Happy New Year - Antwerp Style

Antwerp rung in the New Year this past weekend with a free event in Grote Markt.

We met up with a bunch of our friends and walked up to check out the activites. We ended up hanging out under an awning during a brief period of blizzard like conditions. Lucky for us, the awning was right next to the tents where they were giving away soup, friets and beer. We thought it was funny that you had to wait in line for 10-15 minutes to get a cone of fries but there was no wait at the beer stall. We were all saying that would not be the case in the towns that we came from, besides the fact that they wouldn't be serving any type of alcoholic beverage at all.

The kids had a lot fun on the swing ride and eating cotton candy. We managed to get some of the large balloons they used to decorate the square. Craig said that we looked weird and that people were looking at us carrying the huge balloons. Our friend, Amelia, insisted that they were just jealous. When we got home, the balloon would not fit in the elevator. We live on the third floor, so we tied a long string to it and brought it in through the sliding glass door.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

With Colin and Craig both starting their 2 week Christmas vacations, we decided to go to Bavaria. We left on Friday to drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for the night and to see the Christmas Market. The five and a half hour drive ended up taking over nine hours! During our drive, it started snowing and the tempurature dropped to 13 degrees. Our windsheild wiper froze and it made it very difficult to drive. Overnight the tempurature dropped even more and was 5 degrees when we head out to see the Christmas market. It was so cold and we had to keep going into stores just to warm up. That afternoon, we drove into Bavaria to an apartment on a farm that we had rented for the next five nights.
We spent the next day on the farm because our car wouldn't start because it was too cold. The following day we drove down to Oberstdorf, the town Craig stayed during his exchange 20 years ago. A day later, friends of ours from Antwerp arrived and they watched the kids so we couple go see Neuschwanstein and Honenschwangau castles. We all met up later at the Kemptem Christmas Market then for dinner.

On our way home, we drove through Dettingen, the town where my grandmother grew up.We arrived back in Antwerp on Christmas Eve and with just enough time to prepare for Santa and everyone was very happy when we saw that he had left lots of gifts under the tree the next morning. Colin got the Playmobile Castle he asked for and Chloe got a stroller for her dollies along with lots of other goodies. We spent the day inside because it rained the entire day.

On the 29th, we were visited by the Hickeys on their way to London from Paris. It is always nice to have visitors and wished they had stayed more than one night.

On New Years, we were invited over to our friends Amelia and Rajat's to celebrate. They live around the corner along the river and have the perfect view for the fireworks.
Happy New Year!!

We have done quite a bit the past several weeks.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we were lucky to have a surprise guest for the weekend. Jules, a puppet that is passed around from classmate to classmate, came home with Colin. We are asked to bring Jules with us during our weekend activities and document them in a scrapbook for the kids to see in school. Lucky for Jules, we were able to share our leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, see Sinterklaas, and make a day trip to the Aachen, Germany Christmas Market. Aachen is only about an hour and 15 minute drive from Antwerp. It was a very nice market and was very crowded. This is where we took the picture for our Christmas card.


The following weekend we drove to Bruges to see their Christmas Market. It was not as nice as what we had seen in Germany, but they had an ice skating rink set up in the center of the town square. Craig brought Colin skating and he did not do too well. It wasn't the nicest day and once it started to rain, they packed it in. Colin also went on the bumper cars for the first time. we were laughing so hard because Colin was wild. A few times he hit other cars so hard, I thought he was going to fly over the handlebars.





The following day was very busy. Sinterklaas had stopped by our apartment overnight and left treats and some presents in the shoes Colin and Chloe had left out for him. It was also Craig's birthday and a Christmas party for a kids group I am a member of. Colin was very exited excited to see Santa, but we were more excited because we had arranged for a sitter that night and went out to dinner. After dinner, we stopped at the bar on the corner of our apartment complex and found out the Belgian Beer Pouring Champion works there. Who knew there was such a person??







Last weekend, we went to Antwerp's Christmas Market. About every other booth sells hot wine (gluhwein) and Jenever. Antwerp also has an ice skating rink set up. Their rink was much more kid friendly and offered double bladed skates and penguins to help the kids keep there balance. This made all of the difference in the world and Colin was great! We had a sitter again that night and went back to the market. We couldn't believe that it was even more crowded, especially since the weather had just gotten very cold.

We will be going to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (again) for their Christmas Market. It is supposed to be one of the best in Germany. We will then be going into Bavaria and staying on a farm while we make day trips to several places. We plan on getting back home on Christmas Eve, just in time for Santa to come visit.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday with a traditional dinner. I can't find full turkeys here, so we had turkey breast and I spent a small fortune on a box of Stove Top stuffing and a can of cranberry sauce from the American store. We were also lucky enough to have 2 cans of Libby's pumpkin that were given to us by some friends who were moving back to the US.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Sint and Piet and Paul

We found out that Saturday, the day after we arrived home, Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Piets were arriving in Antwerp. Sinterklaas is Belgium's santa. He typically arrives in town in mid November and delivers small gifts almost everyday until his birthday, December 5th. Christmas is then celebrated as only a religious holiday. This is very new to us and we are learning more about it everyday.

Sinterklaas' boat pulled in to Antwerp just a few blocks from out apartment. He was greeted by hundreds of kids. Sints helper are known as Zwarte Piets. The story is that the Piets are ones that go down the chimey to deliver the gifts and as a result, they are covered in soot. This is why all of the Sint's Piets are made up in blackface. I will be the first to say that it is a little bizarre in more ways than one.

Sinterklaas and one of his Piets.

This past weekend we got an email from Paul, one half of our Dutch Bike Repair Team. He was going to be in Antwerp for the weekend and asked if we wanted to get together. We ended up meeting him for dinner. We couldn't quite figure out what he was doing in town. All of Paul's answers were a little strange like, to buy dried miso soup and seaweed spread or to see the gypsy musician at the Vogelmarkt. When Paul stepped away for a minute, Craig asked me if I thought he was going to try and kill us. He was a little weird, but I didn't think that was on his agenda. Craig then asked me if I thought Paul was going to ask to sleep at our apartment. I didn't think that was his plan either. The night was a little strange and I don't think we will be getting together with him again, that is unless we need emergency assistance with our bikes.

European Road Trip: Vienna, Hallstatt and Salzburg Day 9 - 14

I can't quite explain it, but it was a nice feeling driving out of the Czech Republic and into Austria.


Our first top in Austria was Vienna. Vienna is a very nice city, but we were a little run down and getting tired of sightseeing by the time we got there. We took our time wandering around the city and stopped to see the Hapburg's Royal Apartments and their tombs.



Driving from Vienna, we made a stop in Melk, a small town on the Danube river. Melk is known for their amazing Abbey. I think they had the most gold encrusted church I have ever seen.



We followed the Danube River towards our next stop. The views were amazing. While we are driving, Colin said "This looks just like Germany". We couldn't believe that he remembered. We were staying the night in Hallstatt, a very small town on a lake surrounded by mountains. Many hotels are closed in November and reopen in December for the Christmas markets. It is very common for people to rent rooms in their house, which is what Craig had arranged. We had no idea what to expect and were a little scared, but the apartment we stayed in was amazing. It was 3 bedroom, right on the lake and it was a nice change from being in a hotel room for so many nights before. The town was so quiet that all you could hear was the water.









Before leaving Hallstatt the next day, we walked the town and visited the Catholic Church and it's Bone Chapel. There is such limited space in Hallstatt that people were only buried for 12 years. Their bones were then dug up and the space was used for someone else. All of the bones were housed in the bone chapel, this was done up until the 60's. The chapel has the bones of about 600 people.


We weren't happy to leave Hallstatt, but drove the next day to Salzburg. Salzburg is best know as the birthplace of Mozart and the home of the von Trapp family from The Sound of Music. It is a small city nestled between the mountains. We stayed in a womens dorm that rents out to travelers when the dorms are empty. On part of the grounds was a cemetary where Mozart's wife is buried. We took a tram that scaled the side of one of the mountains to see the Hohensalzburg Fortress that overlooked the town. Salzburg had the prettiest river through the center of town. The water was turquoise and you could see right to the bottom.

We had not made reservations for a place to stay over the weekend, so we decided to pack it in and drive home on Friday after 14 days on the road. It took us 9.5 hours to drive from Salzburg to Antwerp. On the way, we drove right by Teck, the mountain that my grandmom grew up under in Germany. We have a picture of it having in our house and it was great to see it in person.

Overall, the kids were pretty good on the trip. Every time they we changed hotels, they loved seeing the new beds they would be sleeping in. It is hard to keep them quiet in the rooms, so I think every hotel was glad to see us go. Back in Antwerp, our downstairs neighbor asked if we had a good 2 week vacation that we never told him we were going on. That least we are happy to be home, even if others aren't.

European Road Trip: Dresden and Prague Day 5 - 8

We left Berlin and drove to Dresden, Germany, which served as a midway point to Prague. Once arriving in Dresden, we spent the afternoon seeing the historical city center. It was really cold and wet and made it difficult to enjoy what we were seeing. Craig was on the look out for commies who might still be lingering around. We suspect that the owner of our hotel may have been one.

The next morning we drove to Prague which was only about 2.5 hours from Dresden. We crossed the border into the Czech Republic on top of a mountain that was covered with snow. I am not sure how high up we were, but we were driving through the clouds. We stopped at the first convienence store to pick up a sticker for the car to allow us to legally drive in Prague. We realized a day later that the attendant charged more than the sticker cost. Ripping off tourists is very common in Prague. They are still not using the Euro, so it is very easy to get confused.

Our hotel was in the best location right at the base of the Charles Bridge. We wasted no time and walked the bridge and head into the Old Town Square to see the Tyn Church and the Astronomical Clock. Prague is probably the most beautiful city we have seen. It was one of the few places that was spared by WWII.

The Czech Republic would be following in Berlin's footsteps by celebrating the fall of communism shortly after we visited. There were displays all over the city describing the events leading up to November 17, 1989.

We had lined up a personal tour guide for Friday to show us parts of the city. She took us through the Little Quarter and on the tram up to Prague Castle.

We spent our last day in Prague seeing some of the things we missed the first 2 days. We really loved Prague and would recommend it to anyone.

Unfortunately this pictured turned out grainy and dark, but the Charles Bridge looks amazing.