The XtraSuitcase

Carnival in Aalst, Belgium

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No….that is not me! It is D's new Carnival friend. We ventured to Aalst, 19 miles northwest of Brussels, to celebrate Carnival known as the day of the 'Voil Jeannetten' (literally "the Dirty Jennies"), i.e. men dressed as women.   Some of them dressed quite boldly….



others tried to be pretty…..



and some were just plain raunchy!



It is held at a time of year to say goodbye to the cold days of winter and welcome the onset of spring, but this year – winter was here to stay. It was freezing cold and it snowed the entire parade.





But that did not seem to slow down the partying! This friendly group shared a glass of their special Belgian Liqueur with us. Aalst is in the Dutch part of the country.

This celebration dates back to the 1400's. But the parades, events, and parties as they are know today have been going on for 82 years.



It is said that when it first started, their was no money for costumes, so the men wore their wives old outfits, carried a handbag and an umbrella and pushed a baby buggy. All of which you still see today. The baby buggies are now used to store their drinks.



There were several "adjustments" made during the parade -



see guys – pantyhose aren't so easy to wear!

The celebrations last for three days ending on Shrove Tuesday which is the day before Ash Wednesday – 40 days before Easter.

The celebration is a time to "gorge". The last time you can drink enormous amounts of alcohol, eat tons of candy and meat and do things you should not be doing during lent.

And the people of the parade were certainly doing all of the above!

There are 2500 participants

and over 70 floats that wind their way through the street taking seven hours to do so. It was so cold, we only made it through 4 hours.

Every year they create new costumes and floats. They store them in big warehouses where locals work on them all year long.

As we understand it, the theme is an interpretation of the last twelve months’ world and local events, reflected in both their costumes and giant floats.

There are over-sized characters from local politics,

and the world.

Many of which we did not understand.

The emphasis of the day is definitely on slapstick comedy.

And men dressing as women.

Sometimes it was hard to tell if it really was a man or just an ugly woman……

or just a really ugly man   : )

The Gille is a long standing character whose costume is decorated with Belgium symbols; the lions, crowns and stars and in the Belgium colors red, yellow and black. He throws oranges into the crowd.

They also throw onions on Monday. The people of Aalst are nicknamed ajuinen by their fellow Belgians because of the large number of onion farms that once covered the region.


The festivities traditionally end with the "Burning of the Doll", happening on Tuesday evening. This ritual is meant to represent the burning of the spirit of winter.

Believe it or not, this Parade is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
2010 – Dubai United Abab Emirates (UAE) – Our first trip of the year

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About Dubai

Dubai is one of the seven Emirates of the United Abab Emirates (UAE). It is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East.

This was my first adventure to the middle east, last year D was in Saudi Arabi.  Dubai's main revenue is from tourism, property, and financial services. The currency they use is call dirhams.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum is their current ruler.

Oops wrong photo, that one is Sheikh Donhammed Bin Ward. Here is the real Sheikh. His photo is on posters all over the city.

Dubai is home to the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, with 160 floors and a height of 2,717 feet. It was started in 2004 and had it's grand opening January 2010. We missed the event by a week. There is an observation deck on the 124th floor, but tickets were sold out. NOT that I would have gone up! To see it in person was ah inspiring, a true architecture wonder.

Our travel buddies Dave and Allison also showed up, but Dave was there for completely different reason – it just happened to be at the same time. What fun…. another adventure with D2 and A!!!

Due to snow delays in Germany and Brussels, it took us 15 hours to get there (actual flight time was about 7 hours). By the time we checked into our hotel on Sunday it was 3 am Dubai time and D had to be to work at 8:30 am! Our flight home took off at 3 am and it took us 16 hours to get home.

Our Hotel

We stayed at a contemporary new hotel attached to the Dubai Mall. Cool rooms and a super friendly staff. I was ready to move in after the first day. I did not even have to go outside to get to the mall. Breakfast was included in the room price, but one morning they made a mistake and handed us a bill, $60 per person for the buffet! Now this buffet was like nothing I have ever seen, but who would pay $60 for breakfast?

The people

Dubai is a huge melting pot of people. They say only 17% are truly from Dubai. Everyone was extremely friendly and spoke English. In fact, EVERYTHING was in English. I tried to buy a greeting card in Arabic and could not find one. This young kid wanted me to take his photo he was all smiles then acted serious when I took the photo. Cute!

Shopping

Dubai is the Shopping capital of the Middle East and many will say one of the best shopping cities in the world. The store signs were in English and Arabic. Everyone's favorite – Starbucks.

There are over 70 malls – many of which have themes and special attractions such as indoor ski slopes, Aquariums, underwater zoos and ice rinks (photo below).

Our Hotel was attached to the Dubai Mall which is THE BIGGEST MALL in the WORLD!

Yep, the world! 1200 stores. And what timing – Thursday kicked off the Dubai shopping festival; the biggest sale day of the year, called the "part sale."  People come from all over the world (they say 3 million) to shop the malls for bargains.

We participated, well one of us REALLY participated. Let's start with me – one pair of sandals. And D…….three pairs pants and two dress shirts!

Religion and Dress

Islam is the official religion of the UAE and 96% who live there are Muslims. Their religion requires the greeting to God 5 times a day. You will see men praying on the streets, basically anywhere. Friday noon, prayer must be performed at the mosque.

Both alcohol and pork are forbidden by Muslims. Dubai is the most liberal of the Middle Eastern countries so it does allow other religions to practice openly. The men wear the traditional white robe called a thobe and may I say they do look very dashing in them. The headscarf they wear is called a guthra and is usually white or red checked (you can see both in the photo below).

I asked our Saudi friends what the difference was between all white or red and white and they said the white is more formal. There is not a wrinkle to be seen in these robes. I read that they change them many times a day.

The majority of the women wear the traditional black robe called an abaya, it is the traditional form of a hijab (Islamic dress). With this, the head is always covered. The women of Dubai are very beautiful and wear exquisite makeup.

And even though the abaya is black, they are very fashionable and each so different from the next. They have very detailed styling with delicate hand embrodery, beads, and sparkles on the sleeves and on the scarves.




A large percentage also wore a niqab (face veil) which covers all of the face except the eyes. And stories say…they wear extremly sexy lingerie under them!

They are not required to wear the abaya but do so out of respect for their religion. Young girls begin wearing abayas at puberty, but many start earlier due to family or peer pressure. You really should not photograph the women, but I snapped a few shots from a distance.

Our trip – Day 1

Okay, enough history – let's move into the details of our trip. As we walked off the plane, my first sight was a Cold Stone Creamery, which I thought was odd, but come to find out you can eat at absolutely any American restaurant that you want, even Taco Bell! Below is the view from our bedroom window.

Our first day, Donald worked and I checked out the mega mall. We met early evening and went to a happy hour at the foot of the Burj Khalifa at a stunning hotel.

I met several new friends. Donald was a bit nervous wondering what might come out of my mouth with the conservative Saudi guests. But I was pretty well behaved : 0   There was a nice variety of appetizers and drinks, enough to fill us up for dinner. It was a delightful evening.

Day 2

Donald went off to work and I met up with Fatima. Her husband works with D and they are currently living in Germany.

We had a delicious lunch of fresh mixed salads and a perfect view of the Burj Khalifa. We did a little shopping and then relaxed at the pool. We had to save our energy for our safari dinner in the dessert.

The safari dinner was a blast. It started out with 4-wheel drive vehicles picking us up at the hotel. We drove 30 minutes or so and then the driver went off-road into the sand. We drove for 10 minutes through the sand – bouncing all over the place. Thank goodness I had secured the front seat, as I am sure I would not have made the ride in the back.

When we pulled up to the event, there were camels for us to ride. I will never pass up a camel ride!

Just a note, the camels in Cairo were friendlier!

There were many surprises during the evening including a woman doing mehndi (painting henna designs on people). It is said to bring love and good fortune and protect against evil. It is usually done at weddings, rites of passage and special events. This was a special event for me!

I was the first to have my hand done. Her speed was impressive and the designs were charming.

Carey had one painting on her ankle.

I liked it so much I went back for one too!  She said it would last three weeks, but my hand only lasted a week. My ankle still looks good.

Even the men got in on the fun and had scorpions painted on their arms. NO!  not D!!!

Dinner was a buffet with traditional Dubai food; shish-kabobs, hummus, egg plant stew, okra and for dessert rice pudding. As always, our "event eater" was the first through the line.

After dinner – out came the belly dancer. She was very good and had fun pulling the men up to dance with her.  D hid behind another guy so he was not invited up. Chicken! And for all you girls, you do need a belly to do this correctly : )

Did I mention there were sheeshas?

"I did not inhale!" But the two women from Jordon really got into it.

Day 3

D went to work (poor baby – he did work a lot) and I met up with my travel girl Allison. To make a very long story short……it took us 90 minutes to find each other. The taxi driver dropped her off at the wrong hotel! Anyway, as we both were giving up and going back to our respective hotels, we passed each other in the mall.

I am glad we did find each other as we had a delightful day. We visited the Madinat Jumeirah area which looks like a movie set.

We we had a perfect view of the Burj Al Arab, the famous luxury hotel that is often used when advertising Dubai and on T-shirts.

That evening we hooked up with D and Carey and went to the Spice Souk (Arabic word for market). D2 had to fly to Doha Qatar, so he was not with us.  D told everyone we were his three wives. I think they half-way believed him!

They had spices from India, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The souks are very different from the glossy slick hotels and malls, they are very much old world.

The souks are filled with color and intoxicating smells. The blue is indigo for dying clothing.

We purchased fresh ground coriander, hot curry, cardamom – ground and extract, raisins, dried cranberries and a big bag of cinnamon sticks. This vibrant orange red is the very pricey saffron.

One of the Souk vendors jumped right into the middle of our photo – charming!

Wanting to impress C and A with our fine dining knowledge, D selected the fanciest restaurnt in the souk, a very local joint.

Plastic chairs and all - nothing but the best for them! The food was actually very good and the fresh fruit juices were excellent. All for grand total of $17!

Day 4

D worked in the morning and then spent the afternoon with me and A. We ventured out to the textile Souk.

where we enjoyed some spice tea.

A and I were looking at the jeweled shoes,

when D brought us a yummy samosa (potato stuffed pastry). We were so impressed we wanted to know where he got it an if we should eat lunch there.

He said sure (laughing)…but warned us that is was small and definitely a LOCAL dive filled with all male Pakistani workers.

Wow, dive does not appropriately cover this place. But the owner was very welcoming so we went in. There were a total of three tables.  We were pretty sure no other Americans have ever eaten there.

We sat down and he said chicken and rice – we all nodded yes. All eyes were on us. We noticed all were eating with their hand. We were served a spoon with our rice plate and we ate our food with this.  He also brought us lavash (a bread like item), water and soda.

All was good and as we asked for the bill – they handed us each two pieces of crunchy white paper. Our eyes got big and we just looked at each other and giggled – what were they for?  Everyone was looking at us – we wiped our hands and I turned to all of them and said is this right?   They all just stood there. We think we were suppose to wash our hands in the sink in the back and wipe them with the paper or this was the "paper trick" they test out on all americans : 0

The total bill – $10!! You can't buy 3 waters in Brussels for $10.  As we left the restaurant I turned and said thank you it was good and they all repeated – it was good, it was good. We are pretty sure none of them spoke English.  This was definitely the most "hole-in -the-wall" restaurant we have ever eaten in and truly an experience.

I know the question all of you are thinking and the answer is NO – none of us got sick : ), but I am guessing my mom might after simply looking at the photo!

One thing I found interesting was that there were no beggars to be seen anywhere in Dubai. This in not the case in most European cities. But they did have very aggressive souk vendors who would drape you with pashminas as you walked but to try and get you to buy.

We had a fun day exploring the old town. That night D2 arrived back in Dubai and we enjoyed a Lebanese dinner.

Our last day

Finally – both boys had the day off and we could all play. We wanted to show D2 the restaurant we ate lunch at so we headed back to the textile souk, but unfortunately all the souks are closed on friday, the holy day. The restaurant was open with a very long line. We got four samosas to go.

We then took the Abra (traditional arabic boat made of wood) over the Dubai Creek – which is actually misleading as it is a chanel, not a creek, that goes out to the gulf. It was a vibrant visual experience.

We were on an abra just like you see here. There were 50 or so running constantly back and forth.

Sharing the waters were the much bigger dhows (old fashioned colorful wooden cargo boast) which load and unload all sorts of cargo on the dock. They run merchandise out to large cargo ships in the gulf.

The dhows looked like pirate ships that were ready to sink.

and there were very interesting characters manning them.

When searching for a place to eat lunch we stumbled upon this menu:

and this guy was tied to the side of the building:

We did not eat there! Instead we selected another traditional Dubai restaurant we we enjoyed a tasty meal and again, great juices.   We were all tired from our big lunch so we headed back to D2 and A's pool to rest up for dinner.

We lucked out and experienced a stunning sun set looking out towards the Burj Khalifa .

All other nights had been too hazy. What a great ending to a fun packed educational adventure.

Oh wait…I almost forgot the funniest story of the trip; ice cream at the Stone Cold Creamery. We were so full from our lunch we all voted to have ice cream for dinner (now you see why we travel so well with D & A). We walk into the store and the guys behind the counter were singing and having a great time.

They are even tossing scoops acoss the entire store. One of the workers runs out into the mall to catch the scoop. Lets just say for Dave's scoop, it was their fourth try – yes, several scoops on the floor.

It was a great time and the entire store was cheering them on. He did catch the scoop in the photo below. We finished our ice cream and I held up my cup (we were sitting in the store) the scooper guy nodded his head and I stood up.

D and A were looking at me like I was crazy.  A said there is no way he will throw that to you D is telling me to give him the cup as I will never catch that. BOOM – out into the crowd over Dave's head – straight into my cup! I was jumping up and down and the entire store was clapping and cheering.

Now that was a grand ending to a grand trip!!!

There are more photos in the album in the upper right hand corner at the top.
Snow in Brussels

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A beautiful snowy day in Brussels as seen from my art room window.
Holidays – London, Cologne, Rome, Brussels

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Grand Place, Brussels

Our holidays were very busy, starting off with a trip to Horsham and London for Thanksgiving. Dave & Allison invited us to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. We were making our plans when D got the word he had to be in London England on Dec 2nd for a meeting. Perfect timing!

Allison made a wonderful feast for the four of us.  A very traditional Thanksgiving meal, with turkey (had to be special ordered), stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry and lots more.

D2's upcoming holiday party was a costume party, so we all went to the "fancy dress" store to help him pick out a costume. Little did we know how much fun this outing would be!

What we call costume parties, in the UK they call them fancy dress parties. D jumped right in to help D2 find his fancy dress.

How about these shoes? This may be a new look for D.

Quite the dapper Sir Walter Raleigh……

A gladiator….

and we are not quite sure what this is…..rocker dude?

a few friends……

Sir Walter and Austin Powers….."yeah baby"

and last but not least…..rocker dude finds a date – cat women!

D had to help me take off my boots as I could not bend over in this outfit    :   )

We decided that D2 & A should add the Fancy Dress store to the "must see" list for guests who visit them in the UK!

Now for some traditional British food, fish and chips. Greasy and good!

and Father Christmas cookies

The best news we heard this weekend is that D2 and A have extended for two more years! Yeah!!

On to London and their Winter Wonderland to see Father Christmas.

and the toy soldier

I do believe in Santa Claus!

Harrod's, the famous department store in London, had a Wizard of Oz holiday theme with giant ruby red slippers coming out the side of their building.

London had beautiful holiday lights in the main shopping district. Umbrellas – how appropriate for London!

Cologne Germany

I took a one day bus trip with a group of women I do things with in Brussels to Cologne Germany to visit the Christmas market. We had a crisp sunny day for our outing. As with most European cities, Cologne has a beautiful old cathedral.  Construction of the cathedral started in 1248, and with interruptions, was completed in 1880 – over 600 years later!  It is one of the world's largest churches and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Cologne has seven Christmas markets spread throughout the city. One of them was the Gnome market.

The German markets have beautiful ornaments.

All hand blown.

and a few very interesting characters!

Rome

Early the next morning, we hopped on a plane and headed to Rome for a five day business trip. There were several of D's co-workers from the states on this trip. Ahmad and I are standing in front of the beautiful and famous Trevi fountain.

I think this is a funny photo, the Trevi fountain looking like one of the junk trinkets for sale.

Roman Ruins with a colorful blue backdrop.

There are Steelers fans around the world. D is standing in front of the one and only Steelers bar in Rome.  The owner plays all the games live, and if it is a late night game, that means it would be on at 3 am!

One night we were in a restaurant (not the steelers bar) and we noticed the waiters watch.

Turns out he was a huge Steelers fan! Here I am with Donald's co worker Mike, also a huge Steelers fan, the waiter in white, and Mike's wife Pam. We had a fun night talking about football with the Italian waiter!

.



They do not decorate in Rome like they do in other European cities for Christmas. I did see a few glass balls hung in the street.

but these looked as if they might stay up all year long.

They did have a Christmas market with interesting street performers.

We dropped some money in his can and we became fast friends!

She was very graceful. We think we saw her last time we were in Rome where she was a ballerina.

They stay completely still until you drop money in their cup and then they preform.

Rome is predominately Catholic so there were many religious decorations at the market.

It was a rainy night which made for an interesting sky.

I love this photo of D – shopping bags in hand, cool old car passing by.

One thing you can not skip in Rome is the Gelato!!!!

BRUSSELS


And a visit to our very own Brussels market which has the most fascinating carousel round I have ever seen.

I cannot find any information on the artist who created this creation.

Children can sit in the back of this crazy lizard.

I was very disappointed when I found out the merry-go-round was for children only!

Goodbye 2009!
Southern France: Two magnificent bridges built 2000 years apart

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Pont Du Gard    Built in 1 AD

Le Viaduct de Millau

"The Pont Du Gard of the 21st Century", completed 2004



Donald had a speaking engagement in Toulouse France so we decided to extend it with a few vacation days and visit Millau and Uzes (more on the bridges later). In Toulouse, we stayed at the elegant B&B, Le Loges de Saint-Sernin in the city of Toulouse.  It was a restored 19th century bourgeois townhouse with four rooms.

From our balcony, we could see the famous Basilica St. Sernin, the largest Romanesque church in Europe built between 1080 and 1120. I always double check the dates because I find it so hard to believe things are really that old.

I shopped and ate ice cream while D worked. It was a Monday so all museums were closed. But I was as happy as I could be because Toulouse has one of my VERY favorite ice cream shops in Europe. Thank goodness we were there this week, as the following week they were closing for the season.

In order to help them clear their inventory before closing for the season……. I took D back that night and had two more scoops. THAT'S RIGHT – I ate 4 {FOUR} scoops of ice cream that day; chocolate espelette, panna cotta with fig, violet and berry. D had panna cotta with fig and pear with brandy.

The next morning we headed to Millau to view Le Viaduct de Millau. One of the best views of the Viaduct/Bridge was from the picturesque hillside town of Peyre.

The bridge was awe-inspiring. Many of you have probably seen photos of this bridge floating around the internet in an email showing unbelievable sites around the world.

It spans across the river Tarn and was designed by British Architect Norman Foster. It cost 394 million euros to build. One quote said it had the delicacy of a butterfly. That was a good description of it.

It is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world with one of it's masts height at 1,125 feet – slightly taller than the eiffel tower and slightly smaller (125 feet) than the Empire State Building. This photo is a little fuzzy from the sun, but we wanted to show all seven masts.

We spent most of the day driving around it and over it, seeing it from every perspective possible. The articles we read before we left said it is an engineer's dream. D agreed.

The total length of the bridge is 8,100 feet long and it cost 5 euros (approx $7.50) to cross. Crossing the bridge also gave a beautiful perspective.

As we crossed it I took continuous photos and D created this very cool video from my photos. There is music, so make sure your volume is on.

A very pleasant surprise we were not expecting were the autumn leaves – they were at peak. It was also exceptionally warm and sunny while we were there. Red – Orange - Yellow. Gorgeous.

Doesn't this leaf look like it could be stained glass?

All so intense and bursting with color.

A self-serve pumpkin patch.

The old stone houses were dripping with vines of color.


The camera did not capture the true intensity of the colors we were seeing.

I love this photo of the cow. It looks like we placed her in front of a fake background.

Our drive from Millau to Uzes, bursting with color and winding roads, was one of the most beautiful drives we have ever taken. I took this photo while the car was moving. I was trying to capture the colors as a blur.

Our second B&B was as lovely as the first but with an artsy flair. It was an old stone house which Natasa and Michiel transformed into a B&B with tons of character. There were beautiful oil paintings hung everywhere in the house (inside and out).

This was taken in their outdoor courtyard. Look closely on the back wall, you can see where Natasa hung original paintings outside.

The view from our bedroom window.

Meet the guard of the front entrance to the neighborhood.

We loved this B&B and really enjoyed talking to Natasa over our morning coffee. She was born in Yugoslavia, moved to Amsterdam where she met Michiel (who is Dutch) and they both ran away to France to open the B&B of their dreams. This would be pretty close to the B&B of our dreams too!

The next morning we went to the famous market of Uzes. It was a very pretty market with typical French produce and regional specialties.   We purchased olive oil. We did see one unusual item…

Ostrich eggs!  They were huge. I had to research this one and found that the ostrich lays the largest eggs of any living bird. It weighs around 3 lbs and is equivalent to 18 to 24 chicken eggs. The female lays 15 to 60 eggs but they have a very low survival rate, usually only one per nest.

We visited several small towns and had a very nice traditional french lunch. When I woke up the next morning, the day we had to go home, I declared we were having too good a time and I did not want to leave!

We did get in one last sight before our 1:00 train, the Pont Du Gard, a World Heritage Site. It is hard to comprehend that this was built 2000 years ago. And still today it is considered one of the great engineering feats in the world.

Unlike the Millau Viaduct which was built for cars, the Pont Du Gard was built to carry water hundreds of miles from the mountains to populated towns. What you see here is just one segment. An interesting fact; the water flows all the way from one end to the other solely based on gravity. The architect is unknown.

Built from blocks of local yellow lime stone, it is the highest aqueduct ever built by the Romans and is remarkably well preserved. We were there many years ago and were able to walk along the middle tier, now you are only allowed to walk along the bottom tier. You can really get the feel for how immense this structure is ….look how small I look.

We really enjoyed this part of France and look forward to going back soon!
Island of Capri – a sparkling gem

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Our most recent adventure took us to the stunning island of Capri where we joined our travel buddies Allison and Dave. This was NOT a business trip! Capri is part of the Amalfi Coast and has been a resort area for centuries.

We flew into Naples and took a hydrofoil to the island. Let's just say I am not a fan of the hydrofoil! We stayed in Anacapri which is a community on the island. It is a little less touristy than Capri Town. We took a very small bus from Capri and drove on a very small road with a series of hairpin turns. If two small buses needed to pass, there was barely an inch to spare. As the road twisted and turned up the mountain, you get a splendid view of Capri.

This is our hotel's breakfast area. It was a very sweet hotel and we were able to get a two bedroom apartment. Well sort of, D2 And A slept in the living-room/dining room on a pull out couch. We "won" the room in a Steelers/Ravens bet : ). But I still feel guilty for actually taking the room so we need to make this one up to them!

Capri is known for its handmade tiles,

which could be seen all over the island,

……..sandals,

and lemons!

Specifically, the Limoncello (lemon liqueur served icy cold). The entire backyard of our hotel was filled with lemon trees. The story goes, the Grandmother of the current owner was the one who invented Limoncello. They were the biggest lemons we had ever seen.

Lemons arrived in Capri in the 11th century and they have characterized the colors and the personality of the island ever since. You can see the image on most everything.

Anacapri is a very beautiful town with white washed villas and very narrow alleyways.

How many engineers does it take to read a map and figure out how to get around this little island?

Obviously three! As you can see from our outfits, the weather was crisp.

Not sure if these are the bells we heard or not, but starting at 3 am every morning VERY LOUD bells went off every hour and half hour. On Sunday at 6 am, they went off for several minutes. No sleeping late in Anacapri!

Colorful shells in a shop.



Our second day we decided to take the VERY long hiking route along the western coastline to see the famous Blue Grotto.   The landscape was extraordinary along this rugged path.  There was wild lush landscape carved by the wind and sea.

  and then you would pop out with a spectacular view of the sea.



The water was so clear and an intense cobalt blue.

This had to be one of the most beautiful walks on the island and we were very lucky to have the perfect day for our hike.  D2 and A were prepared for this event with their proper walking shoes. D and I, on the other hand were trying to make our fashion statement, me in my boots

and D in his loafers.

Take a close look at these shoes as I will now show you where my nutty husband hiked in them…..

Look hard….he is out there. And if you think it does not look that far down, here is D's shot back up at us:

He claims it was all for Flat Stanley.

Who is Flat Stanley? D2&A's friends' 5 yr old child was doing a school project where they were to mail Flat Stanley to a friend who was in turn to take photos of Flat Stanley visiting different places and meeting new friends. We are pretty sure this kid will have the best Flat Stanley story!

How is this for a picnic place!

Our hike was dotted by sensational jagged cliffs. Unfortunately, the waters were too rough so the boats were not running to the Blue Grotto. Oh well, maybe next time!


That afternoon, we took a chair lift from Piazza Vittoria to the peak of Mount Solare (1,955 feet).

It was a very peaceful ride and provided impressive views all the way up and back.

At the top, was a break-taking panoramic view of the Bay of Naples to the gulf of Salerno.

It also provided a brilliant view of the Faraglioni, the famous rock formation. It is said that a rare blue tinted lizard lives on the rocks and adapts it's scales to the blue tones of the sky and sea.

The term Faraglioni describes a geological formation in which high sheer cliffs have been eroded by the sea and wind and form a point where sections remain isolated from the mainland. They are made of limestone.

It also provided a nice place for a drink after a long day of hiking! Ah, this is the life!

After our glass of wine, more photo shoots with Flat Stanley.  This series of photos is priceless! D2 posing with Flat Stanley.

D and A going for the money shot….

and the money shot!   Yep, this Flat Staley has the best trip ever!

Our last day we visited the church of St. Michele Archangelo. Built in 1716 in the form of a Greek cross. It is famous for its hand painted majolica tiles which depict the story of Adam and Eve.

You are not allowed to walk on the tiles, but can walk around the edges on wooden planks. Best viewed from the choir section upstairs. It was very unique and beautiful.

And we saw Villa Jouis which was built for Tiberius in the beginning of the 1st century.

More great shots of Faraglioni from a slightly different view.

and of course…..and afternoon Gelato break!!!

We ended the night with a delicious meal cooked by D of Vongole Clams, fresh from the sea. He bought them that morning at the seafood shop down the street from our hotel.

and yummy appetizers by A made from all fresh ingredients from the island. We dined and watched a beautiful sunset from our window.

Another wonderful trip with our new friend, Flat Stanley!
Don & Donna’s Visit – Brussels, Ypers, Poland, & Brugge

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EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE!

Don and Donna arrived just in time for one of our favorite Belgium pastimes, a parade.

This was a special parade, the unveiling of a new outfit on the Manneken-Pis.

With a theme of the Italian Carnival.

It was very exciting for us as we have never experienced the unveiling of a new costume. There is no rhyme or reason as to when they are changed. We were also not aware that so much hoopla was involved.

We started in the Grande Place at the beer festival. We gave Don a small glass since he was still trying to get over his jet-lag.

We marched through the streets with the carnival…

….to the corner where the Manneken Pis lives. He was covered…awaiting his big unveiling.

Ta-da! They even had his "pisser" working so that is sprayed the crowd. How funny!

It was crazy that so many people were there for this event!

D had to work several days during their visit so the three of us checked out our local sites. We visited the Atomium, which was build int 1958 for the world's fair. It is 334.6 ft high and the spheres measure a diameter of 59 ft, weighing 2400 tons.

Elevators run in the tubes so you can travel from sphere to sphere, each housing special exhibits. One of them is set up for children to spend the night.

On a clear day, like the day we visited, you can get some beautiful views of Brussels.

One day we rented a car and drove to Ypers to visit WWI's famous Flanders Field. In the center of Ypers is an excellent museum called "In Flanders Field". We also went to the largest British Cemetery, Tyne Cot where 11,908 graves are registered.

The city of Ypers was completely destroyed during the battles of WWI, but has since been built back to it's original state. It is now a pretty little Belgian town with a great history and a great ice cream parlor.

The Poland Trip

Donna has always dreamed of visiting Poland as both of her parents are Polish. So we purchased four tickets on Wizz air and off we went!

Our first stop was Krakow, were we explored the castle

and the historical old town. We also jumped right into some good ole Polish food; pierogis, bigos, smalec (double fried lard served on bread), sauerkraut, beet soup, all delicious!

We planned to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, the German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp so we watched Schindler's list before we left and visited his factory in the Jewish Quarter of Krakow.

The factory was under construction with a new museum to open next year so we really did not see much. We did visit a Synagogue where D&D had a father-son chat wearing a yamaka.

This part of town is being revitalized and they have many shops and trendy cafes. For lunch we ate at a place that offered 36 types of pierogis – now that is my kind of a restaurant!

We stayed at a very sweet hotel with only six rooms. D and I had stayed there when we visited Krakow in the spring. Donna is trying to decide what to have for breakfast.

As with all our trips, we found lots of time for eating and drinking. In fact, we came up with a logo for our visitors - Travel with D&D……..You will not learn much, but you will eat well!

Our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau was certainly memorable. 1.1 million people (90% jews) were killed here from 1940-1944. We had a private guide and all I can say is we all walked away completely drained. I am going to just share the photos with you. No explanation is needed.

Photos inside the buildings were not allowed. Which is probably goods as this was the most disturbing site. In January of 1945, much of the camp was destroyed, but all buildings shown are original.

I opted for black and white as I felt it would better represent the mood. We also took color photos and a few are posted in the album.

It is hard to believe that something so horrific could take place in the world. Let's just hope no one ever has to experience such a devastation again.

Part two of Poland - a happier journey

We continued our visit with a 2 hour drive to Zakopane, the mountain resort area of Poland. This area is very well know for their quaint wooden houses

and wooden churches.

Here is a photo of our hotel. We thought our hotel looked like a mushroom.

It was very pretty inside and in a very good location. They spoke only a few words of English when we checked in.

We found a very fun restaurant that we went to both nights we were there. Touristy, but we really enjoyed the music, the food, the dancing (no, not us dancing). Look closely, we are in a sled!

And kudos to Don for discovering the wonderful warm beer, a specialty of the area. Even I, the non-beer lover ordered a glass the second night.

The next day it was too cloudy to see the mountains so we drove across the border into Slovakia. A first for all of us.

We were surprised how colorful many of the little towns were.

When we were driving throughout Poland people sold cheese and mushrooms on the side of the road. The cheese is called Oscypek and it is a very salty smoked cheese made of sheep's milk. It was good.

We also stopped to buy mushrooms from an elderly women who did not speak any english. Look how beautiful those mushrooms are.

D and I pointed to a basket and held up what was equivalent to $3.00.

She dumped a big bowl of oyster mushrooms in a bag. She kept patting my arm saying dziekujwe , dziekujwe (thank you).

We think we got a good deal, but by her reaction, we think she felt like she got the deal. I asked to take her photo and she giggled and touched her babushkas (scarf), so I guessed that meant okay. It was a priceless moment.   We fried them in butter and ate with our chicken dinner the night we got back to Brussels. Yummy!

Now, the highlight of our trip - taking Donna to the hometown were her grandfather was from, Kamienica.

It was a small town, but we found the cutest restaurant to eat and quite large given how small the town was. We cried (happy tears) and laughed all within the hour. Don even danced to the polish music.

It was a very touching day for all of us, but especially for Donna. We ended the night and our Polish trip drinking Vodka. A perfect time.

Brugge

We had one day of rest and laundry and off we went to Brugge, one of the prettiest towns in Belgium. A picture-perfect day.

Brugge is known for it's beautiful lace where women still do tatting.

It was a relaxing day where we enjoyed a nice lunch and leisurely boat ride through the canals.

Sunday was Don's birthday and Car-Free Sunday in Brussels so we knew we would have a fun day. There are lots of events that take place around the city on this day.

After a relaxing breakfast with eggs and grits, we headed to the city center to get Don a special Brussels B-day cake…….waffles with ice cream!!!

He looks pretty happy.   Onto the Grande Place where another beer festival was being held. These Belgians do love their beer and their parades!

d & d

and in Brussels you also have to eat chocolate on your birthday. Well really you eat chocolate everyday!

I'll end this Blog with my very favorite photo, taken in the park just down the street from our apartment. We had a GREAT visit and look forward to next year when they come again.

There are a few more photos in the Don and Donna album just click on the link in the upper right of the first page. And….just an FYI - Donna officially has the title of visiting us the most in Brussels – this was her third visit!
Goodbye Summer and a visit from D2 & A

10

This Blog is a little late, but I wanted to share our summer. We have had an unusually warm and dry summer in Brussels. One day we got up to 93 degrees; and remember, no air conditioning over here!

D did not have any work trips in August so we decided to spend time exploring Belgium. We enjoyed driving around the county-side with the top down. Isn't this photo cool – it really makes you feel as if you are moving.

One day we visited Durbuy a sweet little town an hour north of Brussels.

It's claim to fame is the littlest town in Belgium. They have cute little shops and a Brewery where we ate lunch. And most importantly, awesome ice cream. I had one of the most unusual flavors I have even tasted – popcorn. Sounds questionable, but wow was it good.

D was dieting this day so he only had a small scoop……

and a waffle on a stick. This was new to us.

On this outing we also stopped by Bink Brewery.

They are a farmhouse brew and one of D's many favorites. Their motto is "We brew it, We drink it, We sell what's left!". As to the name…Bink is akin to "dude" but only in reference to the people of that area.

While we are on the subject of beer, another trip we took was to get two cases of "THE WORLD'S BEST BEER", St Sixtus, Westvleteren.

Seriously, it has been rated at THE World's Best. And it is not easy to get. It is brewed by Belgian Monks and you can only purchase it directly from the Abbey.

It is not sold in any stores (well it is sold illegally in some stores for $14 a bottle).

Okay, so just drive to the Abbey and buy the beer…….not quite that easy. First you have to check the calendar on the web-site to make sure it has been released for sale. This occurs a few times a quarter.

Then you have to phone the Abbey to make your reservations. Without reservations they will not sell you the beer. Still seems pretty easy right?….forget it! Getting through on the line is like winning the lottery. They open the lines for two hours when the beer is released.

This was our third try and by "try" I mean both of us calling – non stop for 2 hours straight.  Well, D finally got through! Can you tell how happy he is?

For those of you thinking wow, he has enough to share – Forget it. You must first be deemed "worthy" and they maybe he will share a bottle with you. Note the logo on the glass. There are over 500 beers in Belgium and each and every one has it's own glass. And yes, D says it really is one of the best he has tasted.

D2&A's Visit

Our travel Buddies D2 and A came for a visit. We pretty much ate….

AND drank the entire visit.

A almost got us kicked out of our favorite ice cream shop for taking a photo. If you remember the "Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld, well he is just like that. It is very quiet in the shop and you stand in line single file to order. He takes the lid off the ice cream, makes your cone and then puts the lid back on before taking the next order.

He was not happy A was taking a photo and we were scared we would be licled out for life. Thanks goodness we still got our ice cream!

He does have some unusual flavors. On this day he had Wasabi and Sesame.

The Royal Palace only opens for a few weeks in the summer. So we took D2 and A for a tour. It is very beautiful on the inside but unfortunately you cannot take any photos.

The boys had fun in the children's section of the Royal Palace – making paper airplanes. They are both Engineers you know…WITH careers in aviation. The real test was inside where D2's plane flew the furthest.

A celebration was going on in front of the Royal Palace with a monster blow up of the Manneken-Pis. Too funny! A symbol the city can really be proud of.

and I don't think we have shared the partner to the Manneken Pis, the Jeanneke-Pis.

Speaking of engineers – I would like to share this photo of two dorky engineers in their european capri pants. Note – that is peach beer in their dainty glass.

We went to the "Beach" where they ship in tons of sand in for the summer. They have food and music, swimming, volleyball, and games for the kids. We could not get D2 to take off his Capri pants. He wore them the entire weekend.

In the evening we took them to our favorite tapas bar where the food goes around on a conveyor belt.

  A fun way to end a fun weekend!

Breda Netherlands

The last weekend in August we took a trip to the Netherlands – to Breda, a small town about an hour north of Brussels. It was a drop dead gorgeous day. Cute town. Nothing really historic, shopping, lots of cafes and a big church.   We ate lunch and did a little shopping, but it was the trip home that was so much fun.

We were on our way to Westmalle Abbey Beer, on a very small side street when I saw a tiny sign with an ice cream scoop on it.

Maybe not that small.

I yell STOP – ICE CREAM!   D thinks I am nuts as we are out in NOWHERE. He stops the car and check it out – a full cafe behind the barn – homemade ice cream!!! Straight from the cow. How fun!! {actual cow at the dairy}.

but the smell………oooohhhhh manure! Despite this small inconvenience, the ice cream was yummy.

D had Westmalle beer ice cream! Now that was interesting. We would definitely go back…that is if we could find it!

We finish our ice cream, drive two farms down and I say turnaround -there is a vending machine selling veggies.

Beautiful veggies and soooo cheap.

Three peppers for 1.10 euros.  Four tomatoes for .60!

O

n to the brewery – closed to tours. We knew this but thought we could get a good photo of the old building. Nope. Completely covered by trees.

We ended the day with the best frites and yes, that is mayo on them. That is the true Belgium way to eat your fries.

and D finally got to try a bicky burger…..what makes it a Bicky Burger? Why the Bicky meat, bun, special dressing, special ketchup, hot sauce, roasted onion and cucumber. Let's just say we had not been missing much!

Goodbye Summer!
France: Sunflowers, Lavender and Castles, oh my!

07

Sunflowers

Lavender

and Castles….

Happy Birthday to me!

D had to be in the US for meetings on my birthday this year so we celebrated the week before in Provence, France. I have always wanted to see the lavender in bloom. Mid July is usually when they are in full bloom, but the weather has been unseasonably warm and they bloomed early. They were slightly past peak, but still full of color.

The fields glowed with many shades of purple and the smell from the lavender as you walked through (some of us skipped) was divine! I wish this blog had a sctatch and sniff feature.

We could even smell it on our clothes hours later. The fields were filled with very happy bees, hundreds of them, in many different varieties.  Lavendar honey is very special and has a delicate sweet taste.

There were lavender fields everywhere. Look into the far right and you can still see purple.

Freshly cut lavender at the market.

An extra special treat – like the lavender, the sunflowers were in full bloom!

There were many happy bees in the sunflower fields too.

The fields went on for acres and acres.

This photo is slightly blurred, but I love that it caught the bee in flight.

The first chambres d'hote we stayed in was the Vieux Figuier (old fig tree). We had stayed there seven years ago and loved it. On our second night, Jacque and Maite the owners, invited us to have dinner with them. It was a very casual, with simple but delicious food. A special experience. Maite speaks English well, but Jacque only a little, so D got to practice his french. Our room –

and the view out of our bedroom window. Stunning! We did go for a swim one night well, D did I only dipped my toes in – too cold!

Of course I had to have my ice cream fix…can you guess the flavor?   LAVENDER, what else! Just perfect, my purple cone, in my purple dress, in a little purple chair! Am I cute or what?

This area of Provence has many beautiful hilltop, cliff towns.

We enjoyed exploring them and finding fun places to eat.

They were very quiet for this time of year.

One of my favorite fruits, the fig, was in season and there were signs all over the area for the Fete de Figue (festival of the fig). All the towns were so small we questioned how good would it actually be – but we ventured out and the festival was really big and lots of fun!

There was a parade, food to eat, items for sale, like the garlic below, and lots of figs! I bought fig juice, fig soap, fig preserves, fig vinegar, and a fig pastry.

D is buying little pancakes served with Fig jelly from the boy below. It was the equivalent to our childrens lemonade stand. He was very excited as D was his first sale (his mother was excited too!). Cute.

We left the Fete de Figue and headed five hours north to the Loire Valley and the Sancerre wine region, one of our favorite white wines. We really enjoy visiting the areas that are home to our favorite wines. It makes the wine more special to drink when we have seen the vineyards where the wine originated.  The region was so plush and green. The grapes were just starting to form.

We stayed at the enchanting Castle de Gerigny owned by Yann and Delphine. This is our new favorite place!   We highly recommend the castle if you are looking for a special place to go in France and it really is not that expensive. We cannot wait to go back!!

Porsche-pette was also pretty happy here and decided that she wanted a castle too; or maybe it was her owner who wanted a castle!

Yann and Delpine purchased the castle in 2005. It was in shambles. In two years they completely restored it with no professional help. We are not sure where they found the time as they have 4 boys ages 8 – 16 and the two youngest are twins.

The castle had a moat and all!

It was restored and decorated with TLC! There were so many special touches everywhere, like the sheet which were 100% linen with embroidery all along the top. Here is our bedroom –

The first night we paid to eat dinner with the family (minus the twins as they were at their grandparents). It was such a fun evening. D had a chance to practice his french and Delphie and the boys had a chance to practice their English. Yann spoke English very well. Yann and the oldest son are lighting the candles. The table was huge, you are only seeing half of it in the photo.

The meal was delicious and the table was beautiful. The candles made it even more special as it grew dark. We were full and happy when we went to bed.

The next day, D took one of the boys for a ride in the Porsche. He had been eying it since we arrived. The boys were into old rock groups so D played Janice Joplin as they drove. Delphine reminded D to drive safely as that is one of her babies in the car!

Doesn't this photo looks like it was a painting by a french impressionist artist?

The second night Yann and Delphine invited us to join them on the back porch overlooking the moat for pizza and wine. We offered to pay for a bottle of the wine, but they would not let us – they said it was their treat.

In the morning they were leaving for England so they left us a beautifully set table for breakfast and the keys to close up when we left. We had our own private Castle for a few hours!!!

There were lots of fun things to do in this area of France. We visited the midieval town of La Charite-sur-Loire and the Notre Dame church built in the 12th century, now a UNESCO world heritage site.

There were beautiful contemporary stained glass windows in the church.

We visited the Castle de Saint-Fargeau which is over 1000 years old. They had a very interesting wall display.

Can you tell what they are? Let me help you……

Hooves from the hunt with braided legs! icky…yet interesting! All the castles we have visited and we've never seen anything quite like this.

There was a sweet little village, Ville du Livre et du Mot (translated – the city of the book and the word). They had many bookstores that sold very old and new books, but what made it really sweet was the poetry and words on all the buildings throughout the town.

Shakespeare – "What do you read sir? Words, Words, Words.

For a few more photos, go to the main page and click on the album in the upper right titled "Provence and Sancerre".

Great weather, great food, great places we stayed and visited……another wonderful trip to France!
Paris

06

We were in Paris for five days for the Paris Air Show, which happens every two years. This is the first time D has attended. The event is geared mainly towards military and commercial sales.

Here he is in the flight deck of the gigantic Airbus 380. If you want to experience it for yourself, click here for a 360 view of the flight deck.



The A380 is the world's largest passenger plane. The cabin has 50% more floor space then the next largest plane (the 747-400) and holds 525 people in the typical three class configuration.

It is a four engine, double decker, wide body. Yep, that IS a pretty wide body! Later in the day the A380 flew a demo flight which D said was unbelievably quiet for such a large beast!.



The next day, D was off very early (7 am) for a day crammed with meetings. Between the meetings, he was able to catch the F18's demonstration. As I mentioned, the Paris Air Show is geared towards the military so their flight demos are much more extreme than a normal air show.



The F18 fighter jet was his favorite. It has the ability to come to an almost complete stop mid-air.   We did not take the photo above, but I wanted to show what one looked like.

And……What did I do while D played with planes? I wandered the city, shopped, and enjoyed a lovely meal at an outdoor cafe with a little glass of wine!



I was invited to attend day two's evening event – a cocktail reception at the Louvre! How cool is that? We we not sure I would be invited to any of the events, but luckily I packed a black dress just in case.

It was an invitation only event and the Louvre was closed to the general public.

  It was a beautiful evening. At the entrance they had the dancing girls in a bubble.



This must be the hot new event "thing" as Brussels had bubble dancers at the Iris festival a few weeks ago. Very fun to see in person.

The reception took place in the grand entrance of the Louvre. They had open bars everywhere and all kinds of fancy appetizers. My favorite was the crab meat in an avocado sauce served in a martini glass.

Me, lost in the crowd!

It is amazing how late it stays light in Paris and Brussels. This photo was taken at 9 PM and it looks like early afternoon.

We were allowed to walk and see the Mona Lisa (look closely she is behind us). We were not allowed to take our drinks in that section. I wanted my photo having a glass of champagne with the Mona Lisa.

The main hall leading up to the Mona Lisa.

I thought this was an interesting view of the Eiffel Tower as it has a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Did you know our Statue of Liberty was given to the US by France?

This shot was taken as we were driving. I really like the feel it gives the Eiffel Tower.



This shot is for Tammy and all you Lady Di fans out there. This is the road leading into the infamous tunnel…..



and here we are in the tunnel at the point of the curve where the deadly accident occurred. Very sad.

A few photos of the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, which was built at the end of the 19th century.

Many famous painters have featured it in their art.

Our hotel was just down the street. This is a different part of the city from where we usually stay.

Remember the big bunnies from the restaurant in Belgium? Well they hopped on over to Paris for an appearance.



A carousel in the city.

The final day, we ate at a sweet little french cafe.

Ah……….Paris!

And last but not least….the ice cream photo! This had to be the most beautiful, unique cone we have ever had. Look closely and you can see the flower they created by scooping the second flavor around the first to create a flower. Ice cream was excellent as well.

Off to the US for two weeks. Next trip…Provence for the Lavender. in bloom.

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