The Fair is in Town

Kiddie Carnivals pop up everywhere in town through out the year so I didn't think anything of this one until Scott told me about it. They had adult rides and games. I couldn't tell you the last time I was on a "fair" ride but obviously it's been a while. Rides have changed since the days of the pirate ship. The ride in the picture is the one we went on and its name holds true - G-force. (Yes, we were a little skeptical about the fair rides in a foreign country but we did it anyways.) This ride went all the way to the top, the arms would swing in different directions and it went fast. Just when we thought it was over, it started up again and again. It wouldn't end. Luckily, we were enjoying it but it's the only one we went on for the day. I walked off the ride dizzy. What better to help dizziness - COTTON CANDY! We'll probably go back the next weekend and ride the 2 other adult rides.

We've been biking a lot lately and the other 2 pictures are from our bike ride.

Props to Scott for putting up light fixtures on our third floor this weekend. Our house came with just the bulbs and wires hanging from the ceiling and we're just now getting around to (or just now brave enough to) re-wiring them. Only 3 more floors to go and we're done.

I'm excited May is almost here b/c it's a big month for us. For my birthday, Scott is treating me to a trip to Scotland and then right when we get back my parents are flying in! Should be a good month for pictures.

Paris it it, I guess!

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and expressive, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

Mini Europe and Durbuy, Belgium

Last weekend when we were on our way to "Game Night" outside the city center we past a "restaurant" called Los Amigos. Scott thought about this place all week and couldn't wait until the weekend to go have mexican food. On Friday night, we found our way back to Los Amigo's and at this point I'm not being "Debbie Downer" just more "Susan Skeptical." We walk in and much to Scott's surprise (not mine) it's just a locals bar. We had one drink and quickly exited. Scott was extremely disappointed so we remembered that there was a mexican restaurant in Gent 30 minutes away that we had previously been to (not good though) or there was one in Oostende (about 20 minutes away) that we saw when Damon and Danielle were in town. We chose the Oostende one and it was "ok." They did serve the margarita's in a full size glass instead of a shot glass. At least Scott had his Mexican fix.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Brussels. Anytime you are on the train to Brussels or driving on the interstate you see this large massive atom-like thing. I've been wanted to see it close up so we headed toward the Atomium (properly named!)

Close-by was an amusement-park-like-place called Mini Europe that I wanted to go to. It basically takes every country in the EU and replicates at 1/25 the size the major tourist attractions in the country. It was cute. That's about all I'll give it.

Scott asked people at work where a good day trip would be and they suggested Durbuy, Belgium. It was only about 1 1/2 hours from Brussels so we programed Durbuy into the navigation system and headed out. Durbuy is in the Ardennes section of Belgium which was previously described to us as the mountainous region. I'd put it more in the category of "green rolling hills." We did find Durbuy and much to our surprise it was a quaint little tourist city. It was right on the river so you could kayak or walk/bike along the river. All of the streets were lined with cobblestone (seriously uneven cobblestone) and lots of restaurants with tables outside to enjoy the nice weather.

For some odd reason it's not letting me label my pictures:
Photo 1: The Belfry in Brugge - Mini Europe with the large Atomium behind it.
Photo 2: The Reisenrad in Vienna - Mini Europe(Shan, we just can't get away from it!)
Photo 3: The Acropolis in Athens, Greece - Mini Europe
Photo 4: The city of Durbuy
Photo 5: The city of Durbuy

Trying Out YouTube....

This is a video we took from the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin!

Roadtrip to Holland!

The weather was gorgeous this past weekend and we took full advantage of it. After breakfast on Saturday morning, we took our first bike ride of the season. We biked to the town next door, Damme, which was about 5km or 2.ish miles away. After arriving in one piece we locked our bikes up and walked around the tiny town. We walked up 210 winding stairs of an old church tower to get a view of the city. Afterwards, we snacked on a pannekoeken (a crepe like pancake)

and headed home.

Sunday we packed a picnic lunch and headed to the famed Keukenhof Gardens in Holland. This is the place where all of the tulips, buttercups, hycentia, etc grow. They have over 7 million flowers here. It was amazing. We spent 2 hours walking around the gardens and admiring the different kinds of tulips and flowers. The flowers were so fragrant that I'm surprised I'm not sick today. (I did take a Claratin before we left in preparation for it)

Before we moved to Europe, we thought our "map" knowledge was decent. But we keep learning more and more about different countries. Here's what we learned this week:

Americans always say "Holland" when they are referring to the Netherlands, in general, but the correct way is: Netherlands is the country...Amsterdam is a city in the Netherlands....and Holland is a Provence of the Netherlands. It all makes since now! Don't even get us started on the difference between - Great Britain, United Kingdom (U.K), England and Scotland!

Click HERE to see all of our Keukenhof pictures. If you aren't interested in tulips, flowers, windmills, etc...you might want to skip theses pics!

We're Back!

We made it back from the U.S safe and sound with minimal jet-lag. (Thanks to the Tylenol PM)

The weather in Brugge is in the upper 60's and is suppose to get up to the middle 70's by the end of the weekend. Thank goodness for the warm weather here because the 11 degree weather in Minnesota was a little chilly!

I'll be back on the regular blog schedule next Monday so check back then!