It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...... and it's not even December yet! It's Winter Festival in Brugge right now. I'm not sure how long it lasts. Seriously, we went to Amsterdam on Friday night and came back Saturday and it looks like a entirely different city. Surrounding the ice rink are little mini houses in which people sell their crafts and food. Too cute. We haven't tried out the ice rink yet but I'm sure we will soon. Oh, and yes, the weather is cold...fits right in with the winter theme. I just saw it was 80 in Albany...those were the good ole days!

Thanksgiving in Paris and a Roadtrip to Amsterdam! The picture above is from the entrance to the Louvre. We arrived in Paris Wednesday night and settled into our truly European hotel and then made our way into the heart of Paris. We navigated through the Paris METRO system very smoothly. The Louvre was open late on Wednesday night so we stayed from 7-9pm. Usually it takes more than a day to do the Louvre, so we just saw the touristy stuff - Mona Lisa, Venus Di Milo, etc...We got up the next day bright and early to get a head start on the Eiffel Tower crowd. It was a little rainy with an overcast but we decided to go all the way to the top of the Tower anyway. As you can see from the picture above it was a little windy. We were estimating about 70mph winds. We then METRO'd on to see the Arc Di Triomphe and walked back down the shopping street, Champ des Elysees, where I managed to find the largest Sephora store, ever! For our Thanksgiving dinner we stopped a restaurant and I had Tilapia and Scott had a Cheeseburger.

Not to worry though, my mom is making us a Thanksgiving dinner when we go home for Christmas. Scott, anything special you want? We'll be glad to make it for you.

If you remember we briefly visited Amsterdam back in October and didn't think much of it, but this time we loved it and are making plans to go back ASAP! We did the normal tourist stuff: Anne Frank Museum, Center Square, Red Light District (twice, it wasn't quite "happening" the first time around!)
Sniff, Sniff - Damon and Danielle left yesterday and Scott is on a business trip in Brussels for 2 days and I'm all alone. I'm not a big fan of staying alone in a big house but last night went fairly smoothly. I stayed up until about 3 am -that way I was good and tired and would fall right asleep.

We're off for an extended weekend trip this weekend. On Friday late afternoon we leave for Pisa, Italy and then on to Malta. How did we pick Pisa and Malta you ask? Well, it's been too cold here for my Georgia blood so we picked the country as far south that Ryan Air would fly to. We could only get there by making a stop in Pisa so we figured that we could sightsee there for a day too.

Until next time!

We've been pretty busy since Damon and Danielle arrived, Sunday at 8:30am. It poured all the way to get them and all the way back. Since there was not too much to do in the rain, they took a quick nap to try and help the jet-lag. When they got up the sun was shining and we were on our way!

The photo above is of them standing in line for the boat tour through the canals. Nice blue sky as the backdrop for all of the pictures. It was still cold though. Around 7 C or 45 F.

We drove to the nearest Casino in Oostende for Damon. He proudly shows his earnings below!We caught the sunset by the North Sea. We didn't stay long because it was cold and windy. We ended the night at Celtic Ireland with Fish and Chips, Cottage Pie, and Lamb Stew and of course a couple rounds of beer.

We've got a busy week ahead of us. (I just hope the weather cooperates!) We leave for Paris Wednesday night and will spend Thanksgiving in Paris. Then on Friday we leave for Amsterdam and will return Saturday.

I can only imagine the stories we will have to tell.

Until next time!

ICE MOUNTAIN & WATERLOOWe made it to ICE MOUNTAIN Saturday late afternoon and bought the 2 hour pass. We were prepared to fill out all kinds of forms in French and sign our life away like you do in the U.S. but all they asked for was our first name and we were on our way. Again, they don't know the word LIABILITY here.

I'll just go ahead and tell you - it was a semi-disaster. I say semi b/c by my third and last time up, I finally grasped the concept of "snow plow" and "turning." Scott's is a very good teacher. He went down the hill backwards most of the time just to keep me from hurting myself further. Here's a recap of my three times down:

• I wasn't so muched worried about getting down the mountain my first time up but, more worried how I was going to get up it. They don't have ski lifts since it's indoors but instead a tow-rope-pull-thing. You have to grab the handle when one comes by and strap it around you and it pulls you up the slope. I held on for dear life and it pulled me up to the top. Much to my surprise, I successfully went up all three times. I never got the thing behind me to pull me up easily, instead I held on which is why my arms are killing me today! At the top the first time, I chickened out and Scott went down by himself and met me up at the top again. This time I went for it. Half way down I was on my butt doing a few 360's in the snow. Scott said at least the fall looked cool.
• My next time time up Scott had a new theory, he would go backwards and guide me teaching me to turn and stop correctly. (Apparently, my way wasn't working) Somewhere down the slope I got out of his reach and was knocked to a stop by the ski jump which is a large block of ice. All I could think was "oh, good, something to stop me..." but then at the last minute the ice block started to look very hard and my last thought before my jaw slammed into it was, "please let this be soft!" (It's wasn't - it's still swollen today!)
• My last time up I did finally start to understand the concepts but still fell and this time due to exhaustion could not get up to save my life. Scott helped me up, we finished the slope and I went to the chalet...where I belonged.

Unfortunately, I will not be skiing in Colorado. I will be snuggly warm, safely sitting in the chalet waiting for Scott to come back and tell me all about his adventures. I will live vicariously through him with skiing from this point on!

Ever heard of the Battle of Waterloo with Napoleon? It was held here. This mount, Butte de Lion, is in memory of the battle.
We walked up the 226 steps to see the battlefield site and a view of the town of Waterloo. You may be thinking it all looks like farm-land. Yep, that's what most of Belgium looks like. Cows, sheep, and horses are usually what you see on the highways.

Waterloo is where most of the Americans and British live that have kids because the only English speaking school is there. In Waterloo we found a sign that caught our eye - AMERICAN AND BRITISH FOOD HERE! We quickly made a U-turn and went into the gas station and found OREOS, JIF Peanut Butter, Pop Tarts, Bisquick and things we take for granted everyday all stacked on this little shelf. The only down fall was the JIF was 5.99 euro, the OREOS, 8.99 euro...everything was waaaaayyy over priced. Plus, you have to add the 1.29 exchange rate...making it really expensive. We did buy a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and an A&W Root Beer (you can't get either any where else) and split it. It was Yummy!

Someone have a Chick-fil-A sandwich for me this week and a Quizno's for Scott!

I'm Cool Now!Ok, maybe not "cool" by American standards but by Brugge standards I'm at a new status. I've got my basket and water flaps (whatever you call them?!) on my bike. Oh, and my new bell. Ding, Ding..watch out for me! Your suppose to have lights on bikes but I don't think I'm going to be doing much night-riding.


It hailed this past Wednesday. The hail storm lasted a good 5 minutes. I should probably start checking the weather more often. That's the last thing I need - me in a hail storm on the bike!


I've become an avid-reader since I've been out here. I've set my chic-literature aside for a couple books and read an memoir by Carole Radziwell, "What Remains." It was so touching I thought I read the only other auto-biography in my collection, Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Living History."

"What Remains" is Carole Radziwell's tribute to her husband, Anthony Radziwell, who died of cancer in his early 40's a few weeks after his cousin, John Kennedy Jr. and his wife Annette died in a plane crash. It is an outstanding book about fate, friendship and love. I'd have a box of tissues out if you read this one!

Hillary's "Living History" book gave great insight on who she is as a woman, wife, mother, daughter, First Lady, and now Senator. After reading the book you want to be a better citizen. No matter what your political affiliation is I recommend this book.

I can't wait to go to Book-A-Million when I get back. The world of reading is very addictive.

Oh, for those who knew - Scott was suppose to go to Hungary and Austria for work this week but sadly (for him) it was canceled. I, however, am thrilled - I don't have to stay alone in this large house!

One last thing - we're going skiing next weekend. No, not the Swiss Alps but ICE MOUNTAIN. Belgium's own indoor skiing facility. Scott thought it would be good for me to practice before we went to Colorado for Christmas. Bless his heart, he wants me to be able to ski so badly. I've tried to tell him practicing isn't going to help. I'm just a southern girl who isn't coordinated and gets cold really fast. I've been skiing twice and have horrific experiences from both. One involves me sliding under the plastic boundary fence unable to make my way back up the hill and having my ear numb b/c it had so much snow in it. The other involves me not being able to turn and plowing into the snow blower and the ski patrol coming over to rescue me. I'm 0 for 2 here. But, for the sake of family fun in Colorado, I'll give it another try. One last try and then I'm sitting in the Chatlet and reading a book!

2 weeks and Damon and Danielle are here! Whoo hoo!