Build Me Up Buttercup!

Everyone sing along now....WHY DO YOU BUILD ME UP...(build me up)...BUTTERCUP..

That's my mom's favorite song and you just can't help but to sing along every time you hear it.

Spring is in the air in Belgium. I still have to wear a jacket (not the big coat) when we go out and the temperature is around 60F (on a good day) but, all of the flowers are blooming, the outside restaurant tables are up and the tourists are coming in by the bus loads!

We love to grill out so we finally took the cover off to mark our start of spring. We grilled brats and hot-dogs for lunch Sunday. Then we took a stroll around the city. Here are a few of the pictures we took. I know they still look gloomy but the sun doesn't fully creep out in Belgium until July.

THANK GOODNESS FOR THE CHURCH BELLS.......

We are so American oriented in our home that we really don't have anything to keep us updated on things happening in Belgium other than the radio (we usually listen to the IPOD so it's rare we would listen to the radio long enough for the news and then we'd only understand two or three words of the news update.) So, about 5:45pm I was lying down on the couch and Scott was in the office, I noticed the church bells ringing from the church 5 steps away. I got up and asked Scott what time it was b/c church usually starts at 7:00pm. Apparently, we missed the memo on European time change and it changed Saturday night and we didn't even know it. So, now we are back to being 6 hours difference from U.S Eastern time.

ANYONE MISS US.....

Just when I've gotten all of the suitcases unpacked and caught up on the laundry it's time to pull them back out b/c we're traveling again....Scott has to be in ATL all next week and I'm tagging along. Then, we're heading up to Minnesota for the weekend to celebrate Easter. I'm taking my computer so I should be able to keep the weekly scheduled blog.

Until next time!

Happy Anniversary!

Scott enjoyed the Guiness Tour....I still have my same feeling on it!
Dublin Castle
Merrion Square

(Hey Shan, that's our money shot for the trip)

Pub hopping on St. Patrick's Day
It was super cold while we were there...with sleet and snow too! BURR!

For our 2nd Anniversary, Scott and I headed off to Dublin, Ireland. Lucky for us, our anniversary vacations always fall over St. Patrick's Day! I remember last year we sported our green in Acapulco. I think we were the only ones wearing green and the only ones who knew what day it was. This year was totally different - EVERYONE was there for one purpose....St. Patrick's Day.

We got up early Saturday morning and headed into the center of town to watch the Parade pass by. For some reason I thought it would be like a Macy's Day Parade but it wasn't. It was good but not so great. No big floats...no floats at all really...just groups dressed up in different outfits...lots of high school bands..and the Prime Minister of Ireland. We left early which was a good think b/c all of the pubs were starting to get crowded. We hit the Temple Bar area and pub hopped from there. It was not as crazy as I thought it would be. Everyone was calm and enjoying themselves. Lots of tourists though. I'd say 75% of the people there were tourists.

I really love Ireland and can't wait to go back. I've asked Scott if we could change our last name to O'Eichenberger but that didn't go over so well.

Back to Brussels

The famous Manakin Pis statue
Belgian Waffles!

You'd think we'd be tired of traveling by this point but we just kept trucking. I had yet to see the Manakin Pis statue so we headed off to find it. The story goes the King's son (or someone of high status' son) ran away and when they found him he was peeing on this wall so they monumented it with the Manakin Pis statue!

This was one of the best Belgian Waffles I've had. It was topped with Strawberries and Bananas!

Shannon - Thanks for a great trip. I had such a good time. We'll be telling our stories for years to come.

Blog Readers: Scott and I leave for Ireland today for St. Patrick's Day. There won't be a blog next Monday but look for it in the middle of the week!

Cheers!

Paris

Yeah! Scott drove us to Paris!
The flagship Louis Store
Arc de Triomphe
Moulin Rouge
Yummy, Banana Crepes!

Our trip to Paris revolved around seeing the Louis Vuitton Flagship store which was amazing. Larger than any other Louis store. It was so crowded on the first floor they escorted us up to the 2nd floor which was a replication of the 1st floor so you could browse without being interrupted by tourists!

That night we all went to the Moulin Rouge show. I would pretty much take a guess that Scott enjoyed it more than us because, who knew, it was a topless review show. I'd rate it higher than cruise ship entertainment but lower than a Vegas show if that helps you any!

If you can't tell be now Europe has the best desserts! Our Banana Crepes were excellent!

We did stop by the Eiffel Tower on the way out of town the next day but I figured everyone was tired of seeing pictures of that.

When in Rome....

St. Peter's Basilica
The Roman Colosseum
The inside of the Colosseum.
Trevi Fountain
The Roman Forum

We were only in Rome for 2 nights which gave us 1 day to see Rome. You know the saying - Rome wasn't built in a day- so imagine trying to see it in a day. We planned ahead and hired a driver to take us around for 5 hours. The company told us we would only be able to fit the Sistine Chapel and Roman Colosseum in the five hours so we accepted that and went on.

Our driver picked us up at 7:15 the next morning and we were 3rd in the reserved tickets line at the Vatican. Because our tickets were reserved we had to be in a group tour. (I hate group tours!) Our driver new one of the tour guides so we unwillingly joined their group. After a 45 minutes lecture on the Sistine Chapel painting we ditched the group and started wondering on our own through the Vatican Museums to find the Sistine Chapel. We only had 5 hours for the driver, so we couldn't waste any time. We found the painting and noted what we had learned in the lecture. (which was actually good - we would have never known some things - ask me about it sometime) We bought rosary beads and then even had time to browse through St. Peter's Basilica. Stefano, our driver, was waiting for us to take us to our next stop the Colosseum - with reserved tickets again we were able to go straight in and take pictures and tour around a little. We were making great time so we went on to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, The Roman Forum, Piazza Navona, another Piazza and before we knew it...we had seen all of Rome in 5 hours! We were very proud of ourselves. Rome is very scary at night so we always made sure to be in the room by dark. It was safer that way. Rome is a definite must see if your every in Italy and remember....Rome can be seen in one day!

Magnificent Milan

The Duomo
On the roof-top of the Duomo.
Shannon and the front of the Duomo.
Ready for the Opera.
We had Box Seats!

I've found my favorite city in Italy - Milan! Gorgeous! I wanted to upload more pictures but they wouldn't fit. The outside of the Duomo is number one on my list of churches in Europe. You can even walk on the roof of the Duomo! People take their lunch up there and eat. Our hotel was right around the corner so every time we would go by we would stare for a few seconds.

Here our a few of my highlights of Milan-

The Teatro Alla Scala : We went to opening night of the Opera, Salome. It was wonderful. We got all dressed up and had our hair and make-up done (that's another long story) and ventured out to the theater. We knew we had box seats and were hoping it was like we pictured. It was so much better than we pictured. We walked up to the 3rd level of the building and the lady opened our box with a key and we had the first two seats. The opera was excellent! Even though it was in Italian, we think, our box had small screens that translated it to English for us. We had so much fun that day it's embedded in my memory forever!

The Last Supper Painting: I always wondered why it is not in the Louve or someplace more famous than the little church that it is in - well, that's because it is painted on the wall of the church. It's deteriorating fast, so if you ever have the chance to see it you should. You have to get your tickets two months in advance b/c they are sold out that far ahead. It was a great painting to look view!

Shopping: WOW! Everyone in Milan is dressed to the nines and every major European designer was there. We enjoyed browsing through everything.

Italian Food: Who could pass up a hand-made pizza for dinner and fresh fruit with gelato every night for dinner. Again , it's a good thing we walked everywhere.

Milan has so much more to offer that we didn't even get to b/c we were so preoccupied with the above. I can't wait to go back and show Scott!

Our drive through Slovakia

The city of Bratislava, Slovakia
Their Famous Castle

We had to fly into Slovakia and then take a car to Vienna. Luckily we planned in advance and didn't have any problems. The passport stamps kept coming. They stamped us in and out of Slovakia. Nothing really to say about Slovakia just thought you might like to see the pics!

Vienna, Austria

Our hotel overlooked the Danube River - who knew..it's not BLUE like it says in the song.
Yummy, Apple Strudel
At the Lippenzaner Horses show.
The backyard of the ShonnBrunn Palace
The Famous Reisenrad Ferris Wheel

Why Vienna you ask - because it was the only was to connect to Milan via Dublin on Ryan Airlines. Instead of just passing through we decided to stay a few days. Vienna is another - checked it off my list of cities to visit and would never go back. But, it's funny that all of our stories from the trip start with, "In Vienna." I guess that means we did enjoy our 3 days there.

After recovering from our disappointment that the Danube River isn't Blue we headed out to the city center where I think the temperature dropped 10 degrees while we were walking so we took shelter in a department store and then to a Chinese Restaurant. We eventually tried the Viennese Cuisine but we stuck to Japanese, Chinese, McDonald's and the local Starbucks. The only think Vienna had going for it is the Apple Strudel. It's a good thing we walked everyday b/c I needed the exercise to counter act the 2 strudels a day that I had. We got a recipe for it so we're hoping we can replicate it. Marie Antoinette's summer home was amazing. It's no wonder she spend all of France's money when she was Queen b/c she was raised having nice things! In her backyard was the World's Oldest Zoo which we visited and then quickly exited b/c it had the World's worst children in it. Ever heard of the Lippenzanner horses. You know, the horses that prance around. They came to Gwinnett this last summer. We saw them in their home arena. It was neat to see the horses however we both nodded off a few times from the classical music they were prancing too!

Cheers from Ireland

Having a Cider at Foley's Pub in Dublin
Next to Bono's house overlooking the Irish Sea
Ah, just what we pictured Ireland to be.
Powerscourt Gardens in Wicklow, Ireland
Powerscourt Waterfall in Wicklow, Ireland

No where near recovered from jet-lag, Shannon and I took off on our whirlwind European journey on the 28th of February. We started in Dublin, Ireland where we were in shell shock for the first few hours! It was nothing like we had imagined. The city of Dublin was a lot larger than expected. It was a metropolitan city. Who knew? The only thing that did uphold our picture of Dublin was the front of every pub. Looks just like in pictures. The weather was a bit on the rainy side (which we had planned for) but we made the most of it. We did most of the touristy things in the area which sadly included the Guinness brewing tour....blah! How does anyone drink that! I saved my free pint certificate for Scott when we go next week. We went to the country side of Ireland one day and were then able to see everything we pictured about Ireland - the rolling hills, fences of stones...etc. Plus, we were able to see Bono's house (kind of - it had a big fence) and Enya's castle. We went to the Theater one night which was actually quite interesting. At least after the first 30 mins. We were having difficulties understanding the Irish accent.

All in all - loved Ireland. I can't wait for Scott to see it. It actually ranks higher than London in my opinion. Mainly due to the fact that Ireland is on the Euro and London is still on the Pound.