One year down

looking through the album Rob's dad made us

Hard to believe, but we have been married for a year! Our anniversary was December 3rd and we decided to spend it in Brugge/Bruges/Bruge depending on which sign you see or which book you read. It is pretty safe to say that most people here like Brugge better than any other city in Belgium.  We decided to drive since we chose a hotel that wasn't in the city center. Normally we would stay in the middle of everything but we both loved this hotel based on photos and reviews and it was cheaper.  Booking.com is the best site for hotel prices and reviews.  We stayed at the Vander der Valk Hotel, it was amazing even if the money we saved staying outside of the city center was spent on the taxi ride home...

hotel room, amazing for Europe

Finally used our champagne flutes since we forgot at the wedding!

 We made a tentative plan to do the brewery tour and the bell tower.  Neither happened. After we started walking around and discovered they had Christmas market, beautiful shops and multiple restaurants we decided that was more appropriate for the time of year and we can save the "tourist" stuff for visitors.

 Where we got our Gluhwein, Christmas coffee and hot cocoa from. Multiple times.

One of many beautiful storefronts and turned out to be our favorite shop. Javana.

Watching the ice skaters in the middle of the market

favorite food of the trip at a bar called 't Brugs Beertje which was recommend by our friend Linda Elbow, delicious cheese and awesome atmosphere, can't want to go back

and the Christmas beers to go with the cheese, of course

bell tower we planned to go up. If you have seen  movie "In Brugge" you will know of this bell tower. Another day, another trip.

The one "touristy" thing we did decide to do was the Ice Magic exhibit they have each year.  Its basically a big freezing (or below) tent with incredible ice sculptures in it.  Rob was more excited to do this than I was but it was actually pretty neat.

Ice Magic Festival

This guy was HUGE

Rob coming down the ice slide

frozen but smiling by this point

In between the eating, drinking and walking we finished our Christmas shopping...the earliest I have have been finished and we all know Rob has never started before December 23.  The past year has been quite a ride. We found out we were moving to Belgium about a month after our wedding, went to Missouri about 25 times before we left and now we have started our European explorations!  I have never claimed this transition to Europe to be easy but I can't imagine doing it with anyone else.

To Rob: Prost! To many more years of not knowing what tomorrow will bring but as long as I have you, I know it will ok.

To my readers: Don't worry I am done with the mushy stuff.

Now, on to the next thing to celebrate...Rob's birthday! Stay tuned.

Also, Happy Birthday to my MIL Nancy! Hope its wonderful! We love and miss you!

100

This is my 100th blog post!  Only took me three years to get here.  Thanks to everyone who has been reading.

It's officially December. Like I mentioned in my last post, November was kind of a blur.  I'm not sure why but I think it has to do with getting settled and finally getting into some kind of routine.  November started in Germany and ended with us planning trips for next year.  It could also be blurry because Rob grew a mustache for "movember" and I have chosen to block it from my mind.

About mid November we had a conversation about when Thanksgiving was. We had no idea except that it was on a Thursday. Rob had to work on Thanksgiving and the day after so it did feel pretty strange.  But we did spend the evening with friends and had some delicious food and great company.

Life is starting to feel pretty normal around here.  We were told it takes 3 months and they were right.  We have started going to the Soignies market on Sunday mornings.  My french improves each time I go so I have been really enjoying it.  I was able to order all this in french...with a little bit of pointing and smiling.

Rob and Duke have been having some serious man-conversations about Duke making his way to dad's pillow throughout the night.  This documentation of the deal they made.  Duke promised he would sleep at the end of the bed as long as he didn't have to sleep on the floor.

Masterson Peace Talk

Last weekend we took the train to Brussels to do some Christmas shopping.  We came home with 2 loaves of bread and 3 Christmas beers.  All delicious and not any closer to buying Christmas gifts.  Believe me, if we could send beer Christmas shopping would have been done a long time ago.

St. Bernardus, Delirium, St. Feuillien

In this post I showed the table I bought at the Waterloo market. I finally found a fabric store and reupholstered the chairs.

before/after

It's Christmas market season in Europe.  Most cities have them through December.  SHAPE also has small markets each weekend.  We have gone to the Canadian, Norwegian and German markets.  All have native food and drink like Gluhwein, bratwurst, moose milk, etc.

Canadian Moose Milk, eh. So much better than eggnog.

We have started planning trips for next year. We booked Venice, Italy over Easter and hoping to take some kind of beach vacation next summer/fall.  I also started training for a half marathon in Paris in March so we will be going there, although I am not sure I can consider it a vacation. 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend, we are watching yesterday's football before we head to the Brussels Christmas Market!

First Visitor

So November is flying by.  I guess that means we are having fun?   A few weekends ago we had our first visitor! My brother Andy came through Belgium on his way to India for work.  He was only here for about 48 hours but it was a great visit.  Luckily his main goals were to drink Belgian beers and eat some frites, both easily accessible in these parts.  We picked him up Saturday morning and started the weekend by heading to Mons to show him a little bit of where we live.  We did a little shopping for Sylvia and soon found a lunch spot before heading back to Soignies to finish the afternoon of Belgian beer tasting.  It was great for Rob and I to get out and explore our town.  We finished the evening with skyping with Sylvia and Stephanie before hitting the sack.  On Sunday we woke up and went the Soignies market and stocked up on fresh veggies, eggs, and chocolates. Note, when ordering a kilo of spinach, be prepared to feed about 20 people...lesson learned.  Andy made breakfast and then we headed to the Chimay Brewery about an hour away.  It was so much much fun.  We ate at the restaurant, and by eat I mean we tried the Chimay cheeses paired with the Chimay beers.  Both were amazing.  We headed home and made dinner with our fresh produce and again went to bed early like a bunch of old folks.  Andy left early Monday morning and Rob and I enjoyed two more days of the weekend since he had a 4-day.  On Monday we hung out at the house and on Tuesday I met with some friends from french class and went to Mons for lunch and shopping.  We ate at Boude de bleu (I think the site is messed up, or maybe its my computer, can't tell).  So, good, so so good. Putting it on the "take visitors there" list for sure.

  I don't have too many pictures from Andy's visit that don't include beer...ooops.

Chimay Cheeses and Beer

Chimay Grand Reserve

Enghien Noel Beer- Enghien is only a few minutes from us

Duval and Andy

Brasserie de Silly Beer

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! We will be feasting with friends that we have made here.  I am currently making homemade applesauce and dutch apple pie.  Our house has never smelled so good.  Oh and I started decorating for Christmas...don't judge. 

Garmisch, Germany

We got back from Garmisch about 10 days ago and I think I'm still recovering.  We kept referencing our week as "spring break" for adults, and we weren't that far off.  

As a practicing dentist you must complete at least 30 hours of continuing education each year to keep your license.  Fifty-six years ago the US Army started holding a week of continuing education in Garmisch, Germany for all military dentists stationed in Europe and this year was no different.  So Rob and the other dentists went to classes from 8-4 each day while the spouses got to play.  I met some awesome girls and got some much needed girl time over coffee and apple strudel. 

Our drive was about 8 hours and the last 2 hours were in the snow.  It was one of the most beautiful drives ever!  Garmisch is a ski town so they are no stranger to snow but I was still fascinated. 

Road to Garmisch

Road to Garmisch

My days were filled with shopping, sightseeing and eating delicious food.  Our nights were filled with planned dinners, monastery tours, karaoke and more delicious food.  

Benediktinerabtei Ettal Monastery and Brewery

The Ettal Monastery has been brewing beer for 400 years, so they must be doing something right.  They also  have a distillery, produce herbal teas and are active in local agriculture.  

Benediktinerabtei Ettal

Benediktinerabtei Ettal

Monastery monk who made our tasting experience one we will never forget 

Benediktinerabtei Ettal

Linderhof Palace

This palace was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria although he died before it was completed.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but you can go here and take a virtual tour of the inside which was incredible.

Linderhof Palace

Linderhof Park

Linderhof Park

Swarovski Kristallwelten

After visiting the palace we crossed the border to Austria and went to the Swarovski headquarters and museum.  It was pretty interesting and a little weird but the jewelry to purchase at the end was beautiful.  

Museum is inside the fountain

Swarovski chandelier

Bavarian Night

Toward the end of the week the conference sponsored a traditional Bavarian night complete with Bavarian food, drink, dancing and of course dress.  It was a super fun night we were excited to wear our new lederhosens and drindls. 

Bavarian Hall

Aren't we awesome?

Your Belgian dentists hard at work

After a long week of fun we drove half way home to Ramstein Air Force Base for the night.  We ate some mediocre American food and I went shopping while Rob watched Sports Center.  Both getting our American fixes.  

One of the best things about Garmisch is that we got to meet a lot of people that are stationed in Europe. We are planning to meet  up with them soon to do some traveling.   I can't wait to get back to Germany hopefully sooner than later.

Amsterdam

Oh, Amsterdam.  I love you. Our trip to Amsterdam was a MUCH needed weekend away to remind us of why we chose to live in Europe.  We picked Amsterdam because it was only a couple hours away and it was kind of last minute trip.  We decided to drive because the train was really expensive and we found a place to park that cost only 8 Euro per day...that is a steal. We considered it our "doggymoon" before our wild child arrived.  I can best describe our trip as eating, drinking and walking our way through Amsterdam. I forgot the memory card for my camera so we used our i phone all weekend so some pictures are better than others.

Thursday: Left our house at 11 and arrived at the Ajax Futbol Stadium which served as our parking lot.  Hopped on the Metro and took a 20 minute ride into the Central Station, Amsterdam's largest train station in the center of the city.  From there, our hotel was about a 5 minute walk- amazing location. We stayed at the Nh Barbizon thanks to Priceline and their last minute deals. We were asked if we wanted a room with a view, so we said yes.  Little did we know, we could open our window and step onto the canal dock.

view from room

view of room from across the canal

After checking in, we just started walking.  Literally, we picked a direction and walked.  Within 3 or 4 blocks we were in the infamous Red Light District. During the day, its fairly PG from the outside.  But there was a distinct smell...oh yeah, cannabis...everywhere.  No need to even go in the coffee shops, just walking by you get the idea.

The Bulldog coffee shop, and girl eating munchies outside

amazing doner and falafel sandwiches

Dam Square enjoying first and only dutch beers, the belgians got you beat there

After exploring for a few hours we headed back toward our hotel and came up on the oldest bar in Amsterdam.  Didn't know that until we walked in, the extensive beer menu is what actually caught our eye. LOVED this place.  Met some locals and our one beer before dinner turned into three.  This is when we realized that we really like Dutch people.

Het Elfde Gebod

Kasteel Cuvee du Chateau...I LOVE this beer

So after our happy hour(s), we went to a sushi restaurant for a late dinner.  And then visited a few more cafe's before heading back to the hotel. 

Late night canal stroll

Friday:  Started the rainy day with a giant mochachino at a cafe outside our hotel.  The crew sang and dance to Adele and made some amazing coffee and breakfast. Made the rain much more bearable. Then we started walking.  Our guidebook actually had a walking tour it recommend so we used that to get started.  We saw Dam Square, the stock exchange, flower market and ended at the Art Museums.  We did the Stedeliijk Museum.  The most modern of the museums, it was 85% awesome, 10% didn't get it but appreciated it, 5% WTF is that.  I have tons of pics that I will post in its own post later.

favorite pic of the weekend

loved the architecture

dream home

in front of Rijksmuseum

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the House of Bols.  They make Genever, which is what Gin was developed from.  The tour was fine, but the tasting at the end was delicious. I left there with yogurt flavored liquor, sounds weird but its so good.  Then we made our way to dinner and home for the night to people watch from our window.  

California Creamin'- Amaratto, Bols Yogurt liqueur, lemoncello and lemon bitters 

dinner spot- Pizzeria Azzurno- great food and quiet atmosphere even if they did have a cat walking around

people watching from our room

Saturday: Breakfast (same spot as day before) and journey home to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

So, all of you potential visitors out there.  We will be happy to take you to Amsterdam!  We already have an agenda of what we want to do next time. 

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