both of us settled on buying decorative tins and boxes, and no sweets. (My vintage-looking French biscuit tin will look very cool in our new kitchen.)



Bar none, my favorite photo (I'm getting this one framed). Andrea and I in the Grand Place.

Da Vinci and Brussels

Today, Andrea and I took an MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) trip to Brussels for Expo Leonardo Da Vinci: The European Genius at the Basilica Koekelberg, which is supposedly the 5th largest church in the world (none of the research I've done supports this claim). However, the Basilica's website says this, so who am I to argue?

Anyway, if you have the chance, I would highly recommend a visit to this exhibition, which ends in March. It doesn't just explore Da Vinci as an artist, but it also goes in depth regarding other facets of Da Vinci's genius, which include his manuscripts and inventions. Despite the poor layout of the exhibit (the rooms were narrow and small, and it was difficult to get through the crowds), it was well worth the time we spent there. As much as I love Da Vinci's art, his manuscripts blew me away. He had such tidy handwriting. ;) Oh, and the sketches were cool too.

By the way, if you go, pay the 2,50 euros for an audio guide. The descriptions in the exhibit are only in French and Flemish, and you'll appreciate it more if you have the audio guide.

We had about 3.5 hours to get through the exhibit, but it didn't take that long. Everyone on the MWR trip was all done and back on the bus by 12:45, about 45 minutes earlier than our scheduled return time. The plan was to go into the center of Brussels to spend the day shopping and sightseeing, so we got almost an extra hour to do that.

Andrea and I have already been to Brussels, so neither of us wanted to do any touristy things (although now that I think about it, the current Rubens exhibit would've been nice to see). Mostly we just wanted to wander around and poke into shops. First, we stopped for lunch. Andrea remembered this restaurant on the Grand Place where she had eaten once before. Generally, the restaurants on the Grand Place are more expensive, but I trusted her judgment, and I'm glad I did. I didn't write down the name of this place, unfortunately…I thought I would be able to Google it, but I haven't turned up anything.

ETA: The name of the restaurant is L'Estaminet du Kelderke. Thanks, Andrea!

Anyway, I ordered stoemp, which is a traditional Belgian dish...potatoes and other root vegetables mashed together, which you could order with various toppings. I ordered fried eggs on mine. So I got a great pile of mashed potatoes mixed with spinach and other things (and I believe there was some bacon or sausage in there as well) and 3 fried eggs on top…it was altogether lovely and hearty, perfect for the November chill, and it kept me full all day. Andrea had a scrumptious looking french onion soup.

After that, we wandered around, looked in some shops, stopped by Manneken Pis to see if he was dressed in one of his many costumes (he wasn't, as usual). On the way back, we stopped for a protest that came down the street. I think it had something to do with all the recent discussions of dividing Brussels. At some point, I had a fresh, hot Belgian waffle with chocolate sauce, and we stopped at a café for tea.

And that was pretty much our day. Most of the pictures are of random things we saw walking around, and not the typical touristy stuff you see in Brussels, since I've already posted such photos twice before. There are very few pictures from the Da Vinci Expo, because pictures are not allowed in the exhibition itself…you can take photos inside other areas of the basilica, though.

Andrea promised me some of her photos, and there's a particularly cute one of the two of us that she took that I want to post on here and get a copy to frame.

This is it for my travels in Europe, folks!

Click for pics!

Karyn's Picks and Pans: Brussels

Grand Place - Hotel de Ville (Town Hall)

* Hotel Sabina - I booked the cheapest place I could find that didn't get absolutely heinous reviews. This was adequate, and quite by accident, it was also very close to the autobahn where we came in, so it wasn't a very long drive in town, which was good for my sanity (I didn't drive, but the traffic still freaked me out, and I had to help navigate - HAHA! - which is no easy feat in Brussels). The hotel was a bit shabby and dingy, but at least it was cheerful and sanitary (I hope). We had a quad room, which was up on the top floor (8 flights of steps), and they had an elevator, but it was a bit dubious, so we took the stairs each time. We had a private bath…shower and sink in one closet, toilet in another. There were 4 twin beds, two of them pushed up together so that it was king size. Otherwise, the room was quite cramped. This place, like our hostel in Berlin, was popular with backpackers. The service was friendly. Breakfast is included in the price, and it's your standard European breakfast buffet which I've described more than once before. I think we paid roughly $30 each for one night here. Not bad. It was located fairly close to the Grand Place…less than 20 minutes by foot. One night here was fine, but I don't think I would like it for an extended stay. It was near a hospital and we constantly heard sirens throughout the night, so noise was an issue. Parking is also an issue, but we just got lucky. There was a parking space on the street on the block where our hotel was located, so we just parked there. Because our rental car had Netherlands plates, we didn't get ticketed, because they can't make us pay it. So our parking was free.
http://www.hotelsabina.be/

* Greedy Lunch - This place was right down the street from our hotel (by where we parked, actually), and we found ourselves here because we got to the hotel half an hour before our room was ready, and we had time to kill, and well…it was noon. There was a line out the door, but if you go inside and seat yourself, it's a full service restaurant. They had a huge variety of sandwiches, soups, salads, and even pastas…most everything was customized to your specifications. Sue and Lindsey shared a Salad Niçoise, which they declared to be very good, even though it didn't come with dressing. I had their sandwich version of the Salad Niçoise, so it was basically a tuna sandwich with olive oil, and there was the added element of green beans, which was most interesting (I did not get potatoes, egg, or any of the other components of this salad on my sandwich, and for that, I guess I can be thankful…although egg would have been good).. Lori had a roast beef sandwich with shaved parmesan. My sandwich was edible, but I would not order that particular sandwich again. I would, however, eat here again (if I ever had reason to), because everything else looked really really tasty, and it's obviously a very popular place to eat. It's on Rue du Nord, but I can think of no reason that tourists might venture here, unless they are already staying at Hotel Sabina.

* Devina Finest Belgian Chocolates - This is the place where I got my chocolates on my first trip to Brussels, and this is where I came back. The service is impeccable. The ladies working behind the counter were generous with the free samples. They were also extremely charming and funny, and they let us know what chocolates they personally didn't like, something that I find remarkable in customer service (you would expect them to say that all their chocolates are good, right?). We spent quite a bit of time here, and they were very patient and helpful as we made our selections. It is certainly true that good customer service results in good sales. Even though we purchased a couple of pieces at Neuhaus earlier in the day (I was really interested in trying their violet flavored truffle…in a word - blech!), we bought most of our chocolate here. Although I'm sure all the chocolate shops in Brussels are excellent, this is my personal favorite. (Located on the Rue Marché aux Herbes…right behind the Grand Place).
http://www.devina.be/

* La Maison du Miel - I made it a point to come back here, after having dropped some euros here on my first trip to Brussels. As you might expect, "The House of Honey" sells honey (in various flavors), but they also offer bath products, candies, and even honey flavored liquers. This time, I splurged on a jar of their chocolate honey, and a container of their excellent hand cream. (Located on the Rue Marchè aux Herbes)
http://www.lamaisondumiel.be

* Rue des Bouchers - This narrow, cobbled alleyway will entice you with its fairy lights and quaint sidewalk cafes. Don't be fooled. This street is not for the faint of heart. This is an alley containing ONLY restaurants, and while it might seem a good bet for finding dinner, be aware that you will be harassed by the waiters as you walk down the street. "Madame, you must eat here! Four courses only 12 euros!" Ad nauseum. The restaurants are all basically the same and they all basically offer the same menus for the same price (the first few restaurants after you enter Rue des Bouchers were charging 18 euros…go further back for the lower prices). After being accosted by nearly a dozen waiters, my aunt finally told one, "We'll eat here for 10 euros each." He agreed, but only if we were seated inside.


Rue des Bouchers

This restaurant was Le Petit Bedon. As the name suggests, the menu was primarily French. We were first given an aperitif - a small glass of white wine mixed with blackcurrant. I enjoyed it very much. Next came a starter (and a basket of bread and butter), and we had a small range of choices. I got the smoked salmon, which came with diced raw onion and dill. I remember there being salads and soups as well, and Lori had shrimp in garlic butter for her starter. For the main course, I got lamb chops, which came with fries. They weren't great lamb chops…they were very fatty and there was actually very little meat. The fries were good though. Lori had a pepper steak, Lindsey had grilled chicken breast, and Sue had the grilled salmon. They all enjoyed their meals more than I did. There were also mussels on the menu, which are a Belgian specialty (just not this time of year…it's mostly a winter delicacy). Dessert was included too, and this was a crème caramel…and not very good, really. All of us ate only a couple bites and then pushed it away, but then again, I've never been a huge fan of flan. But still, we paid 10 euros for our meal, and our waiter was great. His name was (swear to God) Fatty, and he was Tunisian. He was so interested in talking to us, because his wife is getting ready to move to America. He was really funny too. A Black-Eyed Peas song came on while we were eating (Shut Up), and he sang very loudly along with it as he served customers. We were cracking up.

Anyway, if you're looking for an exquisite meal, avoid Rue des Bouchers. But if you want a French meal for a reasonable price that gives you some variety, this is a fine place to go. Don't be afraid to haggle - 12 euros is a great price for a 4 course meal, but 10 euros is even better. If you end up at Le Petit Bedon, say hi to Fatty for me.

* La Cure Gourmande - This place is EVIL. EVIIIIIIIIIL. It's bad enough that there are hundreds of chocolate shops in Brussels, but now you have this place. They sell gifts on the second floor, but before you can get there, you have to walk through a first floor of caramels, macaroons, and something they call "chocolate olives." I bought 6 caramels here…SIX…and they cost me over 9 euros (in USD, that's more than $11). They were large caramels, but still…wow. I got 2 each chocolate, vanilla, and a salt flavor. Anyway, I have tasted all 3 flavors by now, and they weren't worth the price. Good yes. Nine euros worth of good? Absolutement non! I should've spent the nine euros on more chocolate. It's a fun store to look around in though, and I was particularly drawn to the smell of the coconut macaroons (which they don't actually call macaroons there, but that is more or less what they are). It's right off the Grand Place, so it's hard to miss.
http://www.la-cure-gourmande.com

Is it any wonder I gained 3 pounds on this trip?

By the way, at this moment, I am eating a Granny Smith apple drizzled with that chocolate honey I bought in Brussels. Ah. Mon. Dieu. God bless those little chocoholic bees. ;)

Battle of the Bulge Memorial Walk, Bastogne, Belgium

Today, Lance and I had the privilege of participating in the annual Battle of the Bulge Memorial Walk in Bastogne, a tradition that spans 28 years. The emcee of the event was a Belgian soldier who served as a translator with Patton’s army. He’s 80 years old and he outwalked the rest of us. I got to talk to him briefly and he’s a remarkable man. ;)

Anyway, the busses departed Geilenkirchen at 5 am. We had a nice luxury motorcoach, so we relaxed and slept most of the way to Bastogne, which is about a 2.5 hour drive from Geilenkirchen. Once there, we discovered that it was quite different from the weather in Geilenkirchen. Bastogne was covered in a blanket of snow. Pretty, but not the most ideal conditions for walking. The men who fought and died here did it in similar weather though (although I believe it was colder), so we were going to tough it out.

After spending a brief time in the start hall preparing for the walk, we made our way outside at 8 am to the starting point. They had 3 walk routes – 6 km, 14 km, and 20 km. Lance and I planned on doing the shortest route, since it was pretty cold outside. We were told we could start later – the 20 km walkers would be going first. But we decided to go with them, since the routes for each distance are marked. I believe most of the group decided to leave at that time also.

It was slow-going, as the route was icy and treacherous. I saw several people wipe out, and just crossed my fingers that Lance and I wouldn’t be included. After awhile though, walking was actually pretty pleasant. It didn’t feel very cold, and we actually started peeling off layers.

Occasionally, there would be stops along the route where you could see re-enactments of the Battle of the Bulge. There were soldiers in foxholes…most of the actors were depicting American soldiers, even though most of them were Belgian or Dutch. There were some American actors there, but not as many. They had places every 5 kilometers or so to get hot chocolate or mulled wine and use a porta potty. When we got to the 6 km turn-off, we decided that we were feeling good, so we would go for the 14.

There were times along the route where it was quite windy, once we reached the top of the hill and were out in the open, not sheltered by trees or hillsides. We just put all our layers back on and trudged onward. Also, toward the end, the last 5 km or so, the snow really started to fall. We had small ice pellets at one point, which stung when they hit you.

The coolest thing about this walk (besides the weather), was that soldiers would constantly come marching by you or jeeps and tanks would be driving up the streets of all the villages around Bastogne. At one point, we even heard machine gun fire. I can’t say the re-enactments were totally authentic though. I saw no Nazis, and all the guys looked pretty happy doing what they were doing. They didn’t make it look like war was hard work. They made it look pretty fun, actually. It was also amusing to see these guys in 1944 military uniforms talking on cellphones and using digital cameras.

Anyway, once we got to the 14 km turn-off, we decided that we could go no further. Lance said he could actually do 20. But I was wet, sore, and getting exhausted at that point. It would have been less of a hardship without the slush and mud all over the paths. We stopped at a tent so I could get a nourishing cup of mulled wine (which was good, by the way, first time I ever had it), and met up with my friend Emily and her husband Jamison, who had gotten way ahead of us on the trail, and we marched on.

Toward the end of our route, there was a Battle of the Bulge Museum and a monument, which you could climb to get great views of the Ardennes countryside. But we decided against both of these things. It was too cold and windy and snowy to climb an open air monument and we were too sore to pass some time in the museum. We tried to finish the route as quickly as we could (it took us exactly 4 hours). The bells were tolling noon as we walked up to the start hall for the completion of our walk.

We had 6 hours at that point until the busses departed for Geilenkirchen. Time enough for a little sightseeing and shopping. But first thing’s first – lunch! There was a cafeteria near the start hall, which happened to be in a mall, so we had lunch there. It was quite tasty, but all of the ordering had to be done in French, since the employees spoke no English. But we managed. I still remember enough French to order food, at least.

I tell you, it felt so good to sit. And sit we did. We stayed there for quite some time.

Afterwards, we walked into town. We stopped in the church to look around, only to find out that a wedding was about to begin (the bride and groom already entered). Ooops. We discreetly walked out.

We poked around in shops and as we were doing so, we noticed the parade about to begin on the main street. So we caught that. It was neat. They had all the actors from the re-enactment and some of the Belgian veterans marching in it, as well as children carrying the state flags from all the states. We had heard a rumor that people would be throwing nuts down from the windows of the town hall (this has to do with the time during the battle where the Germans asked for our surrender, and American General McAuliffe responded with “Nuts!”). Nuts, by the way, were a big theme on souvenirs and there was even a restaurant in the Bastogne town square called “Le Nut’s.” HAHAHA. We missed the nut throwing though.

After the parade, we stopped at a café because Jamison’s knee was hurting. So we had hot drinks and then he stayed there while Emily, Lance, and I did some more looking around in the shops. Finally, we gave up on the shopping, as the snow was coming down harder. We had a couple of hours until we had to meet the bus, so we stopped by the café to pick up Jamison, and then went to an Italian restaurant to eat dinner and wait out the couple of hours for the bus.

It was a snowy ride back, but by the time we reached the German border, the snow gave way to freezing rain. But we got home safe. Sore and exhausted, but safe.

Pictures (which Photobucket seems to want to show in reverse chronological order)

Architecture, Gastronomy, CHOCOLATE! and shopping in Brussels

Yesterday I went on a day trip to Brussels with my friend Christy. We didn't want the hassle of driving in, so we took the train from Sittard-Maastrict, Maastricht-Liege, Liege-Brussels. The total travel time getting there was not quite 2.5 hours.

We got off the train at Central Station, and immediately tried to get our bearings. We knew we wanted to see the Grand Place, St. Michael's Cathedral, and the Royal Palace, but we weren't really sure where to start first. The highest spire in Brussels is the one on the town hall in the Grand Place, so I suggested that we aim for that. Within a few minutes, we found ourselves standing in one of the most magnificent market squares in Europe, and there was a flower market going on. We stood and gawked and took a few pictures, and then decided to meander around the streets that branched out of the Grand Place.

Our next goal was to find the Manneken Pis, a celebrated statue of a peeing boy whose image graces the majority of souvenirs in Brussels. You can buy him in chocolate form, and various forms of metal and plastic, in addition to t-shirts, hats, bags, postcards...the list is endless. I'm not quite sure why this little guy is so popular, but there are a lot of things about Europe that boggle the mind.

But we did find him, on some rather un-spectacular side street. What pointed us to his presence was the group of Japanese tourists milling about, and the big Manneken Pis bar and restaurant located across the street (with an replica of Manneken Pis in a waiter's outfit in the window). Manneken Pis, I should add, has many little outfits that he wears sometimes, but when we saw him, he was utterly naked.

Needless to say, seeing him was somewhat anti-climactic.

We just continued walking down side streets, stepping into any shop or building that piqued our interest. Particularly chocolate shops. Many of them give free samples, and just the variety and various designs of the chocolate are enough to make you want to go into every shop just to look at them. Besides the chocolate shops (I eventually bought some chocolates at a place called Devina), there was this store we came across called La Maison du Miel, or "the House of Honey." The smell lured us in more than anything. It smelled like absolute heaven inside, and they sold, obviously, products made of honey - both edible and non-edible. They had soaps, bath ballistics, skin creams, masks, candles, candies, various kinds of honey, vinegars, beers made with honey...the list goes on and on. We spent a lot of time in this place and neither of us walked out empty-handed. They also let you sample the honey.

Anyway, Christy decided that she wanted to find St. Michael's Cathedral, so we eventually made our way there and looked around for a bit.

Then we decided to find some lunch. I don't know how we ended up where we ate...it was just some random street that we happened to come across. But we stopped at this restaurant (I can't recall the name of it) and had a very large lunch. I had some Belgian specialty, which was nothing more than meatballs in a tomato sauce with french fries. It was pretty tasty though.

After lunch, we wanted to find the Royal Palace. We eventually made it there, but not before being distracted by a few things. We walked around and took pictures, and then it really started to rain, so we stepped into a cafe and got some drinks while waiting for the rain to subside.

Once it did, we decided to just meander some more. We did a little more shopping. We both bought pashminas at some souvenir shop. I loved the one I bought in Istanbul so much that I had to get another one, and the price was right. We also came upon a Chi Chi's. I thought it was hilarious to see Chi Chi's in the heart of Brussels, but once I saw it, a huge craving for fried ice cream hit, so we went in to share some. It wasn't nearly as good as the fried ice cream served at the US Chi Chi's though.

Once we finished our dessert (as if the chocolates weren't enough), we figured we better make our way toward the train station, since we had about an hour or so before our train was due to leave. On the way there, we noticed a cheese shop tucked away in a little corner. We couldn't resist. Christy had been telling me about this amazing cheese she had in Paris...it had fig in it. This store had it, and she was so excited. So I bought 3 - two for her and one for myself to try. So after that purchase, we made our way to the train station and came home.

It was a full day, but I think we got a good taste of Brussels, and we want to go back.

Oh...and one more thing worth mentioning, just because I thought it was hilarious. Some Italian guy was trying to pick me up in the Grand Place and was blowing kisses at me. I ignored him, but it was quite amusing!

Pictures

Flea Market Finds

I went to a flea market in Belgium today. I'm not sure of the town - Ophoven, I think. It just fascinates me how so much really nice stuff and so much crap all gets thrown together. The arrangements of some items are really interesting. You have a bust of Marilyn Monroe next to a statue of Jesus. You have a really well-preserved antique sewing machine surrounded by piles of CD's. I tried to get some shots of some of the more interesting things.

Honeymoon in Brugge and Ghent

Thursday

Lance and I left around 2 pm. We hit rush hour in Brussels. Not fun. Belgium has one of the worst accident records in Europe, and I can see why.

We arrived at our hotel (Inter Hotel) around 5:30 pm. The hotel looked very lavish both on the outside and in the lobby, but our room certainly wasn't that way! It was just very basic. The room was kind of bland and lacked decorations, but at least we had a private bath. It was right on a busy street though, so I could've done without the traffic. But the guy running the hotel was nice and spoke at least 4 different languages (aside from the regional Flemish, I heard him speak French, German, and of course English...all fluently). We also had a welcome committee - the owner's dog - who was a constant presence at the hotel and whose bark was worse than his bite (he was actually very sweet, but he just loved to bark at everything). Lance and I got settled into our hotel and then we walked to the t 'Zand, which was just down the road a few blocks...the t 'Zand is basically just a square with a bunch of restaurants and hotels. Most of the restaurants seemed to have similar menus, so we settled on Cafe Leffe (named after one of the local brews) and ordered dinner. Lance ordered a Leffe Blond...I actually sipped it and I hate beer, but it wasn't bad. But Belgium is famous for their beer, after all (and their chocolates as well...I'll get to that later...and of course lace and tapestries, which were everywhere in Bruges). One interesting thing is that they brought us these 2 little dishes of snacks...one was a party mix with crackers and pretzels...the other one was pieces of raw fish in vinegar. I thought that was kind of weird, but I was brave enough to taste it. Too vinegary for my taste. Anyway, we had a good dinner...if you could call what I had dinner. I ordered cheese kroketten, which is basically 2 balls of breaded and fried cheese, and it came with some salad on the side (and their idea of salad is separate piles of shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, some lettuce, cucumber, and sometimes shredded beets and corn). So I didn't feel like I had a very substantial dinner. But I was okay, so we walked around a little to see what was past the Concertgebouw (Concert Hall) and discovered a nice little park with a big statue of King Albert in the middle. Then we went back to the hotel and played a couple games of pool in the hotel basement and called it a night. We spent the rest of the evening in our room watching television...we got a lot of British stations and a Belgian station that showed mostly American shows and movies with Flemish subtitles (Flemish, by the way, is a dialect of Dutch).

Friday

We had an AMAZING breakfast at the hotel. Seriously, what the hotel lacked in room attractiveness, it more than made up for with breakfast. There was this incredible spread of croissants, brotchen, meats, cheeses, yogurt, jams, honey, nutella, and cream cheese. They had orange juice and they gave us a choice of coffee or tea. I got addicted to croissants with cream cheese and strawberry jam...perhaps the best breakfast in the entire universe. And we could smell all the bread baking a couple of hours before they started serving breakfast...that wonderful smell wafted up to our room. So we enjoyed 3 days of that (and they even gave us chocolate eggs with our breakfast yesterday since it was Easter).

Anyway...we needed a big breakfast, because we had a long day ahead. Our first stop was the Markt, a 10 minute walk from our hotel. We climbed 366 steps to the top of the bell tower, which offered fantastic views of the city (note: if you ever go to Bruges, buy the "5 museums for 15 euro" pass...we got good use out of ours and saved quite a bit of money...this pass also includes the bell tower). After the rather nerve-wracking descent, we walked to the Burg, which is one of the finest medieval squares in all of Europe. The stadhuis (Town Hall) is absolutely breathtaking, and adjoining the stadhuis is the Basilica of the Holy Blood, which houses (supposedly) a few drops of Christ's blood. It being Good Friday, they were having a special service where you could go in and see the holy blood up close. So we walked in to watch it...we didn't get close, but we could see the priest holding the crystal vial that contained the blood, and people were walking up and kissing it. Of course, we looked around the basilica as well, and as with even the smaller churches in Europe, it didn't disappoint.

Our day also included a visit to the Gruuthuse Museum, which is devoted entirely to life in medieval Flanders. The artifacts were very interesting, and the building itself was a work of art, including the fantastic courtyard that contained statues representing the four horsemen of the apocolypse...and the courtyard leads into the Church of Our Lady, another one of Bruges' beautiful cathedrals, which contains the famous Michelangelo sculpture, "Madonna and Child" (in fact, there is a private chapel in the Gruuthuse museum that has windows that look into the cathedral, so we caught of glimpse of the inside from the museum, before we even stepped foot inside the cathedral).

We also took a boat tour on the canal. I highly recommend it. It is a very interesting way to tour the city.

About the aforementioned chocolates...we visited a chocolate/souvenir shop to get some goodies because we had a 15% off coupon that we got from the hotel. We chatted with the woman behind the counter, and when we mentioned that we were on our honeymoon, she gave us two Belgian chocolate truffles that were shaped like Easter eggs (and trust me when I say that you don't get much free stuff in Europe, so this was very unexpected, but very nice). Mmmmmmm...

Side note: we had an interesting lunch. We popped into one of the many "tea rooms" and ordered ham and cheese stuffed pastry...it was actually ham and cheese pressed between two thin waffles that had heart shapes all over it. Very cool...and very tasty. Dinner was at an Italian place that was very cheap and good.

Saturday

A bit rainy and colder than Friday, but still a fantastic day. After our cream cheese and jam croissants, we walked back to the park we saw on Thursday, only we went past the park. This leads to Minnewater, which is a lovely park also known as the "Lake of Love." It's right next to the Beguinage, which until recently was a place for women to live who wanted to devote themselves to religious life without taking vows. They would spend their lives devoting themselves to religious study and the craft of lace-making. It is now a benedictine convent. The nunnery is one of the most photographed locations in Bruges...the fields surrounding it were blooming with thousands upon thousands of daffodils, and dozens of swans swam in the waters surrounding it. I can see why it's one of the most photographed locations...it was just breathtaking.

Once we toured that area to our satisfaction, we visited the archaeology musuem, which was a total waste of time, but at least that was included on our pass.

After the museum, we decided to try to get into the stadhuis to see the gothic hall. There was a huge group of people with cameras that were all going in together, so we figured they were a tour group and we went in with them. We followed them up into the gothic hall, which was just incredible and rivaled the beauty of most churches I've seen. It wasn't until a minute after we got there when they closed the doors and we saw a woman standing in a white dress with a bouquet of flowers that we realized these people were wedding guests, not tourists (although they weren't dressed like they were attending a wedding). Our only escape was into a room adjoining the gothic hall, but there was no way out of that room except through the gothic hall. So we stood there and waited until the wedding was over and then sneaked back out with the wedding guests as they left. We had a good laugh about that after we were freed from the building. But hey, we got a free look at the stadhuis (although I realized after we left that it was also on our museum pass, so we would've gotten free admission anyway).

After that adventure, we took a romantic horse and buggy ride, which took us past everything we've already seen, but it was a nice way to relax. It was a little cold, but they provided us with blankets, so we snuggled up as the buggy tripped over the cobblestones (I seriously thought we were going to tip over several times). The horse took a 10 minute break for food and water at Minnewater, so we took our pictures with the horse.

We had some lunch after that, and then decided to go to the Groeninge Museum, which houses great masterpieces of the Flemish primitives. Lance has never been that much into art, but even he enjoyed this. Some of the paintings were just incredible. The religious art in particular was very realistic looking and beautifully rendered.

That pretty much concludes Saturday. There was some good television on at the hotel, and we were tired and cold and damp so we hung out at the hotel (with the exception of going somewhere for dinner) and watched television for the rest of the day.

Sunday

We checked out of our hotel after breakfast and drove to Ghent, which is about a half an hour away from Bruges. We got to our hotel way before we could check in, but they allowed us to park there for the day while we went sightseeing. This hotel was less expensive and our room was much nicer (although breakfast was disappointing, but at least they brought it to our room and we didn't have to eat in a specially designated breakfast room like we did at the other hotel). Our hotel, however, was not remotely close to the tourist attractions. It was just a 2 minute walk to the train/tram station, so we walked over there and bought our ticket to take the streetcar into town. I wasn't really expecting anything to be open, with it being Easter and all, so I figured we could only walk around and take pictures of the outside of buildings.

I was surprised. There was quite a bit open on Easter. Most of the museums were closed though. Our first stop was Gravensteen Castle. They had a chilling collection of medieval torture devices (and killing devices, including a guillotine) that were used in the castle, and we got to see the dungeons and the rooms where the tortures took place. It was kind of creepy, but very cool. The castle is looming presence over the city, so when we were able to take the stairs up to the top of the castle, we had spectacular views of the city (we didn't even need to go up in the bell tower here, because the bell tower wasn't much higher than the castle). And the church bells were ringing constantly while we were there, having just completed Easter mass, plus we heard the sound of horse hooves on the cobblestones, so it really did transport you back to the Middle Ages (that is, if you could block out the sound of the streetcars going by).

After that, we grabbed some lunch. And to our surprise, we discovered that a couple of the cathedrals were open to the public. So our first stop was to St. Bavo's (Sint Baafskaathedral). Oh my God. It was just astonishing on the inside. There was so much art...lots of fantastic marble sculptures and so many paintings, including Van Eyck's famous "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb," which is arguably Belgium's greatest treasure. And for some reason, the crypt at St. Bavo's was displaying the exhibits that are normally housed in the Museum of Fine Arts (I don't know if that museum was temporarily closed or what), so we went down to the crypt to look at the artworks (we got to see them for free, I'm sure the museum would've charged a fee). And there were religious relics too...priests' and bishops' garb that dated back to the 16th century and remarkably well preserved. The crypt itself was interesting to look at. Some of the graves were very very old. And of course, we got to see some of the sarcophagi in the cathedral itself...bishops who died hundreds of years ago. After that, we went inside the church of St. Nicklaus, which was disappointing by comparison, but had one of the most beautiful stained glass windows I have ever seen.

We didn't see much after that. We just wandered around along the canals...we stopped at a waffle stand to taste "the best waffle in town"...mine was fresh from the waffle iron and smothered in chocolate sauce (if you think the Belgians eat waffles for breakfast, then you're mistaken...waffles are dessert...as are pancakes...typically smothered in lots of slagroom (whipped cream)). Once we decided that we saw everything there was to see, we hopped back on the tram and headed back to the hotel. We watched some television, and then walked to the area across from the train station, which had some restaurants, so we could have some dinner. Then back to the hotel for the rest of the night...

And this morning after breakfast, we checked out and were on our merry way, this time past Antwerp (for a change of scenery).

Belgium, Bitburg, and other adventures...

Yesterday we had to drive a friend to Liege, Belgium to pick up an antique desk that he purchased. It was a pretty drive...the autobahn took us past Maastricht, Netherlands, which looks to be an interesting city. And the next biggest city was Liege, which I thought was really cool. We got to our destination (after several wrong exits off the autobahn) and the woman spoke only German and French, so between our friend, who speaks okay German, and me with my very rusty French, we were able to communicate with the woman and get the sought after desk.

We got back kind of late, but starving, so Lance and I met our friends Scott & Sheila at Il Genio's in Birgden...a charming little Italian place that (unlike everything else here) actually stays open late. There was a pretty large group of Germans sitting in the restaurant...they were the only ones there besides us. As they left, they walked past our table and said a friendly "Tschuss!"...if I spelled that right...(Which is like saying "Cheers!" when you are in England)...that's the typical way you say goodbye to someone here, something that I often forget to say.

Today we got up early, picked up Scott & Sheila, and headed to Bitburg, which is about a 2 hour drive, partially through Belgium. This was a gorgeous drive through a mountainous area...little villages nestled in the valleys. I really wish I could've taken pictures, but it's illegal to stop along the autobahn unless your car breaks down or something. (I've only taken 2 pictures since I've been here...all the cool stuff I've seen by car). We got to Bitburg, and our exit took us past the Bitburger Brewery (probably the most popular beer in Germany...there are Bitburger signs EVERYWHERE and lots of people have their logo "Bitte ein bit" on their cars). But our destination was the Bitburg Air Base. We got a lot of desperately needed items there that we couldn't get at the bases around here (and there are 3 bases within a half an hour of each other here) and since their commissary is larger, we did a huge amount of grocery shopping and now have our cupboards, fridge and freezer filled (and yes, we brought a cooler so stuff wouldn't spoil on the way home).

We took a different way back...didn't go through Belgium at all, just stayed in Germany the whole way. It was a longer drive, but also very pretty. And our route took us past a really cool looking castle (which again, I couldn't take a picture of, since we were whizzing past at about 75 mph).

As we dropped Scott and Sheila off, an ice cream truck came down their street. I don't know why I thought it was funny that they should have them here in Germany, but for some reason, I found it highly amusing. But they actually sell ice cream cones, rather than stuff like ice cream sandwiches and fudge bars.

There's a "Pop-Rock Oldie" festival tonight in Birgden, which we plan to go to. They started setting up last night and they have bumper cars! We are interested in seeing if they are going to be singing the songs in English or in German...the main feature is a band called "Good Old Lovers," so we're guessing English. They do love their English language music here, after all. Most German and Dutch stations play American music...and the deejay between songs sounds like "Blah blah blah blah BRITNEY SPEARS!...blah blah blah"...it's just funny. And I also like the polka techno...pretty funny stuff. And we found a Dutch karoake show on tv that is pretty funny...they sing most of the songs in English, but they do Dutch versions of some of the American songs, which is pretty hilarious. I also like when we find the Muppet Show in French...but the Dutch stations tend to show American tv with Dutch subtitles, which is good. And MTV has German subtitles...so we can at least watch some television besides CNN Europe (although Fresh Prince of Bel Air is pretty funny dubbed over in German, even if we can't understand it).

Well, I think that's it for now. Tomorrow is a day of relaxation, since we've been so busy. Next weekend...COLOGNE!!!! I can't wait! We're taking the train...Lance is anxious to show me the big cathedral and we want to visit some museums and I think he wants to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe again. I'm pretty sure we're going on Saturday, since Sunday is his birthday and I think he wanted to spend it here at home.