Brussels

Ah, Brussels.  What better way to start off our 10-day adventure in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France than in the center, the heart of Europe, where both French and Dutch are spoken equally.  David and I had been talking about Brussels since our friend Maddie went there last year and raved about it.  My favorite detective, Hercule Poirot, hails from Belgium.  For me, a trip to Brussels was all about the art, architecture, and food! 

Because the weather was less than ideal (cold and rainy), we went to a lot of museums.  My favorite museum in Brussels was the Musical Instruments Museum.  It holds a vast collection of musical instruments from all time periods and areas of the world.  We had headsets that would automatically play the instrument we were looking at.  Pretty cool, huh?  The instruments were beautiful, the music was beautiful, even the building was beautiful!  The museum is in the former Old England department store, and it's a classic example of art nouveau architecture.

Some pieces from MIM as well as a spiral staircase

All those hours spent in museums sure can make a girl hungry.  And oh, did I eat well in Brussels!  We rented an apartment in the center of the city through Air BnB (which I highly recommend) and the woman we rented from owns the restaurant below the apartment, called Le Chat Noir.  She serves up traditional Belgian food like mussels, fries, and Flemish beef to tourists and locals alike.  Her food was so good we ended up eating there twice.  David enjoyed sampling Belgian beer as well.  Of course, no trip to Belgium would be complete without chocolate!  We bought a box of chocolates intending to bring them back to Bologna, but sadly, they didn't even last until we reached Amsterdam.

After dinner one night we strolled to Grand Place, the main square in Brussels.  The 300 year old buildings are beautiful during the day, but even more so when they are lit up at night.  It was the perfect end to a perfect day. 

Well, those were my highlights of Brussels.  David would like to add he also enjoyed eating Belgian waffles, checking out the brews at Delirium, reading old issues of The Spirit at the comic museum, and snapping photos of art nouveau buildings.  Stay tuned to find out what we did in Amsterdam!

Christmas on the East Coast

I know I'm really late writing this blog, but our trip home was such a whirlwind of a 2 weeks, that it has taken me some time to process my thoughts, adjust to being back in Bologna, and get over the jet lag.  In 2 weeks, David and I traveled up and down the East Coast- from Alabama to Delaware to New York, seeing friends and family along the way. 

We arrived in Delaware late on the evening of the 21st.  Due to the jet lag, we woke up super early the next day.  David looked at me, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was....IHOP!  We had been dying for a hearty American breakfast.  So before church we feasted on eggs, bacon, pancakes, and coffee!  Real coffee! 

We celebrated Christmas with my family on the 23rd.  It was so nice to be at home with my family, with the tree lit, the fireplace going, and my mom's Christmas music playing non-stop.  We enjoyed exchanging gifts, mom's cooking, playing board games, and laughing a lot!  Our favorite games this year were Bohnanza (or "Beans"), Ticket to Ride, and Guillotine. 

On the 24th we flew to Gulf Shores, Alabama to visit David's grandparents.  Christmas on the beach!  We had a very nice, relaxing time with them.  Plus I had some amazing fried shrimp and hush puppies!  We went to a restaurant recommended by a friend of a friend, called King Neptune's.  We would never have stopped there without the recommendation, because the place looked like a tiny little shack on the outside.  It was much nicer on the inside, and it was packed, so it was obviously a local gem. 

Soon it was time to return to Delaware to see my aunts and cousins visiting from North Carolina.  They come every year, and it's always the highlight of Christmas for me.  We have a great time every year watching movies, playing board games, and going out to eat.  This year we all went to the Melting pot!  We also had to get our annual hot chocolate at the mall.

We spent New Year's Eve with friends from church.  David and I are blessed to have such an amazing church family. It was fun counting down to midnight with Jamie, Mandy, and Maryn (although she refused to count!).  I was impressed the twins made it to 11:30 and woke up very pleasant the next morning!

Our next, and final stop was in New York to see the one little guy I have been dying to see the most...

Vasilly

What a fluff-ball!  We had a great time seeing Eric and Becky and hearing about their wedding plans!!  Eric also helped me pick out a new laptop, for which I am extremely grateful. 

On top of everything else, we got to see some snow before we left. 

 





So 2013 ended on a high note.  Wishing everyone a blessed 2014! 

Christmas in Bologna

Bologna is not a beautiful city- it's dirty, it smells, and it doesn't have anything distinguishing about it.  But it did manage to class itself up for Christmas time.

It also had a quaint French Christmas market with plenty of French cheese, pastries, and mulled wine.  I did enjoy walking through the streets and seeing the lights and tasting the food.