Europe Trip - DAY FIVE

FRANCE
{Normandy Beaches - Pointe du Hoc & Omaha Beach}
We absolutely loved the beautiful countryside of Western France. We're so glad we took the opportunity to visit the sights of D-day. Truly humbling to see and imagine all that our American soldiers did to fight for us.

Pointe du Hoc
Broken bunkers from all of our ammo
Monument for the rangers that climbed up the side of the cliffs
these massive craters are EVERYWHERE
The American Cemetery at Omaha Beach

{Paris, France}
Night time in Paris is gorgeous! It was so cool to see the twinkling Eiffel Tower and go up and see the city so alive and full of lights.
Arc de Triomphe in the background

Europe Trip - DAY FOUR

Today wasn't much different than yesterday. We got up early and ate breakfast at the hotel and then Derek was off for his conference. Poor guy was so nervous! I'm sure he did just fine though. I came back and slept some more, haha! Then I went off and walked around Ghent.....toured a couple of the cathedrals and that's about it.







Things I've noticed about Europe (or at least Belgium) so far:

• lots of walking and bike riding
• most things are closed on Sundays and Mondays (it was a lot busier out today and so many more things were open)
• what little city center driving there is, it's chaotic! There's driving on "roads" that don't even seem to be roads. (we've even driven these "roads" because the gps tells us to, but we're really not sure if we are supposed to!)
• everything is super expensive...the other day it cost us 10 euro just to make a 4 minute local call PLUS this 24 hour use of the internet is costing us 20 euro!
• pretty much everyone that we've talked to speaks English, which I really appreciate and respect. It really makes Derek and I want to learn at least one other language, if not a couple!
• architecture of the buildings is amazing
• there is a lot of construction....maybe it's just becasue it's sort of the "down" time for tourists.
• cobblestone and brick roads and sidewalks everywhere. It's so pretty!
• There are a lot of restaurants, but they are all really small (with maybe a max of 10 - 15 tables).

We're just really enjoying this experience and grateful for the opportunity that we had to come here. I probably won't be updating the blog again until we get back. It's just too expensive to get on the internet here. Stay tuned, though, for France, Switzerland, Germany and Luxembourg!!! Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving! We'll definitely be missing our Thanksgiving feast and our wonderful family that we are so thankful for. Anyone that will see our girls in the next week, please give them big hugs and kisses for us! We miss them soooo much!!

Europe Trip - DAY THREE

Day 3
{Ghent, Belgium}
I’m all alone here while Derek is off at his Click Symposium. I did venture out for a little bit today. I slept in until 1pm though!! It felt really good to catch up on some sleep. I was a little uncomfortable getting out by myself, but once I started walking I couldn’t help but feel at ease because it is all so beautiful! It did start pouring down rain on me, but I found a little secluded and covered area to stand under right by the Gravensteen Castle so it wasn’t too bad. Then I went and got myself a sub to take back to the room for a late lunch. I’m proud of myself for getting out today…totally not easy for me, very intimidating!! It’s too bad Derek won’t really get to see much of Ghent since it will be dark by the time he gets out of his conference each day. Here are the things I’ve seen while out and about on my own:
Belfry, very similar to the one in Brugge
Duivelsteen Castle
Saint Nicolas Church
St Bavo's Cathedral
The Royal Dutch Theater


Gravensteen Castle

There's our wonderful Marriott Hotel!

Europe Trip - DAY TWO

Day 2
{Brugge and Ghent, Belgium}
Back at the hotel in Brussels, we make plans to get up by 7……that didn’t happen. We got up at 9 and by the time we got ready we didn’t leave until 10:30. To get out of the hotel parking garage you had to go up a big steep incline and stop towards the top to insert your parking ticket…..well it took us a while to get out…….we then headed back to the airport to get an automatic car!!! (well worth the EXTRA $300, in my opinion). So, getting up late and trading in our car really set us back in getting to Brugge. Once we did finally get there we LOVED it. It was a quaint little town. This was more of what we imagined Europe to be like. It was full of tourists, which made the little streets packed, but we didn’t feel as much of a language barrier here. When people found out we were Americans they would stop speaking French and talk in very good English. I would have a lot more pictures by our camera batteries died :( I was so bummed. Of course, we enjoyed a belgian waffle covered in belgian chocolate and we had the BEST hot chocolate I've ever had.



Bruges has a lot of canals. It is sometimes referred to as "Venice of the North".

heading to our canal ride

Belfry


Grote Markt (Big Market Square)
Belfry after it started pouring on us!
Inside the Basilica of the Holy Blood
We spent so much time in Brugge we didn’t even get to our hotel in Ghent until after dark. The hotel we’re in is super nice! It’s right along the canal on the Graslei and Korenlei. You know how I said we love Brugge, well, we LOVE, LOVE Ghent. It’s definitely our favorite so far. We could totally live here!

View right outside our hotel! Graslei and Korenlei streets.
another view
Our meal....yummy. We've noticed that the food served here is all about presentation. Almost looks too good to eat, lol. @ the Down Towner Restaurant
City Center
inside our hotel

Europe Trip - DAY ONE

Bonjour! I can’t believe we’re in Europe. Some might think I’m crazy for updating the blog while we’re over here, but it’s been raining on and off and since Derek is away at his conference I don’t want to be out and about all day by myself. A lot of our readers might just want to scroll down to our pictures instead of reading my ramblings of our experiences…just a heads up!

Here we go……….so the flight wasn’t all that bad. We flew into Atlanta and then from there into Brussels, Belgium. The flight into Belgium was 9 hours and I think I must have slept most of the flight because I don’t remember a whole lot about it! I know I watched a movie and ate dinner, but that’s about it. Even though I got a lot of sleep on the flight, the jet lag, change in time and lack of sleep the day before definitely has taken a toll on me. We both crashed around 2:00pm the first day and slept until 4:00. We’ve been getting back to our room around 8 or 9 and I always fall asleep as soon as we get in……..this would be around 2pm or so back home. I’ll sleep for a little while and wake up around 2 or 3 am and not be able to get back to sleep. UGH! Hopefully, I’ll get rested up enough to be able to go to sleep and wake up at the right times while we’re here.

DAY 1
{Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium}

We arrived in Brussels at 8:30am, got our manual car, and headed to Antwerp. I note manual car because I cannot drive a manual and it has been a LONG time since Derek has driven one. Being in an area that we aren’t familiar with, tiny roads, crazy drivers, etc on top of being rusty with the stick makes for, well, a headache……some stalls, lots of jerking, you get the idea. We didn’t actually get to Antwerp until noon and by the time we finally figured out the parking we were ready to eat. Being overwhelmed, mainly with the language barrier, we ate at…..McDonalds! haha.

Cathedral of Our Lady

By the time we got to our hotel in Brussels, we were ready for a nap. We woke up with barely any sunlight left in the day so we basically saw Brussels nightlife. We didn’t really care much for it. In fact, on several occasions we both said we would never want to live here or be stationed here (at NATO). We will admit that it is fun to see and experience though. After walking around and getting lost over and over again we finally found our way back to the car and went back to the hotel. I have to say, by now, Derek is getting to be pretty decent with the stick shift. We haven’t had nearly as many people honking at us. [Derek says this is a lie. There was only one person that honked at us]
Grote Markt (Grand Place) ~ city center
Cathedral St. Michael
Belgian Chocolate!!!