Hicken-Phillips do Europe

Earlier this summer my parents came over to visit. They each had a place that they wanted to see....no where near each other....or Belgium. But we made it work.

My daughter and I drove up to London to meet my parents at the ginormous Heathrow Airport! We parted at extended stay parking and took the train into London to the hostel that I had booked for us. Prices in London are high and the exchange rate is NOT in our favor, so we opted for StaySafe Hostel http://www.safestay.co.uk/en/ and were able to get a 4 person room for a great price. Less than half of the "cheap hotels." The room had 2 sets of bunk beds and a bathroom/shower in the room. There were boxes under the beds that we could lock our stuff up in when we left. It worked great. The train was about 2 blocks from the hostel and was less than 10 minutes from the heart of the London attractions.

We took in all the big sights, Big Ben, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace. Some we just stayed on the hop-on-hop-off bus for and some we took tours of. My step-dad requested a Jack The Ripper tour , so we hit one of those as well. Our guide was wonderful and the tour was good. It was in the evening, but we were back at the hostel before dark, so all was well. On the way home from London, we took in Hever Castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Our first choice was Stonehenge, but it was the summer solstice and the place would have been crazy the traffic heading away from the Eurotunnel would have been a nightmare. Both the parents were ok wit the decision, and we really enjoyed the trip out to Hever Castle. It is well maintained and was a nice way to spend the afternoon before w hopped the tunnel to come back.

Less than 48 hours after we got to Belgium with the parents, we were on a plane to Italy. My step-dad wanted to see Rome, see some family roots and all. We stayed in an apartment, that was not so convenient, but reasonably priced for the height of tourist season. We each had our own beds with a few bunks to spare and 2 yes 2 showers/toilets, plus a full kitchen. With my husband's great nav. skills we were able to maneuver around Rome and back to the apartment with little problems.

My husband, son and I have spent a small amount of time in Rome in 2011, but didn't get to see all the sights that we wanted too. With the whole family, we took our time and saw almost everything via the hop-on-hop-off bus. The highlight for my step-dad and husband was the in-depth tour of the ancient city/Forum/Palatine Hill sponsored by the USO. http://rome.uso.it/ It was suppose to be a 5 hour tour, but it was much longer than that. The guide was fantastic, very knowledgeable and funny in his own way. Mom and I were brain-fried, but my son was so good the whole day. He was able to run and climb and find rocks for Uncle Tom, so he had a great time.

Let's see, after we got home from Rome, we drove down to Paris. Well, we drove to Chantilly and hopped the train into Paris. I'm fine with driving in the big cities, but why bother when the train ticket will cost the same as parking?

We were too late for tickets to go up in the Eiffel Tower, but the parents were fine with that decision. Again, we did the hop-on-hop-off tour bus. Seriously, it is the best thing, worth the money. They take you to all the big tourist spots, and some of the small ones and you don't have to drive or worry about a language barrier. My mom was able to see Notre Dame Cathedral, and I, finally, got to see inside. We also saw Moulin Rouge, which has escaped me the other times we've been there. Mom also saw the big glass pyramid outside the Louvre, she was impressed with not only the pyramid, but the immense size of the Louvre. We didn't have time in the day trip to see the museum, I guess they'll have to come back.

I'm so happy that I was able to see London, Paris and Rome with my parents and daughter. We had a great time showing them some of the places we love and have been lucky enough to experience.

(if anyone has specific questions about places on our trip, let me know and I'll find the info for you)

Spring has not Sprung

As I sit at the kitchen counter to finally put an entry into the blog, on April 9th, the weather is a total wreck. The temp is hovering at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not a spring temp and it's been raining all day. Hold on, I exaggerate, we did have 8 minutes of sunshine about an hour ago.

About 3 weeks ago, I read an article from a Belgian newspaper (thank you google chrome) that said this has been the worst winter since 1873. I am hoping to be here for the record warmth or record number of days with sunshine before we have to leave.

This weather is also hurting the tourism economy in the area. The Keukenhof  Gardens are world famous for their beautiful tulip fields, they haven't bloomed yet. We were there last year at this time and it was row after row of color. Pairi Daiza, our wonderful zoo, is not having a good start to the season because of the cold, the parking lots aren't even half full. Other events have had little turnout because of it.

Our part of Belgium is also being hit agriculturally, the ONE day we had that was dry and sunny had all the farmers running out to the fields to begin discing so they can plant soon. Way past when they usually are in the field. Most of the farmers haven't released the cows yet. Our neighbors up the road still have their cows in the barn.  I miss the cows.

I know that this entry sounds grumpy, and it is. I haven't been taking my Vitamin D because we were on vacation, where I knew there would be sun. I also have another illness, another sinus, respiratory, cough all night until your sides hurt illness. Honestly, I have been sick more often these past two years than I have in the previous 36. My husband tells me he was the same way when he had his deployments to Iraq. Belgium and Iraq? Those two things shouldn't be compared.

Come on, Mother Nature, we need you to take some happy pills and get on with Spring, please.

Ski Filled Holiday in Avoriaz

This year for Christmas, we decided to go skiing in Avoriaz, France. My husband is a skier, and I've been skiing, but would not call myself a skier. Our son has had skis strapped to his feet for about 2 hours at an inside ski place in Holland. We were needing some mountains to try out, but with a good place for our son and I to get some lessons.
I started the search for a place in Germany, I looked all over the internet, but couldn't find a site that was giving me what a wanted, a good Family Friendly resort. Same thing with Switzerland, plus, Switzerland doesn't use the Euro and the dollar to their currency is really poor. It would cost us the price of a car to ski there. (ok, maybe not quite) Next, was France. France is closer to us than Austria, and we've had good experiences in France.
My first search was something like this: "Family friendly ski resorts in France," and the first thing that popped up was Top Ten Ski Family Ski Resorts in France, written by a British news site. Little did I know that the Brits love skiing. It was a great site, and with a minimal amount of searching on my part, I sent the website to my husband. After all, this was his idea, he might as well plan the vacation.
In no time, he had the resorts whittled down to two and we chose from there. Avoriaz for Christmas was our destination. Next, I had to find the ski schools for our son and myself. Village Des Enfants has lessons for children in half and whole day increments. We went with whole day lessons, they provide lunch and snacks, and after lessons are over at 4:00, they have a nursery (= playtime in my child's mind) and will keep the kids supervised and entertained until 5:30. When it is not a holiday break, they also have parent lessons that begin and end 15 minutes after or before the children so you can drop them off and pick them up without being late. Perfect. However, since we were there over a holiday, I had to find another place for lessons. I went for Evolution 2, which was conveniently located across the road from Village Des Enfants.
Our son loved his lessons and his instructor, Paul, for the first 4 days. For whatever reason, he decided to have a little fit on the last day, and didn't go until after lunch. He went without complaints at lunchtime and completed what he could of the final day's "tests." Paul was great with him and said that he was great at skiing, but "active" during the down times. Yep, that sounds about right. The school sold medals for the kids for 15 Euros, but our friend found a little shop that sold little items that you could personalize for 6. Much more affordable, especially considering that our active child would probably lose it before we left the resort.
I went with half day lessons, and mine started 30 minutes before the Wildman's. My instructor, Sylvain, at Evolution 2 was quite patient, and did a pretty good job with his English. Much better than my French. Good thing, too, because on Monday he had 2 Americans, 1 Brit and 3 Japanese ski students. Our lessons for the week were a lot of fun, but challenging, for him and us. (our group varied from day to day) There were some skills that I picked up on right away, and others that I still couldn't get right on Friday. Why do I need to turn and pick up my skis and walk in a semi-circle? I don't know. I didn't witness anyone else use this particular skill on the mountain, but hey, he's the teacher. Lessons were great and I'm so glad that I paid the money for them. They have me the confidence that I was looking for.
Most afternoons, the hubs and I went out skiing together or with a friend. We went on some crazy blue routes and some blue routes that were almost as gentle as the training hill. I still don't know how they are marked, but some were absolutely frightening for me. I made it down all of them, unhurt and proud of myself.
One morning the men went out and found their way down to the bottom of a Swiss ski lift. Both were very excited to ski in the Swiss Alps, a bucket list item for each of them. Compared to the routes that they were use to taking, they found the Swiss routes (in this area, anyway) to be crowded and very narrow. One thing that they both mentioned is how they compared to Colorado's ski slopes. Very minimal grooming goes on in France compared to the US, and that's all I'm going to say about that. I was so horrible in Colorado, it can't compare for me.
Skiing over Christmas, or anytime really, has been a major agenda item for my husband for years. He loves the sport, the snow, the mountains, the cold and wanted to share that love with me and now, our son. I am not particularly sporty, don't care for snow or cold but love the mountains. I have to say, the lessons have changed my mind about skiing. I loved it! Really, truly, loved it. My knees hurt, I was scared most of the time, fell every day and loved it.
Now, we're trying to figure out when and where we can go again. With both of us working, and my husband volunteering as a wrestling coach, I'm not sure when it will happen. At least not on the scale of this trip, but I can't wait. We NEED to find a way to get back on the slopes. (yeah, Mom, I loved it that much)

Another Christmas

We're getting ready to our second Christmas in Belgium and I couldn't be happier. We have our little artificial tree decorated, the Nativity set is out and the very fancy battery operated candle sticks are in the windows. We're all ready. Saint Nichola should be here this week, the son will either get some coal or maybe a little gift, it's touch and go really, and he's thinking of things to ask Santa for. Right now the only thing he can come up with is a transformer costume.
The Christmas markets have all started up and I am itching to get to some this year. Last year, with wrestling being so hectic, we didn't get to many. Today, the weather is yucky, but that can't stop me. As I've said before, if we waited around for nice weather, we'd never leave the house. On my agenda is the market in Lille, France. It's about 45 minutes down the road and has a great little website that has perked my interest. http://www.noel-a-lille.com/index_anglais.html
 We have some gifts to get still for the siblings back in the States and this year our theme is branching out from just Belgium to the European Union. I'm hoping to pick up some German and French items for the boxes, maybe Italian is I can wait until the 10th to send out the boxes.
Now, the big chore is to get the boys off the couch, dressed and into the car. Wish me luck.

Thankful for AFN

I can't remember if I've posted anything about Armed Forces Network (AFN) or not, but I'm going to again if I have before.
We do not have cable, or Skynet, or even any fancy stuff on appleTV, what we do have is AFN. Since AFN is funded by the government, we do not have to be bombarded by commercials, political ads and mudslinging nonsense.
When we first got here, my daughter and I were amazed at the commercials, some little more than high school communications class productions. Some were funny, some were informative, some were horribly done, but all were without bias. Unless you think it's OK to text and drive, not install child safety seats correctly or think that the hypothermia risks are overblown, you can't be turned off by these public safety announcements.
Let me tell you what I got to watch on TV since we moved last summer and the media circus heated up around this crazy election. I got to watch commercials on how to vote absentee, necessary information since I won't be going back to the states for that but feel that I need to vote. I got to watch commercials about how military personnel and DODs employees are not allowed to use their jobs or uniforms to campaign for someone. And, well, that's really about it. That's the extent of what I had to suffer through relating to the elections. Not bad.
The other thing that we get to bypass are toy commercials and fast food commercials, all aimed at stirring my already wild child into a frenzy about some cool new toy that he has to have to that we need to get a kid's meal somewhere because they have Hot Wheels toys this month. Thank goodness!! We watched about 30 minutes of regular TV when we were on vacation and the whole time I was bombarded with, "Mom! I HAVE to have this toy! Mom! Can I have this for Christmas? Mom! Come see this toy!" Good grief. Exhausting.
I can choose to read as much news this election season as I want, and it's not much because really, this much ignorance hurts my head. I'm getting enough of it from my facebook friends. I am so thankful that when I finally sit down to watch my 2 hours of guilty pleasure TV (SYTYCD or The Voice) during the week,  I do not have to listen to negative mudslinging that will not help me make up my mind about anything.
Thank you AFN for keeping us from this nonsense. Thank you US Army for sending my family away from the United States for the last 16 months so I don't have to listen to political rants and irritating jingles.

Housing Issues

We have our house through the American Housing Office at SHAPE. They are great people and they work hard for us. Any time we have an issue with a house, whether military housing or on the economy, we go there first. They are our advocates and help us with any and all issues. I think there is one American employee, the rest are Belgians with amazing English language skills. They are use to the way things are done (ha ha) in Belgium and I think they work as a cushion so we don't go all ape-crazy in and English speaking tirade that would do no good.
Here's just one issue that they get to deal with. Our heating system is run on mazout, which is like heating oil, and we have radiators instead of vents. So, I guess, the heating oil goes through the boiler and heats the water and the water heats the radiators. However it's suppose to work, the issue is that it doesn't.
We shut off the thermostat in March/April and my husband did something to the system in the garage, flipped a knob or something like that. It's been getting cold in our cement and rock house, so I finally gave in and asked him to turn it on last weekend. Nothing. The thermostat works, the batteries are good. The water heater works better than necessary and the mazout tank is full. My husband flipped the knob and nothing.
This past Monday I went into housing and told them about this issue. (and a few other things, but my fingers aren't strong enough for the others right now) They called both of the property manager's cell phones and the agency he runs. Nothing on the cell phones and an outgoing message at the agency saying that they'd be back from lunch at 1400. We waited until 1415 and called again. Usually this property manager lets things go to voicemail and calls right back, before I get out of the chair. Not this time. So, messages were left on cell phones one time and the agency two times, so four messages on Monday.
Nothing.
I go back in on Wednesday. The man at the office had not put away our file because it was still and open case. (great customer service) We called again, I purposely came in after 1400, and left messages. This is just a pain really. I left times that I would be able to be home for him to call and come by. Wednesday evening, Thursday evening, Friday after 1300-1500 and again after 1600 and Saturday morning.
Wednesday at about 1600 the property manager had called back and I got an email saying that he was given my cell phone number and he would contact me before he came over.
So, here is is Friday night, almost 1900 and I have had no contact with the property manager. Thank goodness we have a wood burning stove to heat up the kitchen and living room, but it does nothing for the upstairs.
 I'm happy that it's only been getting into the high 40's at night. I'm happy that my husband made sure that we had have plenty of wood and that I can start a pretty good fire.
I'm not happy with the property manager. I'm pretty sure if we were a member of his tricked out Land Rover family, that we would not be having this problem.

Autumn Leaves

We recently got the Nebraska Life magazine with the beautiful autumn cover showing the trees in all their vibrant fall glory. Autumn is my favorite time of year and one of the reasons is because of the leaves. People talk about the beauty of autumn leaves in New England, but I've always thought that Nebraska looks pretty good too.
With that being said, Belgium's leaves have just begun to turn. When I look out the kitchen windows, all I see are trees from the chateau grounds, and a few of them are turning yellow. It isn't the "brown and fall down" turning that Texas and Georgia had, but it's pretty close. The trees just don't have the vibrant colors that they do in Nebraska. There are very few that will be burgandy, orange or something in between.
Don't get me wrong, I still love it here, that hasn't changed, but that Nebraska Life cover made me miss autumn in Nebraska.

New Job

I have been an out of work teacher since December 17, 2010, when I left my wonderful school in Copperas Cove, Texas and moved to Georgia with my husband. I had subbed in that part of Georgia years before and with my son at home (and the memories of the schools) I decided that I wouldn't pursue subbing there.
After we moved to Belgium, I filled out all the crazy paperwork, then did it again online for the Department of Defense schools (DODs). I subbed some, but not a lot, in the junior high and high school. I was worried to sub in the elementary schools because I didn't want to be stuck in a classroom of 5 year olds all day long.
So, when a half time job came open in the DODs school here, I was excited. It was for the middle and high school, so I wouldn't have the same kids all day long, and it was only half days. 8:30-12:30 every day, fabulous. There was, of course, lots more paperwork, but it was worth it for a job, and a government job at that!
Our school is run by the Department of Defense for the American children of service men and women, but SHAPE is special. We don't have a huge population of Americans here, but we are the majority of the population. DODs has a contract with many of the NATO nations that their children can come to our schools. I don't know how tuition is covered, but it is for most of the countries' military children. Most of the civilian workers pay tuition, unless it is part of their contract. This means that 43% of our school population are International kids.
In my little special education math class, I have 5 students, 3 are Americans, one is British and one is Spanish. This makes differentiation just that much more important and challenging. Teaching fractions with real life implications is only important for 3 of the 5 students, the others will use the metric system for cooking and measuring. When I asked the other kids what they would need fractions for, they both answered similarly, "For math class."
Because our school has 43% International students, and we are not on an American military base, we don't follow the same school schedule that the other American DODs schools do. It's a good and a bad thing, I guess. We started on the 15th of August, the other DODs schools started on the 23rd. Teachers reported earlier than that. Any questions that I had for the hearing impaired teacher or the special ed director had to wait until school was in session, because their duty days hadn't begun yet. That was extremely frustrating. We will get out of school a week later than the other schools as well. BUT, we get a full week off for "All Saints Recess," the week of Halloween, we get a similar sized Christmas Break, another week of in February for the beginning of Lent (locally known as ski week) and two more weeks off in April for spring break. There are also little days off here and there for the students that are religiously based Belgian holidays. All-in-all, I can't complain. Our new students are complaining about not having Thanksgiving off, but who else celebrates it but the Americans? We get off at noon that day. No Black Friday sales to get ready for or football to watch with the 7 hour time difference, so it doesn't bother me.
I can't say that I'm in love with my job yet, but I don't dread getting up in the mornings, and I have had jobs like that before. It's a new age level, a WHOLE new school system and it's going pretty well.

Great People/Great Food

We have been so lucky to have met some fabulous people since we've been at SHAPE. We've had people over to the house, gone to other's homes and even went out in public with our crazy child. My husband had to comment, "Why didn't we do this when we lived in Texas?" We did have friends in Texas, to be honest, we went out more with my friends. I'm pretty sure that was because when my husband had to live with his friends for a year at a time, when they got back to Texas from Iraq, they needed a break from each other.
When we were in Texas, we went out to eat with friends instead of having them to the house. Dinner was so much easier because the house didn't need to be cleaned because we were going out. We didn't have to clean up after dinner and dinner could be a quick affair because in the states, you're not hanging around the restaurant after your plates are taken.
Here in Belgium, dinner is easily a two hour commitment if you go out to eat. Refills are not free, sodas are from 8 ounce bottles and cost more than some beers. The waitstaff takes their time getting to you because they know that you're there to socialize as much as eat. After they come and take your order, be prepared to wait at least 30 minutes before your food comes, unless you order a starter, then you can wait longer for your entree.
You will have to flag down the waiter or go to the cash register to ask for your ticket. The staff will NOT bring you the check unless asked for because it is considered rude. They would be rushing you, and that just wouldn't happen, even to Americans. I think that the waitstaff thinks that we are rude if we don't order before dinner drinks, starters, entrees, desserts and after dinner drinks. Why are we in a rush? Isn't the food or restaurant to our liking?
Because of having a very active child that can't handle a 2 hour dinner in public, we have started to have people over almost once a week. Like I've said, we have met great people here, both my husband and I, and we have really started to like entertaining. NOT fancy entertaining, I'm not setting the table and serving the meal, but a nice buffet style dinner that is relaxing. Or we've grilled and sat outside in the few nice days we've had this summer.
We've made some new recipes and have gotten to work together in the kitchen. We've both been forced to clean the house and make it look like the kid only lives in one room of the house instead of having toys in every nook and cranny. We've been looking for healthy ways to make some of our favorite dishes. Our son has been excited to share his toys with friends that come over. We've gotten to play board games that have been hiding for years.
On top of that, we've been invited over to people's homes too and been able to sample some truly delicious meals. The one we had last night was restaurant quality Mexican food and I'm dreaming about it still today.
Our assignment at SHAPE has really helped reshape the way we socialize with new people and friends and has been a blessing to our family. I can honestly say, when we go back to the states, we'll be doing a lot less going out and a lot more having people over.

Stonehenge and Avebury

When we told our daughter that we were moving to Europe last year, the first thing she asked was if we could go see Stonehenge. That trip didn't happen last summer with the move, finding a new house and the husband starting a new job, but, we made it happen this year.
None of my British friends were that excited when I told them that we were going to see Stonehenge on our trip to the UK. Actually, most of them have never seen it themselves, and think that it's overrated. Two of my friends actually suggested many other things that were less preserved and less touristy. Well, we did both.
The weather this summer has been horrible in both Belgium and the United Kingdom, so we have been forced to just don our rain jackets and get on with it. While we made the very rainy drive from London to Stonehenge, we were all pretty quiet. With traffic, it was a much longer drive than we were expecting and we were all very hopeful that the rainy drive was going to be worth it. As we topped a hill on this two lane highway, it all became worth it. On the hill in front of us was Stonehenge, huge, beckoning us to come and see what all they hype was about.
We parked, fed the crabby 4 year old a snack and then shelled out extra money for an annual pass for the English Heritage sights. We picked up our audio guides and followed the small crowd under the highway and up the stairs so we could see Stonehenge. It was so amazing. Our daughter is a pretty mellow girl, but she was absolutely awestruck with the huge, ancient stones. None of us could get over the size of these stones and how truly amazing it was that they were still standing after a few thousand years.
Because of the stones' importance to many, many people, the English Heritage group has given the stones a wide berth from would be souvenir hunters, and the closest we were allowed to come to the main group was about 50 meters. We followed the path around the stones, listening to the audio guide and sharing tidbits that we found interesting. One thing we all found so interesting, but hadn't ever heard before is that there is an "avenue" that was followed from the River Avon up to the site. Between the heel stone and the main stones, it is clearly seen, but in the winter, the path is more easily distinguished from the usual farm fields and sheep pastures. 
All four of us thoroughly enjoyed our visit and we excited to stop at the next location, a location that was recommended to me by the Air Commodore of the Royal Air Force. How could we not go?
Avebury, England is also the sight of some pretty massive standing stones. The stones in Avebury are not formed into specific shapes or in as tight as a group, but they are pretty impressive as well. Our son actually asked, "Daddy, why are those rocks growing out of the ground?" And that is exactly what it looks like.
These massive rocks in Avebury comprise 3 stone circles covering a few acres. The thing that we liked about this site is that you can go and walk among the stones and touch them and sit beneath them an ponder just how in the world they got there. The town grew up around the stones, and today, the stones are mostly found in fields and sheep pastures. The gates actually have signs saying that there are animals inside, please keep your dog on a leash and make sure the gate is shut. Really, how fun is that?
This area of England is full of amazing ancient artifacts that have been pretty well taken care of. They aren't pristine and commercial, but they are really, awesome. (to use my son's word of the moment) There was so much to do there, and we knew we had a pretty long drive to get to our next destination, but we will be going back to see more of the fabulous, unexplained places.
Oh yeah, and there are crop circles to go see too (easily explained crop circles, but I find it hilarious that they are there)

Ferry vs Tunnel

With our daughter here from the States, we decided to take a small vacation to England. My husband had been there before with the wrestling team, but hadn't gotten to do any sight seeing. We were told that for the first time, to take the ferry from Calais or Dunkirk, France up to Dover so we could see the White Cliffs of Dover, then take the Eurotunnel home.
Once the ferry takes off, it's about 90 minutes from coast to coast. You follow the signs to the right place and go through the passport stops for England and France then queue up and wait in line to drive up on the huge ferry boat. Easy enough. I believe the ferry had 3 floors to park on, and 3 more floors to shop, eat and relax. Pretty sweet set-up. The shop is a duty-free shop, so there were some good deals there, if you wanted to pay English pounds and suffer the exchange rate.
There was a small kids area with a video playing and some tables with games that were bolted to the floor.  A couple of coffee shops and a cafe to purchase snacks, or you can bring your own. Wall to wall windows to so you could look out and see the scenery, in this case, the cliffs bobbing up and down with the waves in the torrential downpour.
The ferry was nice, and about $30 cheaper than the tunnel, but with the weather that we were having, all the movement of the ferry through the waves was making me wish I had brought sea sickness patch or something. The kids were fine, but the husband and I were a bit queasy.
We took the tunnel on the way back. This, to me, is an amazing piece of technology and engineering, a giant tunnel, big enough for a double decker train to drive under the English Channel. (I was kinda geeking out about it, which I don't usually do) The only thing that could have made this cooler is if part of it were in plexiglass so you could have seen the water. There were several locations to see a departure board that told you when your train was queuing up and loading, and with 2 trains every hour, it was very easy to catch a different train if you wanted to leave earlier or later.
From the time we queued up, to the time we were on the train was 20 minutes and from the time we drove on the train until we got to the France side was 40 minutes. It took only 25 minutes of drive time. 25 minutes and the train was not bobbing up and down, it was smooth riding. I'm not a claustrophobic person, but even if I was, I think it would have been ok. You ride in your own car on the train, you can get off, but other than a restroom, there really isn't anywhere to go. We just stayed in the car and read our books.
While the tunnel is more expensive, it is worth the money to me. The queues are shorter because there are so many departure times, the trip is an hour quicker and you don't have to worry about barfing because the beautiful cliffs are moving up and down on the horizon.

Summer in Belgium, 2012

This summer has not been much of a summer. We have had nothing but rain, rain and more rain. On the days that we do get some sunshine (some) it ends up raining. My least favorite thing about this weather pattern, is that it seems to rain all day long, and at 8:00 after my son is in bed, the skies clear and the sun comes out. I love Belgium, but I'm beginning to feel a bit moldy.
We have had a few nice days, where the sun has been out all day and there is a small chance of getting a sunburn, I mean suntan. Those days are usually tampered by a strong breeze that keeps the temps down below 75, but I'd take more if they were offered.
Maybe late July and August will prove to be a bit more summer like. And I'm not the only one complaining, some friends that have been here over 8 years have said that this is the rainiest summer and coolest that they can remember since getting here. So, it's not just me.

Garmisch in the summer....

Our daughter is here, so we thought we'd take out two birds with one stone and take her to see Garmish and let the husband do the Ride The Alps motorcycle tour. We had the trip planned for a few months and were very excited.
We started the trip out by going to Ramstein, about an 3.5 hour drive in beautiful weather. We got a later start than we hoped, but still go there early enough to do a little shopping, have dinner at a great little Mexican place and let the son play.
Friday morning we took off for Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in the rain. My husband had some wet weather gear, but after a few kilometers, he learned that it wasn't so much water resistant or water proof. He and his riding buddy spent the day soaked on the motorcycles following traffic for the better part of 6 hours. It was miserable.
Friday evening we got to Edelweiss and the men went to the BBQ for the motorcycle riders, and the kids and I tried out the game room and then dinner at the sports bar. A real cheeseburger and fries was very much needed and this place makes a pretty good one. At least, when you've been away from the states for a year, it tasted good. Then I took off and treated myself to a much needed massage and the kids went to the pool. Everyone was exhausted and crashed early.
Saturday they men went out for their 2nd wet ride of the weekend and were able to see some neat places, despite the rain. It was suppose to be a poker run, but they had to make a detour because of a bike race and didn't get to all the places. I don't think they cared, because they beat us back to the lodge even after checking out downtown Garmisch.
While the men were out riding in the rain, the kids and I took a bus tour to Neuschwanstein Castle in southwest Germany. It was just beautiful. King Ludwig II was a bit eccentric and spent lots of money building this gorgeous castle in the last 1800s. Even though he was alive for the building of this castle, he only lived in it for 172 days before he and his psychiatrist died mysteriously. Only 6 weeks after his death, it was opened to the public for tours to help pay back King Ludwig's debts and his been open most of the time since. Even though the weather wasn't lovely, it stopped raining while we were there and we had a good time. My son was quite taken by the padded "throne" surrounding the toilet and that's probably the only thing he remembers about the castle tour. Boys.
We finished our little vacation with a very wet ride on Sunday back to Ramstein that took 8 hours. With the rain, the traffic and the road construction, the trip took a whole lot longer than it needed too. Next time, like I did the first time I was there, we'll take the train or a cheap flight to Munich and then the train from there. That being said, my usually active, loud, less than ideal traveler was wonderful in the car the entire trip, so no complaints there. Really, no complaints about the weekend. The kids and I were warm and dry in the car and the husband got through it safely and now has plenty of wet weather driving experience on the motorcycle.
I love Garmish and the whole Bavarian region of Germany, I can't wait until we can get back again.

Memorial Day Service at Ardennes American Cemetery

My family went to the Memorial Day Service yesterday at Ardennes American Cemetery, and were so humbled. My husband is one of the adult leaders of the Boy Scouts here and they participated in the laying of the wreaths, so he was busy at this service and another later in the day.
Driving up to the cemetery, you see an amazing, huge cube with an eagle done in relief style jutting out of the front. The names of the missing are on slabs around the main monument. Behind the monument are the graves of over 5,000 American servicemen. I have never been to Arlington, but I have seen photos and footage, but I was in no way prepared for the impressive, saddening expanse of white crosses. Every one of them had an American and a Belgian flag in front of it. Volunteers of all ages helped prepare the graves for the memorial service.
At the time of WWII, Belgium was not allowed to have an official army, but there were many resistance fighters. Since the war, they have been recognized as fighters for the war effort. Many of the survivors from the area were at the service with their Belgian flags flying, wearing their berets and pins and jackets with patches. My husband and I think that the flags were decorated differently to show the different Veteran's groups they represented. Just seeing all the courageous men and thinking of how young they must have been and how lucky they are to have been able to live through the war to be at the cemetery for this service brought tears to my eyes. There were at least 50 men there to show their respect. At the second service that my husband attended, he said there were at least 300 Belgian Veterans there.
There were many speakers, both Belgian and American, including the Ambassador to Belgium and the King's Representative. The couple that my husband was with for the second service said that they've lived all over Europe and that the relationship that the Belgians and Americans have from the wars is really something special to behold. They said that the other European countries don't thank the Americans for their part in the war. My husband and I don't have anything to judge it by, but we both so impressed with the amount of non-Americans at the services. The vast majority of the people at the services at these American Cemeteries were not Americans.
The A-10s from Spangdahlem AFB flew over in the Missing Man formation. They had at least 10 beautiful wreaths that were displayed and the speakers were pretty good. They played a version of Taps that I hadn't heard before that used the whole band. It was easier for me to listen to than just the horn version. Or worse, the horn version with the echo. I was expecting the ugly cry, but the use of the band made the song less haunting and heart wrenching. It was just a beautiful service.
I already understand, from a spouse's perspective, what our service members sacrifice, even during times of war. But our wars going on today are different. I can have a good pity party that my spouse will be deployed for a year or 15 months at a time, but at least we can see the end. We had communication that was easy and pretty consistent. Warfare is completely different today, not less or more difficult and dangerous, but different. The service members and their families had no idea where they were going, what they were going to be seeing or doing, with no consistent communication opportunities and often no end in sight. The sacrifices seem, more, to me, somehow. Being able to attend this Memorial Service, and hopefully more in the future, helps me see the respect and appreciation that one generation can have for another, that one culture can have for another. That the respect and appreciation of all those sacrifices that those who volunteer their lives for this military career do not go unnoticed. (not that recognition is what they are going for)

Memorial Services

Memorial Day is coming in the US and in Belgium, they get a jump start on it. Services started today and will run through Monday. There are 20 American cemeteries in Europe from the wars, and 3 are in Belgium, including Flanders Field.
Belgium does a lot to remember the servicemen that died here in WWI and WWII. I'm very excited to see the service tomorrow at Ardennes, but I know it will be emotional. I've lived around military bases in America for the past 7 years and they do have special Memorial services, but I have a feeling that this is on another level. The war was right here at their doorsteps. Just 2 miles from our house, there's a crash site memorial from WWII, it's not big, just a little plaque, but there are flowers and flags on it.
As a military spouse, it warms me to see how that the men that fought and died here are remembered and honored so well. You can't help but think that many of the young spouses and parents of the servicemen never had an opportunity to see their headstone. Getting to Europe at that time was only for the rich, they never could have afforded it.
We are very lucky that we will be able to go and attend a Memorial service for them. It's what I would hope someone would have done for my hero if we were in that era.
Ardennes American Cemetery

Oostende Kite Festival 2012

The sun was shining this morning, the first time in a long time, so my son and I decided to check out the Oostende Kite Festival. It was recommended on SHAPE Families Facebook page, and I am, again, so thankful for that page. What  a great time!
Oostende is about a 2 hour drive for us, maybe a bit more, and since spring means road construction, we decided to take the train. We drive for 15 minutes, tops, to our favorite little train station in Soignes and catch it there. From Soignes, we went up to Brussels and then switch trains. It's very simple and easy to understand, as long as you know where your final destination is. In this case, Oostende was the final destination, so it is easy to find on the departure screen.
Our trains were very nice today, it made me look, more than once, if we were on a first class car instead of second class. The bathrooms were even clean! Clean bathrooms on public transportation isn't always a given, if you can imagine.
The total trip today was 2:38, and I didn't have to worry about taking a wrong turn, getting behind an accident, road construction, finding parking, paying for parking OR finding my parking spot when we were done.
The first order of business for us today was to get some food, specifically, ice cream. I convinced my son that he had to wait to get some until we could see the kites. It worked, and after our 1/2 mile trek to the right part of the beach, he had his ice cream. He was perfectly happy sitting on a bench, eating his ice cream and watching the kites. The North Sea didn't seem to impress him as much as I thought, he didn't even want to get close to the water.
The kites were really quite spectacular. There were some huge kites, bigger than I could have imagined. We were able to catch the stunt demo with some of the smaller kites, smaller meaning about 8 foot across. The stunts were choreographed to popular music and could possible be compared to watching the Blue Angels of kites.
We walked up and down the beach looking at all the kites and displays. The only complaint I have is that there was only one vendor tent open today. I was ready to drop some money on a cool kite or a yard ornament, but only one vendor and they didn't have anything I couldn't walk away from.
Oostende was also having a Family Day Festival, so we got to listen to some live music and play in a variety of bouncy castles, airplanes and oceans. There was the prerequisite creepy puppet/comic show for children, where the adults just babble in a made up "language." The kids here love it and my son just stands back and watches with a freaked out/puzzled look on his face while the other kids laugh hysterically and chase the actors while they try to escape. Of course, there was a beer tent, it was a family day after all.
 Other than my son sneaking away from me out one end of the airplane and missing for about 10 minutes, it was a beautiful day. I'm so glad we made the train trip to the coast to see the gorgeous kites.
Oostende Kites

Keukenhof Gardens

Last weekend, my son and I went to Keukenhof Gardens in Holland with some of our friends. The weather wasn't lovely, but you can't let weather stop you here. If you do, you'll never leave the house, and I was really excited to go see their beautiful gardens.
Keukenhof is about a 3 hour drive from our little house in Lombise, but it's mostly interstate, or the European equivalent, so it was smooth sailing once my son had the proper snacks and entertainment. The thing I found interesting about the drive, was that there are no real signs or billboards here. There are some states that have laws about the number of billboards advertising things, and it must be the same here, only more strict. Keukenhof is HUGE and famous, I was expecting to see something letting me know I was close, especially once we got into Holland. Nada. Anyway, I had Homer, our trusty GPS system that has rarely steered me wrong.
Keukenhof is set in the town of Lisse, Holland. Lisse is a little town that probably loves the money the gardens bring into the city during the spring, but is very glad to see the tourists leave after the bulbs have lived their lives. The traffic was crazy starting about 8km away from town and the traffic police were out at all the lights directing traffic despite the working lights. A little bit of madness, but no use sitting at a light when there isn't any traffic coming from one certain direction.
Before you even get to Lisse, you can see some of the impressive bulb fields. To look off to the side of the road and see row after row of color, whole farm fields of tulip bulbs, was a sight to behold. I remember driving in Kansas once and coming upon a huge sunflower field, it's similar shock. I can only assume that the bulb farmers plant them with equipment and not by hand, but I haven't been able to find any specific information about bulb planting on a large scale basis, and it is LARGE scale.
 Really, I never knew that fields like this existed.
Keukenhof does have some fields like this that you can see as you drive up to the park, but inside the park are more manicured gardens that are impressive in their own right. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, gladiolas all in gorgeous, ornamental displays all over this huge park.
There were many little fountains, statues and other picture taking opportunities at the park, but if you ask my son what his favorite things were, he'd tell you the slide and the windmill. Keukenhof was thoughtful enough to put in a park, complete with not-up-to-US-safety-standard playground equipment. Not to say that it isn't well made, but most playground equipment here has some major safety hazards that parents either have to get over, or be miserable. I choose not to be miserable, and my son has a great time and is a heck of a little climber. The windmill was safer, but my son was most impressed with the inside of the windmill where you can see all the gears that makes it work. Using these two things as a guide for my son's future, he'll either be an mechanical engineer or a stuntman.
Our trip was capped off with a trip to the souvenir shop where we came home with new shirts for Daddy and son, a bottle opener to add to the collection and a small spinner for the yard that looks like a windmill. (a boy's must have apparently) It was a great day, lots of walking and sniffing and fun. The drive back was peaceful since the boy ran himself ragged and fell asleep about 30 minutes into the trip.
Keukenhof was just lovely, and I'm hoping to drag my hubs back there later in the season to see some of the gardens that hadn't come into full bloom yet.

Spring Break part 3

The last big excursion we took with SHAPE Trips and Tours was a day in Barcelona. I do wish that this would have been put earlier in the week, so we could have gone back if we wanted, and I would have wanted. The city is spread out, so a bus tour would have been long, like we did in Rome, but it would have been fun.
We were able to go to Park Guell, which was designed for a wealthy family by the architect Antoni Guadi. It was just beautiful, he worked with landscape artists to design the gardens so they would fit into the environment well. It was kind of Texan looking with the plants that were chosen. He designed a few houses in the park as well as an absolutely gorgeous seating area. The seating area is done with mosaics all around and the colors were beautiful. I would have hated to been the mason that had to lay all the little pieces of tile to made the designs, especially, on the under part of the area.  Park Guell could be something that could take you a small amount of time to enjoy, or the better part of the day. We didn't have beautiful weather, and we only had 90 minutes, but I made the most of it. To live in a city where a park this beautiful is available to wander around in anytime of the day would be wonderful.
The next big thing we got to see/drive past slowly, was the Sagrada Familia, another one of Antoni Guadi's famous works. The cathedral is still unfinished, though it has been under construction for 100 years. Guadi died before it was finished. The cathedral is being built with donations and public funds, so who knows how long it will take to be completed, but for what was charged to go inside and the LONG line in the middle of April, it looks like there's a steady flow of money.
We ended our day at La Rambla, a pedestrian shopping/market area. Lots of pickpockets in the area and it was quite crowded, but it was a great place. The weather was yuck, so we did find a place off the main place to eat inside. There is also a huge open air market there that was amazing. The fruit stands alone had the most beautiful, colorful fruit. I bought a huge container of fresh fruit for snack and it only cost 1,50 euro. I wish I would have had the camera to take pictures of the fruit stands, really, the colors were too amazing to be true.
At one end of La Rambla, there is a statue of Christopher Columbus, pointing west. It's a nice statue and a great way to know which way is which.
Barcelona is definitely a place that I'd love to go spend some more time. The city is huge and is worth more than just an 8 hour day trip.

Spring Break part 2

When we signed up for our SHAPE Trips and Tours vacation to Lloret de Mar, Spain, there were 3 excursions on the list. 1. Marineland (discussed) 2. Medieval Dinner Theater and 3. Day trip to Barcelona.
Now, with a 4 year old in tow, and having read my last post, you can probably guess which one we thought would be most exiting for our son. Knights, horses, jousting and eating dinner with your hands?!? What's not to love? Well, let me tell you

Our guides from SHAPE had worked with a tour company in the Costa Brava region to get everything just so. The guides already weren't overjoyed with the Marineland experience. We had to go up from there, really. Again, the private showings of the animal shows were nice, but.....we could do better.

So, we all board the bus at 1945, that's right, 7:45pm, to drive over to the Medieval Dinner Theater. It's a beautiful night and we only took one wrong turn on the way there.  (previous issues with directions and the Dutch drivers) We pull up to the castle, and, oddly, we're the only buses there. No, make that the only vehicles there. The show is to start in 30 minutes and no one is parked out front or on the sides. Perhaps another private viewing and all the performers are parked in back? Strangely, the sign in front now shows that there is also a cabaret show. Fun, but probably not family friendly.

Pictures are taken by the moat, and the front doors and the shields. Our son and his bestie had matching knight costumes, a birthday gift special for the trip to the Medieval Dinner Theater. We are ready for those door to open. Phone calls are made and someone shows up from the same company as the MDT and says we're in the wrong spot. No big deal, we'll load the buses at 2045 and follow the car to the right spot.

We pull up to what only looks like a scene from a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western and the wall says, La Siesta. Fake torches, old carriages, waterfall.....hmmm....  We are let in and seated at family style table and listen to a blond singer, that has entranced my son while we all try and figure out where the sword play and jousting will happen.

Quick back story: Earlier in the week, while perusing the Lloret magazine, I come upon an ad for World's Fastest Flamenco and IN JEST asked my husband if he'd be interested in that. "H#!! No," was the response I received.

Dinner is served, thank goodness, sangria was served and the show began. The blond was the warm up singer, followed by a thick set man with a thick head of hair singing in a decent tenor voice. CDs for 15 Euro were available. Then came the dancers. Warm up dancers before the main man came on stage and the place went wild. Not even kidding, wild. I knew immediately who this man was, I had seen his picture in the Lloret magazine, it was The World's Fastest Flamenco, or Ted Nugent's Spanish Brother, as he was to be called for the rest of the evening.

Now, I understand that there are many things that I'm not mature enough for, example, birthing classes. I, apparently, am not mature enough to take in The World's Fastest Flamenco and appreciate it for what it is. I'm just not. I accept it. Please, I dare you, check out this website and tell me that you are. http://www.lasiesta.net/en/artistas.htm There were tight white pants, flaming feet of fury, long hair flinging, and sweat flying everywhere. It really was just too much. Many in attendance at my table were happy for the free flowing, free refills of sangria. The same group was happy for children too darn tired to understand that we didn't get to see swords and horses and were almost asleep for most of the show.

All in all, it wasn't a horrible night. We took it the best we could. It was absolutely not our guide's fault that the MDT wasn't in season yet and so they rebooked us at their will and to keep our money at their other show, La Siesta. Culturally, it was a hit, a huge hit. Most of the other tables were on their feet, loving every minute of it. A few tables were ordering more sangria and staring blankly at the stage, I  assume they used the same Costa Brava tour company and were suppose to be at the Medieval Dinner Theater as well.

In case you're interested, you can buy DVDs for the show, 15 EU.

Spring Break part 1

In February, the schools here had a full week off for pre-lenten break, or ski week as it's more commonly known. This month, the kids had 2 full weeks off for spring break. Yes, that's right, 2 full weeks. It began with a half day off before the 2 weeks off so the teachers could get the heck out of Dodge, I guess. Either way, spring break.

I had seen a flyer and heard the SHAPE Trips and Tours manager speak about the spring break trip that was going to happen way back in December, I believe. A trip to the Catalan coast of Spain, 8 days there total, 2 days of travel for a cost that we couldn't pass up, so I booked it right after the new year. We would go, along with our friends that also have a son about our sons' age.

Finally, after months of waiting, the day came. On April 5th, we headed out on a big 'ol double decker touring  bus for 15 hours. We left in the evening and did a few stops along the way for the drivers, smokers and for dinner. That was the thing all of us adults were dreading, 15 hours on the bus with the young kids. Ugh.

It ended up being not too bad, actually. After a mini-melt down at the dinner stop (pre-packaged sandwiches and a coffee vending machine), we got back on the bus, watched a movie on the greatest kid entertaining invention ever, the iPad, slipped half a melatonin in some late night pudding and off to sleep. The son slept, my husband and I took turns with the little sweat machine all night and nodded off for a few hours each.

We stepped off the bus at about 1300 in Lloret de Mar , Spain, to rooms that were ready for us to dump our gear, grab some lunch and go exploring. Our "resort" was nothing fancy, and has officially turned my husband off to "all inclusive" offers of anything more than including the breakfast, but it really wasn't bad. We did save some money, having pre-paid in January for our dinners, and we ate there most nights because it was easier for us with our son.

The first day we walked down to the beach and checked out the Mediterranean Sea and found out that these beaches have sand the way most Atlantic Coast beaches have sand, glorified gravel. Not comfy on the bare feet, but heck, we were at the Mediterranean Sea! The little boys got to run in and out of the surf, climb rocks and finally talk in outside voices. The adults and kids got to walk the staircase up to the statue dedicated to sailors' wives. After the beautiful views from there, we hiked the coastline a little more until we found a lovely little place for gelatto and sangria. What a great first day!

Another day we had a planned excursion to Marineland that was just down the road from Lloret de Mar. The park was barely open, and most of the extra people working there were slightly irritable. The animal trainers were happy to have us there to practice their shows, birds, sea lions and dolphins, and the kids loved it. This being our first big vacation with our son, him being happy made us happy, so that was all that counted. The water park side was still closed and it was way too cold to have enjoyed that anyway. Our tour group had the place to ourselves, and the guides from SHAPE Trips and Tours listened to our pleas to shorten our day there so we could go back to the hotel and to more exploring from there.

The next free day that we had, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and hiked way up the coast to see what we could see. Even with sunscreen, we got a bit pink, but nothing horrible. All three of us got some exercise and we treated ourselves to more gelatto.

Spring Break blog will be continued soon.....