Today we got up in Antwerp, Belgium, and now we are all in Brussels, Belgium. It was an easy train ride to get here. (Like 45 minutes I think.) We just used our "rail pass" so the ticket was a no-brainer, you just write in where you are going to and from - no ticket machines to deal with!
Once we got here we went to the very same hotel, and very same room where we started the trip 1 month ago. Literally one month! It would be funny to see us all one month ago, and see us all today. How were we different? With the whole trip ahead of us -- versus -- having the whole trip behind us? Julia is now a whole month older - eating bits of bread and apple sause (we are giving her a break from prunes). And Sara is still a bundle of words and energy. ;)
Our day here in Brussels was relaxed. We did a ton of strolling, and had dinner at the "Grand Place" - the big square here that is lovely. Google it to see a picture.
Dan is out of the hotel room now to grab a beer, Sara is by my side, and Julia is up sleeping (we have a two level hotel room). We just talked to my Dad - good to touch base! Skype is amazing really. So it is time to get Sara back to bed now! ;)
Tomorrow is Halloween. Bummer to miss it in the US, but we found a local event that should be fun! It will be our last day here, as we are currently scheduled to go out on Thursday.
So, we are enjoying our bonus days, but ready to go home too. Hope everyone back in the US weather ed the storm OK.
Goodnight!
k1,000 (Sara wrote that)
Love Lori
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Monday - bonus day in Antwerp
We were supposed to be getting up early today for our flight home, but it was canceled. So instead, we had a relaxed breakfast and a very relaxed day.
The four of us walked all over town. Some places were loaded with people. Some streets were empty except for us. There is a lot of action here - my goodness you could window shop (or actually shop) 'till you drop - and the stores have such nice stuff. I'm not a big shopper, but the window displays catch even my eye. There are nice kids shops too. We have exactly zero room in our luggage, so we just shopped with our eyes.
Our day included the normal stuff: waffels, a great playground (Sara loved playing on the ropes and wooden play things), lunch, and dinner. It was probably our most low key day of the whole trip, since it felt like time just handed to us - so we used it to breathe a bit.
Sara has asked if we are going home soon. She knew that we had only "2 sleeps" here, so she is wondering why it is now "3 sleeps." We told her there was a big storm in the US. "Why was there a big storm?" was her response. She is ready to head home, but is going with the flow. :)
Time to head to sleep. Good night.
The four of us walked all over town. Some places were loaded with people. Some streets were empty except for us. There is a lot of action here - my goodness you could window shop (or actually shop) 'till you drop - and the stores have such nice stuff. I'm not a big shopper, but the window displays catch even my eye. There are nice kids shops too. We have exactly zero room in our luggage, so we just shopped with our eyes.
Our day included the normal stuff: waffels, a great playground (Sara loved playing on the ropes and wooden play things), lunch, and dinner. It was probably our most low key day of the whole trip, since it felt like time just handed to us - so we used it to breathe a bit.
Sara has asked if we are going home soon. She knew that we had only "2 sleeps" here, so she is wondering why it is now "3 sleeps." We told her there was a big storm in the US. "Why was there a big storm?" was her response. She is ready to head home, but is going with the flow. :)
Time to head to sleep. Good night.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sunday - storm in US
First thing this AM we discovered our Monday flight was canceled. After some phone time we were re-booked for Thursday. Not sure if that will be our final plan or not. We'll see.
What was suppose to be our last day is now not our last day here. Instead of an early trip to the train station on Monday (tomorrow) we will have a relaxed day. I guess that is when the storm is supposed to hit. Our lovely neighbor at home is taking care of our house. It is crazy to be way over here when stuff like this happens.
We had a great day here in Antwerp. It is a great place, with magnificent buildings, loads of people (and I mean loads!), restaurants, french fry shops (yes there are shops that only sell french fries - practically one on every corner like Starbucks are in the US), and fountains, etc. We like it here.
Today we found the brik-or-brac market. Everything under the sun. Olives, birds, clothes, material, shoes, like everything. You name it, you could buy it. After strolling the market we got some lunch. First we sat outside, then moved inside to be a bit warmer. The lunch took a long time. That was okay, it tasted good and gave us a chance to chill out.
After that we walked around, ending up down by the river side. It was pretty. Especially at sunset. We ended up going inside this castle and finding a cafe, that had a kids play area. It included blocks for kids to build with and a sailboat that they could climb in - all in a corner of a large cafe. We sat down and relaxed while Sara had the best time playing - both by herself and with other kids. Julia was all smiles. She is just full of joy.
For dinner we found an amazing place. We just stumbled into it. They cook the food on a grill you can see, and Dan had a huge bunch of meat and I had some fish that was spectacular. It was a full fish, minus the scales, but I could eat one side, then flip it over and eat the other side, leaving the bones in the middle. It was neat! I had Julia on my lap for the whole meal and Dan had Sara on his lap for the whole meal. Not to relaxing, but a necessity. With day light savings time, we were eating dinner and hour later than normal - which meant it was near bedtime. Julia really likes being in bed at 7PM, so we were late getting her to bed. But it was okay, when we got back to the room she went to sleep easily.
In sitting in the hall of the hotel writing this due to the spotty internet access.
I hope the storm in the US is okay. If you read this feel free to give me a report!
:) Love, Lori
What was suppose to be our last day is now not our last day here. Instead of an early trip to the train station on Monday (tomorrow) we will have a relaxed day. I guess that is when the storm is supposed to hit. Our lovely neighbor at home is taking care of our house. It is crazy to be way over here when stuff like this happens.
We had a great day here in Antwerp. It is a great place, with magnificent buildings, loads of people (and I mean loads!), restaurants, french fry shops (yes there are shops that only sell french fries - practically one on every corner like Starbucks are in the US), and fountains, etc. We like it here.
Today we found the brik-or-brac market. Everything under the sun. Olives, birds, clothes, material, shoes, like everything. You name it, you could buy it. After strolling the market we got some lunch. First we sat outside, then moved inside to be a bit warmer. The lunch took a long time. That was okay, it tasted good and gave us a chance to chill out.
After that we walked around, ending up down by the river side. It was pretty. Especially at sunset. We ended up going inside this castle and finding a cafe, that had a kids play area. It included blocks for kids to build with and a sailboat that they could climb in - all in a corner of a large cafe. We sat down and relaxed while Sara had the best time playing - both by herself and with other kids. Julia was all smiles. She is just full of joy.
For dinner we found an amazing place. We just stumbled into it. They cook the food on a grill you can see, and Dan had a huge bunch of meat and I had some fish that was spectacular. It was a full fish, minus the scales, but I could eat one side, then flip it over and eat the other side, leaving the bones in the middle. It was neat! I had Julia on my lap for the whole meal and Dan had Sara on his lap for the whole meal. Not to relaxing, but a necessity. With day light savings time, we were eating dinner and hour later than normal - which meant it was near bedtime. Julia really likes being in bed at 7PM, so we were late getting her to bed. But it was okay, when we got back to the room she went to sleep easily.
In sitting in the hall of the hotel writing this due to the spotty internet access.
I hope the storm in the US is okay. If you read this feel free to give me a report!
:) Love, Lori
Friday and Saturday
Combined post, I typed it last night, we have spotty internet access where we are.
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Friday
Last day in Delft. We weren't sure how to spend it. Do we stroll around town some more? Do we linger over a long lunch in a nifty cafe?
Well, both of us were intrigued by something called the "Delft Forest" in the papers that the owner of our house put together about Delft. We also had been given a handout on it from the Tourist Information center. She gave it to us when we said that we'd be in Delft for 10 nights, a long visit for tourists - who probably normally don't have time to visit it.
So, Dan researched how to get there and we walked to the "Forest." It was awesome. It wasn't really a forest, I'd call it more "wide open space, with some farming, some canals, and a lot of the great out doors." There were no houses, no stores, it was unspoiled nature, except for a walking path, bike path, a few beaches, a gorgeous farm, and a restaurants tucked into a nook and cranny. That was our destination. The restaurant. It was a great destination, since it took us into the area, along a great path, that was just gorgeous anywhere you looked. Up at the souring sky. Over at the green field. Left at the canal that was laughing as it trickled along in the sun. Right at the rolls of hay waiting for winter. It was flat. Very flat. The only change in level waste noticed one canal was higher than a partnering lower one. Beautiful. And, we had it to ourselves. We did see a few people, but not many. The occasional dog walker. The occasional set of kids playing in the fallen leaves. (The leaves were big yellow crisp leaves.) We loved it. It was fresh air, unspoiled landscape, and a great way to feel lighter than air and relaxed to the core.
The restaurant was really tucked in to the landscape. We nearly walked past it. Its "driveway" was small pebbles. Its entry way was a tree canopy with some tables and wicker chairs. It was like an English cottage, so sweet, it could be in a painting. We stepped inside. It was small. The first room had a bar on the right where the servers were bustling, and that room had 3-4 tables. Two tables were occupied, including one table that had 2 small dogs occupying their white haired owners, who looked like they had been coming to the restaurant for decades. The next room, was all windows, and had perhaps 6 tables. We picked on by the window, overlooking the view that was so enchanting (the path to the restaurant.) The view included: 1) a fenced in area that had goats, chickens, and roosters. 2) the outdoor seating area, that was dotted with round tables and wicker chairs. 3) The trees that watched over everything, providing a leafy breezy canopy to everything. Oh, it was enchanting.
We noticed every other table had "reserved" on it, so we were lucky to get a spot. Indeed, about 15 minutes later every seat was taken. We had found a secret place! There wasn't a tourist in sight. Most people were drinking coffee or tee, cupping their hands around their hot cups to let the warmth seep into their bodies to balance out the nip in the air outside. It was snug and warm inside, but the walk there was a tad chilly. I didn't have tea, but I had the soup. It warmed up my bones.
All the food they had was organic and local. I had a beef sandwich, and Dan had lamb sausage. We savored it. We got Sara a "toasty" which is a ham and cheese toasted sandwich. She liked it, but she really liked the brown bread and fresh butter. I also had hot chocolate. It was a roly-poly, happy meal, that was sprinkled with a heavy dose of magic due to the setting and the restaurant itself.
After that we walked around the lake. We only saw one other person on the whole walk. The walk took us past 2 beaches. One was a nude beach, and one was a regular beach. The signs that indicated which beach was which were funny, including some anatomically correct sun bathers. It was October, so there were no sun bathers. The beach was nice, with a swimming area roped off into the lake.
The walk around the lake was full of lake views, with sea gulls soaring high in the sky. It was also full of a hiking feel, where we took a path that wiggled its way through a forest. It was so much fun.
Before we left the forest area we found a garden walk that included some small houses (like sheds almost) and one garden for each house. We thought it looked like a pretty special place, with each house/garden getting lots of love from their owner.
Back to reality, we walked back to the town of Delft (it probably took us 15 minutes to get back to town) and did a little shopping. It was our last day, so buying somethings that we had been thinking about had to be done now or never. We got Sara some Hello Kitty socks at C&A, and also Dan some orange/red pants. Then we got Julia her first "Puppy/Turtle" item, of one of the Hello Kitty characters. What was funny is both Dan and I separately had the idea to get it, so it must have been right!
We also got a waffle (the guy had to make it twice, he messed the first one up), and strolled into to market place. Before going back to our house, we stopped at the antique store and got an Delft blue tile (they are famous for their blue) from 1736! Dan will frame it when we get home. It is a nice memory.
For the remainder of the day, Dan telecommuted (Friday) and I packed up. It took a while to get everything to a packing area on the lowest level of the house. It is funny how packing helps you find things! I found many of Sara's socks! And you really realize how much your stuff expands. And, you really realize how it is the odds and ends that really add up when packing.
We ate dinner in the house.
After dinner at night fall I took Sara out for a walk. It was "museum" night, and it seemed like a big event. People were walking around in costume, there were lights above the canals, and there were lights in balloons strung up along side the canals. Very festive. Sara and I held hands as we scuttled into the market place, under the moon light high above the church tower. We decided to get ice cream (not surprising) and she got a kids ice cream in a giraffe cup, and she said, "Can we bring some home for Papa too?" so we got some "to go" to share with Papa. I liked walking in the moonlit market place with Sara. People were walking to and fro, the restaurants were lit up with happy diners, the church's bell tower chimed happy tunes, and I was walking with our little girl. It was a life is good moment.
Before we went back to the house we walked along the balloon lit canals. Then we went into the house to share the ice cream with Papa. At 7:30 PM, Julia woke up from a 3 hour nap, and we all went out into the night. "Museum" night was in full swing, with happy people everywhere. Zooming by on bikes, strolling around on foot, and even some people in costume up on stilts! We found the "museum" night action, watched the opening ceremony, then strolled back to the house. Time for bed. A fun last day in Delft.
Saturday
We got up around 7:50, when Sara let us know she was up. We had oatmeal, packed, and packed some more. By 10:30 we were done. We had the big red bag, the green bag, my back pack, Dan's back pack, a shopping bag, 2 car seats, and a bag of beer. Oh, and two kids and a stroller. It was a lot of stuff. We looked outside. It was hailing. Odd. Snow? It didn't last long. About 2 minutes. And since it was so short all it did was make the streets a bit wet. We were going to take a cab/taxi to the train station, but the idea of jamming all our stuff into a cab, just to take it all out again actually seemed harder than just walking the mile to the station. So Dan got it all ready to roll and we didn't have to much trouble.
The first train ride was to Rotterdam. The second train ride was here to Antwerp. In between the trains we got a bit of food, conserving the last bit of cash we have. I sat with Sara on the train to Antwerp, Dan stayed with Julia in the vestibule with all our stuff. I had a great time with Sara. She talked the whole time, looking over at me with smiles as she talked (she can smile and talk at the same time, it is great), and I realized it was such a great way to spend time with some one - riding on a train. We looked out the window, we discussed ice-cream, and we did some tickling and giggling. The train's seats were full. Everyone else was quiet. We were the only ones having a Mother-daughter party on the trip. It was fun.
We walked from the Antwerp train station to our hotel. Wow. What a city! There were people everywhere. Like everywhere. It you looked at us from above it would be like more people scattered here and there - everyone walking somewhere, almost like New York city, but the boulevard is really wide and people were in the street as well as the sidewalk because it was a car free street. We loved it. The pace was electrifying. We found the hotel. They said, "Russell?" - yes how did they guess? We are the only ones who requested a crib and it is obvious we are the people with kids! Our room is great. We have a huge entry way, a bathroom, and two rooms. One for Sara and one for us. Very comfortable. It is a quad room.
So we left here and went out for more city exploring. The trip from Delft was 15 minutes to Rotterdam, then 30 minutes to Antwerp, so we still had a lot of day left. We wandered all over town, joining in with everyone else - there were a lot of people everywhere! It was a change from small Delft, where there are people, but not this many! And in Delft, everyone had a bike, and here there are 99% walkers and we only saw a handful of people on bikes.
We popped into some stores - very grand stores - with soaring gold ceilings, champagne bars, and high end items. We also popped into some atmospheric places, that shows that Antwerp has a deep history. We got pizza for dinner.
After dinner we did more walking. More enjoying. More seeing of great sights. There is a lot of marvelous things to see here, cathedrals, grand city-hall, fountains in squares, chocolate shops, waffle shops, restaurants with outdoor seating, and my goodness - a lot of other people.
We had both kids in bed by 7:04 PM. Breakfast starts at 7:30 and we hope to be there at that time, especially with day light savings it is really 8:30.
Tomorrow is our last touring day (Sunday). We fly home Monday. Sara asked "are we going home soon?" so the time is right. Sara wonders why there is no kitchen here. I don't thing she gets the hotel concept since we usually rent a place with a kitchen.
Good night! :) Lori
Friday, October 26, 2012
Thursday - delft market day
**This is how I started my Thursday post, the iPad was acting funny so I didn't end up posting this. Here it is. ;) **
Delft has had a market on Thursday for centuries. We love it. Sara does too, that kid forgets she has parents and just goes through the market with confidence and a spring in her step.
We tried not to buy a lot. We leave soon, tomorrow is our last full day, and we still have a lot in the fridge. But Sara fell in love with a
Delft has had a market on Thursday for centuries. We love it. Sara does too, that kid forgets she has parents and just goes through the market with confidence and a spring in her step.
We tried not to buy a lot. We leave soon, tomorrow is our last full day, and we still have a lot in the fridge. But Sara fell in love with a
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Thurs continued
I'm on the iPad which isn't easy to use for this. The market is in the market place that hs the new church dominating one side. So we visited it to see the interior. I didn't like it as much as the old church, but in some ways it was nicer. It was smaller, so more intimate. E nave had nice stained glass, and this is where the Netherlands royalty is buried. Kings, queens, princes, princesses. Interesting. Sara likes roaming the pews which is okay, but the wood makes notice. The we're other people looking at the church, must be more popular.
Then we got some "fried" fish again, like last Thursday. Sara enjoyed it and we did too -fresh and tasty. It was our lunch. After that we strolled all around the town, stopping for an apple tart in the beasten market, which is lovely. Sara turned to the waiter and said "what do you have for kids?" and then after she heard the options ordered herself some milk. And she is only three!
During the time when Dan telecommuted I took Sara and Julia to the Vermeer center. Pretty cool place.
Sara asked for a snack so we came back here and I cooked dinner. We had vegetables, more vegetables, and some pasta. Last night I ate a whole bag of lettuce. It balances out our day time treats a little.
Tomorrowis our last full day here. Time to pack up all our stuff. Amazing how fast a 10 night stay can go. We are looking forward to being home but at the same time we don't want this to end either.
We are giving Julia prunes mixed with oatmeal. She loves it but I don't recommend it for adult eating, it is a bit on the yucky side of the taste spectrum. Tonight I was reading next to her and if I got up she cried. Not sure why. But she went right so sleep at 7 like usual. Sara was out like a light at 7:30, and I'm heading that way now too.
Thanks for reading , and good night.
Then we got some "fried" fish again, like last Thursday. Sara enjoyed it and we did too -fresh and tasty. It was our lunch. After that we strolled all around the town, stopping for an apple tart in the beasten market, which is lovely. Sara turned to the waiter and said "what do you have for kids?" and then after she heard the options ordered herself some milk. And she is only three!
During the time when Dan telecommuted I took Sara and Julia to the Vermeer center. Pretty cool place.
Sara asked for a snack so we came back here and I cooked dinner. We had vegetables, more vegetables, and some pasta. Last night I ate a whole bag of lettuce. It balances out our day time treats a little.
Tomorrowis our last full day here. Time to pack up all our stuff. Amazing how fast a 10 night stay can go. We are looking forward to being home but at the same time we don't want this to end either.
We are giving Julia prunes mixed with oatmeal. She loves it but I don't recommend it for adult eating, it is a bit on the yucky side of the taste spectrum. Tonight I was reading next to her and if I got up she cried. Not sure why. But she went right so sleep at 7 like usual. Sara was out like a light at 7:30, and I'm heading that way now too.
Thanks for reading , and good night.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Wednesday - day trip
So today I got up at 7:30 with Sara and Julia while Dan slept in. I got them dressed and fed (oat meal) and then when Dan got down here around 9 we were ready to go out for the day.
We wanted to take the tram to "den hage" to see two Vermeer paintings. I am a big fan, and we even have to canvas reproductions in our dining room back at home in the USA. The two they have are 1) view of delft, 2) girl with the pearl earring.
The tram ride was fun. It was 2.50 euro each (kids free) and is like a tour really since you zip along the streets and can just enjoy looking out the window as the rails carry the tram forward. I sat next to Sara this time, and Dan had Julia in the bjorn carrier. Sara started in on all her questions, and I taught her how to read the computer screen to know where we were and the next stop. That occupied her, and she also like looking out the window. It was fun to share that time with her -our little traveler. It took two teams to get us there about 1.5 hours door to door.
On the tram Sara said, "there will be a sign for a potty at the museum" so I got the hint that she wanted to head there when we could. She also asked for a snack. So when we got off in front of them museum all the other people (we were literally the only ones with kids) got inline for the museum, and we went to the museum cafe as our first stop. It was a great choice. Sara got to go to the bathroom, and our meal was fresh, hot, tasty, outside, and even relaxing. I nursed julia then put her in the bob stroller to recline and play with her toys,and Sara ate like a lady with us. It started to rain, but that added to the fun since we were under an awning and we just watched the raindrops decorate the patio and the water pool that was nearby.
Once fortified, we paid our 13 euro each to go inside the museum. It was nice, and Julia was perfect. Sara was a bit of a goof, but did better when I said that she would get no new apps for the iPad for 10 days if she was a goof. I spotted one of the paintings, "view of deft" and loved it. Great to see it in person after seeing it other ways. I couldn't find "girl with pearl earring" so I asked where it was and the answer was "Japan" . Oh well. We found out it will tour the USA in 2013 so maybe we can see it then.
We took the tram back. Sara was delighted with all these fun rides. Julia was a perfect quiet baby, just looking around as we travel - what a good baby!
Once Dan started working I relaxed with Sara and Julia for an hour , just being with them. Then we went out to some toy stores and a market for some vegetables/salad stuff. In the evening we got some ice cream (Sara loves chocolate ice cream) and I got a fresh hot off the waffle oven waffle. Oh boy!!M. Delicious! Dan took a dinner break and we went to de v for dinner. We got there 5:50 before the kitchen opened at 6:00, but it filled up fast so I was glad we got there when we did. Dan had the day special, a chicken dish, and I had a chicken satay with peanut sauce, a salad, and fries. It was only 23 euro. The place was right down the canal from us so we zipped back here and Dan went back to telecommunting while I got Julia, then Sara to bed.
I hear the bells ruining and see the lights glistening I. The canal when I look out the window. A man is strolling passed the fish market. Three ducks are swimming in the canal. It is pretty.
Good night.
We wanted to take the tram to "den hage" to see two Vermeer paintings. I am a big fan, and we even have to canvas reproductions in our dining room back at home in the USA. The two they have are 1) view of delft, 2) girl with the pearl earring.
The tram ride was fun. It was 2.50 euro each (kids free) and is like a tour really since you zip along the streets and can just enjoy looking out the window as the rails carry the tram forward. I sat next to Sara this time, and Dan had Julia in the bjorn carrier. Sara started in on all her questions, and I taught her how to read the computer screen to know where we were and the next stop. That occupied her, and she also like looking out the window. It was fun to share that time with her -our little traveler. It took two teams to get us there about 1.5 hours door to door.
On the tram Sara said, "there will be a sign for a potty at the museum" so I got the hint that she wanted to head there when we could. She also asked for a snack. So when we got off in front of them museum all the other people (we were literally the only ones with kids) got inline for the museum, and we went to the museum cafe as our first stop. It was a great choice. Sara got to go to the bathroom, and our meal was fresh, hot, tasty, outside, and even relaxing. I nursed julia then put her in the bob stroller to recline and play with her toys,and Sara ate like a lady with us. It started to rain, but that added to the fun since we were under an awning and we just watched the raindrops decorate the patio and the water pool that was nearby.
Once fortified, we paid our 13 euro each to go inside the museum. It was nice, and Julia was perfect. Sara was a bit of a goof, but did better when I said that she would get no new apps for the iPad for 10 days if she was a goof. I spotted one of the paintings, "view of deft" and loved it. Great to see it in person after seeing it other ways. I couldn't find "girl with pearl earring" so I asked where it was and the answer was "Japan" . Oh well. We found out it will tour the USA in 2013 so maybe we can see it then.
We took the tram back. Sara was delighted with all these fun rides. Julia was a perfect quiet baby, just looking around as we travel - what a good baby!
Once Dan started working I relaxed with Sara and Julia for an hour , just being with them. Then we went out to some toy stores and a market for some vegetables/salad stuff. In the evening we got some ice cream (Sara loves chocolate ice cream) and I got a fresh hot off the waffle oven waffle. Oh boy!!M. Delicious! Dan took a dinner break and we went to de v for dinner. We got there 5:50 before the kitchen opened at 6:00, but it filled up fast so I was glad we got there when we did. Dan had the day special, a chicken dish, and I had a chicken satay with peanut sauce, a salad, and fries. It was only 23 euro. The place was right down the canal from us so we zipped back here and Dan went back to telecommunting while I got Julia, then Sara to bed.
I hear the bells ruining and see the lights glistening I. The canal when I look out the window. A man is strolling passed the fish market. Three ducks are swimming in the canal. It is pretty.
Good night.
Tues continued
Sara mostly sat, but did a fair amount of wiggling. When the guide talked in Dutch she tuned out, and I can't blame her. The canals on the boat ride were covered with moss growing on the side. The canals have mallard ducks and a few swans. The guide said that they pull 200 bikes out of the canal each year. And back in the olden days if a criminal was caught they would just tie a rock around their feet and make them jump from one certain bridge. We went under that bridge and I felt bad for them.
After that we went to a bike shop (Sara's request), and then started telecommuting.
I went right out with Sara and Julia on my own. I had read that the children's room at the delft library was awesome, and I thought it would be fun to stroll there. We found it, in the middle of the hustle bustle scene with locals walking every which way, walking into the library was peaceful. We rode up the elevator and my goodness, the children's part was enormous and awesome! It had a long row of computers, an imagination room (with things to ride and a puppet studio and dress up clothes), it had a car play area, and a kitchen play area. Sara relished the play and learning time -I just let her run from thing to thing doing as she wished. I got to spend some time with Julia since Sara was occupied playing both by herself and playing with the other kids. No language barrier there!
After that we walked back here, had dinner (salmon from the fish market, I just pan fried it and it was great because it was so fresh), and both kids were in bed around 7:00.
Dan said I should go out for a walk so I did. It was a delight. The streets are well lit and the lights reflect in the canals making it magical. I walked over to the beast market, and wow, what a scene. There was a flickering candle on each outdoor table and it was full of happy people. As I walked around the square, it was like surround sound, hearing people laughing and having a good time from all sides. What a great sight it was. I heard the bells ringing as I walked back, a sweet little tune to accompany my steps.
Back here went right to sleep. Dan finished working at 2 am and I fed Julia then. Full day!
Good night. ;)
After that we went to a bike shop (Sara's request), and then started telecommuting.
I went right out with Sara and Julia on my own. I had read that the children's room at the delft library was awesome, and I thought it would be fun to stroll there. We found it, in the middle of the hustle bustle scene with locals walking every which way, walking into the library was peaceful. We rode up the elevator and my goodness, the children's part was enormous and awesome! It had a long row of computers, an imagination room (with things to ride and a puppet studio and dress up clothes), it had a car play area, and a kitchen play area. Sara relished the play and learning time -I just let her run from thing to thing doing as she wished. I got to spend some time with Julia since Sara was occupied playing both by herself and playing with the other kids. No language barrier there!
After that we walked back here, had dinner (salmon from the fish market, I just pan fried it and it was great because it was so fresh), and both kids were in bed around 7:00.
Dan said I should go out for a walk so I did. It was a delight. The streets are well lit and the lights reflect in the canals making it magical. I walked over to the beast market, and wow, what a scene. There was a flickering candle on each outdoor table and it was full of happy people. As I walked around the square, it was like surround sound, hearing people laughing and having a good time from all sides. What a great sight it was. I heard the bells ringing as I walked back, a sweet little tune to accompany my steps.
Back here went right to sleep. Dan finished working at 2 am and I fed Julia then. Full day!
Good night. ;)
Tuesday - church and boat
We've been soaking up beautiful, peaceful Delft, walking past things like the old church and the new church - and today we decided to see the inside of them. First we decided to have breakfast out. Our destination? A bagel store on the main market square. We walked over there in the stillness of the morning, with the sun not yet poking its head over the buildings that line the market. We were all ready for a bagel. Something different than breakfast here in the house.
As we approached it sure looked closed. And it was. We were to early! Sort of funny. We thought of other places, but every place we walked to opened at 10:00. I guess we aren't the only people who usually eat breakfast at home. We ended up at a bakery (where else?) and we each picked something out and we sat outside on a bench to eat.
Then we went to the old church. You should google old church delft to see a picture. It is a leaning tower of Pisa. It is goofy to look at since it leans so much. But the inside is grand, as we found out by ducking into a side door, paying our 3.50 euro, and walking inside. It was emmence. Sure, once you've seen a European church you kind of know what to expect, and this one was no different. Soaring ceiling, a nave that goes on forever, and stained glass windows that can make your neck ache from looking up so long at them. The best part was that we had the whole place to ourselves. The four of us walked back into time in the hulking interior, that echoed with our footsteps.
I was so proud of Sara. In the last church we went into I asked her to only whisper, to be respectfully quiet. And she remembered with out masking her again! Dan had julia in the bjorn carrier and I had Sara by the hand. We stayed a long time. Probably an hour, just looking at the graves (many people were buried in the church if they could afford it) one of the graves was Vermeer the painter and another was the inventor of the microscope. Sara liked looking at the church map hand out and finding the different places. Her favorite stained glass window that she found herself was Jesus blesses the children. I also liked the beginning of time that showed the stars in the heavens. Sara took a tumble once, but didn't call out or cry, she kept quiet. What a good girl.
After that we stepped back outside. We decided to take a boat ride. But we had lunch first. We ate at the best sandwich place in town, and sat outside. The boat ride was at 1:00. Lovely. It was great to glide along the canals, including right past our house! We learned a lot, like the butter bridge where they stored the butt under it as primitive refrigeration. Our boat also went under a lot of the little arching foot bridges. So cool! We had front row seats on the boat. Julia slept and Sara m
As we approached it sure looked closed. And it was. We were to early! Sort of funny. We thought of other places, but every place we walked to opened at 10:00. I guess we aren't the only people who usually eat breakfast at home. We ended up at a bakery (where else?) and we each picked something out and we sat outside on a bench to eat.
Then we went to the old church. You should google old church delft to see a picture. It is a leaning tower of Pisa. It is goofy to look at since it leans so much. But the inside is grand, as we found out by ducking into a side door, paying our 3.50 euro, and walking inside. It was emmence. Sure, once you've seen a European church you kind of know what to expect, and this one was no different. Soaring ceiling, a nave that goes on forever, and stained glass windows that can make your neck ache from looking up so long at them. The best part was that we had the whole place to ourselves. The four of us walked back into time in the hulking interior, that echoed with our footsteps.
I was so proud of Sara. In the last church we went into I asked her to only whisper, to be respectfully quiet. And she remembered with out masking her again! Dan had julia in the bjorn carrier and I had Sara by the hand. We stayed a long time. Probably an hour, just looking at the graves (many people were buried in the church if they could afford it) one of the graves was Vermeer the painter and another was the inventor of the microscope. Sara liked looking at the church map hand out and finding the different places. Her favorite stained glass window that she found herself was Jesus blesses the children. I also liked the beginning of time that showed the stars in the heavens. Sara took a tumble once, but didn't call out or cry, she kept quiet. What a good girl.
After that we stepped back outside. We decided to take a boat ride. But we had lunch first. We ate at the best sandwich place in town, and sat outside. The boat ride was at 1:00. Lovely. It was great to glide along the canals, including right past our house! We learned a lot, like the butter bridge where they stored the butt under it as primitive refrigeration. Our boat also went under a lot of the little arching foot bridges. So cool! We had front row seats on the boat. Julia slept and Sara m
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Monday - Delft
Dan and Sara have a morning tradition at home of making pancakes. So when last night, Sara asked for pancakes this morning, Dan said yes. He makes them from scratch at home. Here he decided to use a mix that was in a cupboard.
I was upstairs, trying to get a few extra minutes of sleep (I was up every 2 hours 40 minutes with Julia) while Dan was down here with Sara making pancakes. Then Dan called to me, "Can you come down here please?"
I was very asleep when he said that, but I woke up and dragged my self down the spiral staircase.
"I think Julia ate a rose petal," he said. Welcoming my brain to the day with a worrying thought about our jolly beautiful Julia. I looked at our daughter, who was smiling with her lips and her eyes. She didn't look like she just ingested a rose petal. But I probed held mouth a bit. It looked fine. I remember how babies have a very good gag reflex, and even though I suppose it is conceivable that she ate one, I didn't think so.
"I think she's okay," I said, giving her a big hug. Julia has started grabbing anything she can reach. And if she can't reach it, she'll move to get it. This is a bit of a change from super early babyhood where to keep something away from her all we had to do was move it one inch further away from her than she could reach. The roses Dan got me were relatively far from her, but she arched, reached, and pulled one to her. The petals went everywhere (the roses are several days old) and Dan thought one made it to her belly.
Since I was up I decided to join them for pancakes. They were good. Different from the US. Our pancakes are often fluffy. Here they are flat. So flat that they cook right away when they tough the hot pan, and thus aren't round, but have more of a zig zag edge like a daisy flower.
After pancakes, we headed outside.
It was a misty, hazy morning. Like the sky didn't even have a hint of blue. It was white. But it was pleasant, and the air smelled clean and fresh. We pulled out our walking tour map to finish it up. We walked along canals, seeing historic buildings like the Delft building from the "Dutch East India Company" we all learned about in history class. They also had a building that housed gun powder, that blew up a couple hundred years ago. A highlight was walking out to the quay where Vermeer painted his "View of Delft" painting. I'm a Vermeer fan, and that painting is cool because he is from Delft.
Did you know the sky has a dimmer switch? It works in reverse too. Instead of it going from bright to dim, the sky today went from misty/hazy white to clear/brilliant blue. It was wonderful to watch the transition. We mainly could see it in the church spires and other towers. In the morning, the tops of the towers dissapeared into the white. By mid-morning, the blue sky gave way to the tops of the towers, letting them show them selves in all their medieval glory.
Our walk made us hungry. We got some bakery items and sat outside. It was peaceful. We watched the world walk/bike past as we sat letting the sun warm our faces from our bakery seats. I never get any sort of sun burn, but when I looked at my face this evening I thought I saw a hint of pink. I guess I got some sun today? I guess that will happen when you are outside all day. Our time at the bakery was very happy. Julia was gleeful, Sara sat and ate and colored, and Dan and I enjoyed our coffee and our kids.
Towards the end of the "walking tour" handout that we were following we discovered a small play area containing a wooden play house - Sara loved it. And we played with the fallen yellow leaves, some small white rocks, and whatever else we could find. That kid has the most genuine smiles when she is playing like that.
A canal boat is gliding past right now on the canal that I can see. And the church bells are ringing. Ahh, Delft is great. Anyway, we were going to try to eat a lunch meal before Dan got to work at 2:00 PM, but decided to come back here.
Then, Dan got to work. He telecommuted from the mid level of the house.
I packed Sara and Julia up in the Bob Stroller and went outside to explore Delft on our own. There is something about being the only adult - there is no one else to say "lets go over there" you can just go over there! It is freeing, but naturally I missed Dan - and I had double the responsibility to be the sole adult with Sara and Julia. --- But it was fun! We strolled the market square. Slowly. I lingered at the shop windows. I popped inside some shops. I looked high up at the building's gables, I looked low at their foundations. I took my time. No need to walk fast.
After that, I picked a street and decided to walk to the end of it. That may not sound interesting. But these streets are jam packed with stuff. Cheese shops, bakeries, cafe's, clothing shops, shoe shops, just about everything. You can't walk 10 feet around here with out there being something so interesting you want to take a picture of it. So, I walked all the way down the first street I picked, and it was awesome! I walked over cute little canal-crossing foot bridges, I walked, walked, and walked. I found a shopping district full of locals. I popped into a department store. I got myself some red pants, got Sara some red pants, and did more browsing. (European people seem to wear red pants, so Dan and I always joke that we should get some - and I did!)
While I browsed I began wondering if these people ever go to the bathroom. In the US you can pretty easily find a bathroom. Not here. You have to hunt for them. I looked everywhere. I criss-crossed the whole store. I kept my eye open. No luck. Finally, back out on the street I saw a McDonald (yes, they have one way over in this section of town that is for locals) and I made a bee-line for it. Ha. Instead of ending up in the golden arches I ended up in another store somehow. I went to their cafe (these people sure do eat - there are often cafe's in stores) and I kept my eye peeled for the bathroom sign. No dice. I was convinced that no one here ever goes to the bathroom. Finally I saw a mom with a happy looking kid, and decided they must have just gone to the bathroom. I followed in their foot steps and was right!
There were bathrooms! Yeah! The lady taking care of the bathroom had a sign up for .60 Euro to use them. Whatever. I went in to the bathroom and it was large. I could change Julia's diaper, and finally use the bathroom myself. When I exited, I tried to give her .60 cents/Euro but she queried me as to who of the three of us used the bathroom! Since I changed Julia's diaper, she had me pay 1.20 Euro to use it. Actually I didn't care. I paid the money happily. Afterall, it was clean, and it was *there.* Seriously, these people need way more bathrooms if you ask me.
After that, we had some yogurt, apple cake, coffee, apple sauce etc in the cafe. It was good.
Then we walked back towards town. We hit a toy store (Sara scored a stamp set). Then, I hit a grocery store for some dinner side dishes (some stir fry vegetables) and Sara was my helper in the grocery store. She grabbed a small basket and loved putting things in it. After the store I just enjoyed the evening air. After our white sky morning, I couldn't believe the gorgeous-ness of the evening. The sky was breath taking. Brilliant light blue, with puffy glowing white clouds. It was like the sky was a blue puzzle, and someone scattered white puzzle jig saw pieces all over it (clouds). I took several pictures, and just relished the moment. I was happy. Out with our girls - in a beautiful place - on a beautiful evening. Life is good.
Back here we had dinner all together (pork cutlet and side dishes of vegetables and fruit) and then Dan and I had a "stamp party" with Sara (like the stamps that go into ink) and then it was time to get them to bed.
A great day.
Quotes: (after sneezing)
Sara: "That was an achoo-I feel better now."
----
Quote: (this morning at breakfast)
Sara: "I'm going to have 3 pieces of pie for dinner."
-----
Quote: (after lunch)
Sara: "I'm going to have this heart cookie, because I love Mama."
-----
:) Lori
I was upstairs, trying to get a few extra minutes of sleep (I was up every 2 hours 40 minutes with Julia) while Dan was down here with Sara making pancakes. Then Dan called to me, "Can you come down here please?"
I was very asleep when he said that, but I woke up and dragged my self down the spiral staircase.
"I think Julia ate a rose petal," he said. Welcoming my brain to the day with a worrying thought about our jolly beautiful Julia. I looked at our daughter, who was smiling with her lips and her eyes. She didn't look like she just ingested a rose petal. But I probed held mouth a bit. It looked fine. I remember how babies have a very good gag reflex, and even though I suppose it is conceivable that she ate one, I didn't think so.
"I think she's okay," I said, giving her a big hug. Julia has started grabbing anything she can reach. And if she can't reach it, she'll move to get it. This is a bit of a change from super early babyhood where to keep something away from her all we had to do was move it one inch further away from her than she could reach. The roses Dan got me were relatively far from her, but she arched, reached, and pulled one to her. The petals went everywhere (the roses are several days old) and Dan thought one made it to her belly.
Since I was up I decided to join them for pancakes. They were good. Different from the US. Our pancakes are often fluffy. Here they are flat. So flat that they cook right away when they tough the hot pan, and thus aren't round, but have more of a zig zag edge like a daisy flower.
After pancakes, we headed outside.
It was a misty, hazy morning. Like the sky didn't even have a hint of blue. It was white. But it was pleasant, and the air smelled clean and fresh. We pulled out our walking tour map to finish it up. We walked along canals, seeing historic buildings like the Delft building from the "Dutch East India Company" we all learned about in history class. They also had a building that housed gun powder, that blew up a couple hundred years ago. A highlight was walking out to the quay where Vermeer painted his "View of Delft" painting. I'm a Vermeer fan, and that painting is cool because he is from Delft.
Did you know the sky has a dimmer switch? It works in reverse too. Instead of it going from bright to dim, the sky today went from misty/hazy white to clear/brilliant blue. It was wonderful to watch the transition. We mainly could see it in the church spires and other towers. In the morning, the tops of the towers dissapeared into the white. By mid-morning, the blue sky gave way to the tops of the towers, letting them show them selves in all their medieval glory.
Our walk made us hungry. We got some bakery items and sat outside. It was peaceful. We watched the world walk/bike past as we sat letting the sun warm our faces from our bakery seats. I never get any sort of sun burn, but when I looked at my face this evening I thought I saw a hint of pink. I guess I got some sun today? I guess that will happen when you are outside all day. Our time at the bakery was very happy. Julia was gleeful, Sara sat and ate and colored, and Dan and I enjoyed our coffee and our kids.
Towards the end of the "walking tour" handout that we were following we discovered a small play area containing a wooden play house - Sara loved it. And we played with the fallen yellow leaves, some small white rocks, and whatever else we could find. That kid has the most genuine smiles when she is playing like that.
A canal boat is gliding past right now on the canal that I can see. And the church bells are ringing. Ahh, Delft is great. Anyway, we were going to try to eat a lunch meal before Dan got to work at 2:00 PM, but decided to come back here.
Then, Dan got to work. He telecommuted from the mid level of the house.
I packed Sara and Julia up in the Bob Stroller and went outside to explore Delft on our own. There is something about being the only adult - there is no one else to say "lets go over there" you can just go over there! It is freeing, but naturally I missed Dan - and I had double the responsibility to be the sole adult with Sara and Julia. --- But it was fun! We strolled the market square. Slowly. I lingered at the shop windows. I popped inside some shops. I looked high up at the building's gables, I looked low at their foundations. I took my time. No need to walk fast.
After that, I picked a street and decided to walk to the end of it. That may not sound interesting. But these streets are jam packed with stuff. Cheese shops, bakeries, cafe's, clothing shops, shoe shops, just about everything. You can't walk 10 feet around here with out there being something so interesting you want to take a picture of it. So, I walked all the way down the first street I picked, and it was awesome! I walked over cute little canal-crossing foot bridges, I walked, walked, and walked. I found a shopping district full of locals. I popped into a department store. I got myself some red pants, got Sara some red pants, and did more browsing. (European people seem to wear red pants, so Dan and I always joke that we should get some - and I did!)
While I browsed I began wondering if these people ever go to the bathroom. In the US you can pretty easily find a bathroom. Not here. You have to hunt for them. I looked everywhere. I criss-crossed the whole store. I kept my eye open. No luck. Finally, back out on the street I saw a McDonald (yes, they have one way over in this section of town that is for locals) and I made a bee-line for it. Ha. Instead of ending up in the golden arches I ended up in another store somehow. I went to their cafe (these people sure do eat - there are often cafe's in stores) and I kept my eye peeled for the bathroom sign. No dice. I was convinced that no one here ever goes to the bathroom. Finally I saw a mom with a happy looking kid, and decided they must have just gone to the bathroom. I followed in their foot steps and was right!
There were bathrooms! Yeah! The lady taking care of the bathroom had a sign up for .60 Euro to use them. Whatever. I went in to the bathroom and it was large. I could change Julia's diaper, and finally use the bathroom myself. When I exited, I tried to give her .60 cents/Euro but she queried me as to who of the three of us used the bathroom! Since I changed Julia's diaper, she had me pay 1.20 Euro to use it. Actually I didn't care. I paid the money happily. Afterall, it was clean, and it was *there.* Seriously, these people need way more bathrooms if you ask me.
After that, we had some yogurt, apple cake, coffee, apple sauce etc in the cafe. It was good.
Then we walked back towards town. We hit a toy store (Sara scored a stamp set). Then, I hit a grocery store for some dinner side dishes (some stir fry vegetables) and Sara was my helper in the grocery store. She grabbed a small basket and loved putting things in it. After the store I just enjoyed the evening air. After our white sky morning, I couldn't believe the gorgeous-ness of the evening. The sky was breath taking. Brilliant light blue, with puffy glowing white clouds. It was like the sky was a blue puzzle, and someone scattered white puzzle jig saw pieces all over it (clouds). I took several pictures, and just relished the moment. I was happy. Out with our girls - in a beautiful place - on a beautiful evening. Life is good.
Back here we had dinner all together (pork cutlet and side dishes of vegetables and fruit) and then Dan and I had a "stamp party" with Sara (like the stamps that go into ink) and then it was time to get them to bed.
A great day.
Quotes: (after sneezing)
Sara: "That was an achoo-I feel better now."
----
Quote: (this morning at breakfast)
Sara: "I'm going to have 3 pieces of pie for dinner."
-----
Quote: (after lunch)
Sara: "I'm going to have this heart cookie, because I love Mama."
-----
:) Lori
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Sunday - Science Day at Botanical Garden
The location of this house is ideal. In two minutes walk we can be to the central market place. From our windows we can see the canal and the other houses that line the canal. And, if you let your gaze travel upwards, you can see the bell tower of the "new church." The "new church" was built in 1310 - 1510. I love being able to glance over and see it - I can do that right now! They light it up at night, so it is rather regal and timeless as it stands watch over the town. My favorite is the bells, that chime several times an hour - sweet songs that make me stop and listen no matter what I'm doing.
The church bells had a party today. Today is Sunday, with church service at 10:00. It was in Dutch. There was also service at the "old church" (also in Dutch). Clang. Clang. The bells didn't stop from 9:30 up 'till 10AM. It was like calling people to to the church.
We noticed a stillness in the normally bustling street we can see from our house. No one was flying past on a bike. No one was walking. No one was strolling. It was still. We had a relaxed morning too, heading out on the town around 10:30.
Our goal was the botanical garden of Delft. It is part of the Technical University. They were having a kids event that the owner of this house told us about. He used to live in this house, but when they moved (after having 2 kids) they kept this house to rent it out. We found it on the website (www.homeaway.com) that I often use. Anyway, the owner mentioned that the kid's event was to have a train, so that was enough to entice us to go.
It was a 15 minute walk to get there. It took us 45 minutes. We went in some creative directions to get there, probably because Dan and I were having a nice conversation and enjoying our surroundings rather than focusing on where we were going. We walked over canals, down side streets, along shopping plazas, then wondered -- hey where is the botanical garden anyway?
I pulled out a paper map. Dan pulled out his iPhone. I found the botanical garden. Dan found our location. We put 2 and 2 together and changed our trajectory and finally found the garden.
The event was awesome. It started with Sara getting a free bag, ball, bottle opener, and clock. She loves free stuff (who doesn't?). She happily carted her bag around, until she saw a bubble machine. That was the end of the bag. "Mom, hold this" she said, right as she burst into a full-speed run to the bubbles. That was the end of the bag. The bubbles were all she could see.
Turns out that the bubbles were being generated by a kid sitting on a bike. Right up Sara's alley! She waited her turn and then got on the bike - so she could make bubbles fly into the air. She loved it. And when it wasn't her turn, she loved to chase after the bubbles generated by other kids. "Mama, will you play in the bubbles with me?" she invited. How could I resist? I joined in and had fun with her.
Toot! Toot! From the bubble area we heard the unmistakable sound of a train. The train was a steam train. About 2 feet high. It had a conductor, who sat on a small engine up front. Then, there were bench train cars that the kids sat on. There were no tickets. No lines. You just went over there and the kids got on. Simple as that! Sara didn't need to be invited. In fact, I said to Dan, "where did Sara go?" he said, "where do you think?" and Sara had already found a place on the train and was waiting for it to start.
Then the train derailed, so Sara and all the other kids got off the train. Sara was perplexed. But she waited, very patiently, (there was nothing that could drag her away) and when it was fixed (probably 6 long minutes later!) she was the first one to hop on. She sat there like "I'm on, let's go!" and the train did go. It went around a little circuit, around the botanical garden's grove of trees. Sara looked so proud. And happy. Dan and I watched her from the sidelines. When the train finished it's loop, Sara got off the train - and ran full speed - like *very* fast - propelling herself as fast as her legs could carry her -- over to me. She nearly knocked me over with a huge full body hug, after which she asked, "can I do that again Mama?" "Yes, you can ride the train again," I answered, and she was off like a bullet, back to the train. She got on. And rode again. Around the circuit with a grin on her face the whole way.
This was repeated 5 times. She'd ride the train, run over to me for a hug, ask to ride again, and then ride again. It was great.
Soon it was time for the "bouncy bouncy" thing - and she was the only kid there! She took off her shoes faster than I've ever seen her do it - and for the next several minutes that kid jumped, ran, fell, bounced, and flew around the bouncy bounce. It was a joy to watch.
We tore her away from that to go on to the next thing. We found another area with crafts, food, a botanical green house, etc. First we got some food. I checked out all the choices, and wasn't that thrilled to see the only thing warm seemed to be a boiled hot-dog type sausage. Then my nose pointed me over to a man in a white chef's uniform and white chef's hat. He was in a small outdoor cooking area making something in a huge wok. (Like 2-3 feet in diameter). I waited and watched. Soon what he was cooking was for sale, and I asked for a portion. He dished me up some, and I held out a 5 Euro bill. It was only 1 Euro! The food was potatoes, mushrooms, and herbs, all mixed together. That may not sound good, but it was so good that I ate that - and got a second round!
Dan had the boiled hot-dog type sausage thing, which he said was surprisingly good. I'll have to take his word for it as I didn't try it. It was 1 Euro also. What a local fun thing we were experiencing! Everyone spoke Dutch, but they would switch to English for us.
After eating, we did some of the crafts. Sara painted a leaf (that was one of the craft stations). She was very particular about what colors she wanted for her left. I think she humored the lady in charge. Then Sara and Dan went into the green house while I sat on a bench outside and fed Julia. When we met back up again, Dan and Sara climbed into a tree house and Julia and I waved up to them. After some more fun, we decided to try our luck at the clown who was making ballon animals.
Sara joined the other kids gathered around the clown. She didn't understand a word of what the clown was saying (in Dutch) but she paid rapt attention, clinging to his every word. "CAn I have a ballon?" she'd say. And finally, all the other kids cleared away and she got his undivided attention.
Here is how the conversation went:
Clown: "Do you want a ballon?"
Sara: "My Name is Sara. S-A-R-A. I'm three an a half. I have a sister. Julia. She is seven."
Clown: "You talk very fast."
Sara: "My favorite color is red."
Clown: "Do you want pink or really pink?"
Sara: "Really pink."
Clown: Here is a swan.
Sara: "Cool. Thanks!"
Thus, Sara had a swan ballon. She was in love. She loves ballons, but to have one made for her was the best thing ever.
We decided to leave on a high note. We got Julia and Sara back into the Bob Stroller and headed back to town. Along the way we passed shopping stuff, and went into a large grocery store. It is kind of fun to see their grocery stores. And practical too. We got some diapers for Julia, some yogurt, some Oreo cookies (for a taste of home), 6 eggs (not refrigerated), 2 beers (Dan said, "they have beer like in Belgium, but it is just not the same."), 2 mixes for baked stuff. After that we wandered through town heading back here.
In the main square, Sara was running around carrying her ballon swan. She sat down on a cheese display in front of a shop (the cheese was just a wooden demo) and her ballon popped. Bang! It was loud. Her ballon was deflated and she was too. That poor kid. She was stunned that the ballon she loved so much was now gone. She ran to Papa, "can you fix this?" she asked, holding up the pink rubber ballon casing. Ever resourceful, Papa asked Sara to close her eyes, turn around once, hop three times, and while she did all that he blew up a spare ballon he had in his pocket. When she opened her eyes she took the ballon and was happy again. It was "just" a normal ballon, not a swan, but it was a ballon none the less. I suppose I had a hand in the ballon magic, as I'm the one that saw the pile of spare ballons back at the botanical garden and I gave it to Dan. So it was nice he was able to whip it out in Sara's time of disaster - to make everything better again.
Even on-lookers had noticed Sara's ballon trama. The ballon had made such a pop when it broke and she got teary in her heart broken state. But the on-lookers were happy when it was all better with the replacement ballon.
We capped off the ballon loss and replacement with some icecream, which can fix everything. Sara got a chocolate cone and played with her new ballon in the nearly empty ice cream store.
We came back here. Called Dad/Maureen on Skype. Made lunch (rack of lamb). And headed back out for another walk. We strolled up and down streets, noticing the dates on the buildings. 1510. 1630. 1842. There is a bit of everything. We also went into the Vermeer center, and they have Delft pottery for sale from the 1600's and 1700's that is only like 32 Euro. That is amazing, since in the junk shops they sell cheap stuff for that same price - why not get an antique? We didn't buy anything, but maybe we will before we go. Delft is famous for pottery "Delft Blue."
It was a full day. It caps off Dan's 2 week vacation. He'll start telecommuting tomorrow. But he'll spend the morning 'till 2:00 PM with us, so that is good. Then the girls and I can explore a bit or have quiet time - what ever we want!
Quote of the day:
Dan: "I just took Sara's soccer ball away from her, and she lectured me on why it isn't nice to take soccer balls away from little girls."
Another Quote:
Sara: "I'm being so brave sitting on this cheese."
(Right before her ballon popped.)
Sister Quote:
Sara: "Some day, I'm going to have a motor scooter. I'll take Julia for a ride. She can sit on back. I'll drive. It will be no Mama, no Papa, just Julia and I."
Sweet Quote:
Lori: "I love you Sara."
Sara: "I love you too Mom."
(melt my heart)
Good night,
Lori
The church bells had a party today. Today is Sunday, with church service at 10:00. It was in Dutch. There was also service at the "old church" (also in Dutch). Clang. Clang. The bells didn't stop from 9:30 up 'till 10AM. It was like calling people to to the church.
We noticed a stillness in the normally bustling street we can see from our house. No one was flying past on a bike. No one was walking. No one was strolling. It was still. We had a relaxed morning too, heading out on the town around 10:30.
Our goal was the botanical garden of Delft. It is part of the Technical University. They were having a kids event that the owner of this house told us about. He used to live in this house, but when they moved (after having 2 kids) they kept this house to rent it out. We found it on the website (www.homeaway.com) that I often use. Anyway, the owner mentioned that the kid's event was to have a train, so that was enough to entice us to go.
It was a 15 minute walk to get there. It took us 45 minutes. We went in some creative directions to get there, probably because Dan and I were having a nice conversation and enjoying our surroundings rather than focusing on where we were going. We walked over canals, down side streets, along shopping plazas, then wondered -- hey where is the botanical garden anyway?
I pulled out a paper map. Dan pulled out his iPhone. I found the botanical garden. Dan found our location. We put 2 and 2 together and changed our trajectory and finally found the garden.
The event was awesome. It started with Sara getting a free bag, ball, bottle opener, and clock. She loves free stuff (who doesn't?). She happily carted her bag around, until she saw a bubble machine. That was the end of the bag. "Mom, hold this" she said, right as she burst into a full-speed run to the bubbles. That was the end of the bag. The bubbles were all she could see.
Turns out that the bubbles were being generated by a kid sitting on a bike. Right up Sara's alley! She waited her turn and then got on the bike - so she could make bubbles fly into the air. She loved it. And when it wasn't her turn, she loved to chase after the bubbles generated by other kids. "Mama, will you play in the bubbles with me?" she invited. How could I resist? I joined in and had fun with her.
Toot! Toot! From the bubble area we heard the unmistakable sound of a train. The train was a steam train. About 2 feet high. It had a conductor, who sat on a small engine up front. Then, there were bench train cars that the kids sat on. There were no tickets. No lines. You just went over there and the kids got on. Simple as that! Sara didn't need to be invited. In fact, I said to Dan, "where did Sara go?" he said, "where do you think?" and Sara had already found a place on the train and was waiting for it to start.
Then the train derailed, so Sara and all the other kids got off the train. Sara was perplexed. But she waited, very patiently, (there was nothing that could drag her away) and when it was fixed (probably 6 long minutes later!) she was the first one to hop on. She sat there like "I'm on, let's go!" and the train did go. It went around a little circuit, around the botanical garden's grove of trees. Sara looked so proud. And happy. Dan and I watched her from the sidelines. When the train finished it's loop, Sara got off the train - and ran full speed - like *very* fast - propelling herself as fast as her legs could carry her -- over to me. She nearly knocked me over with a huge full body hug, after which she asked, "can I do that again Mama?" "Yes, you can ride the train again," I answered, and she was off like a bullet, back to the train. She got on. And rode again. Around the circuit with a grin on her face the whole way.
This was repeated 5 times. She'd ride the train, run over to me for a hug, ask to ride again, and then ride again. It was great.
Soon it was time for the "bouncy bouncy" thing - and she was the only kid there! She took off her shoes faster than I've ever seen her do it - and for the next several minutes that kid jumped, ran, fell, bounced, and flew around the bouncy bounce. It was a joy to watch.
We tore her away from that to go on to the next thing. We found another area with crafts, food, a botanical green house, etc. First we got some food. I checked out all the choices, and wasn't that thrilled to see the only thing warm seemed to be a boiled hot-dog type sausage. Then my nose pointed me over to a man in a white chef's uniform and white chef's hat. He was in a small outdoor cooking area making something in a huge wok. (Like 2-3 feet in diameter). I waited and watched. Soon what he was cooking was for sale, and I asked for a portion. He dished me up some, and I held out a 5 Euro bill. It was only 1 Euro! The food was potatoes, mushrooms, and herbs, all mixed together. That may not sound good, but it was so good that I ate that - and got a second round!
Dan had the boiled hot-dog type sausage thing, which he said was surprisingly good. I'll have to take his word for it as I didn't try it. It was 1 Euro also. What a local fun thing we were experiencing! Everyone spoke Dutch, but they would switch to English for us.
After eating, we did some of the crafts. Sara painted a leaf (that was one of the craft stations). She was very particular about what colors she wanted for her left. I think she humored the lady in charge. Then Sara and Dan went into the green house while I sat on a bench outside and fed Julia. When we met back up again, Dan and Sara climbed into a tree house and Julia and I waved up to them. After some more fun, we decided to try our luck at the clown who was making ballon animals.
Sara joined the other kids gathered around the clown. She didn't understand a word of what the clown was saying (in Dutch) but she paid rapt attention, clinging to his every word. "CAn I have a ballon?" she'd say. And finally, all the other kids cleared away and she got his undivided attention.
Here is how the conversation went:
Clown: "Do you want a ballon?"
Sara: "My Name is Sara. S-A-R-A. I'm three an a half. I have a sister. Julia. She is seven."
Clown: "You talk very fast."
Sara: "My favorite color is red."
Clown: "Do you want pink or really pink?"
Sara: "Really pink."
Clown: Here is a swan.
Sara: "Cool. Thanks!"
Thus, Sara had a swan ballon. She was in love. She loves ballons, but to have one made for her was the best thing ever.
We decided to leave on a high note. We got Julia and Sara back into the Bob Stroller and headed back to town. Along the way we passed shopping stuff, and went into a large grocery store. It is kind of fun to see their grocery stores. And practical too. We got some diapers for Julia, some yogurt, some Oreo cookies (for a taste of home), 6 eggs (not refrigerated), 2 beers (Dan said, "they have beer like in Belgium, but it is just not the same."), 2 mixes for baked stuff. After that we wandered through town heading back here.
In the main square, Sara was running around carrying her ballon swan. She sat down on a cheese display in front of a shop (the cheese was just a wooden demo) and her ballon popped. Bang! It was loud. Her ballon was deflated and she was too. That poor kid. She was stunned that the ballon she loved so much was now gone. She ran to Papa, "can you fix this?" she asked, holding up the pink rubber ballon casing. Ever resourceful, Papa asked Sara to close her eyes, turn around once, hop three times, and while she did all that he blew up a spare ballon he had in his pocket. When she opened her eyes she took the ballon and was happy again. It was "just" a normal ballon, not a swan, but it was a ballon none the less. I suppose I had a hand in the ballon magic, as I'm the one that saw the pile of spare ballons back at the botanical garden and I gave it to Dan. So it was nice he was able to whip it out in Sara's time of disaster - to make everything better again.
Even on-lookers had noticed Sara's ballon trama. The ballon had made such a pop when it broke and she got teary in her heart broken state. But the on-lookers were happy when it was all better with the replacement ballon.
We capped off the ballon loss and replacement with some icecream, which can fix everything. Sara got a chocolate cone and played with her new ballon in the nearly empty ice cream store.
We came back here. Called Dad/Maureen on Skype. Made lunch (rack of lamb). And headed back out for another walk. We strolled up and down streets, noticing the dates on the buildings. 1510. 1630. 1842. There is a bit of everything. We also went into the Vermeer center, and they have Delft pottery for sale from the 1600's and 1700's that is only like 32 Euro. That is amazing, since in the junk shops they sell cheap stuff for that same price - why not get an antique? We didn't buy anything, but maybe we will before we go. Delft is famous for pottery "Delft Blue."
It was a full day. It caps off Dan's 2 week vacation. He'll start telecommuting tomorrow. But he'll spend the morning 'till 2:00 PM with us, so that is good. Then the girls and I can explore a bit or have quiet time - what ever we want!
Quote of the day:
Dan: "I just took Sara's soccer ball away from her, and she lectured me on why it isn't nice to take soccer balls away from little girls."
Another Quote:
Sara: "I'm being so brave sitting on this cheese."
(Right before her ballon popped.)
Sister Quote:
Sara: "Some day, I'm going to have a motor scooter. I'll take Julia for a ride. She can sit on back. I'll drive. It will be no Mama, no Papa, just Julia and I."
Sweet Quote:
Lori: "I love you Sara."
Sara: "I love you too Mom."
(melt my heart)
Good night,
Lori
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Saturday - strolling and enjoying
It is a bit easy to loose track of time - even the day of the week. I had to remind myself that it is Saturday. I guess that means we are all having a good vacation/trip!
So, today we got out of the house early after eating breakfast here (fruit, yogurt, eggs, toast/jam). It was overcast, but not projected to be rainy. We knew there was a market today, but didn't know the details. Thus we went to the tourist information center to ask and sure enough the market was in the area where the flower market was the other day. [It wasn't in the market square, but in a side street.] So we walked over there - no stroller. Sara walked right up to the waffel stand and said "one please" and we got a "stoop waffle" - different than the Belgian waffle - these are thin waffles, served with goo in between two of the thin waffles. Fresh and hot they are tasty. 1.25 Euro - and they are pretty big too. One is enough to share for all three of us.
Dan did all of the shopping at the market. I was with Sara, which means I kept her safe from being hit by a bicycle flying past, other market shoppers, and so forth. She is so energetic that it takes full time attention to answer her questions and ensure her safety. But it is fun. Her newest thing is she has learned the symbol for "no" (the circle with the line through it), so she'll say "no smoking" or "no dogs" or "no food" when she sees the symbol. She doesn't know what "smoking" is - but we pointed a man out today who was smoking and she didn't really understand it.
So Dan got 2 quarts of strawberries, some pork cutlets, some salad stuff, 2 avocados, a rack of lamb, some bread, and two kinds of nuts from the stand that sold nuts. When we were leaving the nut stand, the guy asked us where we were from. When we said Virginia, the man sort of joked that the peanuts we just bought were from Virginia. That was a bit funny. But, we do have the best peanuts so if they are from there that is actually kind of cool! It is just funny to come all the way here to have nuts from our own State.
We came back here to drop all our market stuff off. [This house is remarkably central.] And while we were here we bounced back and forth on whether to eat here or go out for food. We decided to go out, and went to a place that is prized by locals. Oh, it was the best! I had a hamburger, which may not sound exciting, but it was the first such sort of food I've had on the whole trip! And it had cheese (only a bit of cheese), bacon (very salty bacon), pickles, greens, tomatoes, etc on it. I must say it was good. Dan had a prize winning sandwich, that was very deserving of prizes. It was very very very thinly sliced roast beef - I mean almost so thin you could see through it - and on a fresh bun with all sorts of tasty stuff. You may not think that a hamburger and a sandwich is an exciting lunch, but it sure was! We ate outside on the front patio so we could watch the world go by and enjoy the canal. There is a canal everywhere here, just lazy water hanging out along the nifty buildings - drifting under foot bridges and reflecting the trees that grow along side it. The foot bridges are adorable, arching over the canal so sweetly - they look like they belong in paintings.
During lunch we realized Julia had decorated her outfit with poo, so I came back here to change her and give her a fresh outfit. We are that close to everything, that it was easy just to come back here - even during lunch! (Lunch is very relaxed and not a quick thing, so being gone for 10 minutes is no big deal.) Julia is in 9 month clothing now (she is 7 months) - and even the 9 month clothes are starting to be to short for her.
After lunch we did a self guided walking tour we bought from the tourist information center. It lead us around town, telling us history and other tid-bits. We enjoyed it. We didn't finish all of it, since it started to sprinkle rain and we decided to stop for a warm apple tart and coffee. Okay. You haven't had an apple tart/pie 'till you've had it here in the Netherlands/Holland. You think USA has good apple pie? We do, but man-oh-man, the stuff they have here is even better. The "crust" isn't really crust, it is this amazing tasty crunchy tarty like stuff. And it is high! The apple tarts are like 5-6 inches off the plate! We had one to share (and with one fork, Dan/Sara/I were all snatching that fork out of each other's hands) and I had a tomato soup too. Dan had a beer. We had all this in a leafy square covered with cafe tables and loaded with happy people. The trees shielded us from any rain (which had stopped anyway) and we just watched people as we enjoyed. Watching people here means watching some walkers, but mostly people on bikes whizzing by. And they aren't on bikes for "fun" they are basic transportation here - with people carrying huge loads in baskets on the front and sides of their bikes - and often 2 kids too! It is just how they get around - no cars - just bikes!
We did more strolling, saw the old East gate (the only gate still standing in Delft - it is from 1600 or something), did more walking, more fun stuff, and ended up in the market square by the "New Church" and had ice cream. It was a two scooper, and Sara had her little hand on it the whole time. She shares ice cream, but only if she gets to hold it. I can't imagine where she gets her love of ice cream from.
Back here for dinner, Dan made the pork cutlets, salad, and pasta. I was busy with Julia while he cooked and Sara played with the toys the owners provided for her. It is fun to hang out here - it is as if we are locals - hearing the church bells happily chiming music while we eat our dinner on this long wooden table. I looked out of the window during dinner and can see people strolling along the canal, and it is so cute.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the Botanical Garden so we'll see about that. I'm getting some good sleep at night. Julia sometimes lets me sleep for 4 hours at a time! Oh, 4 hours of continuous sleep feels like a dream. I feel so rested after that! And then sometimes I get 4 more too! I wake up in the morning feeling chipper! Sara wakes up right at 8:30. So our typical day is 8:30 - 7:30 with the kids. A full day for sure.
We had stopped Julia's food - only went back to all milk. The baby food wasn't agreeing with her. But I want to be sure she gets enough iron so we gave her some food with fortified oatmeal mixed in (I brought it from home).
Julia is having a mini-wake up, so I"m going up stairs to check on her now.
:) Lori
Friday, October 19, 2012
Friday - day trip to the beach
When we got up today, we planned to go to den Haag to go to the museum that has Vermeer's paintings, and then continue onto the beach.
But, we had a relaxed start to the day here in the house, and when we left to head to the train station, we walked in a creative direction (like the wrong direction) and the 15 minute walk took us an hour. Ooops. So since it was stunning out weather wise, we decided to skip the museum and just go straight to the beach. [Both the museum in "den Haag" and the beach are on tram #1 from here. One is 30 minutes away and the other is 45 minutes away.]
By stunning weather I mean it was sunny - with not even a hint of a breeze. Just perfect Fall weather. We had a small snack at the train station after buying our chip cards (the chip card is a re-usable ticket for riding the tram). [There are trams and trains here. We rode the tram today.]
We got ourselves to the tram stop and waited. Tram #1 arrived. That was ours. People got off, and then other people got on. We waited our turn to get on, when we tried to, we must have looked like cartoon characters - Dan and I were trying to get onto the Tram with a stroller that was just way to wide to fit through the door. Bam! The door shut. But the tram didn't pull away so we pressed the button to re-open the doors. Okay, lets try again. With jack-rabbit speed we released Sara from the stoller and asked her to climb on the tram. Agh, the doors slammed shut again. We re-pressed the button to open the doors. Zip, quick, get Julia out of the Bob Stroller. Agh, the doors just slammed shut - I hope it doesn't drive off with Sara inside. Zip. Quick. Press the button to re-open the doors of the tram. I got on the tram holding Julia. THe doors slammed shut. I re-opened the doors a final time as Dan folded the stroller, flinging the bottle of cola we just bought, and he climbed up the trams steps to get inside. It was a royal mess. But we made it onto the tram, much to the entertainment of everyone around us.
The 45 minute ride was relaxing for me. I sat with Julia on a bench seat on the tram. We looked out the window and I cuddled her. Dan sat with Sara in seats that she choose - about 8 feet from Julia and I. Sara chatted the whole way: "is this our stop Papa? Why isn't this our stop. Where is that lady getting off? Why is that man sitting where that lady sat? Where do we get off Papa? What does that sign mean?" -- she was just a chatter bug supreme! He took video of her chattering, it was rather funny.
We hopped off at the beach. Got some pizza. And then we just enjoyed the beach. By that I mean that we walked 8 miles (Dan has a 'fit bit' that measures his walking). Oh, we strolled on the boardwalk, we enjoyed the pier, we had some ice cream, all the usual stuff. Sara is the one that walked up to the icecream stand and got the ice cream, "I'd like a big ice cream please, with sprinkles" and the lady handed her exactly that. (2 Euro). But then Sara saw a playground on the beach (it was a pirate ship theme) and she handed me her ice cream and RAN to the play ground at top speed. So I got most of the ice cream. Sara played her heart out and invited me to have a "shell party" with her (as usual). The playground was right there in the sand so all the kids loved it.
After that we did more walking - all the way to the end of the path. Then we got some fish from a little food shack (and some french fries slathered with sauce - that means mayonaise) and even Sara liked the fish (just like at the market, she loved the fish!). We walked along the dunes to get back - with was a pretty view - overlooking the beach, the water, the boardwalk, and I must say spending time at the beach is just so pure fun.
We took the tram back around 4-5 PM and gave both kids baths. Sara in the tub and Julia in the kitchen sink. Julia loved her bath - reaching out to play with the water stream as it came down from the faucet. She fit perfectly in the sink in the sitting up position, which made it easy for me to wash her hair and not have to hold her - the sink held her up! Dan did Sara's bath, and it sounded like that went okay but Sara doesn't like having water or soup in her eyes so I did hear a few requests for a towel to dry her face during the bath.
After bathtime we ate dinner - pasta, salads, and vegetables. Easy. We got them to bed around 7:30 and have been hanging out.
As I write this I can hear the town's bells chime. They sometimes do songs and sometimes they clang the time. The roses Dan bought me yesterday are opening up now. There are 3 dozzen of them, so it looks like a field of flowers!
------
Quote of the day: At breakfast
Sara: "Papa, what are you doing?"
Papa: "I'm cutting the cheese."
Sara: "Papa, can I help you cut the cheese?"
------
:) Lori
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Thursday - First day in Delft
After traveling around by car, and staying in hotels for 1 or 2 nights at a time, we are happy to be settled here for 10 nights. It felt nice to unpack. And, we have a washer and dryer here in the house so we can get all our stuff nice and clean!
Last night was our first night in the house and thankfully it was easy. Sara likes her room, complete with the little Hello Kitty mat we bought for her in Brugge Belgium. It makes each room (including the hotels) feel familiar to her. Naturally she has Puppy, Turtle, and Micky Mouse also. The only thing that was off the wall was when I went into Sara's room this morning after she said, "Mama, Papa, I'm awake I'm ready" she was standing on her window sill. "Mama, I'm peeking out from behind this curtain, and I have poo poo" was her greeting. I didn't comment on her window sill location, I don't want to make it a fun game for her to go up there. I just hope she won't do it again. Having poo poo is okay, she still wears a diaper for over night.
Dan went to return the rental car in den Haag so he left around 7:30 AM to be there at 8:00. He was back here by the time we were dressed and ready for the day. He said that the car drop off was easy. He took the tram back from den Haag, and that was easy too. The car rental worked out well.
We headed out of the house early to go to the Thursday Market. It had everything. Olives, Bakery, Meat, Fish, English pies, waffels, fruit, vegetables. And that is just the edible stuff. (They had cheese too, but I'm still on a no-cheese plan). They also had bike supplies, hardware, sewing stuff, clothes, socks, hats, sweaters, shoes, boots, basically if you need it, the market had it. It was held in the market square by the bell tower (which is ringing now at 20:28 PM) and wow, the bells rang all the time during the market - actual songs - not just clang, clang, clang. The songs on the bells were thing you could sing to, including "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music and other songs like Amazing Grace. I loved it - as I like hearing European bells in the first place - and hearing them on a jolly market day made it a positive delight.
Sara, loved the market. That kid just swaggers down the aisles, looking at everything. There are a lot of people at markets so thankfully she stays somewhat close to us, but she does like a bit of independence. She helped me buy: strawberries, 2 cucumbers, 5 kiwi, a bag of yellow peppers, bananas, 2 hair ribbons, 500 Grams of plumbs, tomatoes, 6 muffins, 1 English pie, and I think that is it. People get a huge kick out of her, since she is a confident shopper and doesn't know that 3.5 year olds don't normally stroll up to a market and order things. She is fun to be with. She just skips, looks, talks, and has the best time.
We ate at the market. Surprise. Surprise. There was a fish stand that was making fresh fried fish, which may not sound appealing, but it wasn't gross fried oil smell - they used an excellent batter and some kind of flavor that made the fish taste so good, I got 250 KG for 3.50 Euro, and then went back for 500 KG for 5 Euro. We ate, and ate, and ate. Even Sara kept eating. And, asking for more fish!
Along with the bells that were ringing songs from the bell tower there was a horse drawn music maker that was bellowing songs into the market. It was loud, but a neat novelty. I think it worked off air, and there was a jolly scene to watch while it made music. Needless to say, Market Day was super fun.
We took our first round of things we bought back here. Happily, the location of this house is ideal. Probably a five minute walk to the market, which is the center of town. After relaxing a bit, we went back outside. This time we strolled over to the flower market (down the street from the other market) and did some general walking around. Before coming back here we bought some eggs (fresh eggs, not refrigerated), a coffee, a waffle, and we were all happy.
Delft is darn right adorable. Canals - with little bridges so you can cross them. Churches - with neat decorations and spires. Bikers - no cars, just a zillion people on bikes with baskets on front - or many people cart kids around on their bikes. And the old houses are similar to Bruge/Brugges Belgium where they are really old (often brick) and just almost like out of a fairytale they are so cute. Many go back to 1650 or so - which makes the USA seem like such a baby. Having it be Fall makes things pretty too - with a lot of trees having yellow leaves, which float to the ground when the wind blows.
Dan made dinner. Chicken curry with rice and vegetables. After being on the road in hotels it is refreshing to be able to eat what we cook again. Restaurants/Cafes are fun, but having a family dinner of what we choose to cook is a nice way to have a meal. We also make huge salads with dinner. Sara ate 3 plates of: yellow pepper, cucumber, chicken, green peas, kiwi. Great to see that! She also tried the English pie what we got at the market, which was "Thai chicken" flavor. It was like a pot pie, that we put in the oven 'till it was flakey and delicious.
We noticed there was no coffee maker here. Dan sent an email to the house owner. When we returned there was a brand new coffee maker in the vestibule, and a coloring book for Sara! How nice. :) He also provided a little desk for her to use, which she sits at and colors. And she loves the toys that he provided. Mostly wooden puzzles. We've had to call her to dinner - since she was down stairs playing all by herself so happily. We just love that!
The house owner also told us about a kid event on Sunday that we'll try to go to.
So we are happy here. I'm going to try to get to bed early (like before 10 PM). Right now Dan is learning about "den Haag" where we think we will day trip to tomorrow. It is about 30 minutes away by tram. I am going to wrap up this blog and then enjoy the 3 dozen red roses Dan bought for me at the market. :) They look nice sitting on this wooden table.
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Quote of the day: (We had just returned from our evening walk.)
Papa: "Sara, come over here and hang up your coat."
Sara: "Okay Papa."
Sara: "Here you go Papa."
Papa: "I think our daughter just tipped me for hanging up her coat. She handed me her coat, then gave me a 50 cent piece!"
----
Good night,
Lori
Last night was our first night in the house and thankfully it was easy. Sara likes her room, complete with the little Hello Kitty mat we bought for her in Brugge Belgium. It makes each room (including the hotels) feel familiar to her. Naturally she has Puppy, Turtle, and Micky Mouse also. The only thing that was off the wall was when I went into Sara's room this morning after she said, "Mama, Papa, I'm awake I'm ready" she was standing on her window sill. "Mama, I'm peeking out from behind this curtain, and I have poo poo" was her greeting. I didn't comment on her window sill location, I don't want to make it a fun game for her to go up there. I just hope she won't do it again. Having poo poo is okay, she still wears a diaper for over night.
Dan went to return the rental car in den Haag so he left around 7:30 AM to be there at 8:00. He was back here by the time we were dressed and ready for the day. He said that the car drop off was easy. He took the tram back from den Haag, and that was easy too. The car rental worked out well.
We headed out of the house early to go to the Thursday Market. It had everything. Olives, Bakery, Meat, Fish, English pies, waffels, fruit, vegetables. And that is just the edible stuff. (They had cheese too, but I'm still on a no-cheese plan). They also had bike supplies, hardware, sewing stuff, clothes, socks, hats, sweaters, shoes, boots, basically if you need it, the market had it. It was held in the market square by the bell tower (which is ringing now at 20:28 PM) and wow, the bells rang all the time during the market - actual songs - not just clang, clang, clang. The songs on the bells were thing you could sing to, including "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music and other songs like Amazing Grace. I loved it - as I like hearing European bells in the first place - and hearing them on a jolly market day made it a positive delight.
Sara, loved the market. That kid just swaggers down the aisles, looking at everything. There are a lot of people at markets so thankfully she stays somewhat close to us, but she does like a bit of independence. She helped me buy: strawberries, 2 cucumbers, 5 kiwi, a bag of yellow peppers, bananas, 2 hair ribbons, 500 Grams of plumbs, tomatoes, 6 muffins, 1 English pie, and I think that is it. People get a huge kick out of her, since she is a confident shopper and doesn't know that 3.5 year olds don't normally stroll up to a market and order things. She is fun to be with. She just skips, looks, talks, and has the best time.
We ate at the market. Surprise. Surprise. There was a fish stand that was making fresh fried fish, which may not sound appealing, but it wasn't gross fried oil smell - they used an excellent batter and some kind of flavor that made the fish taste so good, I got 250 KG for 3.50 Euro, and then went back for 500 KG for 5 Euro. We ate, and ate, and ate. Even Sara kept eating. And, asking for more fish!
Along with the bells that were ringing songs from the bell tower there was a horse drawn music maker that was bellowing songs into the market. It was loud, but a neat novelty. I think it worked off air, and there was a jolly scene to watch while it made music. Needless to say, Market Day was super fun.
We took our first round of things we bought back here. Happily, the location of this house is ideal. Probably a five minute walk to the market, which is the center of town. After relaxing a bit, we went back outside. This time we strolled over to the flower market (down the street from the other market) and did some general walking around. Before coming back here we bought some eggs (fresh eggs, not refrigerated), a coffee, a waffle, and we were all happy.
Delft is darn right adorable. Canals - with little bridges so you can cross them. Churches - with neat decorations and spires. Bikers - no cars, just a zillion people on bikes with baskets on front - or many people cart kids around on their bikes. And the old houses are similar to Bruge/Brugges Belgium where they are really old (often brick) and just almost like out of a fairytale they are so cute. Many go back to 1650 or so - which makes the USA seem like such a baby. Having it be Fall makes things pretty too - with a lot of trees having yellow leaves, which float to the ground when the wind blows.
Dan made dinner. Chicken curry with rice and vegetables. After being on the road in hotels it is refreshing to be able to eat what we cook again. Restaurants/Cafes are fun, but having a family dinner of what we choose to cook is a nice way to have a meal. We also make huge salads with dinner. Sara ate 3 plates of: yellow pepper, cucumber, chicken, green peas, kiwi. Great to see that! She also tried the English pie what we got at the market, which was "Thai chicken" flavor. It was like a pot pie, that we put in the oven 'till it was flakey and delicious.
We noticed there was no coffee maker here. Dan sent an email to the house owner. When we returned there was a brand new coffee maker in the vestibule, and a coloring book for Sara! How nice. :) He also provided a little desk for her to use, which she sits at and colors. And she loves the toys that he provided. Mostly wooden puzzles. We've had to call her to dinner - since she was down stairs playing all by herself so happily. We just love that!
The house owner also told us about a kid event on Sunday that we'll try to go to.
So we are happy here. I'm going to try to get to bed early (like before 10 PM). Right now Dan is learning about "den Haag" where we think we will day trip to tomorrow. It is about 30 minutes away by tram. I am going to wrap up this blog and then enjoy the 3 dozen red roses Dan bought for me at the market. :) They look nice sitting on this wooden table.
------
Quote of the day: (We had just returned from our evening walk.)
Papa: "Sara, come over here and hang up your coat."
Sara: "Okay Papa."
Sara: "Here you go Papa."
Papa: "I think our daughter just tipped me for hanging up her coat. She handed me her coat, then gave me a 50 cent piece!"
----
Good night,
Lori
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Wednesday - travel day to Holland
We got up in Belgium, and now we are in the Netherlands (Holland). Here is a bit about our day:
Like usual we got up around 8:38 AM and went to the "Hotel" breakfast (this hotel has probably 20 rooms - it is a small place). We were the only people in the breakfast room, which is a room on the second floor of the restaurant - and it overlooks the brewery exterior. [The view is very cool.] It was a cozy breakfast, with Sara ever-eager to obtain things from the buffet.
We packed up, and left. The drive was easy. Along big highways and not the little tiny roads that we've been taking. One stop to go to the bathroom lead us to a gorgeous roadside restaurant where we decided to have some lunch. I had mushroom soup (no cheese!) and Dan had a roast beef sandwich. It was funny - we had just crossed the border into Holland/Netherlands and they supplied "tap water" where in Belgium you never, never, never saw tap water. You had to buy a drink or go thirsty. (We would re-fill water bottles with tap water before heading out - that worked well.)
Anyway, we decided to visit the beach at "Scheveningen" before arriving at Delft. It was awesome. Like, totally way cool. It had a huge sand dune area (with biking, walking paths). It had a long boardwalk/promenade perfect for strolling. And, it had a pier for you to walk out on. The best part was the boardwalk/promenade which was happily crawling with bicyclists, walkers, and happy people. Along the left side were the shops, restaurants, and so forth. Along the right side was the beach. And after the beach came the water - as far as the eye could see all the way to the sky.
Our beach time was so perfect I felt like we were part of a movie. There was a slight breeze, sun in the sky, sea-gulls soaring in the air, and Sara was jubilent. She road the carousel 4 times (at a total cost of 6 Euro) and that kid just loved it. She choice a carousel horse 3 times and a motorcycle one other time. Yes, the carousel had 1 motorcycle on it - all the other choices were vintage horses. We loved the music on the carousel. So funky. Sara was the picture of cuteness with her hair blowing in the breeze as she went round and round on the sea side carousel. Like I said, it was so perfect it was like we were in a movie.
We went onto the beach and had several "sea shell parties" where SAra and I sat in the sand and played with shells. There is something about playing in the sand next to the rolling surf that is magical. Dan stayed up on the boardwalk with Julia to keep her out of the sea breeze, which was a good idea as it is Fall afterall and Julia is still only 7 months old! She is such a trooper to go along on all these adventures with us! She never is anything but happy. The only time she cries is right before she needs to sleep, and so we just help her get to sleep and all is well. :)
Hopefully we will go back to Scheveningen sometime in the next 10 days, as it is an easy tram ride from where we are now "Delft." We planned to turn in the rental car today, but kept it for one extra day and Dan will go out to return it in the morning. There is no need for a car here in Delft.
We are in a "Home Away" here. There are 3 floors. The bottom floor is kind of like a big living room, the main floor has the kitchen, dining area, bathroom, etc. The top floor is for sleeping. Sara has a room and Dan/Julia/I have a room. It is very comfortable. I think this house was built in 1650 or something. I'll have to look that up. It is very historic anyway. And, we are across the canal (the house is canal side) from the oldest fish market in the world (?) and perhaps even one of the oldest stores in the world (?). We read that, but it is hard to believe?
Dan and I have been to Delft before, which is why we picked it to come back to with the kids. We liked it the first time and wanted to spend more time here. The owners of the house we are in (who we met when we got here) have two girls also - that are around 5 years old so they gave us all sorts of toys and books for Sara. She is beyond thrilled with that.
Dan has been on vacation for nearly 2 weeks now, and will go back to telecommuting on Monday. That means that the next few days and the weekend are a really good chance to do fun family stuff. The whole trip is 1 month, so about half vacation and half working.
Well, time to sign off. It has gotten pretty late!
:) Lori
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Tuesday - finish up the day
So. We are here for two nights. We picked this town and this hotel due to the brewery next door/adjacent to here. The idea was to get a brewery tour and not have to hurry our visit.
Ha. There are only brewery tours on weekends. So since it is Tuesday, we were feeling a bit goofy.
But we are on vacation and we just had a laugh about it. We decided to make the most of our free day (since the brewery tour was all we really had planned). It felt oddly freeing to have "nothing" to do. Do you know what? It made for a great day!
Mechelen is a really great place! Even though it is not in our guide book (not at all) it really should be. We like it better than some other the places that were in the guide book! There is awesome strolling, fantastic pedestrian streets with shopping and strolling, a great park (with a play area!), a canal side stroll, and even a very impressive grand market place (a market place is a wide open area, ringed by impressive buildings, that is sort of a place for everyone to enjoy).
We stumbled into nooks with gardens, we found streets lined with great shops, we found the best lunch ever (and I mean it was an awesome lunch at this great Brasserie/Cafe where I had scampi in tomato sause and Dan had a goat cheese salad). It was just a carefree, perfect strolling day - and we were amazed that it was so nice since it wasn't in the guide book at all! The locals are so happy. They are everywhere on their bikes and there feet, walking all over this wonderful place. Cars? Why? Just walk or bike.
For dinner we went to the restaurant associated with the brewery - a family run place with a great chef, and had a wonderful meal. I had a stir fry pasta with vegetables (no cheese!) and Dan had beef. Sara ate chicken, tomatoes, and some wheat bread. The brewery makes excellent beer. I usally don't like beer very much, but I do agree with Dan that Belgian beer is very good.
We were supposed to return our rental car tomorrow, but we think we will extend our contract one additional day. It will making things easier.
So, I know I didn't really dive into details on this day , or this lovely place that we found. We were just happy as ever that it turned out to be such a great place - since the whole reason we came here (for the brewery tour) wasn't even possible on a Tuesday! So a nice surprise for us, and a restful, fun day of exploring came true.
Sara is still goofing around, so I'm going to try to get her to sleep and head to sleep myself. Good night.
Lori
Ha. There are only brewery tours on weekends. So since it is Tuesday, we were feeling a bit goofy.
But we are on vacation and we just had a laugh about it. We decided to make the most of our free day (since the brewery tour was all we really had planned). It felt oddly freeing to have "nothing" to do. Do you know what? It made for a great day!
Mechelen is a really great place! Even though it is not in our guide book (not at all) it really should be. We like it better than some other the places that were in the guide book! There is awesome strolling, fantastic pedestrian streets with shopping and strolling, a great park (with a play area!), a canal side stroll, and even a very impressive grand market place (a market place is a wide open area, ringed by impressive buildings, that is sort of a place for everyone to enjoy).
We stumbled into nooks with gardens, we found streets lined with great shops, we found the best lunch ever (and I mean it was an awesome lunch at this great Brasserie/Cafe where I had scampi in tomato sause and Dan had a goat cheese salad). It was just a carefree, perfect strolling day - and we were amazed that it was so nice since it wasn't in the guide book at all! The locals are so happy. They are everywhere on their bikes and there feet, walking all over this wonderful place. Cars? Why? Just walk or bike.
For dinner we went to the restaurant associated with the brewery - a family run place with a great chef, and had a wonderful meal. I had a stir fry pasta with vegetables (no cheese!) and Dan had beef. Sara ate chicken, tomatoes, and some wheat bread. The brewery makes excellent beer. I usally don't like beer very much, but I do agree with Dan that Belgian beer is very good.
We were supposed to return our rental car tomorrow, but we think we will extend our contract one additional day. It will making things easier.
So, I know I didn't really dive into details on this day , or this lovely place that we found. We were just happy as ever that it turned out to be such a great place - since the whole reason we came here (for the brewery tour) wasn't even possible on a Tuesday! So a nice surprise for us, and a restful, fun day of exploring came true.
Sara is still goofing around, so I'm going to try to get her to sleep and head to sleep myself. Good night.
Lori
Tuesday - Mechelen, Belgium
As I write this it is Tuesday night. Julia is alseep in her crib. Dan is at the brewpub that is adjacent to the hotel (it is a family run brewery that is associated with this hotel - they are linked). And Sara is in bed.
But I just heard Sara sing, "twinkle twinkle little star," in her soft voice. I figured she was singing her Puppy a good night song, but she was standing in the window, looking outside at the stars. "Mama I see stars in the sky," she said. It was sweet to look over and see her soft profile looking outside and into the sky.
I have to settle her - get her to sleep - so to be continued.
But I just heard Sara sing, "twinkle twinkle little star," in her soft voice. I figured she was singing her Puppy a good night song, but she was standing in the window, looking outside at the stars. "Mama I see stars in the sky," she said. It was sweet to look over and see her soft profile looking outside and into the sky.
I have to settle her - get her to sleep - so to be continued.
Monday - to finish up
So the Abbey visit was great, just like the gardens were earlier in the day. We recognized that this was turning out to be one super day. I don't remember the name of the Abbey right now, but it is certainly built to handle a lot of visitors, so I guess it is popular.
We poured the kids into the car (after having ice cream) and drove to Mechelen, Belgium. It took about 1.5 hours, which seems like a long drive in Belgium because in general the distances are short here (small country). We hit Brussels traffic, which was fine, sort of even interesting. At one point Julia was vocal about wanting something to eat, so we got off the highway so I could nurse her. That was easy. Luckily the turn off we picked allowed us to get right back on the road with no additional driving. The "highways" here are 2-3 lanes.The are lit with over head lights, that look yellow (not white) to me. The lights actually make it easier to drive as you can really see the road ahead, not by the road itself, but by the lights. Like your eye sees the lights bend and you know that the road bends too.
We got here, where we are now, pretty late by kid standards. About 7 PM. Dan ran inside to get our key, we parked, and found our room. #16. It is a triple room. Sara has her own twin bed, we have a double, and Julia a crib. Same setup as usual. After our Namur hotel, this hotel seems so straightforward, just one staircase!
Instead of going out to dinner, we got some food from the hotel restarant (in another building) and ate it here. This hotel is adjacent to (and part of?) a family run brewery. It is actually very unique. And, the food is astonding. Like tasty! We had fish, and some beef for dinner that was as good as a fine dining place at home. It was 41 Euro, but worth it. Sara liked the beef, and also had a little of the fish too.
Getting the kids to bed was easy. Zzzzzzzz.
Quote of the day "Mama, what is behind my belly button?"
--
Another Quote:
Papa: "Sara what do you want for dinner?"
Sara: "Fruit and vegetables."
Mama: "Good girl SAra!"
---
So it was a great day. A magical garden, under a perfect sunny sky, and exploring it all to our selves, with waterfalls, fountains, and something new around every corner (so cool). An interesting Abbey where we had fresh beer brewed there (and no cheese). And some neat country driving. All in all a terrific day.
Good night. :) Lori
We poured the kids into the car (after having ice cream) and drove to Mechelen, Belgium. It took about 1.5 hours, which seems like a long drive in Belgium because in general the distances are short here (small country). We hit Brussels traffic, which was fine, sort of even interesting. At one point Julia was vocal about wanting something to eat, so we got off the highway so I could nurse her. That was easy. Luckily the turn off we picked allowed us to get right back on the road with no additional driving. The "highways" here are 2-3 lanes.The are lit with over head lights, that look yellow (not white) to me. The lights actually make it easier to drive as you can really see the road ahead, not by the road itself, but by the lights. Like your eye sees the lights bend and you know that the road bends too.
We got here, where we are now, pretty late by kid standards. About 7 PM. Dan ran inside to get our key, we parked, and found our room. #16. It is a triple room. Sara has her own twin bed, we have a double, and Julia a crib. Same setup as usual. After our Namur hotel, this hotel seems so straightforward, just one staircase!
Instead of going out to dinner, we got some food from the hotel restarant (in another building) and ate it here. This hotel is adjacent to (and part of?) a family run brewery. It is actually very unique. And, the food is astonding. Like tasty! We had fish, and some beef for dinner that was as good as a fine dining place at home. It was 41 Euro, but worth it. Sara liked the beef, and also had a little of the fish too.
Getting the kids to bed was easy. Zzzzzzzz.
Quote of the day "Mama, what is behind my belly button?"
--
Another Quote:
Papa: "Sara what do you want for dinner?"
Sara: "Fruit and vegetables."
Mama: "Good girl SAra!"
---
So it was a great day. A magical garden, under a perfect sunny sky, and exploring it all to our selves, with waterfalls, fountains, and something new around every corner (so cool). An interesting Abbey where we had fresh beer brewed there (and no cheese). And some neat country driving. All in all a terrific day.
Good night. :) Lori
Monday - continued - two great stops
We left Namur in our rental car soon after breakfast. The day started a bit oddly weather wise, we weren't sure what kind of day it would be. Rainy? Drizzle? Sunny? No matter, we have rain coats and luckly we don't melt.
The car ride was a joy. The Belgian country side was like a painting, with deep green grass stretching as far as the eye can see. Cows nibbling grass. Rock buildings punctuating the landscape. Forests. Streams. And when we weren't in the middle of no where, we'd drive through small towns, that were cute as a button - like with houses lining the main street, a church in the center of town, a butcher, baker, etc. The towns are adorable.
We were literally in the middle of no where when I looked at our built in GPS and said, "we'll be there in 20 minutes." Dan said, "in 20 minutes, we'll be 20 minutes from no where." It is true. It seems like it is just us and the Earth - Belgium is very un spoiled and you couldn't ask for a prettier place to drive. It is the most relaxing, peaceful thing. And a treat to look around out the windows. It is funny how driving has become part of the treat of this trip - not just transportation - but sightseeng out our own windows. Awesome really.
Lo and behold, soon we were 2 minutes from our destination. Then 1 minute. We saw a parking lot, decided that was for us. Parked. Sara got out of the car and ran across the whole parking lot. Perhaps that sounds scary, but there was no one else around. No cars. And the parking lot was basically a field. We just let her run - even though the drive was only an hour, she probably was glad to stretch her legs.
So, where were we? We were here: http://www.annevoie.be/index.cfm
All we knew about the place was the small blurb in our guide book. We had never even been to the website. The guide book said "this should top your sightseeing list for this area." Okay. Sure, we may as well go there we thought.
Oh my goodness. This place was ***awesome***. And even better? We were the only people there. Yup, we had this whole magical place to ourselves. It was built and designed a long time ago, as gardens for some rich guy, and the highlight is the fountains. There are no motors, all the fountains function naturally without pumps. Jets! Fountains! Pools! Swans! Beautiful beyond belief. Since we didn't know anything about the place before hand, we had no expectations, and around every bend we just let our eyes feast on the sheer beauty. There was one time, that I looked up, to see sun light peeking through a grove of trees up on a hill, and surrounding that was a waterfall, a a fan fountain, and swans swimming around. It could not have been more beautiful if someone painted a picture of what positive beauty is. If you go to the website (which you should!) click on "continue in English" (near the left) to see the photo gallery. And the history of the place is fascinating.
This is another good website of it: http://discoveringbelgium.com/2011/06/05/annevoie-gardens/
Oh, what a place! It had an on-site restaurant, which may as well been our private dining room. Literally we were the only people there. We had a fantastic meal, overlooking the gardens right by the window. I had pumpkin soup, Sara had chicken, and Dan had a salad. I did not have any cheese. Agh. No cheese please.
After that our spirits and belly were full. We let Sara play on the playground (in one part of the garden) and she loved that. Such true sweet glistening smiles she gets when she plays! She nearly skips around the whole place, not even touching the ground she's so happy! The weather turned out to be a gift too - just sunny, magnificent, and perfect Fall day. Seriously, we couldn't have ordered a more perfect Belgian experience if we tried.
Back to the car, we drove to our next stop. An Abbey. (Yes, we saw monks.) Dan likes beer, especially Belgian beer, so going to Abbey's that brew beer is loads of fun for him. This Abbey was, like everything, is, in the **middle of no where**. The only way we figured we were close to something was that a stone wall was built a long the wall, then we saw a castle like turret, then we saw a place to turn.
As it turns out, this was a big place. A big parking lot (lined with these gorgeous yellow trees - Fall colors are so nice here), was easy to park in. I'd say it was 5% full, which means there must be a lot of poeople that come here in the summer. We strolled the Abbey, then went to the restaurant complex. We had another meal. Steak, fries, pasta, etc, beer. And, we got to eat outside in the beer garden under these big leafy trees while Sara played in their awesome playground! I love these places that have play grounds! :)
One of the things in this playground was a zip line. Sara and I climbed the platform to prepare her to do it, and she said "I don't want to" So we got down. But after Dan ran along side her one time - she loved it so much, she must have done that zip line 20 times. "Faster!" "Can I do that again?" She kept saying! Oh, her dimples were shining on her cheeks with huge smiles!
Going to publish this - to be continued -
The car ride was a joy. The Belgian country side was like a painting, with deep green grass stretching as far as the eye can see. Cows nibbling grass. Rock buildings punctuating the landscape. Forests. Streams. And when we weren't in the middle of no where, we'd drive through small towns, that were cute as a button - like with houses lining the main street, a church in the center of town, a butcher, baker, etc. The towns are adorable.
We were literally in the middle of no where when I looked at our built in GPS and said, "we'll be there in 20 minutes." Dan said, "in 20 minutes, we'll be 20 minutes from no where." It is true. It seems like it is just us and the Earth - Belgium is very un spoiled and you couldn't ask for a prettier place to drive. It is the most relaxing, peaceful thing. And a treat to look around out the windows. It is funny how driving has become part of the treat of this trip - not just transportation - but sightseeng out our own windows. Awesome really.
Lo and behold, soon we were 2 minutes from our destination. Then 1 minute. We saw a parking lot, decided that was for us. Parked. Sara got out of the car and ran across the whole parking lot. Perhaps that sounds scary, but there was no one else around. No cars. And the parking lot was basically a field. We just let her run - even though the drive was only an hour, she probably was glad to stretch her legs.
So, where were we? We were here: http://www.annevoie.be/index.cfm
All we knew about the place was the small blurb in our guide book. We had never even been to the website. The guide book said "this should top your sightseeing list for this area." Okay. Sure, we may as well go there we thought.
Oh my goodness. This place was ***awesome***. And even better? We were the only people there. Yup, we had this whole magical place to ourselves. It was built and designed a long time ago, as gardens for some rich guy, and the highlight is the fountains. There are no motors, all the fountains function naturally without pumps. Jets! Fountains! Pools! Swans! Beautiful beyond belief. Since we didn't know anything about the place before hand, we had no expectations, and around every bend we just let our eyes feast on the sheer beauty. There was one time, that I looked up, to see sun light peeking through a grove of trees up on a hill, and surrounding that was a waterfall, a a fan fountain, and swans swimming around. It could not have been more beautiful if someone painted a picture of what positive beauty is. If you go to the website (which you should!) click on "continue in English" (near the left) to see the photo gallery. And the history of the place is fascinating.
This is another good website of it: http://discoveringbelgium.com/2011/06/05/annevoie-gardens/
Oh, what a place! It had an on-site restaurant, which may as well been our private dining room. Literally we were the only people there. We had a fantastic meal, overlooking the gardens right by the window. I had pumpkin soup, Sara had chicken, and Dan had a salad. I did not have any cheese. Agh. No cheese please.
After that our spirits and belly were full. We let Sara play on the playground (in one part of the garden) and she loved that. Such true sweet glistening smiles she gets when she plays! She nearly skips around the whole place, not even touching the ground she's so happy! The weather turned out to be a gift too - just sunny, magnificent, and perfect Fall day. Seriously, we couldn't have ordered a more perfect Belgian experience if we tried.
Back to the car, we drove to our next stop. An Abbey. (Yes, we saw monks.) Dan likes beer, especially Belgian beer, so going to Abbey's that brew beer is loads of fun for him. This Abbey was, like everything, is, in the **middle of no where**. The only way we figured we were close to something was that a stone wall was built a long the wall, then we saw a castle like turret, then we saw a place to turn.
As it turns out, this was a big place. A big parking lot (lined with these gorgeous yellow trees - Fall colors are so nice here), was easy to park in. I'd say it was 5% full, which means there must be a lot of poeople that come here in the summer. We strolled the Abbey, then went to the restaurant complex. We had another meal. Steak, fries, pasta, etc, beer. And, we got to eat outside in the beer garden under these big leafy trees while Sara played in their awesome playground! I love these places that have play grounds! :)
One of the things in this playground was a zip line. Sara and I climbed the platform to prepare her to do it, and she said "I don't want to" So we got down. But after Dan ran along side her one time - she loved it so much, she must have done that zip line 20 times. "Faster!" "Can I do that again?" She kept saying! Oh, her dimples were shining on her cheeks with huge smiles!
Going to publish this - to be continued -
Monday - Wow, what a day
So we woke up in Namur. Sara said, "Mama, Papa, I'm awake I'm ready" about 5 times before we woke up enough to go into her room (down 4 stairs from our room, but in the same suite). Sara woke Julia up, so we all got ready to start the day.
Sara gets out of her PJs and into her clothes all by her self. This AM, she was a bit of a goof towards Papa, and I said, "you should thank Papa for feeding and clothing you." And Dan said, "yeah, you say that when she is naked and hungry" which she was - since she was still getting dressed and we hadn't had breakfast yet. It was funny.
We went up, down, around, up, down, around, snaking our way through the interior of the hotel to the breakfast room. It cost 10Euro / person extra. We found a table (there was only one other group there), put Julia in the bouncy seat next to us, and ate and ate and ate. This is the first place where we could get our own coffee (instead of a server bringing it to us cup by cup) so we each had a dozen cups of coffee. Even me. And I don't usually drink caffine. We also had yogurt, ham, cheese, juice, breads, and the usual stuff. Actually, I vowed to have a cheese free day - (I'm so sick of cheese!) so I didn't have any cheese. That is saying something, as everything has cheese or is served with cheese here. It is nice cheese, made locally, but man, how much cheese can one person eat? I'm at my limit.
--To be continued -
Sara gets out of her PJs and into her clothes all by her self. This AM, she was a bit of a goof towards Papa, and I said, "you should thank Papa for feeding and clothing you." And Dan said, "yeah, you say that when she is naked and hungry" which she was - since she was still getting dressed and we hadn't had breakfast yet. It was funny.
We went up, down, around, up, down, around, snaking our way through the interior of the hotel to the breakfast room. It cost 10Euro / person extra. We found a table (there was only one other group there), put Julia in the bouncy seat next to us, and ate and ate and ate. This is the first place where we could get our own coffee (instead of a server bringing it to us cup by cup) so we each had a dozen cups of coffee. Even me. And I don't usually drink caffine. We also had yogurt, ham, cheese, juice, breads, and the usual stuff. Actually, I vowed to have a cheese free day - (I'm so sick of cheese!) so I didn't have any cheese. That is saying something, as everything has cheese or is served with cheese here. It is nice cheese, made locally, but man, how much cheese can one person eat? I'm at my limit.
--To be continued -
Sunday - Lux. to Namur (Belgium)
Woke up (Sunday) at our normal time 8:38. I don't know why it is always about that time that we hear, "Mama, Papa, I'm awake I'm ready." That is what Sara always says. She never leaves bed. She stays there 'till we walk and get her. In this hotel (Hotel Royal) we have a normal hotel room (not a suite or anything), with Julia by the windows, Dan and I next to her crib, in a Queen bed, then we have some space (with a table etc) and then Sara's twin (roll-away) bed by the other wall. After Sara's bed is the bathroom. The room has a trouser press, just in case we wanted our pants to look extra nice. Right. Having pressed pants would be nice, as would wearing socks that I haven't already worn for two days straight.
Naturally, we went right down to the fancy breakfast. It ends at 11:00 AM, and we like to maximize the time we can chow down (I mean the time that we can eat delicately with good manners.) The lady remembered us (how could she not?) and tried to give us the same table (which we wanted), but it was taken so we sat near the windows. Sara loved going up to the breakfast buffet. It didn't matter if the food was for her or for one of us. She just loved the process of walking up to the buffet, looking it over, and getting something. She liked the cereal dispensers, which were cool. You put your bowl underneath and spin a silver knob to get cereal. "Is that enough Mama?" she'd ask. "Yes, that's enough." I'd answer. She also liked to get us juice, and I'd have her carry the glasses with two hands. She'd take careful steps all the way back to the table and not spill a drop. She is a good kid. She just loves doing things - even things that we think are normal like going to a buffet. To a kid, that is super fun.
I liked the yogurt. It was "natural" and delicious. They also had ham that you could carve and all the same stuff I described yesterday. I asked for "one order of french toast and one order of pancakes" and they brought me 1 piece of french toast and 1 pancake. It was funny. (All that kind of food comes from the server, while the other stuff comes from the buffet.)
After breakfast we packed up our room, which we managed to get just full of our stuff every where, and left. It wasn't raining anymore. The city was fresh and clean. The check out was easy, and they gave us a free voucher to cover our 50Euro parking. The bell-hops helped with our luggage (probably wondering how we get all our luggage into the rental van we have) and then we were off.
As we drove out of Luxembourg Sara asked where we were going. "What is next? How many sleeps are there?" We told her we were going to Namur, and that there was one sleep there.
Before leaving Luxembourg Dan got Diesel for the VW we are renting. He had heard that gas/diesel is cheaper here - so we may as well fill up here. Even so, it was over 50 Euro, and the tank wasn't empty.
Our drive to Namur (Belgium) was short and easy. Through the country. Belgium is so pretty! Very green, un-spoiled, many farms, and few towns. It was cold when we got to Namur. Our hotel was sort of on a deep side street, so we parked against a brick wall and ran in to check in.
Whao. Our hotel (which we got from the Frommer's book) is a set of renovated townhouses that is now a hotel. Our room was up steps, around a corner, up more steps, around another corner, down steps, up steps, through a door way, up a passage way and then up some more steps to door 16. It was funny how convoluted it was to get there. We set our stuff in our room, before going out to find some dinner. Dan was done before Sara and I were, so he took Julia to the front desk to ask for dinner recommendations. Sara and I were to catch up to him. Right. I tried leading Sara back to the front desk, and I ended up on the street level (after several steps and passage ways) and we were on a whole other block! I had to wrap around the exterior of the building, hoping we'd find Dan and Julia - and since we'd just gotten to the town, it was a tad harum-scarum -- but we did find them! As it turns out our hotel was lovely, it is just that the interior of it is very, very, very odd.
Ah, dinner. At 3:40 PM. Right. In the US, maybe. But here? Things don't open 'till 7:00. We needed to find "non-stop" kitchen. That is the only thing that could feed us at this non-meal time. I was starving. We hadn't really had lunch, so I was ready to eat a napkin if it looked tasty. When we saw "Pizza Hut" it looked like a beacon of food. We decided if we didn't find anything else, we'd just eat there. After a few minutes, and a few closed restaurants, we did indeed eat at Pizza Hut.
Not to worry. Pizza Hut in Belgium isn't that lame. In fact the familiar-ness was a good thing. And it wasn't like a carbon copy of what it is in the US, so it was kind of interesting to see what it is like here. I had lasagna, and tomato soup (though I must have ordered two soups, as the server bought two!) and Dan had a pizza. They speak French or Flemish here. Mostly French. The food was good, and they had markers, and a whole packet of kid activities. But the best thing was the had balloons for kids. Sara just loves balloons
We had a nice stroll in central Namur after our early dinner. Past churches, down pedestrian streets, past shops (mostly closed since it is Sunday), and out with other people strolling too. We got some treats to go at one place, and we got ice cream at another. I got Sara her own ice cream cone - chocolate - and the man who made the cone made it HUGE. And I got Dan and I a two scoop to share - and it was huge too. Perhaps he felt sorry for my lame attempt at French. I did a bunch of pointing, smiling, and he was perhaps humored by me. Our ice cream was so much it was almost too much - that it is saying something! It was all under 5 Euro.
We turned in for the night sort of early. It felt good to have some time to relax in our room. Just as the hotel had an odd interior configuration, our room was odd. You walked in, and Sara had a room, then up three timbered steps was a second room (with a timbered ceiling) for Dan, Julia and I. Off Sara's room was a balcony, that peeked out onto the roof top. We also had a room with a potty, and another room with a whirl pool jacuzzi tub. Sara and I made good use of that, taking bubble baths.
Only "one sleep" (one night) here. I watched the first TV of the trip (we've been gone for 2 weeks) and saw something about the debates. CNN international was covering them. It is easy to forget how soon the election is.
I had some nice Mother daughter time with Julia this evening. She wasn't ready to go to bed, so I had her on my lap while we watched CNN, and I also sang to her and tickled her. She is just the best baby. So happy (always!) and just gleeful. She looks me in the eye and is a pleasure to be with. We've stopped giving her baby food, she is back on just my milk. The food here wasn't agreeing with her. We may try again in Holland/Netherlands, but the food in Belgium just wan't her cup of tea. Once we stopped the food, she seemed happier. (Normal poops, less gas etc).
So, good night. Another fun day. :) Lori
Monday, October 15, 2012
Saturday - the remainder of the day
So, the walking tour suggested by the tourist office was a lot of fun. It was a self-guided walking tour, which lead us all around Luxembourg city. We walked down steep streets (and I mean very steep), we trudged back up steep streets (and I mean so steep they even slowed Sara down). So steep, that they required switch-backs to zig zag the slope. My goodness. These people have hills.
A highlight of the walking tour was an overlook that they called a "balcony" where you stand there (outside) and look down over the old town. So you are standing *way* up high, and you feel like a bird hovering over houses/streets/etc that are much lower. Almost like you are a giant, looking down over a train set, except that the train set is real. And then, sure enough, we walked down the hill to actually be down there - which was neat, since then we could look back up.
Most things are made of stone here. And things are big. Big tall arches. Tall fortifications. I guess the fortifications are why Luxembourg managed to stay its own country all this time, and not be invaded and taken over. Good for them.
The city is not sleepy. There is a hustle-bustle here. People in suits walking with purpose. Business. Business. We passed many groups of people walking and talking, as if they were finishing a meeting out in the street on their way to lunch. There are also plenty of young people milling around. And as always in Europe, there were plenty of the older generation walking around (like 80+). They shuffled down the streets in their sensible shoes and sensible coat. Going from Point A from Point B as they probably have for a decade or so.
After the walking tour we went back to the hotel (Hotel Royal). I was tired. So after getting Julia down for a nap, I curled into a ball on the bed and was out too. I heard Dan putting Sara down for a nap, "Papa, I'm not tired, I don't want to sleep" she'd say. "Okay, you don't have to sleep, just lay down and give puppy a hug" he replied. And it worked. She gave her puppy stuffed animal a hug and was zonked out. We slept from 3:30 - 5:30.
When we woke the city was being cleaned. By they I mean it was getting a shower. Rain. Drops pelted down. No one was outside. These people are smart, why be out in the rain? We ordered room service, relaxed, and got to bed at a decent hour.
It was a full day, with the walking tour and the markets taking up much of our time. We did (naturally) get some Luxembourg style cookies, which they called macaroons. Here they are colorful round things about the size of a half dollar, filled with some goo. Sara liked them. They are 1.10 Euro each. When I said, "one of each color" to the lady in the store, at first she offered me a box of 25 of them, so I was glad that I repeated "one" of each color - so we got 9 of them total, which was more then enough!
I think I skipped over lunch. Mid way in our walking tour our stomachs were ready to eat, so we strolled past a tiny whole in the wall place that looked like it would be good, and yet quick. So often a cafe lunch is a long stop, which is okay if that is what you want. We wanted quick. We had a salad, a baguette sandwich, and a soda. There were maybe 10 seats in the whole cafe, so we just found a small table for 4 and ate. There wasn't room for the stroller in side, so we left it outside. The meal was good, easy, and we were back on our way soon.
One more night here. We leave Sunday. Goodnight. :) Lori
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