Brugge, Belgium

Lolajasper

We went to Brugge, Belgium in November. What a beautiful little city. We stayed in an old converted home from the 17th century. And yes, I do think it was haunted, I got very little sleep! Brugge is full of lace, chocolate, beer and beautiful streets. What more could I ask for!

This is some of what we saw:
-We toured several cathedrals (one had an original Michaelangelo sculpture of Mary and Jesus that was beautiful)
-An old brewery that has awesome beer, the tour had hundreds of steps, many that had to be navigated backwards!
-Lace and Chocolate shops of course!
-Chocolate Museum (this was very stupid)
-Canal boat tour (the boat was a little too small and too crowded for my comfort!)
-Several beautiful municipal buildings
-A medieval public hospital

It was quite a full day. We went back to the hotel where we had a 6 course meal! It took 3 1/2 hours! The best part was the dessert, chocolates and coffee! They had a set menu of rabbit, goose liver and eel. I didn't want to be impolite but there was no way I could eat that. I'm pretty much vegetarian these days except for the occasional chicken when nothing else is available. The chef's were very gracious and fixed me some fish which was actually pretty good.

Sunday we left Brugge and headed to the sea. It was quite windy and chilly, but I've always preferred that to the heat of summer on a beach. Plus, no bathing suits! We then drove to Ghent; by this time, my back and feet were in agony so I really didn't appreciate Ghent as much as I probably would have otherwise.

It was a great trip, very romantic and would definitely go back again!

Things I Miss About the States

My kids (that includes you, Christopher!)
My dog and cat
My old house
Laraine, Gregg, Andrew and Lizzie (Not Kujo though!)
Chuck, Kelly, Jenna, Katie & Hampton
SUN
American television
Nascar (I know, I'm a dork)
American medicine
Low fat and non fat foods
Being able to read stuff (signs, books, magazines)
Poptarts (I know, I don't need them!)
Weight Watcher meetings (silly, to put that under Poptarts!)
My favorite stores (A C Moore, Michaels, Barnes and Noble, Hancock Fabrics, JoAnn Fabrics, Target, Hudson Belk)
American radio
Quilt Stores with American Prices
My dentist in Apex
Fall (real Fall)
SUN
Garbage disposals
North Carolina's blue skies
Have I said SUN?
Awesome thunderstorms in North Carolina
Fox News, (Yes, I know, I'm sorry Kelly)
Local News
Reading the newspaper
American grocery stores
North Carolina Barbecue
Being able to tell what I'm buying, i.e. I bought toilet bowl cleaner to use as bleach for clothes!
American beef (I probably have mad cow disease by now)
Have I said SUN?????
Central heating and airconditioning
Country music
A goooooooooooooood hamburger
Manicures and pedicures
Quick dinners in a restaurant
Rice Crispies and marshmallows (So I can make Brad mega Rice Crispie treats)
No bikes (the bikes are ok, I'm just scared I'm going to hit the people on them)
My kids :(

Things I Love About the Netherlands

I get to travel to awesome places
It's nice spending more time with Ed
Windmills
Gorgeous churches
A large majority of people can speak English
The cleanliness of the Netherlands
I get to see Steven, Susan and Jonathan!
Flowers
Cows (They are so beautiful and healthy!)
Thursday nights (the downtown is open until 9 and it is packed!)
The Netherlands farms
Church bells
Markets on Saturday mornings
The Dutch children are darling
Flea markets
Antiques
Dutch traditional fabric
Dutch quilt shops (unfortunately expensive)
European coffee
More time to quilt
I like living on one floor
Wonderful bread
Fun to shop
Sex shops (kidding ;) )
I am walking more and getting more in shape
Slower pace of living, it's not crazy like in the States
The Dutch television channels don't dub their American tv shows like the French and Germans
Channel 211 on the TV (you have to come visit to find out what it is!)
Sundays are very peaceful, nothing is open except restaurants
I love to see 80 year old men and women riding their bikes!
You can sit for hours in a restaurant
No telemarketers (not that I could understand them anyway if they called)
No junk mail

Giethoorn, Netherlands

Lolajasper
Saturday Ed and I headed to Giethoorn, (voted the prettiest village in the Netherlands.) It's about 2 hours Northwest of Enschede. On the way there we saw beautiful farms with the healthiest horses, cows and sheep I've ever seen. So pretty. We've gotten lots of rain lately so everything is bright green. Arrived in Giethoorn and had some lunch. I had my first official "Dutch" pancake, YUMM! We then walked around the old historic part of town. It has canals winding through it with rustic bridges crossing them. Individuals can rent boats to tour the canals. We ended up walking; I thought I would end up in the water if I tried to get in one of those little boats! Next year I will though when I'm in better shape! Giethoorn is a darling town; it's hard to believe anyone actually lives there.

Ya Gotta Love Yard Art!

Lolajasper
On the way home Saturday we drove country roads back to Enschede. We drove by this awesome house!

Lots and Lots of Windmills

Lolajasper
More to Come!

Note to self...

Don't put on makeup before I have my coffee in the morning. I used pink lip liner as eyeliner this morning and didn't notice it until I was in the car running errands! Duh.

Market Garden

Saturday we drove to Arnhem and visited the site of where Operation Market-Garden took place. That was the battle that had the most Allied casualties during WWII, most of them British. The book and movie "A Bridge Too Far" tells the story of this sad couple of weeks in September 1944. The museum is in an old hotel that was used as the Allied headquarters. There was such heaviness there. I've gotten the feeling maybe five times in my life of overwhelming sadness of tragic past events at locations I have visited or objects that I have been around. I know, weird. It's hard to describe.

Amsterdam

Lolajasper
Went to Amsterdam for the day a couple weekends ago. Wow what a crazy place! Ed, me and the kids were there about 14 years ago. I can tell I'm getting older! I prefer the quiet farm fields and cows these days! I didn't see many people younger than 30! Maybe they were all in the coffee shops! We hit the American Bookstore and picked up some books. I got a couple of books on Netherlands history; I hope I can get through them. They don't seem to dry. We then headed to an antique mall. A little overpriced, more "fancy" stuff. I love the more primitive style of everyday folk. I haven’t found any really good flea markets yet. That will be where I will probably find more items to my taste. We then drove up to Volendam, an old fishing village and had dinner. By that time I had a migraine. I finally found out what the Dutch word for MSG is. It's funny the things that you have to learn when moving!

Health Care in the Netherlands

I have been pleasantly surprised by the health care here in the Netherlands. I've gone to the dentist once and had a filling replaced. Met with our new doctor (female, very nice.) I have also gone to the physical therapist several times for my shoulder. Language is the biggest problem I've come across. Everyone speaks English, but sometimes word order and the "correct" word is hard for them to find. I went into an Apotheque (pharmacy) the other day to try to find Tylenol. They had never heard of it and suggested I try such and such. I ended up buying it thinking - well I hope it doesn't kill me! Turns out it was plain acetaminophen. Silly me.