Things that Start with "B"...

Belgium, Brussels, Bruges, beer, beautiful scenery and the best chocolate and waffles ever!  :)

Colin and I enjoyed a long weekend in Belgium.  We toured Brussels primarily at night by walking to the charming "Grand Place" square, and checking out the Cathedral and other sites as we passed them.  It was neat to see the city all lit up, and then settle down for some Belgian beer tasting.  The next day we checked out the Flemish art at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts.  Then, since we knew we'd love Bruges, we hopped in Trusty and headed an hour west.

 Brussels Cathedral

Grand Place with Flemish Renaissance-baroque guild houses from the 17th century

 Doors of  the Notre-Dame-du-Sablon Church (15th Century Gothic)

 First Sampling of Beers at Mort Subite

And then, Bruges!

Sure enough, our trip to Bruges was awesome and it is now our fav nearby spot.  A small, walkable midieval town with romantic canals, swans, horse-drawn carriages and delicious food... it is almost too good to be true.  Colin was particularly interested in trying an ambitious array of Belgian beers, so we made a first stop at Beertje, where they served about 300 types of beers, many of of which had their own specific beer glass.  He tried Trappist beers (brewed by monks) and Abbey beers and I tried out sips of various "fruity" Lambic ales- peach, raspberry and cherry.    After a few days of tasting, Colin found a favorite, the Westmalle Tripel.  It is a Trappist beer that has a whopping 9.5% alcohol content.  Hm.  Good thing it was generally accompanied with some traditional meals - Flemish Stew and Mussels.  We were very content in Bruges. 

Our last night there, we found a cool little bar with live music, and had a great time listening to the Belgian version of the Counting Crows, U2 and Tom Petty.  We highly recommend Bruges to our future visitors- its only 2.5 hours away and has just enough sites that you stay busy while still relaxing, enjoying the scenery, and eating some chocolates.  A few highlights as far as "things to see" (yes, we did do some sight-seeing) were the "Madonna of Bruges", a marble sculpture by Michelangelo in the Church of Our Lady (and the only sculpture of Michelangelo's to leave Italy during his lifetime), a Basilica where there was a vial of blood that was supposedly from Christ (? we were not sure what to think on this one), the Bell Tower, Market Square and the Burg.

Belgian Lace

The Market Square

 

 

 

 

In front of the Burg

We enjoyed a tour of the canals in this boat with a tour guide that called himself James Bond

 Michelangelo's Madonna and Child

Bell Tower

mmmmm Chocolates!

And finally... the beer tasting series ...

Brewery De Halve Maan

washed down with these meals...

 SO FUN!!

Dutch Pancakes on a Lazy Sunday

The Sunday after one of the Oktoberfests, Colin and I were craving some pancakes.  At a friend's recommendation, we drove about 40 minutes to the Dutch town of Thorn for an amazing breakfast.  We each enjoyed delicious Dutch pancakes, and then walked around the town of Thorn.  We were surprised to find that Thorn may have warranted a visit even without the pancakes (and the accompanying headaches...).  It is adorable - with whitewashed brick houses and cobblestones streets, and a beautiful old church.  We'll definitely be back again!

In need of pancakes...

Burg Eltz and the New Wheels

At the end of our Moselle and Rhine Rivers tour we stopped at Burg Eltz, one of the best preserved castles in Germany that dates back to 1157.  The castle survived various sieges, and has remained largely unchanged since 1490, with the same beautiful interior decor and furniture put in place by the Eltz families so many years ago.   We enjoyed a tour of the castle that showcased about 10 of the 80 rooms.  In addition to admiring the paintings, furniture and tapestries, we were impressed by the huge floral arrangements in each room, provided fresh weekly by the Eltz family themselves, who still frequent the castle from time to time. 

After the tour, we hiked back to our "new" car, some pics of which are below.  We are very fond of this little black '97 hatchback Honda Civic, which zips quickly around roundabouts and we've nicknamed "Trusty" in hopes it lasts us for the next 3 years. The hatchback is perfect for impromptu picnics, as Colin demonstrates below. 

.......................

The new wheels!

Hatchback Picnic!

Moselle and Rhine River Tour

Weinfest!

 

Our first weekend away from Langbroich, we decided to make it to Germany's wine country to take part in the final weekend of the "weinfests" and Rhine cruises before things get quiet for the winter time.  We stayed near Cochem, a very picturesque town on the Moselle.  On Friday, we rode bikes along the Moselle river and did a bit of wine tasting.  On Saturday, we took a train to the town of Bacharach on the Rhine, and then took a river cruise up to the town of Boppard for the winefest, passing 6 or 7 castles along the way.  We happened to be on the same boat as a few of the local marching bands, whose players entertained themselves by drinking multiple kegs while en route.  They then serenaded everyone as we left the boat for the winefest, and they played in the streets on their way to the festival area.  We enjoyed many a glass of Riesling before heading back to Cochem for the night.

Biking along the Moselle River

Cochem Castle on Moselle River 

Town of Bacharach on the Rhine

Overlooking the Rhine and church in Bacharach

The boat we took down the Rhine

Pfalz Castle in the forefront, with the Gutenfels Castle in the background

Katz Castle

Bands playing (and drinking) on the Rhine cruise boat

People dancing in the streets of Boppard

Colin contemplating his next glass of Riesling at weinfest

Battle of the Marching Bands

Oktoberfest Everywhere!

Colin and I have really enjoyed getting to Germany at the end of the harvest season, and have been able to go to two Oktoberfest celebrations!  The first one was actually at the NATO base - they opened up a huge hangar and tons of people showed up for the beer, band and bratwursts.  The pics here are of the local Oktoberfest we attended in the nearby town of Haaren.  We loved the fact that the public buses were re-routed for the weekend to take people in all the close towns to the beer tents. 

Colin's new best friend... the beer server who slightly resembled an older Chris Farley.

...and we found a home!

                                

        After seeing how rural this part of Germany is, we decided that we needed to find a home in one of the larger towns so we'd have better access to restaurants, nightlife and a good internet connection. The town of Heinsberg caught our eye because it has a small but cute pedestrian shopping area through some of the older streets, and is still close to bike riding paths and a small lake.  When we found a house within walking distance of the "old town" area, we immediately agreed to take it!  We'll rent this house for the next three years - and it has extra bedrooms for our guests!  :)  Some of our favorite perks of the house are its little yard and high potential for gardening and the very modern kitchen, including its heated floors.  We move in at the end of this week!  More pics of the inside to come, but for now here are some of the outside and the town of Heinsberg, including its church and the nearby lake.


The new house!

Old town of Heinsberg, church and lake...