Berlin

Maddie climbing the Berlin Wall

We went to Berlin for a few days to visit the Christmas markets and to check out what was left of the Berlin Wall. What a great time!

The markets were great and we ate lots of sausages, potatoes, and various other fried things (and bought a quite a few trinkets). There was also a sledding hill which was a blast.

We checked out the East Side Galleries where there is about a one mile section of the wall still standing. Sections of the wall were assigned to various artists to paint and it was turned into a memorial (but not after a lot of graffiti covered up the original paintings). It makes for a pretty cool scene and the picture here shows Maddie climbing the wall there. Click here to see more pictures of the city.

Thanksgiving in the Carribean

We spent Thanksgiving on a Carribean cruise on a quasi family reunion. There were 14 of us in all and we had a great time. There were lots of things to do on the boat and of course food everywhere we looked. We stopped at Aruba, Curacao, St. Maartens, and St. Thomas. On one of our beach days an iguana (shown here) visited/terrorized us for about an hour. Another day, Maddie went swimming with dolphins (click here for photos).

Every day around 6pm we met up at a pub called the Duck and Dog for a drink or two before dinner. We corrupted many of the family members by teaching them to play roulette and had a wonderful and relaxing time. Click here to see more photos.

Stonehenge

We made a side trip from Bath to see Stonehenge. It was a suitably rainy, windy, grey day, but I did not feel any sense of magic or mystery like I thought I might. Once I started thinking about how the hell they got the stones here, the engineering involved with erecting them and the cool stuff about how they were positioned to line up with solstice sunrises and sunsets, it was pretty cool. Click here for some more photos. It probably would have been more fun if there were people dressed up in fairy costumes and stuff, but it was still a nice little side trip.

Bath, England

We spent a few days in Bath and had a great time. It is a beautiful little city on the river Avon (shown in the photo here). We visited the Roman baths and saw original pipes and stonework from over 2000 years ago. We also had tea at the Pump Room, wandered around to see the sites and enjoyed speaking and shopping in English. We also made a side trip to Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and London to see Wicked.  Click here for photos

We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Badminton Villa. Steve and Heather were awesome hosts and every morning they fed us a fantastic breakfast and then gave us great tips for planning the day ahead. Their dog Tilly was fun too (she likes to climb trees).

Charlotte and Atlanta

Maddie and the Wards and the Varsity

We set off for our annual US vacation about a week after Maddie’s school let out. We landed in Charlotte and spent time with family, went out with some of Steph’s high school friends, went to Katie’s 1st birthday party and spent a lot of time at the pool.

We went to Atlanta for a weekend to see the Stockfields and the McGaugheys (no they weren’t feuding 😉 We also got to spend the afternoon with our friends the Wards who had just moved back from Belgium. The photo shown here is from that Atlanta institution The Varsity. We got to see the aquarium too which was really cool.

On the last week of the trip, Maddie and I went to Michigan to see my parents. Click here for more photos from Charlotte and Atlanta.

Woody Allen’s Jazz Band

On Friday we saw Woody Allen and his jazz band. Woody plays the clarinet and as he said on stage (in French) “If you don’t like my music, well you can always watch my movies.” He could play pretty well, but there were a couple of shaky spots. It was funny because when the other guys were playing, he sat kind of slumped in his chair and almost looked like he was going to fall asleep. Not bad for a 72-year old though.

Our new house

We had to move because our landlady sold our first house out from under us. Don’t get me started on how unfair the rental laws are for the tenant here in Belgium. The worst part is that we were robbed at the old place (while we were still in the house).  Lottie scared them away, but they got away with 2 laptops and Maddie’s purse that had souvenir pins from over 20 countries on it.  We are all safe and somewhat relieved to be out of that house.

The new place is just down the street and we’re moved in, but still unpacking boxes. If you need our new address, send me an email (I don’t want to post it on this public blog). Our phone numbers are still the same.

Flights of Frustration

Holy flight delays Batman! On our way from Brussels to Charlotte, we got stuck in Washington D.C. and the best they could do was fly us to Greensboro (about 90 minute drive from where we were staying). We ended up renting a car (at our expense) and driving 7 hours. Luckily we arrived in time for the birth of Katelyn.

On our way from Charlotte to Michigan, when we got to the airport, they told us that we were now flying through Cleveland and would arrive about 6 hours later than planned.

On the way home to Brussels, we got stranded in Philadelphia. We took the day to tour Philly, but got home a whole day late (plus a 3 hour delay on top of that).

What an absolute mess. To make things worse, instead of being apologetic, the airlines were cranky because they had to deal with resceduling our flights. They also did not pay one penny towards any of the rental car and hotel expenses that we incurred. I helped some Belgians who were on our flight because they did not speak English. I can only imagine what they think of our country.

Click here for more photos.

When life gives you lemons …

Make lemonade.  We were stranded in Philly for 24 hours, so we decided to take a little tour of the city. We saw the Liberty Bell (see photo) and ate cheesesteaks, pretzels, and lemon ice. We also took a “duck boat” ride in a vehicle that can drive in the streets and then roll right into the water and float like a boat. Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross, Washington crossing the Potomac … what more could you ask for.

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Charlotte

We spent most of our time in the US in Charlotte and used it as a base to visit, Michigan, Las Vegas, and (by accident) Philadelphia. We also got to see almost all of Steph’s family as the came to visit baby Katelyn. Madison saw some of her old friends too.

We spent a lot of time at Carowinds amusement park and satisfied our cravings for Mexican food, Chick-fil-A, and Target. Maddie did some rock climbing and spent a week at day camp with Tyler. We stocked up on cheap American products and barely fit it all into our suitcases.

Even though we drove hundreds of miles criss-crossing Indian Trail, Tega Cay, Davidson, and Salisbury, there were still a lot of people we didn’t get to see. I guess 5 weeks just wasn’t enough.

 Click here for more photos.