Dinant Belgium

Last weekend I took the girls and my mom to Dinant Belgium. I had learned of this jewel of a city from my good friend Laurel who went there with her family. I had it in the back of my mind ever since. So glad I went, I loved it!

We stared out by stopping in Luxembourg City at the Villeroy and Boch factory outlet. Super fun and I bought a new set of knives for a killer price, no pun intended.

I found this little B&B online and grabbed it as soon as I saw it. We found out it is a new B&B that is run by a Dutch couple with 2 small children. I'm sure when they bought the place, it was in shambles, but slowly and surely they are turning it into something special. Bailey and McKenna made fast friends with their son, Mitja.
McKenna in their garden.

I have to give Bailey credit for this shot. The girls were so happy to have their freedom after being in the car all day and shopping in a china store where they couldn't touch anything.
Our first night we were so lucky to meet the other boarders at the B&B. They too were Dutch, traveling musicians! Her instrument is called a Hurdy Gurdy in the states (my mom had to tell me that, I had never heard of one before, but of course, Mark had). He is playing an Irish drum that is tunable. We sat in the courtyard as the sun set and listened to their mini concert. SO FUN!
The next day we headed into Dinant which is a little city nestled in between a river and very dramatic cliff mountain. These are views from the top of the mountain where the citadel is located.

Before we entered the Citadel we let the girls play in this fabulous playground right outside the building. Just like all the other playgrounds in Europe, it rocked.
Dinant, as with most European cities, has a violent past. Really one of the most violent I have heard of up til now. In 1466, Charles the Bold and his father, Philip the Good (or as I would have renamed him Philip not even close to being Good) actually took 800 citizens of Dinant (the workers that produced items of brass) tied them two by two and threw them off the cliff into the river below . . . I'll let you think on that a bit. Oh and here is the histogram recreating the scene so that my children (McKenna) asked me over and over again why they did that. I. Have. No. Idea. Can you see the poor souls who were just thrown over the edge? You want to look away, but you can't. One big train wreck.
This is the girls and I right outside the Citadel looking down upon Dinant.
At the end of the tour, you are led into a room that was hit by an explosion during one of the wars. The bomb basically tipped the room and when you walk into it, you totally loose your perception and sense of balance. It really was disorienting but so cool. This is the warning before you enter. It really was quite odd! and we worked hard at not panicking!
After touring the citidel we took the cable car down into the city. This is the view of the Citadel from the other side of the bridge:
Dinant is the birthplace of Adolph Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. There is a little bitty museum in his honor and it was hip and fun to look into. The floor was shaped like a saxophone.

Plus on the bridge, there are several huge saxophones with different designs and artwork on them. Each one represents a different city in Europe. This one is Germany's.
After our day in Dinant, we found a little tiny village with a restaurant. We decided to be bold and try it. No one spoke any English, not even a little bit. And I was a bad bad tourist and didn't bring my French cheat sheet. So . . . we closed our eyes and pointed to whatever our fingers landed on, and that is what we ordered. This is what mom got, and let me just say, that play was the biggest thing I have ever seen on a table. Well, except for the turkey platter at Thanksgiving when you serve a turkey for more that 18 people.
This is what I got. It was really more art than food. But it did a big flavor dance inside my mouth!!
And of course we all know what Creme Brulee is, you can't walk away without putting that into your belly. It would be a crime:

The next day, we toured the largest caves in Europe (at least I think that is what they advertise). It is huge, deep and full of stalactites (the ones that are above) and stalagmites (the ones that are below). We truly felt we had just walked into an Indiana Jones movie, which I said out loud, right before our tour guide said, "Do you feel like you are in an Indiana Jones movie?" Sweet! And can I just say how thankful I am that our tour guide spoke English? Bless you young man, bless you!
This is a picture of the ceiling where one stalactite is totally shaped like a hand. McKenna said, "Creeeepy".
Here is a video of our impromptu concert:

Brussels Floral Carpet - take 2

I've been looking forward to this all summer. Every other year, Brussels turns their Grand Place into an explosion of color by making a tapestry out of flowers. By doing this they pay tribute to their history of tapestry making. It is huge, beautiful . . . and crowded. Last year we had my sister and brother in law as our travel companions, this year we had to go it alone.
Here is a little secret, we TELL everyone we are going to see the tapestry, but what we are really going for is to eat yummy but unhealthy food. The dietitian in me is always a little sad when I have to leave her behind for trips like this, we just can't have her reminding us how unhealthy we are when we have lunch that consists of gauffres, frites and chocolate. She just ruins all the fun.
This naughty little boy was standing there watching us eat our waffles, he has bad manners but you can't be angry with him, he is iconic Belgian after all.

Of course on the way home we do as we always do, stop at the grocery store. In Belgium we like to grab waffles (plain sugar and chocolate) and speculoos spread (this my friends, is heaven on earth, it is the consistency of peanut butter but tastes a like Christmas), and then whatever else catches our eye.

We crammed one last thing into our itinerary, furniture shopping in this store that has German AND French designs. Their stuff is solid, unique and super fun. For those of you who live nearby, even though they are in Belgium, they are a German company and therefore take VAT forms. Plus, the total discount is 35%, which for the life of me I could not do the math. The VAT is 19% but the sales lady assured me that the total discount is 35%. Who am I to argue a few percentage points when they are in my favor? And you wanna know the bonus??? Free delivery and set up! What?! You heard right. This is the little set I have my eyes on, I just wish the wood was a little bit darker:
Now today, I'm nursing a wicked headache that set in on our way home last night and lasted through until this morning. Was it too much sugar, sun, fun, shopping, spending 8 hours in the car with 2 kiddo's, crunching numbers on furniture prices?? Tell you what, if I could figure out the triggers for these beasts I would be a better functioning citizen.

End of France and a little bit of Brugge

Our last day in France was spent at the quaint little coastal village of Honfleur, packed with fabulous restaurants, mostly seafood of course, with a variety of shops scattered in of artists and their creations. I found the painting that was made for me, but alas, I was a wee bit short of the 3,000 euro asking price. The girls were surprised with a carousel ride and bungee jumping, right in the square.

So here is what I learned about myself in Honfleur, which goes to show that even at the ripe old age of 21, you can still learn surprising things about yourself. I cannot eat mussels. Ever. Again. To realize what a surprise this is, you have to know that I am open, wide open, to any new culinary experience. This experience shut me down, mentally and physically. Did you know the buggers have beards???? And once you pop them out of the shell they can really give you a heart attack if you get a peep show of their innards. NEVER, never look inside, you'll never get over it. I was able to take a few in (with my eyes shut and in my mind singing songs like "I am a Child of God" and "Mamma Mia") but soon I had to give it up. Funny thing is, once they are in my mouth, they really did taste good. But they were just too darn good at initiating my gag reflex as well as all over body goosebumps and a strange buzzing and tingling in my head. I guess a small town Utah girl just wasn't up for the challenge. Maybe I needed to have been born a few states closer to the coast to "get it".

For our last night in France we headed east toward the Belgium border. We really REALLY lucked out with our accommodations. We found a little B&B that provided us with the ultimate French experience. Our host was Marie Christine and her B&B is her house. So, you can imagine our surprise when we asked her were she slept, and she pointed to the room right next to ours.

Of course with a red kitchen we were instant friends and I actually could have slept there, on the red tile, with a smile on my face. Marie was an excellent host and for an additional fee (totally worth it) she made us dinner that night. It was a pure French culinary experience as we started at 7:30 and ended after 5 courses at 10:30. Here is what I learned about French eating. It is an event, not a burden. The "make or break-it" ingredient is the sauce, and OH MAN do they do sauces. They eat cheese and bread for dessert, after the main course. AND we still got ice cream. Plus, amazingly enough I was not uncomfortably full afterward, portion control is implemented all along the way. Food packed with "pow" as far as flavor and you find yourself satisfied with a smaller portion. I think American's could learn a lot from the French. No more bland, refined flavorless food. It is a wonder America is obese, they are continually searching for fulfillment and getting flat in return.

Marie's house was a treasure chest, literally. To put it in perspective, my kids played "I spy" among all her collectibles and treasures and were still at it after 2 hours. Look at this fabulous OLD bed for McKenna . . . that was so great! McKenna made sure that we knew it was NOT a baby bed, it was a McKenna bed.


Marie's house was a childhood treasure chest too, especially for McKenna, when 4 three week old baby kittens carried her away to kitten heaven. It was like she was the Pied Piper, they followed her everywhere.


I love this picture of Bailey. It captures her essence!

Our last day was spent in Brugge Belgium. A word to the wise, if you are even thinking for a minute about a trip to Brussels, skip it, I beg you, and go ahead to Brugge. You will never regret it. This is the city that has lace makers in the street and down alleyways, showing off their talent, antique vendors around the bend, the best waffles and frites in Belgium, and every other store is a fabulous chocolate shop, not to mention the fact that you get an Amsterdam/Venice sort of experience all rolled up into one. AND Brugge can brag about the fact that they have the only Michelangelo piece outside of Italy, and folks it is a winner. Both Linda and I said we could have spent at least another 4 hours alone just plain shopping.



I've said it before and I'll say it again, "I. LOVE. BRUGGE." Mark, I beg you, take me back for an entire weekend, one day is such a tease.

Burst of Magnificent color in Brussels

A few months after we moved here I saw a photo of Brussels Flower Carpet in a Dr. office that really caught my attention. It was so full of brilliant color and even in picture was so breathtaking. When I asked about it I was told that it was built every two years and each year a different magnificent pattern is created. With the math, knowing that we are here for a 3 year commitment, I knew '08 would be my only chance.

Which is why we went to Brussels this weekend. This year the tapestry was patterned after a French period of time in their tapestry history. We were presented with the most intricate (i think) carpet that Brussels has presented since the start of the tradition. The tapestry is made of about 700,000 Belgium grown begonias, using every shade of every color possible. Even though there were as many people as the amount of begonias used, we still enjoyed the eye candy. Totally worth it!!!

And what is better after eye candy? Mouth candy of course. Here are the wonderful gauffres (waffles) that make the words Belgium waffles instantly water your mouth. Sweet ending to a gorgeous day!

Memorial Day

We drove home from Belgium on Monday, Memorial Day. As I was researching a little for our trip, I found that there are several American Military cemeteries around this area and on our way home. So Mark and I decided this would be a great way to spend the day as we drove back to Germany. Little did we know what an amazing, educational and overwhelming experience it would turn out to be.

We started in Waterloo where Napoleon of France was defeated by Wellington of England. We were able to conquer the Butte de Lion (226 steps) then watch a movie, see a panorama of the battle and a wax museum with war general replica's. Here are a few shots: (can you see Bailey almost reaching the top of the lion? and notice the lush farm land behind us in the group shot that was the main battlefield)

Next we traveled onto the Henri Chapelle American Military Cemetery.

I really didn't know what to expect. I hoped for myself and my children some education, insight, and a way to show our gratitude. We got that and so much more. I thought there would be ceremonies for the day but when we arrived the cemetery was completely empty and was ours alone to behold. Both Mark and I were overcome with emotion as the gravesites of 7,992 American soldiers were revealed to us. This is the largest grouping of our military dead overseas but only accounts for 39% of the losses we took during World War II. The area that is home to this cemetery is beautiful, acres upon acres of lush green farm land. The monument itself is grand to behold as the crosses are layed out in curved arcs.








We were lucky to have the superintendent of the cemetery spend time with us on the grounds, telling us stories of individual soldiers, of their service, bravery and a little of their personality as well. He gave the girls each a Belgian and American flag in order to remember this experience.

Poor Bailey with her sweet, compassionate spirit really struggled this day. The video at the Butte de Lion and the stories from the cemetery did not hold back the graphic violence and loss of life that war entails. In her young, carefree and happy mind she cannot fathom people causing pain and death to one another. She finally released with many tears her anger, frustration, sadness and confusion while walking among the crosses. She was not consolable and so I let her release everything, then tried to help her see how important it is that we do not forget this history. By teaching the next generation, just maybe we can prevent it from happening again. And even as I say these words I realize that our soldiers have now been in Afghanistan longer than WWII lasted. I am proud of my American heritage and words cannot express my gratitude for the sacrifice our military soldiers, from the beginnings of this great country to those that still fight today, for they are the reason, not politicians that "lead" our country, that my freedoms have not been taken away. God Bless America and our American Soldiers!