Tyne Cot Cemetery Belgium

Pops at the Tyne Cot Memorial Cemetery in Passendale, Belgium

They made it! 

Finally, Chris' grandparents, his aunties, Elizabeth and Christy, and Christy's son, Jake, made it to Europe after two days of dodging tornados in Atlanta. They missed London, but thankfully they didn't miss out on their entire vacation. "The stranded five" arrived into Brussels several hours before we were scheduled to arrive in Belgium.  It was impossible to switch our tickets, and I felt a little anxious about them arriving into Belgium without Chris or I there to welcome them. I called our friend, Bert, and without hesitation, he offered to do whatever I needed to help make "the stranded five" feel a little bit more comfortable. What a blessing it was to have Bert there! Our family made their way from Brussels to Roeselare, and in our little city, they found Bert with a box of Belgian chocolates in hand ready to welcome five weary, stinky, American travelers.

After such an ordeal, naturally, their luggage didn't arrive with them. It was promised that the luggage would arrive the following day, but in the meantime we had plans! We washed the clothes that "the stranded five" had been wearing for two days straight, ordered pizza and just enjoyed being with family for the evening. Everyone was relieved to finally be together as planned, and at the end of the evening, the weary travelers were more than happy to retire to comfortable accommodation at R&Breakfast. 

In the morning, we were accompanied by five of our Belgian friends to the Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Passendale, Belgium. The cemetery is built on the important western front of the First World War and is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world. It's quite humbling to walk through the museum and the graves themselves and try to grasp the complete devastation of the landscape and such overwelming loss of life. 

{Park Guell - Barcelona, Spain}

After a hectic month full of House Hunter's International filming and ridiculously cold Belgian spring weather, Chris and I decided to book a quick weekend getaway to sunny Barcelona, Spain. At least we were crossing our fingers and praying for a tad bit of sun! I think we would have been happy with anything other than the average spring temperatures of 6 Celsius/43 Farenheit! (Of course, the year we move, Belgium has the coldest spring in 44 years! Thanks Belgium!) Well thankfully, Barcelona did not disappoint! We basked in the warmth of the sun every afternoon we were in town.

We met up with our great friend, Reece, and the three of us booked an apartment at Bed and Beach Barcelona Guesthouse. The Guesthouse is about 15-minutes (by public transport) from the center of Barcelona; but as the name suggests, it's right on the beach. The owners were incredibly helpful, the apartment was clean and remodeled, and the price was super reasonable. It's a place we will absolutely book again!

Since we were literally staying right on the beach, the boys were hesitant to leave their sandy retreats for city sightseeing. I decided to leave them one afternoon and take a bus up to Park Guell. I am so happy that I made the trek! In my opinion, Park Guell is a must see when visiting Barcelona. The boys would disagree with me since they were content playing frisbee and sunbathing on the beach, but I spent a good three hours at the park and I could go back and do it all over again. 

Remembrance Day in Roeselare, Belgium

As May 4th approached, the city of Roeselare started preparing for an event. The center of the city (de Grote Markt - or Large Market) was emptied of cars, and food carts, bistro tables and stadium seating filled the vacated spots. I asked the owner of Cafe Mustache (our favorite little bar here) about the upcoming event, and he mentioned that May 4 was a day of remembrance. He also casually stated that bands from all over this region would play during the event. 

Silly me! I had such a blond moment! I heard "bands" and instantly thought drums, guitars, and catchy beats. Naturally, I passed the misunderstanding onto my dear Hubby. Chris and I walked into the Grote Markt with absolutely no idea what day was being "remembered" and expecting to hear local rock "bands" from around the region. The "bands" were not there for entertainment, but rather they were marching bands playing tributes to the memory of fallen soldiers. 

We were a bit confused about May 4th considering Remembrance Day or Memorial Day is celebrated in November in several countries including Belgium and America. I decided to ask a man wearing paratropper fatigues and standing next to a large US army vehicle. Turns out he wasn't American but rather a Belgian army-vehicle-enthusiast/mechanic who had purchased the American war truck and restored it. He informed us that May 4th is a day to remember the soldiers who were lost in World War II, and that similar events were taking place all over the Netherlands and Belgium.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Be jealous - I spent three days with these handsome fellows. 

Chris and I booked a pair of spendy tickets to Munich, and met up with Reece on the other end.  The three of us have seen quite a lot of Europe together this past year: Krk, Croatia – Vienna, Austria  - Cologne, Germany – Weltenburg Monk Brewery, Germany – Various German beer festivals – and Venice, Italy, just to hit a few highlights. I typically book a suite or a room with a roll away bed for Reece, but this trip was an entirely new way of traveling for me! I threw my controlling tendencies to the wind and didn't plan a thing (and it was one of the best trips), and as you can tell from the picture above, rather than a travel group of three, we were a, won’t-all-fit-into-one-car, pack of six!

Five guys + one girl = I totally crashed guy’s weekend, and subsequently stayed in my first European hostel! Guy’s weekend was awesome. . . . the hostel . . . well, I guess it was everything I had expected. I had not expected very much. I will leave the details up to your imagination. 

Chris and Reece graduated from the University of Kentucky and three of their (awesome) classmates flew out to Europe for a week of city blitzing (seeing as many sights as possible in a very short period of time).  We effortlessly picked Stu, Kirk and Ben up at the Munich airport, piled into a borrowed “mom-van,” told the guys they could drink in the car (as long as they weren’t driving - sorry Reece), and set out to see the first sight on their blitz: Neuschwanstein Castle. 

Cologne, Germany

Inside the Cologne Cathedral (Kolner Dom in Cologne, Germany)

Cologne, Germany truly took my breath away, and we even visited too early to experience the Christmas markets - which I hear are some of the most magical ones around. (I am dreaming about a Cologne-trip-round-2 sometime this December. *Hint Hint* Hubby!) It was so much fun to explore a new European city with my college friend, Jesse, her boyfriend, Reece, and my wonderful husband. Our hotel was a bit out of the center of the city, but in late October, we were blessed with warm, "walkable" weather. In t-shirts and light cardigans, we started exploring the new city. As the four of us made our way into the center, we stopped for Italian pizza on a cozy terrace. It seemed that every terrace was packed with tourists and locals alike simply taking in the warmth and beauty of Cologne. 

As I mentioned here, you really cannot miss the spectacular Cologne Cathedral (or Kolner Dom). It is an impressive and massive structure that holds a prominent spot in the center of the city. The Cathedral is under construction, but for some reason, the scaffolding didn't take away from the grandeur of the Gothic landmark. One thing I really wanted to do was climb the tower for a panoramic view of the city, but unfortunately we arrived just as the observation tower was closing. Tourist fail! Apparently, you have you arrive before 5pm, get in line, pay three Euros, climb 500+ steps to the top, and get tons of awesome pictures. Sounded awesome to me, and I really hope to get back some day and tackle that winding staircase!

Pompeii, Italy

View of Mount Vesuvius from Sorrento, Italy. 

Oh silly me! I completely forgot to post pictures of one of my favorite summer excursions! The Morris’ and I had just spent several glorious (sweltering) summer days in the Italian cities of Rome, Positano, Sorrento and Capri, and the day had come for me to fly home and reconnect with my hard-working Hubby. 

(Lovey-dovey side note – I am always bummed when Chris’ work schedule doesn’t allow him to hop on a plane with me every single time I get the travel urge, but I am beyond blessed - and spoiled - that he gives me freedom and trusts me to sight see on my own, meet up with friends and spend his hard-earned dollars wisely. What a man!) 

Evan mentioned that next on the Morris’-Italian-travel-agenda was a trip to see the ruins of Pompeii and that darn Mount Vesuvius. Since I would pass Pompeii on my way back to Rome, I decided to enjoy one last excursion with my dear friends before parting ways. I'm so glad that I did! I was surprised at how much I enjoyed seeing the Pompeii that had before only existed on the pages of my middle school textbooks. 

Posing in Pisa, Italy

The Leaning Tower of Pisa - Pisa, Italy. 

As Kayla and I were planning our 10-day-European-girlie-get-together, almost in unison, we exclaimed that seeing Cinque Terre, Italy was an absolute must! For centuries, that charming portion of the Italian Riviera has beckoned tourists to come and drink in the romance. We wanted to go and see what the big fuss was all about! 

From Paris' Orly Airport, we booked a super cheap (only $25 per person) Easy Jet flight to Pisa, Italy. The flight was uneventful and actually put us on the ground ten minutes before the scheduled arrival. Way to go budget airline! After landing in Pisa, we took a five minute bus ride to the main train station. Since trains headed in the direction of Cinque Terre seemed plentiful, we decided to grab a Pisa site map and check out that crooked little Tower that everyone reads about in history class. 

From Pisa's train station, it takes 20 minutes to walk to Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") where you will find the infamous Leaning Tower of Pisa (Torre pendente di Pisa in Italian). Pisa is a small city, so there's not much to see there other than the Tower. I am sure that there are adorable, hidden cafes and restaurants in the city, but all that we had time to explore was the Piazza del Duomo. 

Construction on the Leaning Tower of Pisa started in 1173, and the famous tilt started in those initial construction stages due to a poor foundation. The tilt increased over time until the structure was finally reinforced in the 20th and 21st century. The tilt was actually slightly corrected during those recent reinforcements. I think she's leaning about as far as she ever will. Gotta keep that tourist attraction standing! 

Kayla and I had a great time and we were so glad that we took a little detour to see the Tower. We even  took a few of those ridiculously cheesy "trying-to-personally-topple-the tower" pictures that every tourist has to get when visiting Pisa. We also helped a few passing tourists frame and snap their own picture trying to push the Tower over. No one succeeded on that particular day. 

In Pisa, we made complete and utter fools of ourselves, and we were not ashamed. 

Santa Maria Della Spina Church along the river in Pisa before you get to the Tower. 

First glimpse of The Leaning Tower of Pisa as we entered the Piazza del Duomo.

Too cute!

Looks like I got caught trying to destroy the Tower. 

Pisa on Dwellable

Diksmuide, Belgium

Chris had to take a little trip to Belgium for work, so naturally, I tagged along! 

My knowledge of Belgium (before visiting) = waffles, chocolate and beer. All good things, but we found out that there was so much more to love in the small country of Belgium. 

We stayed in Diksmuide  (literally pronounced "Dick's murder"), a small municipality in the Flemish provence of West Flanders that is widely known for its famous butter. Butter? Butter doesn't seem all that random to me considering I grew up in a state (Oregon) that's known for Tillamook Cheddar cheese.

Diksmuide's Town Hall and St. Nicholas Church.

I was pleasantly surprised when we drove into the quaint town. 

Like most European cities, the heart of Diksmuide is a large town square. A little Christmas market was taking shape when we arrived, and the imposing Gothic steeple of St. Nicholas Church could be seen looming over Town Hall. 

It is a perfect little city with detailed architecture, clean streets, fancy boutiques, and classy pubs on every corner. One would never guess that Diksmuide has such a broken history. During World War I, the city was heavily attacked by German forces, and at one point, the city was flooded in an effort to destroy the Germans. The Germans never took the city, but by the end of WWI, Diksmuide was reduced to a pile of rubble. In the 1920's, the city was completely rebuilt. We heard that a common field trip for British high school students is a visit to the German Military Cemetery where 25,638 soldiers found their resting place. 

The city is peaceful now, of course, but it seems that a different sort of struggle looms over the entire country. The Dutch make up the majority of the Belgian population, but the other people represented are the French, and they don't really see eye to eye. In fact, there was no government for over a year because of the tensions between the two groups of people. The day that we arrived, in fact, a government was finally established but our host seemed dissatisfied and discouraged with the elected choice. I suppose only time will tell, right?

Duvel Belgian beer is Chris' new favorite!

So, the first night we arrived, we were taken out to dinner. Chris' first beer remained his favorite in Belgium. I am not a huge beer fan, but I have to say that I too appreciated the spicy taste of Duvel. If you ever find this beer, try it. We even heard a few locals proclaim that out of the 1,500 local Belgian beers, Duvel is the best. 

Chris + steak = my husband's heaven.

One thing that we've been missing in Serbia is a big, fat, juicy, medium rare steak. Now Serbians eat meat. Don't get me wrong. They eat loads of meat; every type of meat, and they eat it for almost every meal. We like Serbian food, but no where in Serbia have we found a restaurant that prepares steak rare -> med rare, and that's how we like it. We discovered that Belgium is known for its Belgium Blue beef, and they don't even ask you for a temperate when ordering. You get rare -> med rare whether you like it or not. We liked it a lot! So much so that we each had two huge steak meals during our time in Belgium. 

I added a few more pictures of Diksmuide below. Enjoy!

Canals run through the city. Diksmuide is 10 miles from the North Sea.  

Just a sweet park on the outskirts of the town. 

St. Nicholas Church that was rebuilt in the 1920's after the German's bombed the original one.

Inside St. Nicholas Church. 

Bombs that were actually dropped on the city. Now they adorn Town Hall.

Night falling over the town square. 

New friends at Diksmuide's Christmas market

 We met some of the friendliest people in Belgium. The first night in Diksmuide, we decided to take a stroll around the Christmas market. I was hunting for gluhwine (mulled wine), and Chris was on the market for a sausage. As I was ordering, a loud voice behind us insisted that we each try a Duvel "the best beer in Belgium." Wim (The man on the far left in the picture above), insisted that we stay for a beer, and he bought a round. Wim introduced us to his friends and before we knew it, an hour had passed. 

The owner of the booth brought me some home made snail soup. Amazing!

We met the owner of the information center, and he gave us a book on the town. 

We were invited to come back to Belgium, and Wim and his wife even said we could stay at their place in Brussels. We were not expecting such warm and hospitable people, but we are so glad that now we know what to expect next time we visit. 

Good night Diksmuide! Tomorrow, off to the magical town of Bruges!

Schonbrunn Palace, Austria

NOTE: This blog contains more pictures than words.

. . . and of course you will find loads of those annoying jumping pictures. (I really love jumping pictures - if you couldn't already tell - and when Chris and I are 80+ years old, we hope to have a thick album of all the jumps we have made around the world.) We're nerds, but whatever! 

Every year, 2.5 million tourists visit Schonbrunn Palace, and if you have ever been, you understand why the Palace is Vienna's most visited attraction. If you are interested, you can read all about the former Hapsburg 1,441-room summer residence by clicking here.

In short, the history of Schonbrunn goes sort of like this:

1548 - The mayor of Vienna transformed Schonbrunn into an estate.

1569 - the Hapsburg's came into the picture, and of course they acquired the estate and all the land.

Emperor Matthias only used the estate for hunting. . .

. . . sounds like a terrible waste of a palace to me!

The next successor, Emperor Ferdinand II loved hunting too, and he basically just threw huge hunting parties at the estate. 

What in the world is a hunting party?!

1683 -The Turkish army invaded Vienna and they destroyed some of Schonbrunn. 

Sad days. 

1728 - Emperor Charpes VI acquires Schonbrunn, but he only uses it to host shooting parties. 

Like a party where you take lots of shots? Kidding.

Charles VI gifted the Palace to his daughter Marie Theresa (she's pretty famous).

Nice gift from Daddy!

Marie Theresa ushered in a brilliant period in Schonbrunn history. 

Marie Theresa made all sorts of additions and changes, and eventually Schonbrunn was home to over 1500 people. 

Too many people in one place - even if there were 1,441 rooms!

1805-1809 - Napoleon occupied the Palace. 

Franz Joseph was the last to call Schonbrunn home. He died in 1916. 

1996 - Schonbrunn Palace is placed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Now there are just loads of tourists. 

Enjoy our pictures! If you every find yourself in Vienna, you have to see Schonbrunn Palace. Even the boys agreed that it was a sight worth seeing in person.  

The jumping started early. 

Neptune Fountain.

Take the hike up the hill. The views are worth the huffing and puffing!

The Gloriette was used as a meeting place before hunting trips. Now it is a cafe/restaurant.

Reece taught us all sorts of new jumps.

Lana = jumping fail. Chris = terrifying!

Of course there was a Chirstmas Market with live music!

A great brewery that we found in Vienna. 

One last burger for the road. 

St. Stephen's Cathedral at night.

Doesn't this make you want to spend more money?! 

U-bahn -> the train station. Time to say bye bye Vienna! 

"You sure you don't want to stay, Lana." I wish that is what he was saying here!

One more coffee for the "road."

Well, Vienna, it is not goodbye, but rather, until we all meet again.