The XtraSuitcase

Carnival in Binche Belgium

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Each year the town of Binche in Belgium celebrates carnival with a very elaborate parade on Fat Sunday. We went last year and had a lot of fun and got some great photos. So we decided to try again this year.

The costumes were equally as entertaining as last year and completely different. This event is said to date back as far as 1549 and is actually a catholic event, ending one day before ash Wednesday.

These three gilles (clown-like performers) were part of one group. The gilles are the principal performers. They march/dance around the town in groups to the beat of a drum. Each group must have a drummer to participate in the parade.

The crowd was much bigger this year. We could hardly walk down the street.

On Fat Tuesday, the gilles dress again and eat oysters and champaigne for breakfast. At the end of the parade, blood oranges are thrown at the crowds.

Two from the harlequin group.

Me, dancing with the cats!

A few more of our favorites:

If you look closely, you will see all of the "gilles" are men!

As for the children, you will see both boys and girls dressed. They are not part of the formal parades, but some are equally as elaborate.

He's a cutie.

Unfortunately, our Belgian rain showed up.

Like the little one in this photo…

We were ready to go home when it started raining hard.

Until next year….
A Very Special Lunch

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de pastorale

D had off work on Monday for the holiday so he treated me to a very special lunch. We drove about 30 minutes outside of the city to a two star Michelin restaurant, de pastorale.

The decor was beautiful. Very soft and chic. With an Alice and wonderland feel to the garden.

It made for a for a very interesting juxtaposition of the quiet soft interior mixed with the over exaggerated comical animals in the garden.  The big green rabbit sat just outside the window of our table, as if he was asking for just a little bite. Good thing we had fish and veal……not sure I would have been able to eat rabbit   :   )

And the meal was one of our best! The chef describes his food as "total taste". That was a very accurate description as every bite was so flavorful it bounced off every part of our taste-buds.

It started out with a bread stick that looked like a tree branch. D thought it was decoration at first. It was made with mushrooms and had a tomato coulis sauce for dipping.

Next came a variety of bread with butter and olive oil. We could have been happy just eating the bread with salt and butter for lunch.

Beautiful presentation throughout the meal. Simple, yet elegant.

Our first amuse bouche was was one of the most creative servings we have ever had. The waiter came out with two spoons and handed us each one. This happened so fast we could not take a photo. On the spoon was a small circle of goat cheese, caramelized. On the bottom on the spoon was a dollop of cream mixed with a flavor.

The second amuse bouche, chicken morsel with couscous and foam.

      We were ready for our first course.

In an article, De Pooter, 39 was described as being strongly influenced by art and architecture and by a culinary movement towards food that was low in fat and sugar. Did you catch that? This entire lunch was a diet meal.

Donald's dish: veal breast, confit, sweetbreads, cardamon, green olives and artichoke. This was the first time we have had sweetbreads. They were veal sweetbreads, which are deemed the best, "prized by gourmets throughout the world" . For those of you who are not familiar with sweetbreads, they are thymus glands. By the way….I had one and half glasses of wine at this point, so yes, I did taste! And we both thought they were delicious.

Another clip form the article; De Pooter's cuisine is visually arresting yet strangely cool, almost as if the physical beauty takes precedence over everything else. We agree – they were absolutely beautiful dishes.

My dish: pike perch, baked, cumin, petite carrots, onion, and asparagus. The sauce was carrot.

The dessert was a winter wonderland with a multitude of "white" flavors – coconut, cream, powdered sugar, white chocolate, ice cream. I am not a big white chocolate fan, but this was in a world of it's own. The ball on the side of the dish had a delicate shell with a flavorful burst of citrus when we ate it. It was a stunning dessert.



…………and deserves a closer look:

Post-dessert & coffee. We have learned that the coffee course in expensive restaurants in Europe is an experience in itself. The coffee comes….

and so do plates of bite-sized treats……

fun little sweets to amuse your tongue.

And if that was not enough, out comes the post-post-dessert, tarte tatin (were were told it was the chef's interpretation of apple pie with a dollop of ice cream).

Wow – one of the best meals with service to match.

Of course I HAD to walk in the garden with the creatures.

The rabbit told D a secret – he never did tell me what it was.



We can't wait to go back!
Valentine’s Day

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Brussels was full of love today, Valentine's Day, and there were lots of fun events going on in the city. They were giving out Elixirs of Love (basically chocolate milk) and chocolate candy. And at 3:00, the Love Balloon event:

You wrote a love letter on a note, put your address on it, and tied it to a balloon.

What did our love letter say? Poopie loves poopette, of course!

oops……..a few let theirs go before 3:00.

un, duex, trois…..me letting go!



There were cheers and excitement from all!



It was an absolutely perfect day for such an event.

The idea is that if you find a card in the street later this week, you are to drop in in the mail so the love letter can get to it's rightful owner.

Our beloved Smurfs (Le Schtroumpfs) were there – did you know they are Belgian?

They were created in 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Peyo.

Even the Love Bugs (old and new) were out with BIG bows.

guessing this little one may have been a bit chilly.

they were so colorful in the steets

A fun day!

and Yes, D was my date, despite not being in any of the photos!
London: the Super Bowl bet and the BIG snow!

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D was asked to speak at a conference in London on Tuesday, February 2.

How quintessentially British (and cute!) is this doorman?

We had to stop by and visit our favorite Londoners – Dave and Allison for the weekend. It was the Super Bowl weekend, a perfect time to visit since the Steelers made it to the Super Bowl! As everyone knows, the Steelers BEAT the Ravens in the playoffs.

Dave and Allison are HUGE Ravens fans.    Since we were going to be together for the Super Bowl we made a bet prior to that playoff game. Who ever's team won the playoffs and advanced to the SB, the losing couple had to wear the winner's team logo gear all day on Super Bowl Sunday. Did I mention Dave and Allison are HUGE Raven's fans and they particularly dislike the Steelers?

We arrived to find Arizona logos throughout the house NOT Steelers – where is the love?

We didn't care….they had to wear our Steelers Shirts! A big shout out to Don SR who mailed us two Steelers jerseys from his private collection as we did not have anything here. Thanks Don!

Well……At first Dave refused to wear the Steelers gear (note his "I'm getting sick look")

as soon as he put it on…here is what happened……..

Don't worry Don, we made sure nothing got on the shirt.

Allison & Emma were good sports. Look how good (and comfortable) Allison looks in our colors!

After Dave cried in Allison's arms, she consoled him…..



and I gave him some Steelers cheers…..

he then gave in and gave us a BIG smile (sort of).

We hit the Boar's Head pub for lunch Sunday afternoon.

And a BET IS A BET – they had to wear the Steeler's gear to the pub. Friends of D&A – did you EVER think you would see this photo?

okay so that wasn't the real photo…….but we will have him converted by the end of the night!

We enjoyed the traditional pub food, fish and chips with mushy peas.



and cottage pie sometimes called steak and ale pie.

Similar to what we call Shepard's pie. All was very yummy.

but the beer? D is not convinced of the British beer, too weak and warm. He likes his Belgium beer!

As we left the pub, the snow started. We headed back to the house to prepare for the Super Bowl…….only 10 hours away! Remember – England is a 5 hour difference from the US, so the game did not start until 11:30 PM ending at 4 AM!

D had to have his game wings – they bring the Steelers luck you know. Allison, being the gracious hostess that she is, made the famous Pittsburgh Primanti Brothers sandwich with french fries, coleslaw and more to help bring in the Steelers spirit. And we had Chex mix thanks to Aunt Martha!

Yes, we all made it to 4 am to see that incredible catch! What a game! D's joy that his boys brought home one for the other thumb!

Tessa even woke up for a cheer.

One last photo at 4 am! Even in the wee hours Dave remembered to cover up the Logo.   And then something happened…..

I call this Dave's Happy moment…when he converted to being a Steelers fan. Quote from Dave, " man, that was one incredible catch – I can see why they truly are the Best. I am even going to join their fan club!"

With the "big" snow, there were no trains running within the city or into the city so we had to stay another day with D&A. Dave took off work and we had a fun day playing. We took a long walk in the morning. The boys had fun building their snow friend (we were not sure exactly what it was).

  There is a beautiful old cemetery near the town center.

D & D were inspired to create the RIP snowman…..our creative husbands : )

One thing we do not get in Brussels in grilled food. Dave was so sweet to grill dinner in the snow!

We had to get a very early start the next day for London to get D to his conference on time. He got there at 10:30 and he spoke at 11:00.

I had a lovey day shopping the first day and then a fun visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum the next day.

D had fun too!

Colorful Chinatown

With the driver on the lefthand side, traffic runs opposite for us.   Thank goodness for the constant reminders on the ground at all crosswalks.

We had some really good food as always, but this one - Polish & Mexican? We'll have to try this combo on our next visit.

and my favorite London icon – the red telephone booths.

We love London!
Saudi Arabia – D on his own!

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D was asked to speak at a conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on January 26. I was hoping D could write this, but he is busy with work so you are getting my interpretation. He did not have many photos (we know who takes the photos), but the few he took gave a good overview of what it was like.

The Middle East is part of his territory. For obvious reasons, I chose not to go.   ALL women, regardless if you are Muslim or a westerner, MUST be completely covered when out in public. The black dress they wear is called an abaya. They must be covered in full except for the eyes. According to the law, they are allowed to expose both eyes out of necessity.

They must walk 5 steps behind their husbands. They must also be accompanied by a man at all times, BUT if that man is not your husband, father, brother, or son, you can be arrested.

Another thing he found interesting about the women is that every restaurant (even McDonald's and Starbucks) have the family section that women and children MUST sit in. It is screened off from the rest of the restaurant and is always in the back. Men can sit in the family section if they want. Women CANNOT sit in the front.

Oddly enough, the person running the conference was a woman (from Germany). But, even she had to sit behind screens at the hotel during breakfast. And they had to get special permission from the Saudi gov't for her to sit in the conference audience with the rest of the attendees (all men). Still, she had to sit in the back.

Sunday is a work day in Saudi so he traveled on Saturday. His hotel was in the newer part of the city. There were very modern building with very expensive car dealerships; Lamborghini's, Porsche's, BMW, Mercedes, etc.

Shopping malls are large and there are plenty of them. But D said most were high-end western stores. Shopping is a big activity there. We were guessing because drinking is forbidden so there are no bars and because it is so hot and humid.

The old juxtaposed with the new.

  A mosque in the newer part of the city,

On Sunday he had some free time in the morning so he took a taxi to the old part of Jeddah. The ancient part of the city had interesting buildings, but was rather poor; and was a stark contrast to most of the rest of the city which had a very wealthy feel. He said he was THE ONLY westerner, but he felt safe. However, he did not feel comfortable taking photos unless it was obvious he was taking it of a building.



No one spoke English. I asked him how he was able to get a cab back to the hotel, he said that was not a problem. Every cab that drove by thought he wanted a ride (being the only non-Saudi) so they slowed down to pick him up. He just waved them on. When he was ready to go back, all he did was raise his hand.

I found the buildings fascinating and very different from any we have seen in other countries.

    I read that all of the windows are covered so that men cannot see the women inside.

It was a fascinating trip for him. All I can say is, I am glad he is home!
January Snow in Brussels

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We had a beautiful snow a few weeks ago. I ran out with the camera to take photos as it does not snow here very often. I sent a few to my mom and she commented that our Blogs are about all of our travels and she never realized how beautiful it is in our own back yard. So, here you go……our neighborhood in the snow.

The Grande Place – a 20-minute walk from our apartment. The trees were left from the Christmas decorations. The center is usually a big open space where they hold markets, festivals, musical events, etc.

More of a "dusting" of snow. But it stayed around for 5 days, they said that is the longest they have had snow on the ground in 20 plus years.

The cathedral – about a 5 min walk from our apartment.

This park is directly across from the cathedral.

A sculpture in another park. We have many parks within 5 minutes of our apartment.

This is just down the hill from us. It is one of the paths we take when we walk to the city center.

I guess we forget how beautiful Brussels is as we walk these streets everyday!
Brugge and the Christmas Castle

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I don't want Christmas to end this year! So, just a few more holiday photos to share. On December 23, D's birthday , we made an overnight trip to Brugge, one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in Europe.  We were also celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary.



The night was picture perfect. The reflection on the canal water was like a mirror.

The day was equally as pretty. When we first arrived I was disappointed as it was overcast, but after seeing the photos, the overcast skies are what allowed the beautiful reflections.

Their Christmas market was still running. It was a very festive time to visit.

We stayed at our favorite B&B in Brugge, the lovely Cote Canal. It is like the pages of a magazine. The owner inherited it from her great grandparents and has done all the decorating herself.









With the romantic canals and beautiful buildings, you feel like you are back in medieval times.

We are lucky Brugge is only a one hour train ride away!

D had off the week between Christmas and New Year so we took a day trip to the town of Durbuy. On a tiny single lane road, we passed a forest of chairs. It looked as if a musical symphony was ready to begin with the rising of the sun.

As we drove by, Donald said were those trees growing into the chair?

Huh? So we backed up the car…….

and sure enough…….

they had grown through the backs of the chairs. It was a fascinating sight….in the middle of nowhere!

Durbury was an enchanting town with a castle of it's own. It looks like a page right out of a storybook. It holds the title of being the smallest "town" in Europe due to the fact that there are only 350 residents who live there.

It had the most beautiful florist I have ever seen.  Her arrangements were so simple, but so creative. I bought two. I could not take photos inside, but here are a few shots of her outdoor displays.

It was freezing outside (low 30's), I would have loved to have climbed under that fur blanket and had a glass of hot chocolate!

The town was filled with displays of color. Little vignettes…

and quiet cobblestone streets:

I cannot wait to go back in the spring.

From Durbuy we went on to Modave, to the Christmas Castle. I have never seen a castle decorated for the holiday, so I wasn't sure what to expect……..It was magical. The Castle had twenty rooms and everyone was decorated for the holidays. It was done by a famous Belgian florist, Dominique Rausin.

It is very unusual to be able to take photos inside of a decorated castle, but they allowed it… and I went crazy.

So crazy that I had to create an album so my decorating friends could see more of the interior of the castle. For more photos, please go back to the top if this blog and click on the left hand side album title "Christmas Castle".

There was even a room dedicated to the well loved European gnome.

How cute is he????

On our way home, the sun was beginning to set, and the fog was rolling in…..

It was such a fun day with sensory overload of picturesque sights.

A perfect way to close out the holiday season. Until next year,

Good Bye Santa!
Happy Holidays!

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Warm thoughts and special wishes

for a bright and happy holiday…..

To celebrate the holiday season, this December we visited Dusseldorf Germany, Paris France, London England, Aachen Germany and our local Brussels Market.   We selected photos for this blog that would show you how they decorate for the holiday in these countries.

The Eiffel Tower is stunning this year – decked in Blue. Why is it blue? The EU (European Union) rotates the presidency every 6 months. France has it from June through December and honored it by lighting up the Eiffel Tower in blue with yellow stars, recalling the EU flag.

The Eiffel tower is 984 feet tall. Eighty giant projectors on the ground and 100 more on the tower are used to achieve the blue effect.    At dark, the lights twinkle for a few minutes every hour on the hour.

The department stores are all magical in Paris at Christmas. From the lights on the outside:

the large tree in the entrance:

And my very favorite, the store windows. Absolutely Fabulous! The characters are animated and most of them move. The girls with the umbrellas floated and danced all over the window:

This one was just adorable:

These two popped up and down from behind the chair:

In Brussels and Germany they have the outdoor markets in the city centers. It makes for a beautiful scene with the cathedrals in the background.

They are set up like little villages with wooden chalets that sell food, drinks, baked goods, and gifts.

The smell of the sweet treats put you in the holiday spirit.

They have lots of delicious food {the reason I can get D to take me to the markets}. Check out that tongue action while squeezing the mustard. Serious stuff!



We also love the Glühwein {in Germany}, in Belgium and France it is called Vin Chaud. It is usually prepared from red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, cloves, citrus and sugar.

The Glühwein is nice when it is so cold outside and you are walking for hours! Each vendor serves it in a different mug. If you want, you can keep the mug. If not, you turn it back in and get 2 euros back. Enough to buy another drink at the next booth!

We were in London for three days. D got a new coat (shown in this photo) – how Euro is he?

Not that any of these photo are Christmas-y, but they are so quintessentially British! We did learn that instead of wishing a Merry Christmas, in Britian they say Happy Christmas.

Oh yeah, D did find a Christmas beer in London. He said it was good despite the name {Chistmas pudding beer}.

We hopped on the tube on Saturday morning and headed out to Horsham to visit our friends Dave an Allison.   We experienced a very British Christmas event-

A Pantomime (click for more info). A Pantomime, called Panto by the locals, is a musical comedy performed at Christmas but having nothing to do with Christmas. They are always based on children's stories. We saw Peter Pan. It is a family event and everyone in the audience participates during the entire show. Yelling out (booing the villain), standing up, singing, it was quite the experience, a lot of fun. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed.

Last but not least, the great city we live in…..Brussels.

We have a very nice Christmas market with over 250 booths with local hand made items.

It has two carousels, an ice skating rink, a light show on the Grande Place, and a very large ferris wheel.

And we could not forgot our favorite Brussels Symbol…all decked out for the holidays!

For those of you who think the blogs are too long. Thanks for reading this far and we'll see you next year.

For those of you who want just a little more….Here is some info on the history of St Nicolas and how they celebrate the holidays in Belgium.

Sinterklaas or St Nicolas comes on 6 December

Sinterklaas {photo borrowed} is the basis for the North American figure of Santa Claus. Sinterklaas has a long white beard, wears a red bishop's dress and red mitre (bishop's hat), and holds a crosier, a long gold colored staff with a fancy curled top. Sinterklaas carries a big book with all the children's names in it, which states whether they have been naughty or nice in the past year.

Sinterklaas or St Nicolas arrives from Spain on a white horse. He has a black assistant called Zwarte Piet who comes down your chimney. On the 5th of December, before going to bed, children put their shoes next to the chimney of the coal fired stove or fireplace, with a carrot or some hay in it "for Sinterklaas's horse", and sing a Sinterklaas song. The next day, they will find candy, speculoos, a delicious spicy biscuit that is often served with coffee {and we can verify that they really are delecious!} or a small present in their shoes the next day, supposedly thrown down the chimney by a Zwarte Piet or Sinterklaas himself {guessing this is where our stocking comes from}.

This is also when most Belgian children receive one big present from Sinterklaas (i.e. their parents!).   For more details click here: Sinterklass.

In Belgium, the focus is around Christmas Eve. There is a huge family get-together for a traditional evening meal of three or four courses with plenty of wine and champagne. Rich, expensive foods are often served, such as lobster, caviar and a variety of game {we are going to have goose}.

Belgium remains a strongly catholic country, with many families attending a candlelit midnight mass on Christmas Eve. This is more than just a religious event – it is also a cultural one with midnight services well-known for their magnificent music.

Christmas morning is not traditionally a time for giving presents in Belgium; the day is usually spent quietly with family. The commercial Father Christmas was not known here until a few years ago. However, intense marketing by shops eager to sell presents three times over in December has meant that many families also give presents from Santa Klaus now. Although the Father Christmas and Sinterklaas figures are clearly derived from the same tradition, the two figures remain quite separate in Belgium.   Sinterklaas is always dressed in a long bishop’s robe with a mitre on his head, whereas Father Christmas or De Kerstman is the comical, round, ruddy-cheeked fellow we see in books and movies.

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Ultimate Beer Tour

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We had visitors! Chuck (of Chuck and Hazel – favorite neighbors in Virginia) and his son, Brett, came for the ultimate beer tour of Belgium. Did you know Belgium has over 450 varieties of beer? And most of these beers have personalized glasses in which that beer, and only that beer, can be served. The flavor of the beer is suppose to be enhanced by the shape of the glass.

D was excited about their visit. He really enjoys beer and as soon as we arrived in Brussels he started his quest to taste as many beers as possible in the four years we are here. In our first year, he has made it through about 50 beers. He has purchased many books on Belgium beers and has learned quite a bit……So we thought!

In comes Brett – beer expert (Beer King to D). Brett has tasted 757 beers and he logs them into a notebook and then rates them in a website. To qualify for his list, Brett must drink a glass of the beer, enough to be able to analyze it. So taking a sip of someone's, does not count. He was very serious about his analysis.

Brett has worked at Miller Brewery for over 4 years, the majority of the time in marketing. When Brett arrived, he had his beer book in hand with breweries, abbeys, and bars mapped out.

Back to day one. They arrived on Thursday morning and hit the ground running. No nap for them! D took a vacation day to play with them. First stop, the Cantillon Brewery right here in Brussels. From here they moved onto lunch in our favorite pub.

In a quest to have them experience all of our local cuisine, we all had Croque Mousieurs.

That afternoon, we visited the Manekin Pis, no outfit today and took the classic pose:

Next, we stopped by D's favorite bar, the Poechenellekelder and then one on Brett's list, the Delirium bar (said to have over 2000 beers from all over the world!):

and had Pomme Frites at our local joint:

Day two: D ended up having a last-minute meeting that he had to attend so Brett and Chuck were on their own. They visited Patton's Grave, drove through the Battle of the Bulge region, and enjoyed waffles with ice cream.

That evening they all walked to D's favorite Beer shop & bar – Beer Mania. Home of an 18 year old dog that was fed beer sediment for two years, hence his age.

Day three: Off to Antwerp to visit four bars that were very well known for their selection of beers. The main one Brett wanted to visit was the Kulminator – known as one of the world's best specialist beer cafe. They are most known for their cellar aged beers. Who knew you could age beers? Guess we shouldn't have thrown out the "2000" Buds in Don's refrigerator! : )

I decided to join the boys for this day's events. Antwerp is in the Dutch part of the country and has very traditional Flemish architecture. It was a perfect day.

This day was more special they we thought – it was Chuck's birthday! We were going to give him a grand celebration……

with fine dining all day long. We started with sandwiches on the train:

As soon as we arrived, we hit the first bar, Paters' Vaetje (the Monks Casket). Wow. How can I, non beer lover, hang with beer experts? Easy, there are all kinds of beers and I got to try several new ones; coconut (yummy), banana (just like a banana daiquiri), and of course all the fruity flavors of cherry, raspberry, etc. and I know you are all wondering…..did any of these make Brett's web list? NO. My beers were pooh-pooh-ed by the boys.

We had to have pomme frites at what we have declared one of Belgium's best Frite stands. After careful assessment – they agreed.

Back to the real purpose of the trip – beer:

All of you women who have had to experience "lost" men, trying to find their direction will appreciate this. Giving them the benefit of the doubt – the beer was impacting their ability {right}.

First they went "old school" and tried using a map:

Next, the GPS on walking mode:

No luck. Brett, how bad do you want to go to this bar? Pretty bad, he pulled out the compass. A compass? How cute is that!

Okay….Brett REALLY wanted to go to this bar; he gave in and asked for directions. Who did he ask? A WOMAN! Five bucks if you can guess Donald's sign language.

Brett claimed that because she was a meter maid, she "knew the streets". We eventually found the bar. And it was definately off the beaten path. The beer college of Belgium was having a meeting where they were tasting 10-year old beer.

Back to Chuck's birthday celebration and what all good birthdays have – ice cream! It was suppose to be on waffles, but they ran out. I cried.

Then more beer.

We ended the night with Chuck's favorite food – POPCORN!

Day four: The Mecca for specialty beers – Abbey of St Sixtus – known as the "world's" best beer. Brewed by Monks, they make only 60,000 cases a year.

Only enough to sustain the needs of the monks. They make Westvleteren 12 (12% alcohol, a dark beer), an 8% dark and the 6% blonde. To purchase the beer, you must call ahead and reserve a spot. Then you have to show up in line in your car during certain hours to pick it up. Supposedly it takes hours to get through on the line. It is not for resale. They do not sell to any bars or distributors. It is not sold in the US, but you can find it illegally. The Monks warn Americans to not buy it illegally as it arrives there in a very un-Trappist way.

You can, however, drink beer in the brewery's cafe next to the abbey. You can also purchase a 4 pack as a souvenir, but only one pack per person. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and the store was closed. They did get to drink in the cafe. Okay……the big question I had for the boys when they got home – is it all HYPE or is it really one of the world's best beers? Hands down, one of the world's best. So there you have it!

That evening chuck treated us all to a wonderful dinner at one or our favorite restaurants, Le Fils De Jules.

Day 5: D had to fly to Florida. Brett and Chuck visited Waterloo, the three of us went out to dinner, and they took one last trip to Beer Mania.

We had a very nice visit with Chuck and Brett and we think they had fun too!

Note: photo credits on this blog go to Chuck and Brett along with me and D. We combined our photos from four cameras.
Basque Region of France & Spain Sept/Oct 08

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We'll start with this photo, D's favorite – it captures the flavor of our entire trip……great food, great wine….lots of fun!

We were gone for 11 days. Except for the last two, we had blue skies with perfect weather in the low to mid 70's. We did so many things and took so many photos (1465 photos), that it is hard to pick just a few things to share. It is a long one, so grab a glass of wine…..and enjoy.

We hopped on the train in Brussels for a 5 hour ride to Bordeaux, France. Here we rented a car and headed south driving along the coast, stopping in France for two nights and then on to Spain. Our first stop was St-Jean-de-luz, a lovely seaside resort and active fishing port.

The Basque Country spans the border between France and Spain. They speak French, Spanish, English and a language know as the Basque language. Most street/store signs are bilingual with French-Basque or Spanish-Basque. They have their own traditions and food that are quite different from other parts of Spain and France.

In this area, you will find wild horses. We saw this one in a wooded area. This photo is a bit dark, but I really loved it. It has a magical feel with the fern lying on his head.

We never saw any large herds (said to be able to see more in the summer), but did see a few walking along the roadside.

Here we are in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques area of southwest France. It borders the Cantabrian Sea.

It was a picture/postcard perfect day.

As we mentioned in an earlier blog, we have been to many churches and cathedrals, yet every time we go into one, there is something new and unique. The churches here have two and three tiers of balconies (called galleries). In early times, the men sat in the galleries and the women and children in the nave. A wooden ship hangs from the ceiling to determine the weather. If you click on this photo and enlarge, it is easier to see. In France – the churches are open at all times for people to visit. In Spain, they are only open during mass.

The first night we stayed in Chateau d' Urtubie, a beautiful castle that has been in the same family since 1341, when it was built. In 1497, the crazy wife, Marie d'Urtubie in order to keep the castle from her ex husband burned it. In 1505 it was rebuilt (not all of it was destroyed) so many parts date back to 1341. How amazing it was to stay in a building this old.

Count Paul Philippe de Coral is the current owner. The downstairs is a museum where anyone can visit the rooms with original furnishings and very old tapestries. The count gave us a personal tour when we arrived.

The next day we went to the village of Espelette in France, famous for its red peppers. It was a lovely village with all white houses with red shutters. Strings of the Espelette peppers were hung everywhere to dry.

The peppers are harvested over the course of 10 weeks starting mid-august.

They are hand-picked and hand-sorted before being strung into the famous "cordes".

Some of the other local products.

Our journey continued along the coast of France into Spain. The cliffs were magnificent with heart stopping vistas at every turn. It was early evening when we walked along this cliff. The sun just started to set, creating spectacular color.

This is along the Bay of Biscay.

A quiet moment of reflection. It was so peaceful and not another person in sight.

Parts of the continental shelf extend far into the bay resulting in fairly shallow water in many areas and create the rough seas the region is known for.

This is how D sneaks mountain climbing in…he lures me with pretty photos.

The next day was spent in Bilbao where the Guggenheim Museum, Frank Gehry's signature piece, is located. It has been touted as one of the world's most spectacular buildings and it really was. It is made of glass, titanium, and limestone.

It is very popular with wedding couples. We were there on a Saturday and saw seven couples. If you look closely at the spider photos, you can see two couples.

For those of you who have never driven in Europe, most of the roads in the small towns are very narrow and look like one-way, but are intended to be used as two-way streets. The more narrower the road, the more D will pick it to go down. Good thing our rental car was small. Here are a few shots I took while we were actually driving down the narrow streets:

We usually pick one restaurant as a "splurge" restaurant. This trip we selected Etxebarri http://www.asadoretxebarri.com/ the chef is known world-wide for his grilling. In fact, many have called him the world's best griller. It has been written up in many magazines, we thought this one in men's vogue captured it well (http://www.mensvogue.com/food/articles/2007/04/etxebarri). The chef makes his own charcoal every morning and created his own grills. The restaurant is on the 2nd floor and has only 9 tables. The bottom floor is a very casual bar. You really need to know about this place in advance as you would never just "stumble" upon it.

The food is very simple, no sauces, just the perfection of the grill. We had oysters in seaweed, a delicate fish as a 2nd course and a buttery tender sliced chuleta (bone-in rib eye). The cows are said to be 8 years old (typical American cow is 2 years old). For dessert, D had sheep's milk ice cream in a pasty with pineapple sorbet shavings. I had a souffle with a molten chocolate center. Some of the best food we have ever eaten, definately the best on this trip.

It was in a very tiny town with only six cobblestoned buildings. A picture perfect setting.

The drive up to it was also very picturesque.

Next stop, Hotel Ansotegi, which was once an iron foundry dating back to the 15th century. The owners did a remarkable job restoring it and creating a 15 room B&B. We had dinner here both nights. Good home-style food.

It was interesting to see how they stored their hay in this area. We are use to seeing bails, but here they stack them in a cone shape.

This part of the country was much more mountainous then we expected. We stopped at a monastery and across the street there was a sheep dog herding sheep – I jumped out with my camera. But no luck, they were too far away. We walked up to the monastery and on the way back I crossed the street for another photo. I met D at the car and he said, "good thing I locked the door"…..I asked why? He said – "you left your door wide open when you jumped out for the photo"! Good thing there were honest people around…we had all of our luggage, etc in the car! A photographer has to do what they have to do for a great photo : )

Me with our little rental car!

The good news is bathrooms are easy to come by in the villages and usually quite clean. The bad news is, they never have any toilet paper and often times the men's room are in plain site. We both have funny stories on this subject. Being the prepared traveler that I am, I always carry Kleenex. But we had used them for napkins the day before and I forgot to replenish the supply in my purse. Having to go really bad…….I was searching for a creative alternative and I found it. My mom had recently redone her kitchen and I had a fabric swatch of her new fabric. It was an EMERGENCY!

And now for D….well, it might be more fun to just show it in this photo.

We saw sunflowers fields that went on for miles and miles. They were past peak, but still had a certain sense of beauty.

We were told that most of these crops will be harvested for the oil.

And for those who always question if D really works? Here he is on vacation….and working!

Our next hotel was in the capital of the Basque country - La Casa de los Arguillos, a former tailor's shop recently renovated into an 8 room boutique hotel. They kept the integrity of the building showing the exposed stone walls and wood floor. It was in the best location, right on the main square. Our room was the top, upper left.

There was a large medieval fair going on the day we arrived. Thousands of people. Usually we would not have been interested in a medieval fair but how could you resist when it was taking place in a city that was founded in 1181 and is 827 years old? It was so much fun. Almost as soon as we stepped out into the fair, three stilt walkers were starting a show.

Guess who they picked to "play" in their little show? D!!

They walked up to D and asked him a question in Spanish – he replied (in Spanish), that he did not speak Spanish….everyone bust out laughing and the man whisper to D – really?

D became the star! The best we could figure out with our extremely limited knowledge of the language, the man with the blue hat was accusing his girlfriend of cheating…..and the man in green was the judge. When he pointed to D – he was accusing D of doing the cheating…so when D said he did not speak Spanish….it made him really look guilty.

So the play went on and they decided to get married. At that point, they pulled D back into the play to be her "papa". The man asked D for the women's hand in marriage. D agreed to give her up and they proceeded to have the ceremony. Now keep in mind, NOT A WORD of English was spoken during the entire show.

The crowd was laughing so hard….as was I. I could barely take the photos.

Pouring cider at the festival.

This photo was taken at night from our bedroom window – the medieval festival still going strong.

The next stop took us into the Rioja Region in Spain, famous for their wines. The green rolling hills were so plush and beautiful.

Rioja wines are usually a blend of various grape varietals and can be either red (tinto), white (blanco) or rose (rosado). The harvest time for most Rioja vineyards is September – October so the grapes were at peak and full on the vines.

Stunningly beautiful. I have always had a passion for taking close up photos of grapes. D said that 1000 of the 1465 photos were of grapes.

For more grape photos, check out the album on the right- hand side of the blog, titled "grapes".

The blue on the grapes is fertilizer.

I think this one is cool because the shape of the leaf in the bottom left (near the tip of the bottom grape) looks like the outline of a wine bottle.

We visited the Dinastia Wine Museum, said to be the largest wine museum in the world. It was built in 2006 by King Juan Carlos. It was very impressive. We learned a lot in this museum which walked through the entire wine making process and history. They also house a collection of 3000 corkscrews.

D very happy with his wine purchase at the museum.

In their gardens, they have 200 different grapes vines one right next to the other and each one is labeled as to the type of grape. No one was there, so we tasted about 15 different grapes off the vines. It was fascinating to taste how different they were. Not only between the green/yellow ones, but also between the different purple varietals.

These capture the fall colors so beautifully.

This is another structure built by Frank Gehry. It is the headquarter of the oldest wine producer in the area, Marques de Riscal. It also houses a 5 star hotel. It is a striking contrast next to the ancient cathedral and buildings.

In Spain, they do not eat dinner until 9:00. But at around 7:00, the tapas bars start to open up. In Spain, they have drinks and tapas before dinner, we just ate tapas for dinner.

At the tapas bars, they lay all the food out on the bar table. You then go and pick what you want, order your drink and in most places, you stand and eat. The tapas can be as simple as a ham sandwich or gourmet, like the ones we had above. The top one is duck and left are grilled sardines.

Ohhhh and did I mention a popular dish in Spain is horse? Here is a photo of the horse butcher. And no, we did not taste any horse. Or at least, not that we were aware of!

Our forth stay, Villa de Abalos, a rural hotel called a hospederia. It was a converted 17th century mansion. It was really a special place. They served Rioja specialties in their restaurant which we ate in twice. It is so nice when the B&B's serve meals. This way you do not have to worry about driving home. They also made their own wine which we drank and purchased.

One the way back to France we drove through the Pyrenees but unfortunately it was very foggy and we did not get to see many views. The landscape did change significantly as we entered France, back to the idyllic country house settings…….

peaceful cows……

and little castles every where.

Our last two nights ww were back in France at the lovely Le Logis de Saint Vincent, a former mansion. A couple (Sophie and Marcel) about our age purchased it four years ago. It had been empty for 40 years. The glass in all the windows was gone and many of the floors were caving in. In just two years they restored it and opened the B&B. Marcel was a trained chef and we enjoyed wonderful dinners both evenings we were there.

There are a "few" more photos in an album on the left hand side of the Blog's main page.

Another successful adventure in Europe! Where to next?

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